House is a building, but home is more than a building – more than just four walls with a roof. It is the cooking, eating, talking, playing and the 'living' that happens inside. It is a place where people feel safe.

People tend to say 'Home is where the heart is' which means your home will always be the place for which you feel the deepest affection, no matter where you are. People sometimes change their abode, so they move. The main reasons are new or better job opportunities, they seek adventure, or they regard their actual dwelling boring. People who want to spend just few years in a certain place do not buy houses, rather they rent flats. They are mainly preferred by youngsters who often study and work at different places.

Terraced houses are typically built in the UK

Types of houses:

Living conditions

In Hungary people usually live in a house or in a block of flats. People usually own houses in villages and most block of flats are situated in towns and cities. Houses are relatively big and they have a garden. Most of the young people in here live with their parents because it is too expensive for them to buy your own house or flat. If they can afford, they leave home and buy a house or flat when they get married. Sometimes more generations live in the same house – parents, children and grandchildren.

In Great Britain people usually live in terraced houses - they are joined together with other houses, semidetached houses – two houses are joined together with one wall or detached houses – they are not joined with another house. Houses in Britain have a small garden or a paved yard. In London you can often see old Victorian houses, however block of flats are not very common there. Young people in Britain leave home much sooner than in Hungary.

The living conditions in the USA much more depend on how much money you have. Rich people have big houses with many rooms, tennis courts and swimming pools but many poor people are homeless. California has the highest percentage of homelessness (around 20%). Despite this, the standard of living is generally very high in the USA. In cities, people live in flats situated in large apartment buildings, but other people prefer living in houses which have a big garden.

Most of American people don’t stay in one house or apartment for their entire life, but they move very often. They sell their house and buy a new one in a different city or state because of work, possibilities, studies or for other reasons.

Eco house

An environmentally friendly house means that the house itself consumes less energy than a normal house. On the roofs are usually solar cells or solar collectors. The first provides energy, the second provides warm water. These houses are usually built from materials which provide better insulation and does not pollute the environment.

Homeless people

Homeless people are people who have nowhere to live. They live in the streets for several reasons:

• some of them lost the job and therefore they have no money to pay for a flat
• some of them lived with their family but they had to leave their house or flat because they had problems in their relationship – for example they got divorced and after they had nowhere to go
• sometimes children who are orphans end up living in the street because when they are 18 years old and have to leave the children’s home

People and organisations are trying to solve their problems. The government usually provide them heated buildings - so-called shelters - during the winter. Non-profit organisations provide them food and other necessary things, such as cosmetics and clothing. Individuals can help their work by donating money to these organisations or directly by donating goods.

Our house (an example)

My family lives in a large family house with a big garden. The house itself has two floors, a cellar, an attic and a
garage. In the cellar there is a furnace room for heating the house and rooms for storing stewed fruit and vegetables for winter. In the attic there is a big mess. In the garden we grow flowers and fresh vegetables and there are many fruit trees. Right behind the house there is a kennel.

On the ground floor there is a hall and a large kitchen, stairs to the first floor and a living room. In the kitchen, which is on the left, you can see some blue cupboards, a cooker, a sink , a large round brown table with blue chairs and a yellow lamp above it.

Opposite the kitchen there is a large living room with a sofa, two armchairs, a little table on left hand side. Next to them opposite the windows there is a large bookcase with hundreds of books. Under the window there is a piano and next to it there is a shelf with a TV set, a stereo and our cassette and record collections. The room is decorated with four pictures, curtains on the windows, one large chandelier and many little lamps, vases with flowers and flowerpots with various plants, a few pottery pieces and a brown carpet on the floor.

Upstairs on the right there is a parents' bedroom with one large bed and many wardrobes, two little tables with lamps, an armchair and a small bookcase. Opposite there are two children bedrooms. Next to the stairs there is a toilet and a bathroom with a large bathtub and a washbasin. On the walls there you can see lovely light-blue tiles with little flowers. I have my own room. I used to share it with my brother, but he left home, so I have it for myself.

Szószedet

A szószedet letölthető .pdf formátumban ITT.

Rooms
hall – előszoba
kitchen – konyha
dining room – ebédlő
living room – nappali
bedroom – hálószoba
guest room – vendégszoba
toilet/restroom/washroom – illemhely
bathroom – fürdőszoba
pantry – kamra
basement – alagsor
cellar – pince
staircase – lépcsősor, lépcsőház
attic – padlás
loft – padlásszoba
porch – veranda
Bathroom
bath – fürdőkád
shower – zuhany
tap – vízcsap
towel – törölköző
rug – (kis) szőnyeg
Egyéb szavak
block of flats – panelház
homeless – hajléktalan
building – épület
ceiling – mennyezet
ground floor – földszint
first floor – földszint (USA), első emelet (GB)
second floor – első emelet (USA), második emelet (GB)
central heating – központi fűtés
privacy – magánélet
quiet – nyugalom
convenient – kényelmes
Hall
coat hanger – fogas
mirror – tükör
front door – bejárati ajtó
Kitchen
cupboard – konyhaszekrény
table – asztal
Living room
sofa – kanapé
coffee table – dohányzóasztal
armchairs – karosszék, fotel
furniture – bútor
fireplace/hearth – tűzhely
carpet – szőnyeg
Bedroom
bedside table – éjjeliszekrény
dressing table – fésülködős asztal
wardrobe – ruhásszekrény
chest of drawers – fiókos szekrény, komód
chair – szék
sink – mosogató
fridge – hűtő
freezer – fagyasztó
cooker/oven – tűzhely
home appliances – háztartási gépek
utensils – konyhaedények
(boiling) kettle – (vízforraló) kanna
cup – csésze
cutlery – evőeszközök
spoons, knives and forks – kanalak, kések és villák
frying pan – serpenyő
pressure cooker – kukta
dishes – edények
plate – tányér