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Houseguests

Learn English with this houseguests English lesson

Date: Oct 16 2018

Themes: Family, Friend, Travel

Grammar: Definite & Indefinite Articles

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Intro

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Hosting houseguests can be a mixed blessing. If having a clean home is important to you, it can take a lot of work to get one’s house immaculate. You’ll probably want to have the kinds of food that your guests will eat, and you’ll want your home to have a welcoming atmosphere. Some people will even roll out the red carpet when their extended family comes to visit. But whether you enjoy hosting or not, everyone will agree that it’s not always easy having houseguests.

If you have an open door policy with friends and family, there’s the possibility that some people will overstay their welcome. Then what do you do? If you ask them to leave, your relationship might be in danger. But if you don’t, you may become secretly angry about your situation. Neither option is a good one, so perhaps it’s best to agree on how long your guests will stay before they arrive.

Marni and Lily have opposite opinions about houseguests. Can you guess who likes having company? Read on in today’s English lesson about visitors.

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.

Marni

Lily

Marni: Lily.

Lily: Mm-hm?

Marni: I just found out that my whole extended family is coming to visit, and they all expect to stay with me.

Lily: Oh, that sounds fun. That sounds like a nice, big, cozy weekend.

Marni: Fun? Oh, I’m dreading it. I just find houseguests stressful, even if it’s family. I feel like you’ve got to roll out the red carpet, and just clean the place until it’s immaculate, and it’s just so stressful.

Lily: But there’s such a great atmosphere, though. It’s very communal. You can talk to people in the kitchen. I feel like people are bonded together when they’re living together for a little while. Even if it’s just for a short visit.

Marni: Do you just have an open door policy where you allow houseguests at any and all times?

Lily: Oh, yeah.

Marni: You sound very accepting of this.

Lily: Yeah, I really like it.

Marni: You never feel like people overstay their welcome?

Lily: Hm-mm. I really like having company. And I like taking care of people, and cooking for them, and doing all that stuff. So, it makes me happy to have other people in the house.

Marni: Can my family come stay with you, then?

Lily: Sure!

Marni: Great.

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Discussion

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Lily and Marni could not feel more differently about houseguests! Marni’s family is coming to visit, and just the idea of it is stressing her out. She doesn’t want to clean everything, and she hates having to do special things for guests. Marni just wants to live her life with her husband and child. If she could, Marni would send her family to stay with Lily.

Lily probably wouldn’t mind if Marni’s family stayed in her home. She enjoys having people to cook and clean for. Lily likes entertaining guests because she feels like it creates a pleasant atmosphere. Taking care of people simply makes Lily happy.

Do you enjoy hosting guests, or would you rather they stayed in a hotel? What’s the best thing about houseguests?

Comments

Uvercinka_

Turkey

Houseguests are considered to be gifts for us in my culture, and yes, I like putting them up providing that they are not ill-hearted. I believe that angels accompany us till they leave my house, because there is peace where there is unity.

Minathai

Viet Nam

I remember when I was a little girl, I loved to have relatives and friends in my house. I enjoyed staying up late to talk with them , but at that time I never thought that my mom and Dad were very tired because they had to take care everything .

liguohui88

China

What shall I do? I don’t have a house neither home. I live in the dormitory of company. Every time when my friends or family come to visit they stay in the hotel. I pay for it.

MaraCarreto

Mexico

La Princesse de la vie

Egypt

I’m the kind of the person who makes sure everything is immaculate and rolls out the red carpet when they hear of guests coming. I dread surprising visits because of that.

fcf515

Taiwan

I understand why Marni dislikes having her extended family visit her house because it is a real hassel to clean the house and prepare for their visit. However, it doesn’t bother me a lot if my extended family visit me and stay at my house for only a night though.

vik32

India

it depends and yeah you like it if they come for a short visit and never overstay their welcome. otherwise you get annoyed and pissed off with all special things you are supposed to do and behave while they stay at your home.

albasel1975

Germany

I like to tailor the decor based on what my guest(s) like. My late aunt was my role model. She would welcome us with “oh, I know you like (movies, snacks) so I bought some for us to enjoy this weekend”.

sara1234b

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Hi there !

I think it’s an opportunity to make people feel welcome and ensure that their time spent with you is memorable.

buttafly

Germany

When my houseguests move on, they’ll be missed for a while. I think that’s the best thing about hospitality ;)

whipiry

South Korea

getting someone to my house is not easy …I have something to do before they arrive home.

i should make my house immaculate and tidy and i should find something wrong in my place. if they overstay my welcome …oh my gosh…i don’t like it.

i dont’ dreat it like that. visiting can have mixed blessings…one is bonding with them , the other is bothring to prepare and clean . however atmosphere at meeting is so good , i can feel happy and great . i want to rolll out the red carpet ,,but i am not the one who like to do that..

ola33

Japan

I love guests coming over to my place. You cook, you clean the house, you make everyone special and compfortable, you dirnk wine, you chat, you have wonderful gathering. But, if I happen to be in a new city, I prefer to stay in a hotel. I love hotels, it gives you more privacy, freedom, plus the right location, so you don’t have to commute to get to the centre of downtown, you just live there, getting that urban vibe.

Michele1

Italy

Provided that our home is often the mirror of ourselves,the place where all the things speak of us, of our order or disorder, of our creativity,of our intelligence…The home says all about our being…secret moments. The way we place the furnitures,the paintings, the object reveals our character,personality.That means when we have houseguests is like a small invasion of our “field”.

Like everything in our life ,the hosting houseguests should be made with wisdom, to choose the middle way between the Narni and Lily behaviours.; sometimes will be okey to have open door policy and other times will be good to live with our close family only. It depends,of course, on the degree of kinship or on the kind of our friendship we have with them.