"Deceased" is very formal, and "dead"... theoretically fine, but might come out a bit rude. I'd go with "Has your father passed away?"

Dear Sir / Madam, 

I am writing because I am interested in your golf lessons in Florida. I would be interested in both a two-week course and your private lessons. I am 47 and I work as a Computer Programmer for a Spanish bank. I have some experience playing golf, although I would say i'm just a beginner. I can speak a little English, so I would like to improve my golf skills and practise English.

Could you please send me information about the prices of two-week courses and private lessons? Could I have a list of different places of Florida where you run the courses? I would also be grateful if you could give me some advice or information about accommodation.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Fernando O.

Many teenagers are trapped by fashion. Like a magnet, it attracts them with a force they can not control. They're helplessly tossed by the waves of fashion. It makes them dress in a certain way, wear the kind of hairstyle the others wear, pierce their ears or tattoo their skin, listen to music, read magazines and talk like them.

Why are our children the slaves of fashion?
In the very moment they appear, the clothes become the great allies of adolescents. How they dress defines who they are. For a boy or a girl it's not unimportant to be someone, even the laziest have their reasons to exist. The concern about the clothes starts early for them and affects them greatly.
One might interpret it as fashion. The youth fashion (some would call it subculture) allows them to identify with their group and stand in defiance of the adult values. Wearing saggy pants (which no longer have their waist in the waist) or stretched, huge sweatshirts, tight shirts with drawings, numbers and letters, tops that do not reach the navel, messy sneakers, an arrow through the tongue or glasses without lenses allows them to distance themselves from the adult world - in fact, their parents would be ridiculous looking like that. That makes them feel better, perhaps because their parrents feel worse.
They use clothing as a system of signs to communicate with their peers, with whom they share the same code. Parents do not interpret that language in the same way, so they don't usually get along with their children in this topic and it often becomes a source of conflict.

The clothing communicates
Clothing is a means of communication: it allows you to say many things about yourself and adolescents have realized that a picture is worth a thousand words and want to use it to express themselves.
Young kids accept the clothes their moms and dads choose, but as they grow, they become more vocal with their opinions and both parents have to come to terms with them. Teenagers know what they want. They don't just pick their clothes, they define who they are: different, autonomous and capable of making their own decisions.
With clothing, hairstyles and ornaments, they seek to affirm their own identity, reflecting their uniqqueness and originality. But in reality all teenagers are dressed similarly, and what they truly accomplish is showing and communicating what characterizes their generation.
They are proud of their clothing, because instinctively they observe their peers and mimic them. This way, they feel appreciated for adapting to the group, and each item of clothing is a sign of belonging to it.

They're generally interchangeable, but "hard" in this context is broader and hints more at the amount of effort required than the set of skills and abilities you need to possess. For example, digging a garden is not really difficult (since it's easy to learn, and doesn't require any superhuman strength), but is pretty hard (since it takes a lot of time and leaves you tired). You can almost always use "hard" in place of "difficult", but not always the other way. If you find English difficult (ie. it extends your learning capabilities), you will also find it hard (since it will require a lot of effort from you to learn it properly).

Subtle. :) The Beatles sang "Help, I need somebody / Help, not just anybody" - and that's the most general explanation: "somebody" (and other some- words) refers to an unknown/unspecified person, while "anybody" refers to *any* person - with a stronger accent on that part. For example, if you want to tell somebody something, you have a certain thing on mind, and when you want to tell somebody anything, you just want to talk to them, no matter what about. There are a lot more subtleties to that, and in some context the words can't be used interchangeably. Here's a good place to start: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=197248

Yes, sure.

"Offender" refers specifically to a person, whereas "culprit" can refer to objects, animals, or even abstract concepts. For example, when a machine fails, the broken wire might be a culprit - but is not an offender. Also, you can use the term "offender" to describe a person in general (eg. "notorious offender" meaning somebody who notoriously perpetrates crimes), whereas "culprit" is usually used in context of a particular case. Also, "offender" is very rarely used outside of criminal context. If you break your mother's vase, you're a culprit, but hardly an offender. "Offender" also usually implies some sort of malice, while "culprit" is merely a person who commited something bad or contributed to it.