Learning Vocabulary: Flat Hunting 3
Jack: Hello my name’s Jack
Rowan: My name’s Rowan
Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.
Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English.
Rowan: Don’t forget you can find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.
Rich: We have changed our weekly podcast. You will hear our weekly podcast in three parts.
Jack: Yes. We asked you for your opinions on the ideal podcast length and the majority of our listeners say that they want more podcasts but shorter podcasts.
Rowan: We are splitting the podcast into three shorter parts which will make things easier to understand.
Jack: Not too much will change. We will always have a roleplay for you, a language focus, a task for you to complete and a weekly football phrase for you to guess.
Rich: Please let us know if you are happy with the changes either in the comments section or on Apple Podcasts.
Rowan: This week’s podcast is connected to flat hunting. Jack is looking for someone to share his flat - he’s looking for a new flatmate.
Rich: That’s right. And lots of people have called Jack about his flat - there has been a lot of interest.
Rowan: In our first two roleplays, earlier this week, you heard interviews between Jack and potential new flatmates.
Rich: And now he needs to make a decision about his new flatmate. In the roleplay in this podcast Jack will call his new flatmate.
Jack: After the roleplay, we’ll look at some words and phrases we use connected to renting a flat.
Rowan: Your task is to imagine you were coming to the UK to study or work for six months and to tell us the kind of place you’d like to rent.
Rich: If you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or any other podcast platform, you should also check out our website.
Jack: On the Premier Skills English website, you’ll find the transcript, examples and activities to help you understand the language, and a task for you to complete with other listeners.
Introduction to roleplay
Jack: As we said earlier, this podcast is in three parts - there will be three short podcasts in total. This is the final part.
Rich: Jack needs a new flatmate and he’s been interviewing people who are interested in sharing his flat. He has now made a decision but who has he chosen as his new flatmate? You will find out in this roleplay.
Rowan: Jack is going to make a telephone call. While you listen, we want you to answer two questions:
Rich: The first question is: Is the flatmate happy with the news?
Rowan: And the second question is: Why didn’t Jack choose the other flatmate?
Roleplay
Rowan: Hello Jack. Great to hear from you. I didn’t think I would after the other day. I can’t have come across as the ideal flatmate.
Jack: No, no. We might have different tastes and hobbies but that’s not an issue. So, I’d like to offer you the room.
Rowan: That’s brilliant.
Jack: Well, you already know how much the rent is but we will have to talk again and sign a tenancy agreement.
Rowan: That’s fine. I have the deposit already. It was two months rent in advance, wasn’t it?
Jack: Yes, and we’ll have to discuss notice periods and rules around the flat.
Rowan: Yes, of course. So when can I move in?
Jack: Well, once the agreement is signed as soon as you want. How does this weekend sound?
Rowan: Brilliant. So, was I top of your list, Jack?
Jack: I have to be honest with you, I had another flatmate lined up but then I discovered the present his dog, Rover, left on my bed - disgusting!
Language Focus
Rich: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions. The first question was: Is the flatmate happy with the news?
Jack: She was very happy. She was surprised because she thought she hadn’t made a good impression in the interview but yes she was happy.
Rich: The second question was: Why didn’t Jack choose the other flatmate?
Jack: Well, I was already a bit unsure about having pets in my flat but then when I discovered the present that Rover had left in my bedroom there was no way I was going to have Rich and Rover as flatmates. He told me that he was house-trained! What a liar!
Rowan: We’ll let you decide what Rover’s present was. Let’s move onto a bit of language.
Rich: There is quite a lot of specific language connected to renting a flat that could be useful for you to know.
Jack: In the UK, whenever you rent a flat you’ll need to sign a tenancy agreement. I spoke about this in the roleplay.
Rowan: A tenancy agreement is a contract between you and the landlord which contains all the rules that you have to follow, from when you move into the flat and when you move out.
Rich: The landlord is the person or company you rent the room, flat or house from.
Jack: Rowan used a couple of useful phrasal verbs there too: move in and move out. To move in means to start living in your new home and to move out means to leave your old home.
Rowan: When you rent a flat or a room you might also be asked to pay a deposit. This is an amount of money that we pay and we get back at the end of the agreement if we don’t damage anything in the flat and have paid everything we owe when we move out.
Rich: Listen to this part of the roleplay again and listen out for the vocabulary we’ve just been speaking about:
Jack: Well, you already know how much the rent is but we will have to talk again and sign a tenancy agreement.
Rowan: That’s fine. I have the deposit already. It was two months rent in advance, wasn’t it?
Jack: Yes, and we’ll have to discuss notice periods and rules around the flat.
Rowan: Yes, of course. So when can I move in?
Rich: OK, we’ve looked at lots of language connected to renting a new place. You can find the transcript and more activities on the Premier Skills English website to help you understand what we’ve been speaking about.
TASK
Rich: In this task, we want you to imagine you were coming to the UK to study or work for six months and to tell us the kind of place you’d like to rent.
Rowan: What type of property would it be? A house or a flat?
Jack: Where would it be? In the city or in the countryside? In London, Scotland or another city in the UK?
Rich: Would you want your own place or would you prefer to share? What do you need to have near your property? Shops? A park? A university? A football club?
Rowan: What kind of facilities would you like? Do you need fast internet and a big TV? Is the amount of space and light important? Do you want a garden? A big kitchen? Modern or traditional furniture?
Jack: Write all your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website or on Apple podcasts if that’s where you listen to us.
Football Phrase
Rich: It’s time for this week’s football phrase. Remember that you will hear this football phrase in all three parts of this podcast and we’ll have the answer for you in part one of our next podcast as well as in This Week which you can also watch on YouTube.
Rowan: The answer to last week’s football phrase was reduced capacity. Well done if you got it right and if you did I hope you heard our shout out to you in This Week on YouTube!
Jack: Have you got this week’s football phrase, Rich?
Rich: I have. This week’s football phrase is ******** ******. At the moment there is a lot of ******** ****** in the newspapers and online. This phrase is used to describe rumours about which players are signing for which clubs and things like that.
Rowan: Lots of players will be moving clubs this summer and looking for new houses and flats. Maybe they could move in with you Jack!
Jack: If you have a football phrase that you would like us to use in the podcast, just get in touch and let us know.
Rich: Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast and live on YouTube.
Jack: If you have a question for us about football or English you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org
Rowan: or you can leave your questions and comments on the website in the comments section or on our Facebook page.
Rich: or you could give us a rating and a fantastic review on Apple Podcasts.
Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football!
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