FAMILY

My dad is quite old, he's 65. My mum's about 15 years younger. I have two brothers.
Nigel, who is seven years older than me, is a computer programmer, or he does something
with computers, I'm not sure what exactly. His main interest is music, and he plays the
guitar very well, and the piano. He's married to Niki, who is an artist. She's half Swiss,
and paints pictures for a living. Nikis mother doesn't work, she's a housewife and she
brings up the children. They've got four children. So I have six nieces and nephews,
which means I have quite a lot of presents to buy at Christmas! I come from quite a
big family.
Unfortunately, I only remember one grandparent,my grandmother on my mother's side,
but she died when I was very young so I only have very vague memories of her. My
mum has two brothers and sisters, and she has three half-sisters.
My two brothers are a lot older than me, so I didn't see them much when I was little
because they weren't at home that much. However, my auntie Patty lived with us in the
country for a while, she has four children, and the two girls, Catherine and Sarah, were
around my age, so it was like having two sisters. This was nice, because we went to
school together and we could play together.
My parents live in the country, in the south-west of England. When I lived in England I
used to go to visit them maybe every month, but now of course it's much more difficult, and
now I go about twice a year. Normally I go at Christmas, and some time in the summer.
They live in the middle of the country and it's really nice. There is a river, and you can go
for long walks and get some peace and quiet after living in the city.
In England, the stereotypical family is a husband and wife and 2.4 children, so they say,
and a dog and a cat. We have two cats, by the way. They were my cats, but when I came
to live in Hungary I took them to my mum, who wasn't overjoyed at the time, but now she
quite likes them. We used to have a dog, a big golden labrador, but he had to be put
down 'cause he got very sick, so that was quite sad.
The English stereotypical family of husband and wife is, I suppose, changing now
because there are a lot of one-parent families. A lot of people get divorced now and
live on their own, and bring up their children on their own.
I suppose, in a way we were a typical stereotype of a family, in that my father was the
breadwinner and the head of the family, and my mother was a housewife and brought up
children. Nowadays in England, most women seem to want to go back to work, and even
if they have children they send them to a nursery or a crche at a very early age, and go
back to work. Also, quite often now just the immediate family live together, and a lot of oId
people live on their own, not usually with their children and their grandchildren like before.
Vocabulary
1. Im not sure what/where/why exactly. (nem tudom, pontosan mit/hol/mirt )
2. his main interest is (f rdekldsi kre )

3. a lot of people get divorced and live on their own, and bring up their children on their
own (sokan elvlnak, s egyedl lnek, s a gyerekeiket is egyedl nevelik)
4. which means (ami azt jelenti, hogy )
5. he for a living (vmit csinl a meglhetsrt/l vmibl)
6. but I only have very vague memories of her (de csak nagyon halvny emlkeim vannak
rla)
7. I come from quite a big family (Elg nagy csaldbl szmazom)
8. however = but
9. I suppose = I think
10. as I remember (amennyire emlkszem/ha jl emlkszem)
11. it was a lot better than (sokkal jobb volt, mint )
12. normally = usually
13. by the way (mellesleg)
14. I have a lot of presents to buy at Xmas (sok ajndkot kell vennem karcsaonykor)
15. they were around my age (kb. velem egykorak voltak)
16. they lived in the country for a while ( vidken ltek egy ideig)
17. nowadays (manapsg)
18. I dont have a very close contact with (nincs szoros kapcsolatom val/vel)
19. he/she is the breadwinner in the family ( a kenyrkeres a csaldban)
20. it sounds really nice (ez igazn jl hangzik)
21. I started to get my independence and lived my own life a bit.(kezdtem nll lenni, s a
sajt letemet lni)
22. occasionally = sometimes
23. the family atmosphere is/was mostly very happy (nagyjbl mindig j volt a hangulat a
csaldban)
24. during my early childhood (zsenge ifjkoromban)
25. things were never really the same after that (azutn semmi sem volt mr ugyanolyan)
26. I must admit (be kell vallanom/ismernem)
27. in my growing years (fiatalkoromban)
28. we didnt get on so well a lot of times (sokszor nem jttnk ki valami jl)
29. every other week (minden msodik hten)
30. she seems to spend half of her life ( in the kitchen/cooking) (fl lett (fzssel) tlti)
31. which was a bit disappointing for me (ami elg kibrndt volt szmomra)
32. actually =
33. we have a lot of things in common/ we have nothing in common (sok kzs van
bennnk/semmi kzs nincs bennnk)
34. he was not in the least interested in (legkevsb sem rdekelte)
35. as far as I know (mr amennyire n tudom)
36. he lived a very routine life (nagyon egyhang letet lt)
37. I organised for him to go to Spain (megszerveztem neki, hogy S.-ba utazzon)

38. which was really fascinating (ami lenygz volt)

39. I suppose he is not just a sociable type (teszem azt, nem volt bartkozs fajta)
40. I would say that (azt mondanm, hogy )
41. he gets completely lost in his books (teljesen belemerl a knyveibe)
42. they really take care of each other (nagyon gondoskodnak egymsrl)
43. one of my dreams is to be happily married to a ripe old age (az egyik lmom az, hogy
boldog hzassgban ljek, amg szbe nem csavarodnak fradt frtjeim)
44. so they say (legalbbis ezt mondjk)