Today some young people think that having good education is very important. Do you agree with them?

On the one hand, I agree that having good education is very important. You can’t be a good specialist without good higher education. Good education is a chance to have an interesting and well-paid job. On the other hand, your personal qualities are also very important for a successful career.

 

 

8. Let’s talk about choosing a career.

1) Let’s talk about choosing a career. What would you like to become?

Well, it goes without saying that it’s not easy for a school-leaver to decide on his future career. There are very few boys and girls who are certain of what they are going to be. Usually, their plans for the future change many times during the school years. New subjects appear on the curriculum or maybe a new teacher comes and makes the old subject more interesting. Anyhow, a teacher’s influence on pupils’ minds is always great.

To be a good teacher means to be a good actor. A teacher must be able to hold the attention of his audience. Unlike an actor who says the words which he has learnt by heart, a teacher cannot learn his part by heart, but must invent it all the time. His audience takes an active part in his play. A good teacher must be quick to adapt himself to any situation and be able to improvise, if necessary.

I believe teaching is my calling. I want to work with children and to have a job that will keep me interested. And though the profession of a teacher involves immense responsibility, it is no doubt a very interesting and important profession. It is my cherished desire to become a good teacher of English.

 

2) Does a person need to possess special qualities to become a good specialist in this or that particular field? Why?

Let’s take the profession of a teacher, for example. I think that a good teacher of English should possess the following qualities: a good command of English, a tactful way of dealing with pupils, an even temper and a cheerful manner, a good sense of humour and imagination. It’s common knowledge that an ignorant teacher teaches ignorance, a fearful teacher teaches fear, a bored teacher teaches boredom. But a good teacher has a great influence on his pupils’ lives. So it is an incredible responsibility to be a teacher.

 

3) What questions will you ask your future employer about your future job?

4) Give me some advice on what I need to think about when choosing a job.

When choosing a job you should ask yourself if you are suitable for it. It is necessary to consider all pros and contras so as not to regret your decision afterwards. Actually, it’s not a pleasant thing to stay all your life in the job which you don’t like. So the most important thing is to have interesting and creative work. And if it’s well-paid at the same time, then it looks even more attractive.

5) Some people think that it is necessary to have a good command of a foreign language to get a good job. Do you agree with this?

At present many professions, such as a pilot, a programmer, an engineer, a businessman and many others, require a working knowledge of at least one foreign language. English is the main language of communication in such areas as science, computer technology, mass entertainment and international tourism. Soif you have a good command of a foreign language, you will have many more job opportunities.

9. Let’s talk about life in the city and life in the country.

1) Let’s talk about life in the city and life in the country. Describe your place.

I live in Mogilev. It is a regional town which lies on the picturesque banks of the Dnieper. The population of Mogilev is about 4 hundred thousand people.

Mogilev is a very old town. It was founded in 1267, so it is more than seven centuries old. Some legends say that Mogilev was named after Masheka, a very strong and courageous man, whose burial place was called “The Grave of the Lion”, which sounds in Russian as “Mogila Lva” or Mogilev.

There are many industrial enterprises in Mogilev. They produce machines, lifts, chemical products, textiles and many other useful things. Unfortunately, some enterprises increase our ecological problems.

I suppose we can say that Mogilev is a big cultural centre. There are several universities, many technical and secondary schools, colleges, lyceums and gymnasiums. We have a good drama theatre and a puppet theatre. There is a picture gallery and several exhibition halls. The museum of Byalynitsky-Birulya has a rich collection of pictures.

There are some places of interest in Mogilev. One of them is a field in Buinichi with a monument to Konstantin Simonov. During the Great Patriotic War 39 tanks were destroyed there. The defence of Mogilev, which stood against the enemy for 23 days when the whole of Belarus had already been occupied, was described by Konstantin Simonov in his book “The Living and the Dead”. Simonov often visited our town, and after his death the ashes of his body were scattered over this field.

2) Do you find your city/town/village a comfortable place for living?

I think that Mogilev is quite a comfortable place for living. It is a beautiful town and I love it very much. But, of course, though the beauty of nature and good facilities for living are important, there are things which we value much more. Our place is dear to us because there are people who care for us and who are dear to us. “There is no place like home”, an English proverb says, and really our home is always the best place for us.

3) What questions will you ask a person who decided to move to the country?

4) Your friend doesn’t know what to choose: to live in a city or in the country. Give him some advice.

I think it’s a matter of preference. If you want to escape from the noise of a big city and enjoy the beauty of nature, if you are tired of traffic jams and crowds of people everywhere, then you may choose the country. But you must bear in mind that you may soon be bored there as there are no sports clubs, theatres or discotheques.

5) How do you see an ideal house/flat?

I haven’t made up my mind yet what house or flat would be ideal for me. As for my future house I want it to be a flat in the centre of a big city. I think three rooms will be enough for me. And besides I want to have a summer cottage somewhere at the seaside. I want it to be a big modern one-storeyed house.

10. Let’s talk about different types of houses.

1) Let’s talk about different types of houses. Tell me about the house/flat you live in.

There are many different types of houses: detached, semi-detached and terraced houses, cottages, bungalows, mansions, etc. But in our country people mostly live in blocks of flats. Our family is not an exception.

I live in Mogilev (in Krichev) in Dimitrov Avenue (in Pervomayskaya Street, in Nepokoryonnykh Boulevard). Our flat is on the ground floor (the second floor) of a five-storeyed (nine-storeyed) block of flats. It’s a three-room (two-room) flat with all modern conveniences, such as central heating, electricity, gas, hot and cold running water and a telephone.

Our living room is quite large. We have a suite [swi:t] of furniture with a carpet to match. In the centre of the room there is a big pull-out table used when guests come. Near the window there are two arm-chairs and a sofa facing the TV-set.

The bedroom isn’t large. The walls are light pink. There are two beds, a bedside table, some chairs and a wardrobe in it. There is a grey rug on the floor between the beds. Mother and father occupy the bedroom and I have a room to myself.

My room isn’t large either. As a matter of fact, my room is my haven. I have everything I need in it. I live by the motto ‘My room is my castle’. It is a place where I can relax. When I want to be on my own, I can just shut my door and tell everyone not to bother me.

2) Do you like the place where you are living now?

Our flat is quite an ordinary one, but I like it all the same. I think everyone loves his home. I think that it doesn’t really matter where we live. Our home is always the loveliest, the dearest and the best place for us, because we live with those who love us and who we love, and there is no place like home for us.

3) Ask me what my flat looks like.

4) Your friend wants to decorate his room. Give him some advice on how to furnish it.

I can give only general advice. I think everyone wants to have a cosy place to live in. So this is what my friend should bear in mind when furnishing his room. It is aplace where he can relax, so it is better not to make it too cluttered.

5) They say that living in the country is better than living in a city. What do you think about this?

Frankly speaking, I can’t decide for sure where it is better to live. Cities and towns offer better job and education opportunities, a wide choice of entertainments and various places of interest. On the other hand, those who live in big cities have to put up with crowds of people everywhere, constant noise and pollution and traffic jams. Life in the country has a number of advantages. First of all you can escape from the noise of big cities and enjoy the beauty of nature. Then there are no traffic jams and there is no pollution. Life is much safer and cheaper in the country. But on the other hand, life is sometimes quite boring there. There are no sports clubs, theatres, discotheques. There are no schools in some small villages and children have to travel a long way to schooland back. Well, in my opinion, both the city and the country can be attractive places to live in as soon as they are well-preserved by people who live in them. People living in clean and beautiful places are happy there.

 

11. Let’s talk about Belarusian national cuisine.

1) Let’s talk about Belarusian national cuisine. What can you tell me about eating habits in your family?

They say you are what you eat. I quite agree with it. Our health depends on our eating habits. In our family we try to eat healthy food, not junk food. The first meal of the day is breakfast. A traditional breakfast in our family, and I think in many Belarusian families as well, is a cooked meal which may contain porridge, mashed potatoes with meat or an omelette. The most common drinks are some juice or a cup of tea or coffee.

For lunch I usually buy a bun or smazhanka and some juice at the lyceum cafeteria.

Dinner is the most substantial meal of the day. We usually have dinner at the lyceum canteen. It consists of 3 courses. We have chicken or cabbage soup for the first course, meat and vegetables for the main course and some juice or stewed fruit for dessert.

Supper is the time when all our family gather at table. Mother makes some salad, some fish or pasta. We drink tea and talk about our day.

2) Do you know any recipes of our national dishes?

We have some national dishes which I like very much. First and foremost it is draniki. They are made from grated raw potato. I cook them in a very simple way. I peel some potatoes, grate them, add a little salt and fry them on vegetable oil. I never add flour. They are tasty as they are without any additives. If we put meat inside, we call them kolduny. If we put grated potato into a pot and put it into an oven to bake, we call it babka. We can use machanka as a traditional sauce for draniki or pancakes. There are different recipes for machanka. Most often it is made with pork, sausage, sliced onion, sour cream and flour. As a matter of fact, I like cooking, and I know many recipes. I learned them from my granny and mom.

3) What questions will you ask a friend about his favourite dish?

4) Which national dishes can you recommend a tourist to taste in Belarus?

I think I can recommend draniki and kolduny. They are very tasty and I’m sure tourists from other countries will enjoy eating them. Then they can be treated to pancakes and machanka. I think they will like them too.

5) Scientists say that fast food is unhealthy but people go on eating it. What do you think about it?

Nowadays many people enjoy fast food, but I agree with the scientists that it is unhealthy. Fast food looks nice and tasty, but if you eat it very often, you will easily become overweight. Fast food is inexpensive because it is made with cheaper ingredients such as fat meat, refined grains, sugar and fats, instead of nutritious foods such as lean meat, fresh fruit and vegetables. It doesn’t provide any benefits to the body and the harm it causes is numerous.