06. Housing and Accommodation

1. What kind of housing/accommodation do you live in? _ I live in an apartment building. My familty owns (so huu) two apartments right next to each other and I live in the smaller apartment with my sister. My mother and father and my father's parents live in the other.

2. How do you like it? _ Oh, I like it very much; I live quite high up and I have a wonderful view of the city. And it is very convenient to live near my parents, as my mom often cooks for us when we are very busy.

3. What kind of decoration does it (do the rooms) have? _ The apartment is very nicely furnished (dc trang hoan noi that) , though simple. We have a brand new living room set, a couch and two chairs, which my parents picked out. My sister and I picked out the curtains (man cua) and lamps and knicknacks (do trang tri lac vat), so that it has kind of a Middle Eastern style. We decorated our own rooms with all the things we saved from growing up.

4. What kind of house or apartment do you want to live in? _ I want to live in a little house in the country, with two floors and a big attic (gac mai) and basement, and wide gardens and orchards (vuon cay an qua) around it. I would probably have to live in an apartment in town most of the time and I would like my apartment to also have two floors.

(I would love to own a nice brickfront townhouse close to work. Something with a deck above a patio (san trong nha), a big kitchen, and plenty of room to entertain (v- giai tri, tieu khien). That would be so wonderful ... )

5. Which is your favorite room in your home? _ My favorite room is my room, because it has my bed and any things in it and a little window seal (dong kin) where you can sit in the sunshine and look outside. When I want to get away from everything for a while, I can escape to my room surrounded by the things I love that remind me of happy memories and if I want to chill I can play computer gamges whenever I want.

(I like the living room because there I can relax on the couch.
Of course. My bedroom, because I can do whatever I want in it. No noise, but my own. I would have to say that it would be my room. It's clean, well kept but comfortable and relaxing.
It's my territory (lanh tho). I could do whatever I want and it wouldn't matter because it's my room. The kitchen. It is the hub of house (trung tam). More activity there than anywhere else. And I like to cook.)

6. Which room does your family spend most of the time in? _ My family spends most of their time in the living room. We often watch DVDs together or we just talk about our day. And if we have friends or relatives over, we will all go into the living room to sit and talk and eat some snacks.

7. What would you say is the best thing about your home? _ My favorite thing about my home is the bid terrace (day nha) we have, it's a very pleasant place to sit in the warm weather. There is a "secret" door inside a closet (buồn nhỏ) that leads out onto the terrace and we have a picnic table and chairs our there, so you can go out there under the sky and read a book or look up into the clear blue sky.

(Probably my comforter set. I didn't like it much when I first bought it - I originally wanted another design - but it's grown on me in the past few months.
It depends, if you're talking about my apartment or my parent's house. Their house, I like the family room - awesome couches and big-screen TV. In my apartment, my bedromm - comfy king-size bed.)

8. Would you like to move to another place? _ Not now, but eventually (time-adj- rốt cuộc, cuối cùng) yes, because I think I would be bored to live in the same place for too long. I would miss my parents so it would be hard to move away from home, but at the same time I am anxious (ban khoan) to have a life of my own. Plus I think that living in a big city is very impersonal (ko ca nhan, ko rieng tu) and I would like to live in a different place.

Vocabulary:
neighbourhood (n)
housing (n)
two-bedromm flat (n)
studio flat (n)
guesthouse (n)
bungalow (n) nha go mot tang
ground floor (n)
study (n)
courtyard (n) san trong nha, san nho
balcony (n)
attic (n) gac mai
lounge (n)
basement (n)
mortgage (n)
decor (n) do trang tri
interior design (n) thiet ke ben trong
rent (n)
cramped (adj) gò bó, ko phóng tùng
spacious (adj) rộng rãi
airy (adj) thoáng khí, lộng gió
cozy (adj) ấm cúng
symmetry (n) su doi xung
furnished (adj) dc trang bi do dac
in good condition (n)
clean and tidy (adj) sach se va gon gan
storey (n)
plant (n) thuc vat