In my opinion, From my point of view

If you ask me As far as I am able to judge

I don’t think That’s not a good/ bad idea that

The first transaction between even ordinary citizens – and the first chance to make an impression for better or worse - is, of course, an exchange of names. In America there usually is not very much to get wrong. And even if you do, so what?

Not so elsewhere. Especially in the Eastern Hemisphere, where name frequently denotes social rank or family status, a mistake can be an outright insult. So can switching to a given name without the other person’s permission, even when you think the situation calls for it.

“What would you like me to call you?” is always the opening line of one overseas deputy director for an international telecommunications corporation. “Better to ask several times,” he advises, “than to get it wrong. Even then, I err on the side of formality until asked to “Call me Joe”.” Another frequent traveler insists his company provide him with a list of key people he will meet, country by country, surnames underlined, to be memorized on the flight over.

Just when you think you have broken the international name code, they switch the rules on you. Take Latin America. Most people’s names are a combination of the father’s and mother’s names with only the father’s name used in conversation. In the Spanish-speaking countries the father’s name comes first. Hence, Carlos Mendoza-Miller is called Mr. Mendoza. But in Portuguese-speaking Brazil it is the other way round, with the mother’s name first.

In the Orient the Chinese system of putting a surname first, a given name last does not always apply. The Taiwanese, many of whom were educated in missionary schools, often have a Christian first name, which comes before any of the others – as in Tommy Ho Chin, who should be called Mr. Ho or, to his friends, Tommy Ho. Also, given names are often officially changed to initials, and Y.Y. Lang is Y.Y.; never mind what is stands for. In Korea, which of a man’s names takes a Mr. is determined by whether he is his father’s first or second son. Although in Thailand names run backwards, in Chinese style, the Mr. is put with the given name, and to a Thai it is just as important to be called by his given name as it is for a Japanese to be addressed by his surname. With the latter, incidentally, you can in a very friendly relationship respond to his using your first name by dropping the Mr. and adding san to his last name, as in Ishikawa-san.

But the safest course remains: ask.

1.24. Read the poem, translate it and express your opinion about it. Learn the poem by heart. Have you heard about Emily Dickinson before? Try to find out some information about her and present it to class.

I’m Nobody.

Who Are You?

I’m Nobody. Who are you?

Are you Nobody too?

Then there’s a pair of us!

Don’t tell. They’d banish us – you know. - send (us) away

How dreary to be Somebody. - dull, depressing

How public, like a frog,

Who tells his name the livelong day

To an admiring bog! - wet, marshy place

WRITING

1.25. Look at the chart and guess the full names for these common English nicknames and write them down.

1. Joe ___________ 7. Ginny _______________

2. Dot (Dottie) ____ 8. Barbie _______________

3. Tony __________ 9. Bob _________________

4. Chris __________ 10. Chuck ______________
5. Mike __________ 11. Jess ________________

6. Nick __________ 12. Dick ________________

1.26. What nicknames are used for these names? Can you guess?

1. Edward _______________ 6. Frederick ______________

2. Patricia _______________ 7. Samuel ________________

3. Ann __________________ 8. Jennifer ________________

4. Stephen _______________ 9. Matthew _______________

5. Nickolas ______________ 10. Megan ________________

	1.27. Write five or more sentences about your name in Russian. Is the last name written first? Do you have a nickname? What is the origin of your name? Does your name have a religious meaning? Does it refer to a place, an animal, or an occupation? Your class may decide to combine all the papers into a class name list.
	1.28. What do you think about women keeping their maiden names after marriage? Write your opinion in five-ten sentences. Compare your opinions with those of your partners and discuss them as a class.
	1.29. a) Match the words with the parts of the business card. b) Make up your business card. You can invent your job and the company you work for.

Address ___ telephone number ___

Company name ____ fax number _________

Zip code (BrE postcode) ____ job title ____________
e-mail address ____________ web site ____________

Area code ________________

HOLDER (3) 20344 Mack Avenue ENTERPRISES (1) Grosse Point Michigan 48236 (4) (5) (313) 278-1351 (6)   Howard Skyring(313) 278-(7)1355 (fax) (2) IT Consultant [email protected](8) www.holdernet.com(9)

Unit 2.

People Around Me. My Family and Myself.

The we of me.

Carson McCullers

Recommended grammar:

Possessives. Adjectives and Adverbs. Prepositions of time and place. Auxiliaries.

BUILDING-UP YOUR VOCABULARY

2.1. a) Study the nouns denoting the most important relatives. b) Make up a story, explaining the meanings of all the words from the chart. You can start the story like in the model below.

When two persons are married, the man is called the husband, the woman becomes his wife. When a child is born in the family, the father and the mother of the child are called parents. A family usually consists of a father, a mother and children – sons and daughters or both …

	male	female
your parents’ parents	grandfather	grandmother
your grandparents’ parents	great-grandfather	great-grandmother
your parents’ brother and sister	uncle	aunt
your aunt’s/uncle’s children	cousin	cousin
your parents’ cousins’ children	second cousin	second cousin
the father and mother of the person you marry	father-in-law	mother-in-law
the brother and sister of the person you marry	brother-in-law	sister-in-law
your brother’s /sister’s child	nephew	niece
the person you marry dies, so you are a …	widower	widow
your mother or father remarries, so you have a …	step-father	step-mother
a husband or a wife	spouse	spouse
if both parents die, an orphan (=parentless child) may be adopted by a …	foster father	foster mother
your sister or brother	sibling	sibling
a person you are descended from, especially one who lived a long ago	forefather	-

	2.2. Complete the sentences with the correct word or word combination.

1.My ________’s name is Carol.

a) father b) mother c) brother2. She was married to my ______________.a) father b) grandmother c) husband3. My mother and father like flowers; my _____________ like flowers.a) families b) parents c) siblings4. My mother married again. Her new husband, Tom, is my ________.a) spouse b) father-in-law c) step-father5. My mother has a daughter; she is my _____________.a) niece b) cousin c) sister6. She is twenty years old and I am twelve. She is my _________ sister.a) elder b) aged c) older7. My mother’s son is only ten years old. He is my ________________.a) younger sibling b) youngest c) younger brother8. My mother’s new husband Tom has a daughter who is five. She is my ____.a) sister-in-law b) step-sister c) younger sister9. My mother’s parents and my father’s parents are my ______________.a) grandparents b) great-grandparents c) forefathers10. My grandparents’ parents are my _____________________.a) grand-grandparents b) great-grandparents c) greatparents11. My mother has a sister, Azza. She is my ______________.a) grandsister b) niece c) aunt12. Azza’s husband is my ___________.a) grandbrother b) uncle c) aunt13. Their daughter is my _____________.a) niece b) nephew c) cousin14. My elder sister has two children. Her little boy is my _______.a) niece b) nephew c) cousin15. My sister’s daughter is my _______.a) cousin b) niece c) grandsister16. The son of my mother is the ________ of my grandparents.a) grandson b) uncle c) nephew17. My grandfather’s sister’s son is my mother’s ______________.a) uncle b) nephew c) cousin18. My sister is married. Her husband is my ___________.a) brother-in-law b) step-father c) uncle19. The father of my sister’s husband is her ___________.a) uncle b) step-father c) father-in-law20. The daughter of my father is the ________ of his parents.a) step-daughter b) niece c) granddaughter

	2.3. Fill out these charts in English.

РОДСТВЕННИКИ
ДЛЯ ЖЕНЫ	ДЛЯ МУЖА
свёкор	отец мужа	тёща	мать жены
свекровь	мать мужа	тесть	отец жены
деверь	брат мужа	свояченица	сестра жены
золовка	сестра мужа	шурин	брат жены
свояк	муж золовки	свояченица	жена шурина
свояченица	жена деверя	свояк	жениной сестры муж
ДЛЯ РОДИТЕЛЕЙ, СЕСТРЫ, БРАТА
невестка	жена сына, жена брата
зять	муж дочери, муж сестры
сват	отец невесты/ки, отец зятя, жениха
сваха	мать зятя, мать невестки

2.4. In English there are special words to describe different stages of human life. Find the Russian equivalent to each stage and think of a relative or friend to match each stage.

AgeStage0-1 approximately a baby1-2 a toddler2-12 approximately a child – this period is your childhood13-17 approximately a teenager(14=early teens)18+ an adult(a person comes of age)20-30 in your twenties (24-26= mid-twenties)30-40 in your thirties (38= late thirties)40+ people are middle-aged; in middle age60 or 65 retirement (= when people stop work; they are retired)75+ old age(you can also say elderly)

Note: For boys, the period between 14-17 approximately (slightly younger for girls) is called adolescence,i.e. you are an adolescent. In law you are an adult at the age of 18, but many people think of you as an adult when you leave school.

2.5. Put each of the following words or phrases in its correct place in the passage below.