| Level | Topic | Speakers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Difficult | Home Repairs | Man – Man | 01:38 |
Pre-Listening Exercise
Discuss with a partner three common repairs or home improvements people do in and around their apartments or houses (e.g., kitchen cabinets, roofing, siding, etc.).
- The walls need to be repainted because there are stains and holes in different places.
- The kitchen table needs fixing because a part is broken.
- The kitchen cabinets need to be refinished because they are scratched.
- Doing your own home repairs saves more money than hiring a professional.
- Renovating a home increases its value and comfort.
- Homeowners should learn basic repair skills.
- Old homes have more character than newly renovated ones.
- Hiring professionals for repairs is usually safer and faster.
- Home improvements should match the neighborhood style.
- Renovating is more stressful than moving to a new place.
- People often spend too much on unnecessary upgrades.
- Watching online videos is enough to learn how to fix most things.
- Home repair traditions vary from country to country.
Idioms
“on the fritz” = broken, not working
“We need to get the air conditioning repaired because it’s been on the fritz for three weeks.”
“clean as a whistle” = perfectly clean
“Wow! Your bedroom is clean as a whistle.”
Listening Exercise
A. Listen to the recording and answer the questions.
Post-Listening Exercise
Think of three problems with the place you are now living and what needs to be done to fix them. Discuss your ideas with a partner. Then, share your opinions with other students on your experiences with housing in your country. Ask another student these questions. Report your findings to the class:
- Where do you live?
- Where do most university students live while going to college (i.e., at home with family, in an apartment with a roommate, in a dormitory)?
- What one thing would you change about the place where you live now?
Online Investigation
Suppose that you need to make the following repairs on your apartment or home. Search online for three websites that provide specific instructions on how to deal with each situation. How clear are the written instructions on how to fix each problem? Are there instructional videos to visually explain the process of repairing the items?
- a leaky faucet
- a clogged toilet
- a damaged wall (caused by your roommate punching the wall because he/she didn’t get a good grade on a grammar test)
- a stained carpet from grape juice