Discuss the problems of family life in our country

UNIT 1. RELATIONS

 

I. WORD STUDY

Read and learn new words and word combinations

family: traditional/ extended/ one-partner family/ foster family	семья: традиционная/ большая (включающая помимо родителей и детей, также ближайших родственников)/ неполная семья/ приемная семья
distant/ close relative	далекий/ близкий родственник
relationship	отношения, родство
pedigree	родословная
family tree	генеалогическое древо
family member	член семьи
be brought up	воспитываться
upbringing	воспитание
to get on	ладить, уживаться
adult	взрослый
childhood	детство
generation	поколение
to be born	родиться
to be from/ to come from	быть родом откуда-то
to live	жить
mother-in-law	теща, свекровь
father-in-law	тесть, свекор
wedding	свадьба, бракосочетание
marriage	брак
bride	невеста
bridegroom	жених
divorce	развод
widow	вдова
widower	вдовец

Match the words to the definitions

1.	nickname	a)	a family that is formed on the remarriage of a divorced or widowed person and that includes one or more children
2.	stepfather	b)	a sister with whom one has only one parent in common
3.	stepmother	c)	a person, typically one more remote than a grandparent, from one is descended
4.	half-sister	d)	the legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body
5.	half-brother	e)	a man who has lost his wife by death and has not remarried
6.	stepfamily	f)	a man who is married to one’s mother after the divorce of one’s parents or the death of one’s father
7.	ancestor	g)	name given in addition to or altered from or used instead of the real name
8.	divorce	h)	the husband of one’s daughter
9.	son-in-law	i)	a woman who is married to one’s father after the divorce of one’s parents or the death of one’s mother
10.	widower	j)	a brother with whom one has only one parent in common

Fill in the gaps with the words in the box

father-in-law, aunts, mother, daughter-in-law, sons, father, youngest, step-father, uncles, husband, parents, twins, wife, step-mother, son-in-law, daughters, mother-in-law, relatives, cousins.

When two persons are married, a man is called the ___; the woman becomes his ___. When a child is born in the family, the father and mother of the child are called ___. A family generally consists of a ___, a ___ and children – ___ or ___ or both. The first born child is the ___, the last born – the ___. Two children that are born together are called ___.

The father and mother of the husband become the ___ (in law – by marriage), and ___ of the wife. The husband is the ___; the wife is the ___; they have brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.

The other members of the family are the ___: uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.

The brothers and sisters of any of the parents become the ___ and ___ of the children. The children of two married brothers or sisters or brother and sister are ___ to each other.

In case of a second marriage, we speak of a ___ or ___, step-son and step-daughter.

 

II. READING

4. Before you read answer the questions:

Who do you live with?

Do other members of your family live near you, or do you have to travel to see them?

Read the text

Modern families

What is a “traditional” family nowadays? With more and more couples choosing not to get married, and with the number of divorces and second marriages increasing, the idea of the “traditional” family (two married parents, an average of two children, grandparents living nearby) is rapidly disappearing in some countries. Here are some personal examples and statistics from the English-speaking world.

 

Families	in the USA	in the UK
Marriages that end in divorce	50 %	33 %
Families with only one parent	25 %	25 %
Children who live in a single-parent home at some time	50 %	33 %
Children whose parents aren’t married	33 %	40 %
Single parents who are men	10 %	10 %

 

I'm Callum, and I live with my parents in Cambridge, in the east of England. We moved here when I was five because of Dad's job, but my mum comes from the north of England, and Dad comes from Scotland. I've got agrandma in Edinburgh and agranddad in Yorkshire. And I've got two cousins who live near London, because that's where Dad's sister and her husband live. We see my cousins about three times a year, and we go up to Edinburgh every New Year, but I can't remember when I last saw my granddad in Yorkshire. He always sends me presents, though!

My name's Meera, and I live in Wolverhampton, near Birmingham, in England. I live with my parents, my brother and my sister. My grandmother lives next door. My mum was born here in Britain, but my grandmother moved here from India in the 1960s when my dad was a little boy. My dad has two sisters - Auntie Sunita and Auntie Rani. Auntie Sunita lives in the same street as us, and Auntie Rani lives in Birmingham, which is only 15 miles away. They're both married, and I've got five cousins. We see them almost every week. Someone is always visiting our house, or we go to Birmingham to see them. And two years ago we all went to India to see our family there.

I'm Ben, from Portland, Oregon, and my family is a bit complicated! I've got a sister called Ella, but three years ago my parents got divorced and now both of them are re-married. We live with my mom, Julie, and my stepfather, Bob. Bob's got a daughter called Daisy, but she doesn't live with us, she lives with her mom. My father's name is Pete. He and his second wife have just had a baby boy, Charles, so I've got a new half-brother!

My name's Trudi, and I've got a sister called Beth. Our mum and dad are divorced, so we live with just our mum in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Our dad has an apartment in the centre of town, and we spend every other weekend there. After school every day we go to our grandma's house and have a meal there, because our mum doesn't finish work until six o'clock. She collects us at half past six, except on Wednesday evenings when we go swimming with our dad.

 

6. Answer the questions:

a) How many people do Callum, Meera, Ben and Trudi share a house with?

b) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the four family situations in the text? Discuss with a partner.

c) Which of the children according to this text lives in a single-parent family/ in a stepfamily?

 

7. Underline the correct alternatives to complete the sentences.

a) Callum’s aunt and uncle/ grandparents live near London.

b) Callum often/ sometimes sees his cousins.

c) Meera’s aunts both live near/ far away.

d) Meera often/ rarely sees her cousins.

e) Daisy is Ben’s half-sister/ stepfather.

f) Julie is Pete’s ex-wife/ stepmother.

g) Trudi’s mum and dad live in different places/ together.

h) Trudi never sees her dad/ sees her dad regularly.

 

Read the dialogue

Interviewer: How many children does the average family have?

Sanna: Most families have two children.

Interviewer: Who looks after the children? Is it just the parents, or the grandparents as well?

Sanna: I'd say just the parents. Grandparents help out in the holiday times normally, but it's unusual for them to look after babies.

Interviewer: Do the grandparents have a role in bringing up the children?

Sanna: I think that tends to happen far more. My family – my dad's parents – gave my parents a lot of advice and help in bringing us up. Even though they far away, they had a lot of say in how we were brought up.

Interviewer: Do you think it’s important for a brother to look after his sister?

Sanna: Well, yes, my brother will look after me, and I will look after my brother. But the whole family looks after me, and not just my brother. I think Finnish women are very equal, so when we were younger it was more usual that I would look after my brother, because I was older than him.

Interviewer: If children don't live with their parents anymore, how often do they see them?

Sanna: Personally, I'd see them, I'd say, once a week, twice a week. Most people work, so it's not really possible to see them every day, but at least once a week if I lived very nearby. And I think there'd be a lot of phone calls as well.

Interviewer: What type of activities does a family do together?

Sanna: With my family, we would just sit and chat, we could go and do sports, go for walks, but it very much depends on the family. Interviewer: If parents give money to their adult children, should it be paid back?

Sanna: The parents won't expect the money back, but the children will pay it back.

Interviewer: What do you think are the most important values to teach children?

Sanna: I think respect for their parents, but also for other people.

Discuss the problems of family life in our country

Exchange opinions in accordance with the plan:

• size of average family

• upbringing

• finance

• family activities

• important values

Use the following phrases:

What do you think, …?

How about you, …?

How do you see it?

What are your views?

That's a difficult question.

It's difficult to say.

Well, how to put it…

I mean, …

I'm really sure, but.....

It's true that...... but on the other hand