1 The individual

*Age-related characteristics

*Behavioural patterns

*Fashion/ clothing/ cosmetics

2 Partnerships

*Roles in the family

*Men and women

*Relationships and contacts at work

3 Family

*Family/ bringing up children

*Relationship of generations6 living together

*Marriage/ divorce/ forms of partnership

4 Place of living

*Rental/ property

*Lodgings

*Buying a flat/ buying on credit

*renovation

5 Travelling/ transport

*Driving/ highway codes

*Road accidents

*Walking, riding the bike

*Reasons/ forms of travelling abroad

This topic is my cup of tea. I think there are few people who don’t like seeing other places especially
if these are different from their homes. As far as I am concerned I haven’t been to many places but
the places I have seen so far made me curious to see more and more. It doesn’t matter whether we
travel by car, by plane, by bus or on foot they are all exciting and all of them have their wonder. Of
course the first flying experience is very amazing, but walking around a country with friends has its
own flavour as well. In my opinion our country is breathtaking and my parents always told me to
know the home country first then I can put on my rucksack and know the world. And I think they
were right. I like travelling inside Hungary because we have many different parts of the country. Pécs
is a kind of Mediterranean city but Budapest is something else. Sopron is a calm and very balanced

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town but Eger has its sparkling atmosphere. Travelling around Lake Balaton is great fun. The
Southern and the Northern part are so different. But people like breaking out of the country by
travelling to our neighbours to the South especially to Croatia, because it’s close and there is a very
nice sea and it is affordable for Hungarians. But some travel further to Asian or African places which
have their own magic as well.

6 Shopping/ shops

*Shopping habits

*Chains/TV shopping

*Retail shops versus shopping centres

*Costumers’ complaints

This topic is in everybody’s life. I mean everybody shops even those who don’t go out but sit in front
of a computer and they webshop. Although I am not keen on electronic shopping I must confess it is
very convenient in some cases, for example if anybody is tied to a chair or a bed because of an illness
they don’t really have other opportunities to buy the things they need. As far as I am concerned I
prefer shopping in shopping centres because it doesn’t take too much time and I can buy everything
in one place. It may not be the cheapest way of purchasing but if I consider the time and petrol I save
by shopping in one place I think it worth doing like this. I usually do my shopping alone, I mean
buying my own clothes and shoes and the daily needs like bread and milk. But sometimes the
household needs a bigger shopping and then we go together with my family.

7 Communication/ keeping in contact

*Reasons of the popularity of mobiles

*The role of language knowledge in communication

*The increasing dominance of the English language

This topic is my cup of tea because we can’t live without communication. I think this is one of the
most important things in our lives. I adore talking in many ways. In our rushing world people don’t
always have time to speak with each other face to face but we have numerous ways for doing it. The
most preferred is the mobile phone but as far as I am concerned the Skype phone is my favourite.
There is one main reason for it. It is free. I mean, I only have to pay for the internet connection and
nothing else. Everybody has a computer or a notebook and there are many places in cities to have
free Wi-Fi as well. But there is another necessary thing for talking the language knowledge. Providing
we want to get an e-mail box we must use our English knowledge to create it properly. If we go out
to the city centre we will possibly be asked by a tourist to get information for them. If students want
to study at university they definitely need at least English to go to lectures which are held by foreign
lecturers in English.

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8 services

*Car rental

*Insurance/ its forms

*Travel agencies/ banks

*Repairs/ guarantees

*Public utilities

A service is something that someone does for you, like gives you a haircut or fixes you dinner or even
teaches you social studies. You don't really get something solid, like a book or a CD, but you do get
something that you need. And not all services are economic, either. A service can be as simple as
reading a book to someone. This kind of activity doesn't cost anything, but it is something that one
person did for another. Services are important parts of our lives. Our world is commercial. There are
many different branches in service like banking, car rentals, travel agencies any kinds of repairs and
so on. Banking is a business that deals with money and credit. Almost all of us have had our own
personal piggy banks or one sort or another and may have lent or borrowed money from others.
Banking institutions basically do the same thing on a much, much larger scale within certain rules. Yet
there are travel and tourism where booking trips in our country and abroad has made this a growing
industry, supporting the restaurant, hotel, gaming, recreation industries.

9 culture/ entertainment

*Music trends/ musical taste

*Books versus Internet

*Cinema, theatre versus TV, video

Culture and music are my cup of tea. I think there is nobody who doesn’t have favourite music. My
favourite is ....... .I am keen on their style and way of performance. Although there are great deal of
music styles and tastes around the world nowadays, people have their own taste. The most preferred
are rock, pop, soul, rap and of course the old school’s fans for classical music. And as I have already
mentioned I have another cup of tea which is culture, it means for me mainly reading books. Despite
the fact that internet is getting to be more and more popular, I am still keen on the more traditional
way of reading. But there are many who consider the internet is the best way of getting information
or even reading as far as I am concerned I accept the advantages of the computer but at nights I can’t
read in bed with my computer. Actually this is almost the same with the TV and the theatre. It is very
easy to sit in front of the TV and watch a film and a play at home, but where is the magic? If we go to
the cinema or the theatre we can have extra fun and enjoy the performance much better in live.

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10 time/ weather

*Role, accurateness of forecasts

*Weather and well-being (medical meteorology)

*Relationship of climate and flora/ fauna

My English teacher told me that the weather is one of the most important topics for British people. I
haven’t experienced it personally yet but I must accept it because in books there are always some
references to the weather. Sometimes I watch the weather forecast on TV on BBC and I realized that
they have got a wide range of expressions for the rain. Nowadays experts are dealing with two
approaches about the weather. Is it global warming or climate changing that affects our lives? I don’t
know the answer but weather definitely affects people’s lives and well-being. Old people easily get
headache and blood-pressure gets quickly very high or low as well. It is very inconvenient for people.
Furthermore I must mention flora and fauna as well because plants and animals are in danger as
well. It affects their behaviour and well being. From my own experience I can say weather forecasts
are not always accurate. Sometimes they differ from what it has been predicted.

11 Health/ illnesses

*Outpatient department (járóbeteg ellátás) – hospital – specialist

*Homeopathy – medicine

*Prevention/ screening (szűrés)

As far as I am concerned this topic is not my cup of tea. I don’t really know much about the health
system in our country, and thanks to God I am rarely ill and what I experience from the outpatient
department in Pécs is pretty good. As I only go to my doctor who is actually very kind and examines
me carefully. Then he writes me a description which I take to the pharmacy. There I get my medicine
for money. I haven’t been to hospital yet. My parents say prevention is very important and they put
emphasis on taking vitamins every day even in summer time. I only take vitamin C but in winter I get
more. I know there are many types of prevention but while I am young this is enough for me. My
parents regularly go for certain kinds of screenings but they are obliged to do this.

12 Sport

*Doing sports – healthy lifestyles

*Ball games/ team sports

*Water sports/ winter sports

Sport is my cup of tea. I think everybody has at least one or more favourite sports. I myself do some
sports mainly at school at P.E. lessons and in my free time as well. As far as I am concerned it is
essential for having a healthy life. If I want to group sports, I would need many aspects like indoor
and outdoor sports, or winter and summer sports, individual and team sports and so on. My
favourites are mainly team sports and water sports. I think Hungarians are excellent at both of them.
For example our water-polo team is not even world famous but unique with so many Olympic gold

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medals. Football was excellent in Hungary in the past but now we are not as significant as our team
was with the golden team with Ferenc Puskás and his mates.

13 media

*Features of newspapers, their columns

*Sensations and news

*Media and culture

Media is our lives greatest business I think. People who get involved it can easily be popular, rich and
famous. But they can easily get bad reputation as well if they are in the front. Media is in connection
with many branches of life like culture, press, television and radio. People have their own cup of tea.
Mine is culture. I am keen on reading. I usually read Dunántúli Napló which is our region’s daily
newspaper. But there are hundreds of newspaper and magazines. Unfortunately there is too much
news about silly things in the papers about people’s private lives. There are also horrifying news
about disasters and catastrophes which terrify people and don’t always reflect the truth. They are
called sensations but they are not really that. But there are excellent examples for good writings in
reliable sources like in old traditional newspapers such as Népszabadság.

14 hobby

*Pursuing amateur arts

*Clubs (sport, cultural, professional)

*Hobby and work

This is my cup of tea. I think everybody has at least one or more hobbies. Actually it depends on free
time and interest. Nowadays anybody can have any type of hobby. If people see something
interesting or challenging in the thing someone does it easily can be catch on by hundreds or more.
Let’s just see Rubik’s cube. It didn’t mean to be a long-life sensation. And now the interest to it not
even decreased but it gets greater and greater year by year. As far as I am concerned I see the same
with amateur arts because our world is wide open to new styles and ways of expressing ourselves, so
if there is anyone who thinks some strange strokes of the brush is extravagant and extraordinary
they can make a new way of art and get money from it. Because we mustn’t be shy to say everything
is about money even our hobby.

15 studying/ work

*Language knowledge/ skills/ career

*Equal chances in educations, finding a workplace

*Exchange programmes/ scholarships abroad/ professional development

*Mass education versus elite education

Studying is our lives motivation. If anyone doesn’t study he doesn’t have any chance to make his way
in life. But this is a very complex thing. We have to study a lot to get even basic grades. If anyone

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doesn’t know what his interest and just does something fashionable or interesting it won’t be sure he
will succeed in it. Nowadays it is essential to speak at least one foreign language which is usually
English or German in our region. But the places where the economy is rumbling like China and South
America the language is vital to speak to be successful. Studying languages and professions are not
cheap things anywhere. It costs a great deal of money and takes a lot of time. There are rare
examples for life-long professions. Even doctors and teachers change profile. The education is given
but I wouldn’t say that it is fair. I think there is discrimination among people in many ways. Although
there are excellent opportunities for exchange programmes, Hungarians don’t really take advantages
of them.

16 European Union

*Work in the EU

*Language teaching/ language knowledge/ work opportunities in the EU

*EU programmes (education, economy, etc.)

Although I live in a country which is a member of the European Union, I don’t know too much about
its system. But what I really can see and feel that people in Hungary are keen on going abroad to
study and work. It has been especially since the EU opened the borders and people don’t need very
special papers and permissions to leave their homes. Students have opportunities to obtain
scholarships to many different schools. Or if they only want to work or get experiences from another
country they just go there for a year or less or more and come home with unforgettable experiences.
It also means language learning or practising as well.

Education and science are areas where the EU's role is limited but it was developed in the 1980s in
programmes supporting exchanges and mobility. The most visible of these has been the Erasmus
Programme, a university exchange programme.

Scientific development aims of EU policy in this area are to co-ordinate and stimulate researches.
Cultural co-operation between member states has been a concern of the EU. Actions were taken in
the cultural area by the EU include the European Capital of Culture programme where one or more
cities in the EU are selected for one year to assist the cultural development of that city.

17 Culture and civilization:

The home country and the target language country

*population/ ethnic minorities

*historic traditions/ monuments

*cultural values

* Artistic/ ethnographic characteristics

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Culture is my cup of tea. I think we can’t live without it. Despite being aware of not knowing
everything about culture, I am keen on many branches of it. For example films. I adore films not even
watching them but I am also interested in their background how they are made. But I must mention
another part of the culture which is originally essential for me as I am from Pécs and this city was one
of the three cultural capitals in 2010. Pécs is a cultural centre. We have Vasarely and Csontváry just
two but definitely worth mentioning. Apart from fine art Pécs has a great deal of historical
monuments, buildings and places. There are many churches and Turkish baths from the past and
they make the city fascinating. There are numerous cultural events in the region in every season. For
example we have a spring festival where people can get acquainted with food, drink, the very famous
wines of the region and the traditional folk-dances. In autumn there is the MOVEAST a film festival
which is getting to be more and more popular.

18 Public life

*public institutions

*bureaucracy in offices

*local politics

*public safety

*national holidays

In Hungary we have an institution for every part of the official life. If anybody wants to go to have a
passport they can go the local authority. But there is another organisation for people to arrange their
health insurance and health care cases. If anybody gets ill, they can go to their home doctor to be
examined and get prescriptions of medicines. Pharmacies are usually private enterprises. In Hungary
Magyar Posta has the most part of the logistics but there are several firms to deliver parcels. These
years FIDESZ direct the country with two third of the majority. They are democrats but the rest of the
one third doesn’t like them at all because they say it is not democratic to lead like this. I don’t really
know as politics is not my cup of tea. In Hungary the public safety is quite well-organized. There are a
lot of policemen on the streets and our justice department works a lot to give people pleasant lives.
Despite this there are several crimes. At national holidays like 15 th of March or 20th of August police
have to work hard to keep safety. These are our most important national event when Hungarians
celebrate the spring revolution and the announcement of the constitution. They are wonderful
events when people go out to the streets with flags and balloons and celebrate the old days.

19 Environmental protections

*pollution (air, water, soil, etc.)

*selective waste management

*recycling

*alternative sources of energy

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This topic is my cup of tea. I think people should put more and more emphasis on protecting the
environment. Nowadays we have numerous methods to look after our world but the main problem is
the attitude. I think people don’t really believe in the threatening danger of pollution. They don’t
take it seriously that we are in a critical phase and if we don’t protect we can easily lose our earth. At
school we have selective rubbish containers but the children yet prefer the normal bins and don’t
select. As far as I am concerned I try to limit my water usage from the smallest like while brushing
teeth I don’t run water or my parents collect rainwater in a barrel in the garden to water the plants.
We also try to protect the soil and ourselves by not using chemicals for the plants and flowers. I think
we are not well-informed enough what we can do for recycling but I hope in the future it will have
greater information and people understand its importance. Because in my opinion we don’t use less
paper or don’t refuse a newer and newer plastic bag at shopping centres. I must mention another
deficiency we have towards alternative sources of energy because this world is moved by money and
there is still big money in oil. As far as we have oil in the world unfortunately we don’t really have
opportunity to use or develop a high quality alternative energy instead of it. It is a shame, but money
talks.

20 Current topics/ events

*public life

*economy

*arts

*sport