My home – Csilla Tóth 18/12/2021

Speaking Practice Matura Leader B1 Unit 2 Houses - page 31 – task 1

I live in a block of flats on the ninth floor in Székesfehérvár with my fiancé.

Székesfehérvár is a busy and lively town. I’m very happy to live here. Firstly,
because most of my friends live here and secondly, because the town itself is
cosy. It is neither too big nor too small and it offers very good shopping and
entertainment facilities. However, what I don’t like that it is quite dirty for me.
We’re renting our home at the moment. It’s a council flat.

/The local councils used to build many blocks of flats and let them to people who couldn’t
afford to build or buy their own. The problme with it is that these flats were mainly one-or-
two rooms flats, whom don’t have enough money they have no other choice but to live with
their parents. There is not serious shortage of accomodation for married couples in Hungary.
People don’t hae to wait for years to buy a house or a flat, place of their own. Nowadays, to
be able to build or buy a house or a flat you need to have enough money to put down a
deposit.The deposit covers some percent of the cost of flat. Then you can get a bank loan at
quite a high interest rate and you pay it back in monthy instalments. If you have children, you
may get a state grant, which you do not have to pay back. / I think the problem of young
people buying their own home is one the biggest problem in Hungary (without indebtedness)

Our home is fifth square metres. We have five rooms altogether: there are a
living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and a toilet. We also have a small
hall and a big balcony with a wonderful view of the lake. It is located in a quiet
street so we’re perfectly satisfied with our flat. I wouldn’t like to move
anywhere (in the near future).
Our living room is a medium-sized room with large windows so it’s nice and
sunny. We don’t have too much furniture in it – just a sofa, a coffee table, a
wardrobe and a bookself. I spend more time in the living room. I like lie on a
big sofa and read my Harry Potter books.
Our kitchen is small but well-equipped. It is easy to keep clean. All the things
like the cooker, the sink, the microwave are on one wall. The fridge and small
dining table with two chairs are on the other side.
We don’t have a big bathroom, we have only a small tub, a washing machine
and a basin in it.
My dream home would be a bigger flat in a quite residential area of the city. I
would like to have a big living room, a luxurious bathroom with a cornerbath
and a heated towel rail.
We hardly know our neighbours. We greet each other when we meet but that’s
all.
Live in city or village – advantages, disadvantages

Towns are lively places, where there is always something interesting happening.
There is a wide choice of shops, cinemas, theatres, restaurants and pubs. You
can go out to a different place every night if you want to. Even if I live in a
village, I would prefer to move to a town because town life is so much exciting.
Life is never dull in a town, the latest exhibitions, films and plays are going on.
Shopping can even be a pleasure because there is a much wider choice of
everything. City life is also better for the children because there is a variety of
schools they can choose from and they don’t need to commute. Neither do adults
need to commute to work, because they have more chance of employment.
Cities, on the other hand, are noisy and dirty. People are very often lonely in
cities because people usually keep to themselves.

One of the most important advantages of country life is its peacefulness. There
is no industrial pollution in the country, the air is clean and fresh. The country is
much safer than the city: there are fewer accidents and the crime rate is low.

House is more general word for the building someone lives in.
Home is more personal and involves the people and daily activities inside.

PROS: Living in the country CONS: Living in the country

You get peace and quiet. There isn’t much nightlife.

You get fresh air. You don’t get many shops.

You are sorrunded by lovely scenery. There isn’t much privacy, everybody knows
everybody.
There isn’t a wide range of activities.

PROS: Living in the city CONS: Living in the city

There’s a good range of shops. It is very crowded.

There are lots of cultural activities. It can be noisy.

There are more job opportunities and better The streets are often dirty.
schools.
There are traffic jams.

You have a higher cost of living.