Family

Tell me about your family?
I grew up in a small family. I've got a father, a mother and a brother who's four years younger than me. We are always close to each other. Now I have my own family. It consists of my husband, my son who's 6, my daughter who's just 10 months old and me.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Yes, I do. I've got a brother. He's four years younger than me. Now we have got our own families, but we're still very close to each other.

Do you have similar or very different personalities?
I belieive we are quite different. I'm more sensitive, shy and discreet while my brother is easy-going, talkative and he has a good sense of humour. He always makes me laugh. We both really like to spend time together.

What do you enjoy doing with your family?
Actually, it depends on the season. In summer we like having picnics, swimming in the river, riding bicycles or just all walking all together. In winter we often ski. If it's cold we go to the cinema or just go out. In the evenings we watch cartoons or a good film or read books. In any case we like to spend time together.

Who do you spend your free time with?
I've got two children so I spend almost all my free time with them. We play together, walk or just read books. They like when I read to them.

Who are the most important people in your life?
My family, of course. My parents. They live close by and we often get together and sometimes I can rely on them for childcare. My husband and my children. I love them so much and they are the most important people in my life, without a doubt.

Are there any special occasions when your all family is together?
Yes. There are three families now: my parents (mum and dad), my brother's family (it consists of four people) and my own family (it also consists of four people) so there are a lot of birthdays around throughout the years when we all get together. Moreover we like being together on at Christmas, we give presents to each other, have a great Christmas dinner and have fun - all together.

Great Natalia! After the first read through I nearly left it as it was!

Since it is still required for everyone to have a father and mother, you could have written: "I grew up in a small family. My parents, myself and my brother. We are a close family." It isn't essential, but typically members are listed by age, like you did with your children.

"read them" normally means that you can tell things about someone without them speaking, from expressions, body language etc

"I read" implies "to myself", when this is not the case, we need to specify the "to". (Don't use "read at them".)

For people that celebrate Christmas on one day, we might say ".. on Christmas Day, we give presents to each other, .." but since it is normal to celebrate over several days, then we use "at Christmas". ".. give each other presents" is another variation.