📘 Part 3: Visiting others

This episode's vocabulary

Sociable (adj.) - sociable people like to meet and spend time with other people.

To hang out (phrasal verb) - to spend a lot of time in a place or with someone.

To arrange (verb) - to plan, prepare for, or organize something.

Obligatory (adj.) - if something is obligatory, you must do it because of a rule or law, etc.

To socialize (noun) - to spend time when you are not working with friends or with other people in order to enjoy yourself.

Houseproud (adj.) - very worried about your house being completely clean and tidy, and spending a lot of time making it so.

To accommodate (verb) - to provide with a place to live or to be stored in.

To cater (ver) - to provide, and sometimes serve, food.

Bonds (noun) - a close connection joining two or more people.

Commonplace (adj.) - happening often or often seen or experienced and so not considered to be special.

Housewarming (noun) - a party that you give when you move into a new house.

To host (verb) - to provide the space and other things necessary for a special event.

Parlour games (verb) - a game played inside a house, usually involving words or acting.

Hospitable (adj.) - friendly and welcoming to guests and visitors.

Questions and Answers

M: Do people in your country often invite others to their homes?

R: I mean, how often is often? It depends on so much, like where you live and how far away your friends are and how sociable you are. Generally, though, I'd say they probably do since I often see pictures of people hanging out with each other in various other homes. So some people must be throwing these parties. I think people here are pretty sociable, and they have large friendship groups. So it makes sense they all want to mix and see each other.

M: What do you think of serving food to visitors?

R: It's nice to have... And if you arrange to have people over for a meal, then it's pretty much obligatory. But outside of this, I don't think it's fair to expect people to provide you with food, let alone serve it to you. You have a cost of living crisis now, and not everyone has the sort of money to throw around on things like that... Not to mention the energy of making food.

M: What kind of people do you think are more likely to invite others to their homes?

R: Other than the ones who like socializing with people? Good question. I suppose if you have lots of friends, and are particularly houseproud, with the resources to accommodate everyone and cater to them, then you might be better placed to have people around.

M: Who is more likely to invite others to their homes, people in the countryside or people in the city?

R: Well, I was thinking about that there, actually. I mean, at first, it makes sense to say you would be more likely to have people in your home if you're in a city because there are loads more people and so more opportunities to have larger social networks and gatherings. But now I think about it in more depth, social bonds and traditions are more important in the countryside where there are fewer resources and people rely on each other more.

M: What traditions are there when visiting other people's homes?

R: In my country? I don't think there are many really. It's pretty commonplace to bring "Thank you" presents, but there are no set rules about what to bring. The one exception might be if it's for something like a housewarming, and you want to get someone something useful for their home. But that is very broad. And I don't think there are traditions governing that.

M: Do people usually bring a gift?

R: Like I said, it's a common thing to take something the first time you head over to someone's place, but after that, you usually just bring things for yourself, like maybe a bottle of wine or something like that for the host. Unless of course, it's a birthday. But that's the nature of the celebration and not connected to visiting someone per se.

M: How do people entertain friends at their home?

R: In all kinds of ways. They share stories and watch things on TV together. Some people host dinner parties and play parlour games as well. I think they're making something of a comeback in my country at least, but yeah, the sky is pretty much the limit in terms of what's possible, to be honest.

M: Are people more suitable now than in the past?

R: I mean, where? I imagined it shifts all the time. I would say in my country, at least people are probably more open than they were. Since there are lots more newcomers and people who need support and we'll hopefully return the favor one day. I imagine if you're living in a warzone people will be decidedly less hospitable.

M: Hey, thank you Rory for your answers!

R: No worries!