4. Housing

1. What is your house like?

It's a nice house with a small garden. We have a big living room, two bedrooms,a spacious kitchen, a bathroom, a pantry and a garage.

2. What are the surroundings of your home like?

I live in a big housing estate. There are huge blocks of flats and busy roads with lots of traffic. You can also find some trees and bushes there. There are some playgrounds, but they are not in good condition.

3. How do you get on with your neighbours?

Our neighbours are friendly. We sometimes grill food in the garden together. When we travel to visit our relatives, they look after our dog and empty the letterbox.

4. Do you usually get together with your neighbours?

No, they don't spend much time at home. We only ever meet at the entrance to our building.

5. Which is your favourite place in your house?

I like our living room very much. It's big and bright with a lot of pot plants. There is also a big aquarium in the corner. I also like the paintings on the walls.

6. What is your living room like?

There is a wall unit with books and ornaments, a three-piece suite, a coffee table, pot plants, a standard lamp and a rocking chair.

7. What furniture would you change in your living room?

I don't like the armchairs. I think they are out of fashion and uncomfortable. I don't like the colour and the pattern of the fabric.

8. What household equipment do you consider necessary?

I think there must be a fridge, a washing machine, a cooker and a vacuum cleaner in a house.

9. What equipment would you like to have in your home?

I would like to have a big TV set with a DVD player and a dishwasher.

10. What is the most important thing for you about a home?

I think a home must be comfortable, and there must be enough room for everything. I like it if my room is bright.

11. What is your ideal home like?

I think it should be big and bright enough and well-equipped. There should not be noisy neighbours. It's good to have at least a small garden where you can have dogs or cats.

12. How would you improve your flat or house?

I would change some of the furniture, and I would buy some new household equipment for the kitchen.

13. What can you do if you want to improve your home?

You can paint or paper the walls and buy some new decorations. It's good if you change the curtains and buy some pot plants, too.

14. Is it better to rent or own a flat?

I think it is better to own one. If you rent a flat, the owners can ask you to leave any time. If you live in your own flat, you can stay there for the rest of your life.

15. How can you finance building a house or a flat?

If you don’t have the sufficient funds yourself, you can apply for loans at banks or your workplace.

16. How do you imagine the home of the future?

17. What types of homes do British people prefer?

The English prefer living in houses and hate high-rise buildings. They love to have their own garden, however small that might be. In most English towns, you can find terraced houses built from red brick.

Semi – detached house /ikerház/

A house attached on one side only to another, usually very similar house.A house of this kind is less expensive than a detached house, but still offers a good standard of privacy and comfort.

Detached house /családi ház/ /külön álló ház/

A house standing on its own land and not attached to another building. Such houses are generally more expensive to buy than semi – detached or terraced houses.

Terraced house /sorház/

A usually small house that is one of a continuous row in one block in a street.Many rows of terraced houses were originally built for workers in nearby factories or coalmines.A terraced house usually costs less than a semi-detached or detached house of similar size.

Bungalow /(földszintes) családi ház, nyaraló/

A small house in which all the rooms are on ground level. Many oldpeople live in bungalows because there are no stairs to climb. In Britain,large groups of bungalows are often built together on the edges of towns,or in places where people go to live when they have retired from work,such as the south coast. Many people find these groups of bungalows boring to look at.

Shakepeare’ s birthplaceStradford – upon – AvonTimber – framed Tudor house The Tudor dynasty ruled England between 1485 and 1603. It is also associated with a style of architecture common during the sixteenth century in England. A characteristic feature of Tudor buildings is the use of black wooden frames surrounding white outer walls.Stratford – upon – Avon: the town in Warwickshire where William Shakespeare was born. Tourists from all over the world come to see plays at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and to visit places associated with Shakespeare, including the house where he was born, the church where he is buried and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage.

18. What are the typical forms of housing in Hungary?

In villages most people live in houses. In towns there are blocks of flats and apartment houses, and on the outskirts there are detached, semi-detached and terraced houses.

Semi – detached house /ikerház/

Detached house /családi ház/ /külön álló ház/

Terraced house /sorház/

Apartment house /bérház, lakóház

Housing estate /lakótelep/