New House
 |
 |
Kerri
|
Todd
|
Keri: Yes, I do.
Todd: Oh, so what's your new house like?
Keri: It's small, it's old. It's mostly wooden in the inside. It has two bedrooms and a balcony off of those rooms. Downstairs, there's like a living room area and a tatami mat room, kitchen, bathroom.
Todd: Wow, so do you live in the tatami mat room?
Keri: No, there's two tatami mat rooms. There's one upstairs and there's one downstairs and I don't live in either. One we use as kind of a spare room and the other one is my roommate's bedroom.
Todd: Oh, OK. So you have a roommate?
Keri: Yes.
Todd: What's it like having a roommate?
Keri: It's good. I like living alone too but sometimes it's nice to come home and have someone there. My roommate gets home before I do and she likes to cook so often she's cooked dinner for me.
Todd: Wow, that's nice.
Keri: I know.
Todd: Well, you do all the cleaning?
Keri: Now that you mention it, I do a lot of the cleaning but not all of it.
Todd: Oh, OK. Well, what kind of things does she make you?
Keri: Last night she made curry. I think it was an Indian curry, tomato-base.
Todd: Spicy?
Keri: Yes.
Todd: Cool. Thanks a lot, Keri.
Keri: You're welcome.
tatami mat room
We have a tatami mat room upstairs.
A 'tatami mat' is a traditional Japanese floor covering that was originally made from rice straw. Notice the following:
- The restaurant has tatami mats in the private rooms.
- Do you have tatami mats in your house?
spare room
We use one of the rooms as a spare room.
A 'spare room' is a room that you have available for guests or a room where nobody permanently lives. Notice the following:
- We have a spare room for you to stay in.
- How many spare rooms do you have?
roommate
I like living alone, but it's nice to have a roommate, too,
A 'roommate' is someone who shares your house or apartment with you who is not family. Notice the following:
- My roommate is the cleanest person ever.
- Where did you meet your roommate?
what's it like
What's it like to have a roommate?
When you ask 'what's it like' you want the speaker to describe something for you. Notice the following:
- What's it like to be married?
- What's it like to have a real job?
-based
She made tomato-based Indian curry.
If a food is 'tomato-based' it is made up mostly of tomatoes. We can put the word '-based' after other words to show the composition of something. Notice the following:
- Is the soup tomato-based?
- Is the class conversation-based?
Vocabulary Quiz
what's it like • reading-based
