А) About Parents and Family.

Words and expressions.

1. family

2. sense of stability and tradition

3. support and understanding

4. “My home is my castle”

5. “East or West, home is best”

6. wise

7. to feel lost

17. to feel safe

18. nothing can discourage me

19. parents are frank and honest with their children

20. to learn how to form relationship among the equals

21. consist of

8. to be strong both in body and character

9. to be generous and full of joy

10. to be very busy

11. to have little time for private life

12. a good professional

13. a woman of character

22. to be well-bread

23. to be warm-hearted

24.to have a thin face

25.to have grey eyes

26. to have a snub nose

27. to have curly ash-blond long hair

14. to be married

15. to have a family of (her, his) own

16. to be funny and curious

28. remote relatives

29. to do the house work

30. to live in Belarus

31. from time to time

Relations by birth: parents (father, mother), child (children), son, daughter, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandparents (grandmother, grandfather), grandchildren, cousin..

Relations by marriage: husband, wife, mother-in-law, stepmother.

Marital status: married, unmarried, single, divorced, widowed, bachelor.

Sex: male, female.

Occupations:lawyer, engineer, computer operator, housewife, businessman

(-woman), economist, accountant, secretary, security guard, salesman (- woman), office clerk.

I believe that everything has its beginning in the family. Family is very important for every person, because it gives you a sense of stability and tradition, a feeling of having a support and understanding. The English say “My home is my castle” or “East or West, home is best” and I’m sure these sayings are very wise. There are moments in our life when one feels lost and nothing is left but a deep sigh. But I feel safe, the little world within my family is perfect, and nothing can discourage me now. When I’m discouraged, I come to my parents. I tell them my feelings and ask them to help me understand why I’m depressed. In happy families parents are frank and honest with their children, they treat their children without moralizing them all the time and children learn how to form relationship among their equals.

My family consists of my father, my mother and my sister. My father’s name is Ivan Petrovich. He is 47 years old. He is strong both in body and character. He is generous and full of joy. He can make different things with his own hands. At present he is a director of a large plant. He is very busy, always concentrated on his work and has little time for private life.

My mother’s name is Irina Ivanovna. She is an economist. She is very interested in her work; she is a good professional. My mother is a woman of character, well-bread , tactful and fair. She is warm-hearted and at the same time practical. She has got a thin oval attractive face, grey eyes and a snub nose, curly ash-blond long hair. She does all the housework; we try to help her.

Mum understands me in the way no other person would and she means a lot to me.

My sister Mary is about 25. She is married. She has a family of her own. She has two sons. The boys are funny and curious.

I have many remote relatives: two grandmothers, aunts and cousins. All of them live in Belarus and we get together from time to time.

That’s all I can say about my family. If you have any questions you are welcome.

1. (b) About Myself.

Words and expressions.

Let me introduce myself.

1. full name

2. to be born on the... of...

3. appearance

4.to be tall (short, average)

5. to be short-sighted

6. to wear spectacles

7. stars influence our fate and character

18. Aries

19. to be full of energy

20. to be ambitious

21. to be frank

22. hot tempered

23. to apologize

24. rather reserved

25. to be calm

8. to be modest.

9. to be angry

10. to be sad

11. to have sense of humour

12. appreciate

13. unfortunately

14. to be witty

26. to be sincere

27. to be tolerant

28. to be friendly

29. to be faithful

30. to be hard-working

31. to like and dislike

32. knowledge is useful

15. playing the guitar

16. reading

17. going to the theatre

33. to be fond of...

34. to be not keen on...

35. to hate

Astrological signs: Capricorn (23 Des.- 20 Jan.), Aquarius (21 Jan.-18 Feb.),

Pisces (19 Feb.-20 March), Aries (21 March-20 Apr.), Taurus (21 Apr.-21 May),

Gemini (22 May-21 June), Cancer (22 June-22 July), Leo (23 July-22 Aug.),

Virgo (23 Aug.-22 Sep.), Libra (23 Sep.-22 Oct.), Scorpio (23 Oct.-22 Nov.),

Sagittarius (23 Nov.- 22 Des.).

Let me introduce myself. My full name is Andrei Andreevich Ivanov. I was born on the 29^th of March 1985 in Minsk, where I live now together with my parents and my younger sister.

As to my appearance, I’m rather tall, i.e. 180 centimetres tall, but not of a very powerful built. My hair is dark and my eyes are blue. I am shortsighted and I have to wear spectacles most of the time.

I believe that stars influence our fate and character, so as you see I am Aries. They say that Aries is full of energy, a leader, ambitious and frank, likes sport, hot tempered, but quick to apologize. Partially it is true. I think I am even-tempered, rather reserved, calm and modest. But sometimes I can lose my temper and become either angry or sad.

I’ve got a sense of humour; I understand humour and appreciate it. But unfortunately, I’m not often witty myself. Besides I’m sincere and tolerant, friendly and faithful, hard working and serious.

There are many things in our life, which I like, and some I dislike. I like when everything is OK. Being happy is one way of being wise. I like to study, because knowledge is useful. My favourite occupation is playing the guitar, reading and going to the theatre. I’m fond of the music of the 60-s, like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presly. I’m fond of sport as well. I’m not keen on television; I rarely watch it. I getting up early and dislike overcrowded buses. I’m happy I have got more things I like than I dislike. That’s all I can say about myself.

C) About Myself.

Words and expressions .

1. mid twenties

2. slender athletic build

do not smoke

4. drugs

5. to work ... hours a day

6. day off

11. to enjoy

12. gardening

13. cooking

14. good physical shape

15. military history

7. international law

8. a healthy life

9. a home of my dreams

16. never stop growing spiritually

17. to share (with)

10. a well rounded person 18. to be majoring in

Allow me to introduce myself to you. My name is John and I am single, male in my mid twenties. I have blond hair, blue-eyes, slender athletic build. I do not smoke.

I do not drink and I don’t do any type of drugs.

I work for a large business company in California. I usually work 10-12 hours

a day and have three days off. I’m majoring in History and German, which I will use to study international law. I hope to be able to study law for use between the U.S. and Europe.

When I’m not busy with work and studies, I enjoy spending time and relaxing with friends. I also enjoy gardening, cooking, keeping in good physical shape, reading and researching military history. The things I hope to achieve in life are to have a very successful career, a healthy life, to build a home of my dreams and to become a well rounded person, never stop growing spiritually and learning about the world. What I hope for most is to find someone in life to share all this with.

A) My working day.

Words and expressions.

1. Finance Law Department

2. Law School

3. academic year

4. classes

5. to attend lectures regularly

6. (not) to miss

7. to have a shower

8. to dress

9. to brush hair

10. to have breakfast (dinner, supper)

11. toasted bread

12. fried eggs

13. hostel

14. it takes me ... minutes to get to the...

15. to take notes

16. twice a year we take our exams

17. to do something meaningful in the adult world

I study at the Finance Law Department of the Belarus Law School. I want to be a lawyer. Our academic year begins in September. We have our classes in the morning. I attend lectures regularly. I do not miss my lectures and seminars.

On weekdays I usually get up at 7 o’clock and do my morning exercises. Then I have a shower, get dressed, brush my hair and have breakfast. For breakfast I usually have toasted bread, fried eggs and tea or coffee.

I live in the hostel. It is not very far from the Institute. It takes me 10 minutes to get there. Our lessons begin at half past eight. I go to the classroom, take my books and notebooks out of the bag and put them on the desk. We have lectures and practical lessons every day.

We study the law and judiciary, computer programming, economics, civil law, criminal law, the theory of business, history and some other subjects. We take notes at our lectures and prepare for our practical lessons at home. At our seminars we discuss different questions concerning law and judiciary. It is not easy to study law, but we do our best. Twice a year we take our exams in different aspects of law and other subjects. We should prepare for our exams carefully. We try to work hard because we are eager to do something meaningful in the adult world.

After classes I go home and have dinner and a short rest. I am not fond of television, but sometimes I like to watch an interesting film. Before falling asleep I have supper, read books or listen to music. Usually I go to bed at 11 o’clock.

B) My working day.

Words and expressions.

1. a freshman

2. housing

3. opportunities

4. to rent a flat

5. to share my room with another boy

6. to turn on (off) the radio

7. to leave the house

8. to pass my exams successfully

9. occasionally I have to stay at the Institute till...

Hi, nice to meet you all.

My name is Nick Ivanov. I am a freshman at the Institute of Law. My parents live in Gomel, but I decided to study in Minsk, so I needed some housing. There were two opportunities for me: I could live in a students hostel or rent a flat. I decided to rent a room. To make the rent smaller, I also decided to share my room with another boy. He studies at the Institute too and he is my best friend now.

Now let me describe my usual working day. My classes begin at 8.30. So on weekdays I have to get up at 7. 15. I don’t have an alarm clock and usually my roommate wakes me up and my working day begins.

I turn on the radio and do my morning exercises while he takes a shower. Then I take a cool shower, brush my teeth. After that I go back to our room and get dressed. I brush my hair and have breakfast. I love to listen to the latest news on the radio while I am eating. We leave the house around 8 and walk to the nearest bus stop. We live rather close to the Institute and it usually takes us about 10-15 minutes to get there by bus. The classes begin at 8. 30 in the morning and they end at 2 p.m.. We have lectures in different subjects. As a rule we have three or four classes a day. Sometimes it is very hard to wait till they end. Usually I don’t miss my classes because I want to pass my exams successfully. Occasionally I have to stay at the Institute till 5 or even 6 o’clock because I go to the library to get ready for my classes or to write a report. By the end of the week I get very tired.

At about 7 o’clock we have supper together and share the news. After supper we wash dishes, drink coffee and watch TV. At about 11 at night I go to bed. I like to read something before going to bed. It calms me down after a long day.

3. My Institute.

Words and expressions.

1. a commercial Institution of Higher Education

2. to train

3. main building

4. three departments

5. in the sphere of foreign economic activity

6. merchant law

7. advocating and notary regulations

8. tax and banking.

9. skilled lectures

10. is headed by

11. to be at the disposal of...

12. the curriculum for full-time (part-time) students

13. correspondence department

14. field department offices

15. to give a solid background in all spheres of knowledge

Every year a lot of young men and women enter Universities and Institutes of Higher Education in Belarus. I’m very glad to tell you that now I’m a first year student at the Belorussian Law Institute. I should like to tell you some words about my Institute.

Our Institute was opened in 1991. It is a commercial Institution of Higher Education. The Institute is headed by Rector Stephen Sokol, Professor and Doctor of Law. Our Institute trains lawyers in economy, finance, international relations, accounting, analysis and auditing.

The main building of our Institute is modern and nice. It is situated in Korolya Street. There are three departments at our Institute. The department of International Economic Relations and International Law trains lawyer in the sphere of foreign economic activities and international merchant law. The law department trains specialists in economics law, in the sphere of advocating and notary regulations. The Economic department trains managers in the sphere of banking and tax. Many skilled lectures and professors teach at our Institute.

Modern computer classes, a lot of lecture and classrooms, a cafe and a library are at the disposal of our students. So we have good opportunities to master the subjects.

The first two years of study are generally the most difficult. The students usually have a lot of seminars, lectures and classes. We study Philosophy and Economy, crime Psychology and Criminalistics, special courses of Detective Activities, tax and banking.

Student’s life is a very full one, both academically and culturally.

We have holidays at the end of each set of examinations.

The curriculum for full-time students is differ from part-time students. As for me I study at a correspondence department.

Our Institute has field department offices in Mogilev, Baranovichi and Grodno. The graduates work at different business firms as legal advisers, at industrial enterprises and judicial offices.

I am happy that I study here. It is one of the finest higher educational institutions. Many famous people of Belarus have graduated from our Institute. Studying at our Institute gives a solid background in all spheres of knowledge and prepares for practical work.