Family Relationships

Family relationships are an important part of our lives, from birth of children, to weddings, to our old age. However, learning to get along with everyone is sometimes a challenge.

There are five people in my family, and my parents still have a cat and a dog. I have two older brothers, and the oldest one works as a graphic designer for a computer company. My other brother is a manager of a bank in our hometown. My dad is retired, but he keeps himself busy hiking, taking care of his grandchildren, and volunteering in the community. My mum still runs a flower shop.

My grandmother lives around the corner from our house; my grandfather passed away about a year ago, but grandma keeps busy in her garden. I guess you could say that we're a pretty close family. We like doing things together, mainly because we have so many things in common.

to get along with everyone – обходитися з кожним

a challenge - складне завдання, проблема

Exercise 7. Answer the questions:

1. What is a challenge in the family?

2. What do the family members do?

3. Why do they like doing things together?

Exercise 8. Complete the sentences:

Parents and Сhildren

a) listen; b) spoilt; c) mistakes; d) bring up; e) overindulge; f) gap; g) foundation; h) boundaries; i) teenage.

The role of parents is to protect and (1) ... their children. They have to give them a good (2) ... in order for them to acquire the proper skills of independance and autonomy.

Although children are bound to make (3) ... , parents can encourage their children by setting a good example. In other words, for children to learn proper behaviour, parents will need to set (4) ... for their children. But parents should set limits with patience and understanding. It doesn't help that grandparents like to (5) ... their grandchildren. And some children have been so (6) ... that they develop destructive behaviours. For parents, the generation (7) ... can lead to misunderstanding. But parents need to (8) ... as well as teach.

Despite all of these things, children may become disobedient during their (9) ... years and they will want to break free. But hopefully the parents will have given them enough of a foundation that they'll be able to develop individually.

to overindulge – надмірно захоплюватися, зловживати

bring up – виховувати

gap – прогалина

foundation – фундамент, основа

boundaries – межі, границі, кордони

to acquire – здобувати

to be bound – бути зобов’язаним

to encourage - підтримувати

to set a good example – наводити хороший приклад

spoilt – зіпсований

destructive - згубний, шкідливий

behaviour - поведінка

generation - покоління

lead to misunderstanding – привести до непорозуміння

although – хоча, незважаючи на

in other words – іншими словами

despite – незважаючи на

disobedient [disә ΄bidjәnt] - неслухняний

patience - терплячість

Exercise 9. Read and translate the following dialogues.

Discuss after reading:

1. Tell if such a situation has ever happened in your life.

2. How would you behave in such a situation? What would you say in response?

3. How do these situations characterise parents and children?