Russian Dachas

Task 1: Look at the definitions of the word dacha and choose the best one:

a) dacha (Russ) is a place to have a rest in summer in the suburbs of the town or city or far from them;

b) dacha (Russ) is a typical place for the Russians to spend their weekends and holidays in their country-side houses;

c) dacha (Russ) is a house of one or two fl oors, usually wooden, located in the country, with a small plot of land to grow fruit trees and vegetables.

Task 2: Read the letter to Mike from his Russian friend Nikita and say what you’ve learned from the history of Russian dachas:

July 14th

Dear Mike,

How are you? It was nice to get your letter yesterday. Now I’m not in Moscow, but at my dacha. You see, every summer my family and I move there. We travel either by car, or by train to the dacha. You may ask me what dacha means, so I’ll explain.

It’s a good tradition in our country to have a country-side house. In many books by great Russian writers (Chekhov, for example), Russian dachas were described. A dacha is a house of one or two floors, usually wooden, located in the country, with a small plot of land to grow fruit trees and vegetables.

My grandfather worked at the machine-building plant. In the 1970s many workers of the plant were given plots of land in the village called Berezkino near the Pakhra River. He built a two-storey house with the help of the workers and planted a few apple trees there. My Dad was a schoolboy those years and he enjoyed staying in the country every summer. Today many dachas have changed. They’re not wooden, but stone-brick, and it’s possible to live there in winter, using

a central heating system.

There is a lot to do while you live there. You can help your parents dig in the garden and plant some vegetables. This year we have some rows of green onions, parsley, carrots and marrows. In August you can pick raspberries from the bushes and my Mum will cook jam from them. My grandfather enjoys going to the forest near the railway station to pick mushrooms, but I don’t like to do it. What I like is fishing at the river and swimming there when it’s hot. I also have a company of friends and we sometimes go cycling or walking, and in the evenings we play cards or chess on the verandah, chat and listen to music. One of my friends, called Misha, plays the guitar. So, I’m never bored there.

Would you like to have a dacha? Where do you go on holiday? What activities do you do?

Best wishes, Nikita

Task 3: Write a reply to Nikita. Answer his questions. Write 100–120 words.

Hints: Mike lives in Oklahoma. He travels to the ocean coast with his family, where they rent a house for two weeks in August. He likes swimming, diving and windsurfing, and his Dad is keen on photography.

Task 4: Speaking

a) Describe your dacha, if you have one. First, speak about your house and then about the garden. If you don’t have one, describe an imaginary dacha.

b) Make a new design for your dacha. What would you like to change there?

c) Speak about what you like doing at your dacha.

d) The village in Nikita’s letter is called Berezkino. How will you explain its name to an American boy? What are the typical Russian names of villages?

e) Make a dialogue with an American friend explaining to him what the word dacha means.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14