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Real Easy English

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Talking about housemates

Episode 250905 / 05 Sep 2025

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

Neil and Beth have a real conversation in easy English about the people they've lived with. Learn to talk about who you live with and what they are like.

Vocabulary

housemate/flatmate
someone you live with who isn't part of your family, such as a friend or stranger

rent
pay money every month to live somewhere that you don't own

landlord
the person who owns the property you rent

easy-going
describes someone who is relaxed and doesn't get easily upset about things

Transcript

Neil
Hello and welcome to Real Easy English. In this podcast, we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Neil.

Beth
And I'm Beth. You can find a video version of this podcast and a free worksheet to help you learn on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

Neil
Hi Beth. How are you?

Beth
I'm good, Neil. How are you?

Neil
Very well, thank you. What are we talking about today?

Beth
Today we are talking about housemates.

Neil
Housemates, the people that you share a house with who aren't your family. Maybe they're your friends, or even strangers who just need somewhere to live.

Beth
Exactly. And it's quite common in the UK to live with housemates when you're younger. Have you ever lived with housemates?

Neil
Yes, of course. I had house or flatmates when I was a student and then after I was a student in my first jobs and before I got married.

Beth
That's exactly the same as me. So when I went to university, I moved in with five people, and we all had a separate room and a separate bathroom. But yeah, they were my flatmates for my first year of university. But in my second year, then I moved into a house and we all shared a bathroom, and they were my housemates because we were in a house.

Neil
Did you enjoy having housemates?

Beth
I think it really depends on the people that you live with. I have had some bad housemates. Bad because they weren't tidy, didn't clean. There were dishes in the kitchen that were dirty and not cleaned for a long time. But I've also had some really nice housemates as well.

Do you enjoy living with housemates, or did you enjoy living with housemates?

Neil
I think, as you said, it really depends on the person, so you mentioned people being messy and that kind of thing. Also, noisy people are difficult. But some of my best friends now have been my housemates in the past. So I think you can really get to know people very well, and you can also meet some people who you never want to see again in your life.

Beth
That's true. So, Neil, what do you think is the best kind of personality, the best kind of person to live with?

Neil
They have to be easy-going.

Beth
What does that mean?

Neil
Somebody who is easy-going is relaxed, and they don't get too upset or angry over little things. And they're quite easy to live with, snd there's the clue – easy-going.

Beth
I think something else important about living with other people or renting somewhere, so paying monthly, is having a good landlord. It's very important.

Neil
So who is a landlord? What is a landlord?

Beth
So the landlord is, or landlady, is the person that owns the house or flat that you're in and you pay them rent. So you pay them a monthly amount. But you might live there for a year or two years or three years, but you don't own the place. It's the landlord that owns the place.

Neil
Yeah, and a good landlord can make a big difference.

Beth
Neil, are you easy to live with? Should we be flatmates?

Neil
I don't know, but I think I have made some good friends when I've been a housemate. So they think that I was a good housemate.

Beth
OK.

Neil
How about you?

Beth
Yeah, I think I'm easy to live with, but I like to sing a lot, so maybe people would tell me to be quiet. Although no one's ever told me to be quiet, but maybe they wanted me to and just didn't say.

Neil
Let's recap the vocabulary we've heard in this podcast, starting with housemate. A housemate is someone you live with who probably isn't part of your family. We also hear flatmate.

Beth
And we had easy-going which means relaxed and not easily upset.

Neil
Flatmates or housemates often rent a property, and that means they don't own it – they pay money to the person who does own it.

Beth
And the person who owns the house or flat is the landlord. That's who you pay every month and they own the property.

Neil
That's it for this episode of Real Easy English. To test what you've learnt, there's a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

Beth
And we'll be back next week with another easy English conversation. Bye for now.

Neil
Goodbye.

 

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