Learning English

Sophie
Yeah, so we’ve moved in temporarily with Dave’s parents.

Dave
Yeah, just for the time being, until we get enough money for a deposit. Then we want to set up our own home.

Sophie
Yeah, that’s right – and, well so far it’s going… alright. We have to compromise on a lot of things though.

Dave
Yeah. My parents mean well, but they have a lot of their own ideas about how things should be done.

Sophie
Yeah, they certainly do Dave, yes. We get on very well, but sometimes we don’t agree about things like cooking – I mean, Dave’s mum – don’t get me wrong, I love her, but she cooks everything in this horrible, cheap cooking oil.

Dave
And we always use olive oil, because it tastes better and it’s healthier.

Sophie
Exactly! But she says it’s never done her any harm, and she thinks olive oil makes food taste strange.

Dave
Yes, we haven’t fallen out about it, but there have been a few heated discussions.

Sophie
Just a few. And they like to watch all these singing and dancing competitions on television in the living room…

Dave
We can’t stand them, can we? But we have to sit through them because it’s their house and there’s only a tiny TV in our room.

Sophie
Yeah. And what kind of people go to bed at ten o’clock in the evening? We have to turn the music down because they can’t sleep, but it’s ten o’clock - it’s early!

Dave
Yeah, and another thing. My mum doesn’t like me cutting my toenails while I’m sitting in the kitchen…

Sophie
Well she’s right about that Dave. It’s disgusting!

Dave
Oh, maybe.

Sophie
Yeah, horrible.

Ben
I moved in with some guys off my course – it’s a shared house - and it’s a right laugh! I love it! We have all-night parties, play loud music, generally trash the place and, apart from our neighbour, no one cares.

None of us are that bothered about tidying up. It got a bit disgusting at one stage, so we made a cleaning rota, and now it’s liveable. We did build a tower of beer cans in the living room, but it started to really stink so after a couple of months we had to take it down and throw it away. It’s a shame because it looked amazing – girls loved it!

The best things about this house? Great housemates, and it’s got all the mod cons we need – broadband, giant TV, big fridge for the beer, central heating, washing machine. We haven’t got an ironing board, but we don’t really need one. There’s a nice big garden too – it’s in a bit of a state, but we sometimes hack back the weeds and have a kick around out there.

Lana
I’m living here with a couple of other girls. It’s OK, you know, but it’s not a place you could have a family. It’s very hard to find accommodation here. With three of us in one room it’s pretty crowded – we have bunk beds. We get up and get to work pretty early so we are out most of the time – we all work in catering and the hours are very long.

We take turns to do the housework like cleaning and cooking, but it’s hard to be tidy with three of you in a small place. And there’s a lot of noise from the other rooms – there is a couple upstairs who are always arguing. They always make up in the end, but we have to listen. Apart from that, it’s pretty good fun being here.

The landlord is a bit of a cheapskate. He likes trying to find new things to charge us for - he says we owe him money for the washing machine, but it didn’t work when we came. When things break, he never pays to get them fixed properly – he always tries to do it himself, badly.

The good thing is it’s convenient – I can get to the city centre in a couple of minutes. The room is a rip-off for what it is – you could get a nice family house in my hometown for the rent we pay, but the three of us can afford it and still save a bit of money. I don’t know how long I will stay here, but I’d like to move out pretty soon.