📘 Part 3: Accommodation

This episode's vocabulary

To insulate (verb) - to cover and surround something with a material or substance in order to stop heat, sound, or electricity from escaping or entering.

Upkeep (noun) - the cost or process of keeping something, such as a building, in good condition.

Life expectancy (noun) - the length of time that a living thing, especially a human being, is likely to live.

Provision (noun) - the act of providing something.

Maintenance (noun) - the work needed to keep a road, building, machine, etc. in good condition.

To tailor (verb) - made or changed especially to be suitable for a particular situation or purpose.

To rent (verb) - to pay or receive a fixed amount of money for the use of a room, house, car, television, etc.

At a premium - if you get something at a premium, you pay a high price for it, esp. because it is not easily available.

Row (noun) - a noisy argument or fight.

To clobber (verb) - to harm someone financially.

Generational (adj.) - relating to different generations (= groups of people or members of a family who are around the same age).

First-time buyer (noun) - someone who is buying their own house or apartment for the first time, especially by borrowing money from a bank or similar organization.

Price range (noun) - the amount of money that you can afford to pay for something.

To be devoid of something - to lack or be without something that is necessary or usual.

Decor (noun) - the colour, style, and arrangement of the objects in a room.

Conversation piece (noun) - an unusual object that causes people to start talking.

Questions and Answers

M: What are the most important features of an ideal house for most people?

R: Well, that's a great question. If we talk about my country, then I would say they're looking for something well-insulated to save money and stay healthy and build to a good standard so they don't have to invest much in the upkeep. Money is rather thin on the ground here, it seems. So all of these things are quite important.

M: What difficulties do people have living in the city?

R: Generally, a lack of space and excessive social issues like crime and poverty seem like pretty significant features that affect people. Supposedly life expectancy is lower, and the risk of disease is higher as well. It makes you wonder why anyone would want to live there, to be honest.

M: What can be done to reduce the stress of city life?

R: Well, moving out of cities would be a good start, both for the moving people and those who remain, there'll be less stress on people and services. Failing that there could be improved provision of services and general maintenance of the infrastructure. I mean, there are bridges in the United States that are falling to pieces. So more could definitely be done in this area.

M: What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in the city centre rather than living in the suburbs?

R: Well, you have more space beyond the city centre. And I think the prices are lower due to the reduced logistics pressure and better supply chains. But I could be wrong about that. However, the city centre is where everything happens. So, that means you're right at the heart of the action, which might justify the choice for some.

M: How will technology change the way we find and rent or buy accommodation in the future?

R: It might change how we live in the accommodation. But as for the payment involved, gosh, I'm not sure. Maybe it would allow payments to be made even faster or structured differently, like the whole buy now, pay later thing. In terms of finding it, there will probably be more personalization of searches, as the rule of Big Data expands. Might make finding a place easier since searches can be better tailored to your preferences and pricing options.

M: And do you think more people will buy or rent accommodation in the future?

R: I think more people will buy it. I think it's more expensive to rent right now. I mean, I'm talking about my country in general, I don't know what the situation is like elsewhere in the world.

M: What are some of the benefits and drawbacks of living in a shared apartment?

R: Well, personal space would be at a premium. If you have other people around. You'd probably need to agree some ground rules about who does what and how things are done. For example, who takes the trash out and when? Otherwise, this lack of compromise might lead to people getting into rows needlessly. When it comes to the good things about it, if you're a social person, it's nice having people nearby always. Plus you can share bills and chores with other people.

M: How does the housing market affect young people who are looking for accommodation?

R: Pretty much clobbers them, to be honest, at least in my country, house prices and rents are pretty much out of control. And it's hard to find a place without generational wealth if you're a first-time buyer. In terms of how they're affected outside of struggling to afford and find places in their price range. It would be, well, it would be quite stressful if they're stuck somewhere they don't want to be as well.

M: Do you think it's important to decorate your living space?

R: Oh absolutely. Yes. Who wants to live or visit a place that's totally devoid of decor? It's depressing and boring since there isn't anything to see. It's such a missed opportunity to show off all your interesting conversation pieces. No one likes bare walls. They just, well, they almost invite people to add things.

Discussion

M: The most important features in an ideal house. Features, we talk about what's inside there.

R: And I mentioned two of them really, which were that it was well-insulated and connected to that. It's built to a good standard. That just means it's not going to fall down anytime soon.

M: And well-insulated. You don't feel the air inside your house like, you know like, when you close the window and still you have this, you know, cold wind. But it's insulated. So you're kind of, you're warm and you don't feel the wind through little cracks.

R: It has to do with managing the heat.

M: Also, you can mention heating, electricity, hot water. And Rory started with a reaction to the question. He said, like, that's a great question. But his intonation was kind of like, oh, boy, that's a horrible question. Oh, that's a great question.

R: Buying time.

M: So if you listen to it again, yeah, you can feel that Rory is not excited about this question. And actually feels that this question is horrible. So people usually look for something well-insulated. And also something that is built, it is built to a good standard. So it's well built, well-insulated, so they don't have to invest in the upkeep.

R: But that's paying for the maintenance.

M: Maintenance, we take care of our flat, we invest in the upkeep, in the maintenance, doing something, renovating, fixing something. So maintain a flat. We can also say, that we don't have to invest in maintaining a flat or a house, in the maintenance. We also maintain a car, we take care of our car all the time. And then the idiom, dear listener, the idiom. Money is rather thin on the ground here.

R: Yes.

M: Money is thin on the ground.

R: If something is thin on the ground, it means there's not much of it.

M: Could you give us another example? Be thin on the ground. Idiom from the UK.

R: Yeah. I think it's usually about money or resources of some kind that are thin on the ground to talk about how much there isn't of them. So money is thin on the ground. And so is, in some parts of the country, internet bandwidth is thin on the ground, you can't really connect to the internet very well.

M: So be thin on the ground exist only in small numbers or amounts. People have different difficulties living in the city, a lack of space. So not enough space, excessive social issues, like too many social issues, too many people and too many social issues like crime and poverty. Poverty? People don't have money. So social issues. Life expectancy is lower in cities, which means people die younger in cities According to Rory.

R: Well, according to the statistics.

M: And then we wrap it up with makes you wonder why anyone would want to live in cities. Kind of like it makes you wonder, we forget about it. Like makes you wonder, makes you think about... Like why would anyone want to live in a city? And this is a kind of a question, a rhetorical question. Moving out of the cities would be a good start. A very interesting structure of a sentence. So doing something would be a good start, or doing something would be dadada. Okay? So what can be done? And you say moving out of cities would be a good start, right? A superstructure for your sentence. There would be less stress on people and services, less stress on services. And here Rory mentions maintenance of infrastructure. Infrastructure? Restaurants, cafes, buildings, hospitals, transport links.

R: Anything to support the city.

M: And the way we take care of this infrastructure. So the way we maintain this infrastructure. Maintenance. So if people move out of the cities, there could be improved maintenance of infrastructure. And then Rory gives an example. To kind of, to support his idea that, okay, people move out, and infrastructure would get better. For example, in the United States, there are bridges, bridges over rivers, over the roads that are falling to pieces. Okay? So they need to maintain the bridges. So if people go away, they could spend time fixing the bridges. People live in the city, and some people live in the suburbs, okay? Or on the outskirts, yeah? In the suburbs, like away from the city centre. And you can say you have more space beyond the city centre. What did you mean by better supply chains?

R: Well, the supply chain is just getting the product from where it's made to where it needs to be like in a shop or to people's addresses. So I think outside the city centre, there's reduced pressure on this because there's more open space to move, there's less, fewer traffic jams. And you can drive faster in the countryside, generally, at least where I live. So this whole process of getting things from the factory to whoever wants to buy them is much smoother than in the city. I think. I might be wrong.

M: And then you talk about the city centre. The city centre is where everything happens. You are right at the heart of the action. You're right there where everything happens. You are right at the heart of the action. Articles. All this hustle and bustle happens in the city centre downtown.

R: It does. I miss being in a big city.

M: We rent accommodation. So you don't buy it, you rent it, you pay money every month, and you live there. So you rent it, or you buy it. And if I have a flat Rory and I give my flat to you, you pay me money. So what do I do with my flat?

R: Lease it. Or there's a phrasal verb you rent it out.

M: So I rent out a flat and you rent my flat. You live in it and pay money.

R: Yeah.

M: Technology wise Rory talked about the payment method. So technology would allow payments to be made faster.

R: Yeah. I mean, you can just pay by card for things, for example. Although I'm not too sure about how that would work for buying a house. That would be really weird.

M: Yeah, for houses buy now pay later method. Or you take out a loan.

R: Well, those are two different things. Buy now pay later is like you buy the object and then pay in installments over time. There's no loan involved.

M: Oh... Oh, okay, okay. So pay by installments. Okay? So you buy it for this minimum price. And then every month, you pay different parts. So pay by installments, pay in parts. And if you take a loan, there is an interest rate, you have to pay a commission. The technology might make finding a place easier. Okay? So a place or a house, because searches can be tailored to your preferences. So when you search for a house or a flat, this is tailored to your preferences, because Google knows what you like, Google knows you even better than you know yourself these days. So the internet knows what to show you. Due to technology, dear listener. Yeah, scary as it is. It's quite true. And, so pricing options, the searches can be better tailored to your preferences and to your pricing options. So to the prices that are okay for you. People live in shared apartments. Okay? So you share an apartment, and you have flatmates.

R: Maybe. I would never do that.

M: Yeah. When you're over 30, you guys, you know, you just need some good sleep alone. Personal space would be at a premium. At a premium, you meant that it's like super important, personal space.

R: Yes. Or there would be very little of it to go around.

M: So if you share an apartment, if you live in a shared flat, personal space is crucial. So if you have other people around, if you have other people next to you, close to you...

R: Then there's less personal space.

M: So not enough, like lack of personal space, you can say. Then you would need to agree on ground rules, some basic rules about who does what. And then an example, who takes the trash out and when, and you need to achieve a compromise. Lack of compromise might lead to rows. Rows? When you argue with people all the time. And then we change the topic when it comes to the good things. The question was about benefits and drawbacks. When it comes to the good things, if you are a social person, it's nice having people around. It's nice having people nearby. Plus you can share bills and chores. Chores? Like housework, you can share housework. And then such a strange question about the housing market.

R: Yeah, that was a weird one.

M: So young people look for accommodation. So how does the housing market affect them? What?

R: However, we came up with a very specific effect. It clobbers them, which means that it's not a very nice situation to be in. Usually, if you clobber someone that means you hit them, but in this case, if the market clubbers you then it just puts you into a really difficult position. Because the house prices are out of control. That means they're constantly rising, there's no limit placed on them. And so with this in mind, it makes life really difficult for young people.

M: Harm someone financially, the new supermarket is really going to clobber the small local shops. So it will do harm to some people financially. So house prices and rents are pretty much out of control. It's difficult to find a place without...

R: Generational wealth. But that just means that your parents, your family has money that's built up over time.

M: So if you are a first-time buyer, and you don't have the support of your parent's money, then it's really difficult. Young people struggle to afford places to live. So struggle, it's difficult for them to afford, to have money for this place. So young people struggle to find places in their price range. So a price range, okay, for a house, I can pay from this to this. So this is my price range. From one $50 to $200 per week. And young people could be stuck somewhere they don't want to be. So because of the high prices, they don't have this generational wealth, money from their parents. So they are stuck in a small flat, where they don't want to be. Yeah? They are stuck. They have to stay there. Decorate your house. So decorations and decor, right? Decor, how do you pronounce it?

R: I say decor or decor. It doesn't really matter. But what will happen is, what will matter is if it's devoid of decor, which means that there's nothing. It's just white walls. That's not cool.

M: Yeah, like who wants to live in a house that's totally devoid of decor? So doesn't have any. Decor. Or you can talk about the interior design, the interior design, exterior design, like outside. If a house doesn't have any decorations, it's depressing and boring. Okay? And then it's a missed opportunity. Kind of like there are no decorations. Like you are missing out on something. You just don't show off your interesting conversation pieces. What are conversation pieces?

R: They're things that get people talking, be honest. So if you have a book that's got quite a colourful cover on your coffee table, then that will be a conversation piece because it will attract people's attention. And they'll ask about it. And you can look at it together. There's even a name for this. I think they're called coffee table books.

M: So usually your photographs, some souvenirs, like magnets on your fridge are conversation pieces. And if a house doesn't have any decorations, you can say like, it is just like bare walls, bare. Bare? Like walls are just walls. There's nothing on them. Who likes bare walls? Bare. Hey! Thank you so much for listening! We'll see you in our next episode! Okay? Bye!

R: Bye!

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