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 beleive 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 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 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 the years when we all get together. Moreover we like being together on Christmas, give presents to each other, have a great Christmas dinner and have fun all together.

Interview How long have you been learning English? I started learning English in 1995, when I was at school. But I've been learning it seriously for about five years now. I used to attend English classes but now I study English by myself. What do you find easy/difficult about learning English? Well, it's quite easy to find learning materials and films and books in English. Moreover, I believe that learning grammar is not very hard, I think it's my strong point about learning English. The most difficult for me is spelling, I guess, and, may be, the vast vocabulary, huge amount of phrasal verbs, idioms. Sometimes the same word have different meaning, it drives me crazy! Can you remember your first English lesson? Yes, I can. It was so difficult and at the same time it was a thrilling experience. I was in the fifth form at school. My teacher asked me "What is your name?" I was so embarressed, I couldn't pronounce a word! It was awful. How will you use your English in the future? Well, personally, I would like to become an English teacherin the nearest future, because there's a lack of English teachers in my area and a huge number of those who wants to learn English.

FCE essay [b]Task: Give opinion on the following statement: There are many things that young people can learn from the older generation.[/b] Some young people behave as if there is nothing to learn from the older generation. But are they right? On the one hand you can get the information about important historical events from your grandparents or great grandparents, their style of life. You can also get advice about your own life, for example, the choice of future profession, relationships. And the most important is the opportunity to learn how to treat other people and respect differences between them. However, some of their advice can be irrelevant because many elderly people don't understand popular culture, latest clothing trends or music. Moreover, the World is changing all the time. Pace of life is a lot faster these days. Technologies are developing rapidly. So these are younger people who are often able to teach the older generation how to use the Internet or mobile phone. All in all, there is no doubt that the older generation's experience is priceless and younger people should take it into account.

Writing practice TASK: to write an email FROM: Natalia SENT: 25 September SUBJECT: Answers to your questions Hi Rupert I'm glad to hear that you are going to attend our school for a term. Yes, of course, I can answer all your questions. Unfortunately we have no pool at our school, but there are three good swimming-pools in our city, one of them is not far from school. There is a computer lab with over fifty modern computers connected with the Internet in our school. Its opening hours are from 10 am to 6 pm every day except Sunday. But you can't use it for your personal purposes, only for your homework! There also many after-school activities at our school. For example, I play basketball three times a week. My best friend plays chess and my younger sister goes to drama club. I like my school because I have a lot of friends there and I think our teachers are excellent too! See you soon. Natalia