FREE TIME

Ann McGregor

On Fridays I come home from the BBC at about 2.00 in the afternoon and I just relax. On Friday evenings I don't go out, but sometimes a friend comes for dinner. He or she brings the wine and I cook the meal. I love cooking! We listen to music or we just chat.

On Saturday mornings I get up at 9.00 and I go shopping. Then in the evenings I sometimes go to the theatre or the opera with a friend ? I love opera! Then we eat in my favourite Chinese restaurant.

On Sunday... Oh, on Sunday mornings I stay in bed late, I don't get up until 11.00! Sometimes in the afternoon I visit my sister. She lives in the country and has two children. I like playing with my niece and nephew, but I leave early because I go to bed at 8.00 on Sunday evenings!

A

A    Do you go out on Friday afternoons?

B    No, I don't.

A    What do you do?

B    I just relax.

A    Do you stay at home on Friday evenings?

B    Yes, I do.

A    What do you do?

B    I cook dinner for friends.

B

1    What does he do on Sundays?

2    I stay at home on Thursday evenings.

3    He lives here.

4    I eat a lot.

5    Where do you go on Saturday evenings?

6    She likes cars.

Mr Forrester

Mr and Mrs Forrester have a son and a daughter. The son lives at home, and the daughter is a student at university. Mr Forrester is a journalist. He works for The Times. He writes articles about restaurants. ?I love food!? he says.

Mr Forrester's holidays

?Every spring the children go skiing, so my wife and I go to Paris on holiday. We stay in a hotel near the River Seine. We have breakfast in the hotel, but we have lunch in a restaurant. French food is delicious! We walk a lot, but sometimes we go by taxi. After four days we don't want to go home and go back to work.?

The Seasons

AL WHEELER FROM CANADA

We have long, cold winters and short, hot summers. In summer I go sailing and I play baseball, but in winter I play ice hockey and go ice-skating. We have a holihay home near a lake, so I go fishing a lot, too. My favourite season is autumn, or fall, as we say in North America. I love the colours of the trees-red, gold, orange, yellow, and brown.

MANUELA DA SILVA FROM PORTUGAL

People think it's always warm and sunny in Portugal, but January and February are often cold, wet, and grey. I don't like winter. I meet friends in restaurants and bars and we chat. Sometimes we go to a Brazilian bar. I love Brazilian music. But then suddenly it's summer and at weekends we drive to the beach, sunbathe, and go windsurfing. I love summer.

TOSHI SUZUKI FROM JAPAN

I work for Pentax cameras, in the export department. I don't have a lot of free time, but I have once special hobby ? taking photographs, of course! I like taking photographs of flowers, especially in spring. Sometimes, after work, I relax in a bar near my office with friends. My friend, Shigeru, likes singing pop songs in the bar. This has a special name, Karaoke. I don't sing ? I'm too shy! I just watch him.

Conversations

1

M = Manuela        J = Jane

F = Manuela's friends    P = Portuguese man

M    Hello, everybody! This is my friend Jane, from England.

F    Hi!

    Hello, Jane!

    Hello!

J    Hello. Pleased to meet you.

M    Sit down here, Jane.

J    Thanks.

P    Do you like this music, Jane?

J    Mm. Is it American?

P    No, it's Brazilian jazz!

M      Come and have a drink, Jane...

2

T = Toshi    J = Jones

T    Mrs Jones! How do you do?

J    How do you do?

T    Please, come in. You're from our office in London, aren't you?

J    Yes, that's right.

T    Welcome to Tokyo! Do you like our headquarters here?

J    Yes. It's very big. How many people work here?

T    About six thousand people. Do you want to see our offices?...

3

A = Al    M = Mick

A    What do you want to do today, Mick?

M    Ooh, I don't know. What do you ...

A    Well, do you like fishing?

M    Yes. I sometimes go fishing in a river near my house in Scotland.

A    Well, here it's different. This is a very big country. I go fishing on a lake. It's hundred kilometres long!

M    A hundred kilometres!

A    Yeah! There are fish this big! Are you interested?  Do you want to go?

M    OK!

A    Right. You want a fishing line ...

Social English

a

A    Excuse me!

B    Yes?

A    Do you have a light?

B    I'm sorry. I don't smoke.

A    That's OK.

b

A    I'm sorry I'm late. The traffic is bad today.

B    Don't worry. Come and sit down. We're on page 25.

c

A    Can I open the window? It's very hot in here.

B    Really? I'm quite cold.

A    OK. It doesn't matter.

d

A      Excuse me!

B    Can I  help you?

A    Can I have a film for my camera?

B    How many exposures?

A    Pardon?

B    How many exposures?

A    What does exposures mean?

B    How many pictures? 24? 36?

A    Ah! Now I understand! 36, please.