#
Q: Boris, did you know English well, when you came to America?
#
Very little.
I remember, it was, I think,
one year after I came to the United States,
and I didn’t speak English very well yet.
I even remember some of the kids thought I was deaf,
because I never answered questions,
because I didn’t know, what people were talking about.
#
Q: Was it difficult for you to understand the language?
#
Not, really, I’ve gotten used to it very well.
I can pretty much understand everything.
#
Q: Did you go to one and the same school?
#
No, of course not.
When I was a kid I was in an elementary school*,
and then we moved, when I was in third grade,
and I went to a different elementary school,
and now I’m going to a different school,
which is the secondary school*,
which is a combination of middle and high school,
from seventh grade to twelfth grade
that’s where I go now.
#
Q: Was it interesting to go to the elementary school?
#
Well, of course, it’s more interesting in high school,
because that’s a totally different environment,
in elementary school you have one teacher,
and in high school you have seven teachers,
you have more freedom,
you can take different classes,
whatever classes you choose,
and it’s overall, it’s more interesting.
#
Q: Do you know many people in your school?
#
Well, I will be in twelfth grade next year,
and I can’t really say,
how many people I know in the whole school,
which is seventh to twelfth grade,
that there is over five thousand people.
It’s a very big school,
and in my class there should be about a hundred and fifty to two hundred people.
#
Q: What is the difference between ‘a class’ and ‘a group’?
#
We don’t have one group, one certain group.
It’s all in every class, there is a different group of people.
And it’s usually about twenty five to thirty people in a class,
but we don’t have one group,
that goes to all the classes,
it’s a different group for every class.
#
Q: What subjects will you take next year?
#
Well, next year
I won’t have to study Math or Science,
because only three years are required
in high school, not four…
Next year I will study…
I’ll have two advanced placement classes*,
which is a higher level than normal.
I’ll be taking advanced placement English
and advanced placement Music Theory.
There’s gonna be Psychology,
the United States Government.
And I’m also gonna take a class,
it’s called Independent Music Study,
it’s for people, that play an instrument,
and they’re playing to go to a Conservatory,
and due college additions they can just…
It’s just a class, where you go
and practice for two hours your instrument.
#
Q: Do you have a lot of friends?
#
Well, I have a lot of different friends.
I’ve friends, that I know for music,
and friends, that I just talk to, that I go places…
I go places like to movies.
#
Q: What kind of people are they?
#
They’re very different people.
I don’t have one set a group of friends.
I can’t really tell everything about everyone.
#
Q: Boris, do you have a very close friend?
#
I don’t really have closest friends.
It’s basically people,
that I know,
that I’m acquainted with.
There is several people
that I talk to more than other people.
#
Q: Are they Americans?
#
Mostly they are American,
because in my school there are very little Russian people.
There is only two Russian people in the whole school
over five thousand people.
And there’re not a lot of Russian people live in Virginia,
in Maryland, on the other hand, where my cousin lives,
she has a lot of Russian friends,
because there is a lot of Russian people that live there,
but I don’t really have any Russian friends,
that live in my area.
#
Q: Do you think you are quite Americanized?
#
Well, I’m basically very Americanized.
It’s not very difficult for me,
I can understand, it would be very pretty difficult for a person,
who just moved to go to a school like that.
#
Q: Are there many people?
#
There are a lot of people,
mostly people that come from South America or from…
There is some people, that come from Europe.
I don’t know how many people exactly there,
but we have a special program in our school -
‘English for Speakers of Other Languages’,
that helps to learn English fast.
Sometimes there are classes,
that are specifically taught in another language.
#
Q: Is it difficult to learn a foreign language?
#
It’s not very difficult.
It’s not like a totally different language,
you just get used to it,
as you spend more and more time with people,
you get used to how people talk,
and you can learn a lot of it from contemporary movies actually.
#
Q: Do your friends and acquaintances use slang a lot?
#
Not, not really.
People just speak normal English.
There’s several types of phrase,
and how people use words and slang,
but it’s not different,
it’s not very different at all from normal English.
#
Q: Do you have to pass an exam to switch out of the special class?
#
I don’t think, there is an exam
to switch out of the special class.
They judge it by your need,
and if they think,
that you could survive on your own without the special help,
they tell you, that you don’t need to take the class anymore,
but it’s basically your decision.
#
Q: What are your favorite subjects?
#
I’ve always enjoyed Literature,
but that’s not exactly a separate class for this.
In America they combine
Literature, Grammar and English into one class,
which they call ‘English’.
And I’ve always liked to do Literature.
I also like Music Theory very much,
because I understand it better than other things.
#
Well, they have a lot of…
what they call ‘extra-curricular activities’ in my school.
They have a theatre,
I’ve never really participated in it,
but I’ve seen plays,
they’re actually very good,
it’s a very good theatre group.
There is sports,
I don’t participate too much in that either, I just…
#
There is a lot of sport activities in my school,
there is music, they have orchestra.
I might participate in the orchestra next year,
if I have time, and if I get a chance to.
There is a lot of different activities in my school.

Позже выложу звук Mp3 в тему Аудио уроки