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Housework

Learn English with this housework English lesson

Date: Apr 24 2019

Themes: Family, Time

Grammar: Zero Conditional

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Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Having a house is a big responsibility. Not only do you have to pay for rent, but you also need to keep your home clean.

Some household tasks, or chores, happen all the time. You’ll always need to dust, and to vacuum, and to do the dishes. Nothing stays clean, and nothing cleans itself. Even when life is busy, it’s important to keep things clean. It’s likely you’ll be more relaxed if you aren’t worried about your house getting dirtier and dirtier.

Traditionally, women have been responsible for housework. But today, it just depends on people’s workload. Sometimes the woman works long hours at the office, and it’s easier for the man to clean the house. Sometimes, the woman spends her day at home and has time to clean while her husband works. As long as both people agree, it’s definitely OK to share cleaning responsibilities.

Learn who needs to do a little more housework in this English lesson about cleaning.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jessica

Lily

Jessica: I can’t believe I have to do all of this housework again. I just did it last week.

Lily: Oh, really? I didn’t even notice that it got dirty again. That’s weird.

Jessica: I have to dust. Look at how dusty everything is. And then, when you dust, you have to vacuum because the dust gets everywhere.

Lily: That’s true. I never actually really do the housework. People ask me to do the dishes and stuff, but I always forget. I have a lot going on. I don’t have time to put up with all of the cleaning.

Jessica: Well, I am so much more relaxed when the house is spotless. It just doesn’t bother me to do the dishes, especially after I make dinner, if I do them right away. But it really bothers me when I have to do all of the housework all the time.

Lily: But doesn’t it bother you, the gender roles thing, where women have to clean the house all the time, and it’s never the guys that have to do anything.

Jessica: I see where you’re coming from, but I feel like if we could just share the workload among all of the housemates, it would be much easier.

Lily: Oh.

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Discussion

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Jessica is complaining to Lily about all the housework she has to do. She just cleaned, but the house is already dirty again.

It turns out that Lily doesn’t really notice how dirty the house is. She doesn’t clean or pay attention to what housework needs to be done. Lily says she’s really busy and doesn’t have time to put up with cleaning.

Jessica doesn’t mind some cleaning. For example, she always washes the dishes right after dinner. Lily tells Jessica she doesn’t think that women should always be the only ones to clean. Jessica understands Lily’s point, but for her, it’s more important that everyone living in the house helps out with the workload, including Lily.

Should Lily start doing some of the housework? Who takes care of cleaning in your home?

Comments

mahsa_aisa

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

she should help cuz they live together so as Jessica ;Lily should also devote some of her time. cleaning the house …and saying” im so busy”; i think its lame excuses .. but i agree with her saying that women should NOT always be the only ones to clean…/my mom but most of the time i try to help her

S&W

China

Absolutely ,Lily should start doing some housework.Some people use “busy or i forget it “as an excause, which can’t persuade anybody.Geting everything clean and organised is a good habit. My mom and i doing the cleaning in our home.Sometimes my dad will help.But usually my mom and i can take care of all of those.We want to do more ,then the other will do less.

ttsuka

Japan

Should Lily start doing some of the housework?

This is a little strange question to make. Is the conversation happening between two roommates and one of them is not doing her fair share of household choir? But if so, Jessica should sound more annoyed, complaining to Lilly for her irresponsibility. Or, is Lily’s house too dirty to be ignored although she lives alone?

Anyway, Lily has a kick-ass attitude, “I didn’t even notice that it got dirty again. That’s weird.” Way to go Dirty Lily!

aleszandra

Romania

Me and my boyfriend moved together for about a year. When we have to do chores or some household tasks we do it together. He usually vacuums and I do the dishes. We both iron clothes, but I have to be honest, I do it mostly. If I don`t ask him to help me with chores, he doesn`t do anything, but if I do, he makes what need to be made. So I think men are like children. They need to be told what to do and they will do.

sandraa95

Sweden

i do my own chores i mean just my room! i dont feel like cleaning kitchen an so on..its somehow boring but when it comes to me and my room ,seeing lots of cloth like a mountain there you, just wanna stand up and shout and say yeP i can make it.. :X

Jasonlongo

Congo, Democratic Republic Of The

we live three brothers at my place, so i of do the dishes and dust the the cuz where i live i don’t really like dirty and i often do that on saturday.

jansladek

Slovakia

I would like to say…what would happen if a man lives alone?? Will he live in dirty place??? NO of course,only if he was a pig.

what would happen if a woman lives alone?? Will she live in dirty place??? NO of course,only if he was a pig.

so in my oppinion I´d say it doesn´t matter what kind of housework it is, it has to be done.By who ???? In best way by both of them of course…Less time spent for cleening more time for being together and doing common things…And at the end,we live in 21-th century…so housework hasn´t got any gender…

AryelLanes

Brazil

No matter how excited we are, housework ALWAYS puts anyone off! My mom hates it, my dad still lives by the gender roles thing and my little bro and I are as lazy as a sloth when it comes to these chores… That’s why we’ve always had a maid to do it for us! It feels so much better! phew

sara1998

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I think she’s right about the gender roles and it’s not fair that all of the house works are the mission of women.I think men should be responsible about these things and at least help women in some of these works!

any way…cleaning the house must be done;no matter women or men do it!

I really can’t tolerate dirty places!!!

Eric_

China

I kind of understand these two ladies’ feelings.

After the stressful work, when you go back home,you will feel really exhausted. It’s betther to clean the house together…

” I am so much more relaxed when the house is spotless” :))

viorelapredescu

United States

I like my room be clean and organized. Loving all be clean means you are respectfull with yourself. A dirty people has a dirty character. So I found out in my life.

Have a Happy Easter!

ola33

Japan

Cleaning is that kind of work, I think, that I will never let anyone do it for me. I mean hiring the cleaning ladies (my budget is not that high :). So, cards on the table, I’ll do it by myself. I don’t know it’s not a lovely thing to do – it’s just got to be done and that’s it and to be done as soon as possible, because dust, dirt piles up and that messes up your brain, but when all the organized job is done and half of the room is sent to the value village, you feel soooo good.

Kitchen-Cleaning Kit