UNIT 1

PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION

Topic for Communication: Getting to Know Each Other

Language Use: Greeting, addressing and introducing people

Grammar Focus: To be, to have

Part A

READING AND SPEAKING

Think ahead

Think about the kind of person you are. What is your background? What is remarkable about you? In what way are you similar and different from your groupmates / others?

Ex. 1. Introduce yourself to your group or to some of your groupmates..

Model:

• Hello, everybody. I’m Nick Salt. I’m a first year student of philosophy.

• Hi, Nick. I’m Ann and this is Mary. We are your groupmates.

• Nice meeting you. How do you like being students?

Ex. 2. Find out about your groupmates (their birthplace, nationality, age, family, etc.). Use the following dialogues as models.

Model A:

• What's your full name?

• My full name is Ivanov Alexander Petrovich. Ivanov is my surname/family name. Alexander (Alex for short) is my Christian (first, personal) name. Petrovich is my patronimic. Call me Alex by my first name.

Model B:

• Where do you come from?

• I come from Minsk.

• What's your address?

• My full address is: 15, Pushkin street, Minsk, Belarus, 220089.

• Have you got a telephone? What's your telephone number?

• It's 253-88-01 (two, five, three, double eight, o, one).

Model C:

• How old are you? When and where were you born?

• I was born on October 9, 1980, so I'm nearly 18. I come from Brest, Actually I'm Belarusian, though my grandmother was a Pole.

Model D:

• Have you got a family?

• I'm not married yet and I live in my parents' house.

• What relation is Mrs. Black to you?

• She is my aunt.

Ex. 2. Read what people say about themselves. Be ready to speak about yourself. Ask questions about your friends and their and families.

Hello! My name is Marina. I’m 19 years old and I come from a town called Novogrudok. I’m a student and I live at a hostel. I study at the University. My elder brother is also a student of the University and lives at a hostel too. We are going to become historians.

***

Many people consider me a very unique individual. However, I do not consider myself to possess too much of a unique personality. In fact, my home life is rather common. I live with my family of a mother, a father, and three brothers. I sometimes feel like the home routine restricts me and my individuality. Many nights I’ve stayed awake late into the night, looking at the stars and dreaming of what lies beyond my mind and senses. I know so little about the outside world, perhaps like a man named Truman from the film I have recently seen. Truman lives inside a TV studio which he believes is the real world and his reality is a television programme. I sympathize with Truman. In a way I’m like him.

***

I suppose the first thing you need to know is my name. It's Karl Heinrich Heine. Heine is my family name and Karl Heinrich are my first names, but my friends normally call me Karl. As you can guess I live in Germany and of course I'm German. I've just left school and I'm going to London University to Study English. I've always enjoyed English and that's why I've come to England this summer to follow an English course. I've been in England since July, 5 and I'm staying until the end of September. I hope that by that time I'll be able to speak English perfectly, but at the moment everything still seems to be very difficult.

Ex. 3. Read the dialogue about Nick and Peter who share the room in the hostel. Make up a dialogue by analogy.

N.: Pleased to meet you. My name is Nick and yours?

P.: My full name is Peter Popov. I am very glad to share a room with you in the hostel. I think we’ll get on well together?

N.: I hope so. What year student are you?

P.: I’m a first-year student of the law faculty, I’m 17. And you?

N.: I am in my second-year. You see, I entered the University after the Army. So I’ll be 22 in two days.

P.: My best congratulations, Nick. You were born in 1987, the same as my elder brother. His birthday is September, 25. And what place do you come from?

N.: I was born in Vitebsk region. It’s rather far from here. My family lives in the country. And what about your family?

P.: My parents live in Molodechno. It’s not far from Minsk. It takes me two hours to get there by electric train. My father is a technician and my mother is a bookkeeper. I am an only child in our family. And have you got brothers or sisters?

N.: Oh, my family is very large. I have both parents, grandparents, two sisters and a brother. This is our family photo.

P.: Great! Do you all live together?

N.: Fancy that! We all live in a big private house. The remarkable thing is that we practically never quarrel. Come and see us one day. I’ll be glad to introduce you to my family.

P.: All right. I’ll be glad to get to know them all.

Ex. 4. Read the following dialogue. Write out the forms of addressing, introducing and greeting people. Act out the dialogue.

Nick: Peter: Nick: Peter: GI: Peter: Nick: Mike: Peter: Mike:

Hello, Peter, nice of you to come. Take off your coat, will you, and let’s go in. You haven’t met my mother, have you? No, I haven’t had the pleasure, but met your father in Minsk, don’t you remember? Oh, yes, of course. Ah, here’s my mother, Galina Ivanovna. Come on, old boy. Mum, this is Peter, a friend from University. How do you do, Galina Ivanovna? How do you do? I’m glad to meet you. Will you excuse me for a moment, please. There are some guests coming. Certainly, Galina Ivanovna. And this is Mike, my elder brother. Good evening, Peter. How are you? Let me introduce you to my wife Irena. I have met Irena. Nick has introduced me to her. Oh, he has, hasn’t he? That’s good.

Ex. 5. Think of three questions you would like to know about your groupmates (for ideas: their favourite food, favourite music, favourite subject, the countries they have visited, the pets they have, the exercise they do to keep fit, their experience in learning English, etc.). go round the class and ask your questions to get material for your group portrait. Report to the class what you have found.

Listening and writing

Ex. 1. Listen to the welcoming address of the Rector and the English teacher and answer the following questions.

What does the Rector focuses on?

What does the department lay special emphasis on?

Ex. 2. Work in groups of three and decide how to present the findings of your survey together. For ideas:

• write an article “We are people with common interests, yet we are different”

• make a poster “Group Portrait”

• draw a diagram illustrating your common interests and differences.

Ex. 3. Fill in the form.

Please type or print legibly in black ink, so that these forms can be photocopied.

Answer all questions. Please complete this application as honestly as possible.

Our organization will use this information to select your host family.

STUDENT INFORMATION

Legal name (as it appears on your passport) Last name: First name: Middle name: Nickname: Sex: ‮  Male  Female		Address Address: City/Town: State/Province: Zip Code/Postal Code: Telephone: Area/City Code Home Fax: Area/City Code
Date of Birth: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Month (circle one) Day Year Place of Birth: City/Town State/Province C ountry of Citizenship: Country of Permanent Residence:

Family information

I live with (check all that apply): ‮ Mother ‮ Father ‮ Stepfather ‮ Stepmother ‮ Guardian: ‮ Other, please specify: My brother’s name(s) and age(s): My sister’s name(s) and age(s): My father’s name (or male guardian): Last Name First Name Address (if different from yours): Occupation: Employer: B usiness Telephone: Business Fax Number: Area/City Code Area/City Code My mother’s name (or female guardian): Last Name First Name Address (if different from yours): Occupation: Employer: B usiness Telephone: Business Fax Number: Area/City Code Area/City Code

OFFICE USE ONLY

Year Country Program Std. No. Sponsor Code Gateway City To Country

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Tracking Code: ‭‭‭‭ Part b

Vocabulary File

The following words are essential for understanding the text and discussing its content. Learn their meaning and pronunciation.

Words and word combination	Translation
address, n adult, n be/come of age be born, v biography, n birthday, n come from, v enter, v ~ the University female, n finish/leave school first year student have a good relation ship introduce oneself, v male, n name, n surname/family/second ~ forename/last ~ first/given/personal/Christian ~ patronymic/middle ~ married/maiden ~ religion, n For your personal vocabulary