English Conversation Questions

Housing

Questions

1. What would your ideal house be like?
2. What is something you like about your house?
3. What is something you dislike about your house?
4. What does the outside of your house look like?
5. How long have you lived where you are living now?
6. What things in your home couldn’t you live without?
7. How can houses be made more environmentally friendly?
8. Are there any parks near your home?

Videos

There’s no apartment in New York City more famous than Monica’s impossible rent-controlled, two-bedroom West Village digs. From the purple walls to the outdoor terrace, the “Friends” apartment became the quintessential

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ideal of everything New York could be. That’s all thanks to John Shaffner, the man responsible for creating the set of “Friends.” As a production designer, Shaffner has worked on 44 different series and 68 pilots, including “Dharma and Greg,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “The Big Bang Theory.”

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Category:  Art
Keywords: Design | Housing | TV Series
Building a perfect igloo takes cool science!
If you ever find yourself stranded in the snowy Arctic (or bored in Minecraft), you’re gonna need to know how

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to build an igloo. But how can building a house made of ice keep you warm? The science behind building an igloo is the same reason that otters and reindeer don’t freeze to death!

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Category:  Art
Keywords: Cold | Housing | Temperature
Loneliness doesn’t always stem from being alone. For architect Grace Kim, loneliness is a function of how socially connected we feel to the people around us — and it’s often the result of the homes we live in. She shares an

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age-old antidote to isolation: cohousing, a way of living where people choose to share space with their neighbors, get to know them, and look after them. Rethink your home and how you live in it with this eye-opening talk.

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Category:  Art | Psychology
In 1967, Moshe Safdie reimagined the monolithic apartment building, creating “Habitat ’67,” which gave each unit an unprecedented sense of openness. Nearly 50 years later, he believes the need for this type of building is

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greater than ever. In this short talk, Safdie surveys a range of projects that do away with the high-rise and let light permeate into densely-packed cities.

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Category:  Art
Keywords: City life | Creativity | Housing
Bruce Campbell lives in an airplane. Yes, an actual jet. The Portland-based aeronautics enthusiast makes his home in a converted Boeing 727 that was once used as a Greek aircraft until the mid-1960s and now resides in a

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forest near Portland.

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Category:  Geography & Travel
Keywords: Housing | Planes
Floating off the coast of Vancouver Island, a 45-minute boat ride to the nearest town, is a sustainable island fortress complete with a dance floor, art gallery and garden. For artists Catherine King and Wayne Adams, this is

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home: a labor of love 24 years in the making.

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Keywords: Housing | Nature

Vocabulary:
cove
secluded
float
shore
anchor
lighthouse
greenhouse
handsaw
hammer
power tool
nail
board (noun)
ton
land sick
biomass
canoe
paddle
real estate
prosper
fulfilled

Expressions:
subsistence living
hon

Vocabulary:
word
word
word
word
word
word
word
word
word

Expressions:
expression
expression
expression
expression

Vocabulary:
prestigious
involuntary
swindler
fraudulence
unwarranted
concern
unfounded
impostor
syndrome
faculty
pervasive
prevalent
disproportionately
underrepresented
downplay
abnormality
self-esteem
spiral
accolade
threshold
susceptible
voice (verb)
peer
dismiss
excel
ease
mentor
competence
banish
frank

Expressions:
nagging doubt
shake a feeling
put something to rest
surefire way

Vocabulary:
filmmaker
principle
handcuff
clown
distill
underdog
aspect
familiar
unfamiliar
chopsticks
keyboard
organic
grounded
clarity
stuntman
steady
gag
perfectionist
rhythm
distinct
continuity
elbow
bunch
flail around
unlike
invincible
impressive
humanize
asset
payoff
relentlessness
finale

Expressions:
kick ass
going above and beyond
get smacked in the face
sell a joke

Vocabulary:
explosion
smoke (noun)
engine
unique
pilot
route
unemotional
terror
instant
reach out (to someone)
postpone
urgency
purpose
regret
humanity
ego
reflect
eliminate
frame (verb)
artistic
talent
bawl
miracle

Expressions:
bucket list
brace for impact
mend fences
make sense
connecting dots