Natural English for Your Ears: Talking about Housing in the UK and USA (Can You Understand?)

this is Jack from to fluency

now today's English episode

English Lesson is all about houses

houses now

before you think

maybe this is a little bit of a boring topic

or maybe you're not really interested in this topic

give it a go

which means try this episode because it's really fun

you're gonna get lots of great phrases to learn English

and also we're gonna look at the difference between

houses in the UK and houses in the USA

and starting with this fact okay

are you ready for this

the average house size in the UK

is around 76 square meters

now in the US you're going to hear square feet

and this is around 800 square feet

the average house size in the USA is 201 square meters

over 2,000 square feet so

houses in the US

are over two times the size as houses in the UK

and this is something I noticed when

I first came to the USA it was the size of the houses

and also the way that the houses are built

and where they are built

which is something we're going to talk about later

now you might be thinking

why are houses in the USA

so much bigger than houses in the UK?

well in the UK in England

in Scotland etcetera

land is limited land is limited

so this means that there isn't as much land available

and you think about the size of the UK versus the

size of the USA

you'll realise just how big of a difference this is

additionally the UK has a lot of older houses

because many were built before modern space

expectations when people wanted larger houses

and if you think about the industrial revolution

in the UK there were a lot of terraced houses

built near factories meaning that they were very small

and a big row of houses all together

so these are called terraced houses

now in the US

this is a country with more land

so building bigger houses is easier

additionally Americans often prefer open plan layouts

with large living spaces

so an open plan layout is where the kitchen

the living room and usually as well the dining room

are all open without walls in between them

so someone's in the kitchen

you can see them from the living room

whereas in the UK

it's more common to have separate rooms for the kitchen

for the dining room and for the living room

also in the USA a lot of homes come with basements

now these are the areas underneath the main living area

in the UK it's rare from my experience

except for in a few terraced houses

to have a basement where you can spend time in it

instead of just a basement for storage

whereas in the USA

they like to build a basement to have an extra bedroom

storage rooms

even bathrooms and sometimes family rooms too

so we can compare the houses

and say

houses in the UK feel a bit cramped compared to the US

okay sometimes they feel a bit cramped

now this might be a new word for you

and know that I'm going to leave

all the words and phrases in the description

but cramped means small and lacking space

and it feels like you don't have enough space

to move around in this area

another difference with this is with houses in the USA

many of these homes have walk in closets

walk in closets where you can walk into the closet

and see all of your clothes everywhere

it's not in every house

but it is more common in newer houses now

and also closets are built into the walls

ready for you

whereas in the UK people have small or big

sometimes wardrobes they don't have closets

they have wardrobes which is a piece of furniture

to store all of your clothes

according to my research

the smallest home in the UK is in Wales

and it's only 1.8 meters wide

so it's tiny whereas the largest home in the USA

is the Biltmore Estate

and I've been to this Biltmore Estate many times

and it has 250 rooms now

it was built by the Vanderbilts

back in the 1880s or 1890s

and they got a lot of money from the railroad

boom in the USA

and they built this massive mansion in North Carolina

and they based it on a French chateau

it's very impressive now

there are some differences

when you are renting and buying homes

in the UK and the US now in the UK many landlords

now a landlord is a person who owns a house

and then rents a house

so many landlords furnish their properties

it comes furnished

it comes furnished and this means to provide furniture

so they will provide all the beds

everything that you need TVs

sometimes sofas dining room tables etc

so it comes furnished whereas in the USA

apartments and homes are usually un furnished

so the tenants need to buy furniture

you need to buy everything you need for that house

and when you move house

you need to take all of your things with you

so you can rent a truck and do it yourself

or a lot of people prefer to hire movers

to hire movers

and the movers are people who come to your house

they take out all the furniture for you

they put it into the truck

and then they take it to the new house

and put it in the right place for you

now this can be expensive

but many people think it is worth it

because moving house can be terrible sometimes

now here are some phrases that you can use

when it comes to renting a home

you can say something like

I'm looking for a one bedroom flat

near the city centre

or in the US

I'm searching for an apartment with a balcony

in New York City now here's a question for you

do you prefer renting a place that is furnished or un

furnished so

would

you prefer to rent a place that has furniture ready

for you or would you prefer to take your own furniture?

let's now talk about home design and functionality

this is a fun section

because it's gonna talk about the key differences

between the design of UK and US homes

now

one of the biggest differences that I believe is true

is that UK homes have radiators

okay they have radiators and this is a thing on the wall

where hot water goes through

and it warms up the house that way

whereas

we don't tend to see air conditioning in UK homes

mainly because the summers are so cool

compared to other places in Europe

and a lot of places around the world

the temperatures

don't get that much higher than 20 degrees

uh on average in summer

so air conditioning is not necessary in the UK

whereas radiators are

so everything is built around warming the house

not cooling the house US homes rarely have radiators

it's very rare to see a radiator in a US home instead

what you're going to see more often than not is air

so it's called forced air

and this is where there is a heater

and also an air conditioning unit

and it blows warm air and it also blows out cold air

so from the thermostat on the wall

you can say what you want the mode to be

it could be heat or it could be cool

there are other options to like just a fan

just to blow regular temperature air through

but generally speaking

you can warm your house with this

and you can cool your house with one thermostat

now the materials made to build

a house are really different too

in the UK

you're going to see a lot of brick and concrete

block houses

and in the US the biggest material used is wood

so they build wood frames and then they have exterior

usually wood panels wood siding on the outside

so that's a big difference

you're going to see in terms of the building materials

now also you're gonna

see a difference in the shape of the house

like we talked about before

the size of US houses

is much bigger than the size of UK houses

and you're also gonna see

a lot of more stand alone houses

in the UK we call them detached

where there's one family house

with space around that house

whereas in the UK

you going to see a lot more of the terraced houses

like we talked about before

and also semi detached houses

where there are two houses together

and they share a wall in the middle

and then they are separate

in terms of who lives in which house

but they are joined together with one roof

and one structure additionally in the UK

you're going to see a lot more people

live closer to the city centre

where the city centre is the centre of everything

and people live close to there

and it it obviously differs by city

so London is its own thing

and then big cities like Manchester

have a lot of apartment buildings

in the centre of the city

and then as you move away from the city

it becomes more countryside

whereas in the US a lot of living is about the suburbs

the suburbs

now if you've watched American films or TV shows

I'm sure you've heard this term before

the suburbs and this is away from the centre

usually in a development

where a lot of people are part of a HOA

this is a home owners association

and it manages the community of properties

and residents

and there are usually some rules for this

and you have to pay money

because you pay money to have

things done around that community

but with this

a massive difference as well is that in the US

you're not going to see in most cities

or a lot of cities that I've been to

sidewalks where you want sidewalks to be um

pavements in British English

so a lot of people can't walk from the suburbs

to a coffee shop they can't walk to different places

now that's not always the case

because some neighbourhoods in certain cities

are built for walking too

but a lot of emphasis was put on the car in the USA

where again

instead of going downtown to go to the shops

you go to strip malls

there are bars that you can only drive to

restaurants that you can only drive to

you can't walk to these restaurants

which is very different from a lot of the culture

in the UK and especially other parts of Europe

now going back inside the houses

the bathrooms are often quite different too

because the US bathrooms are usually a lot bigger

than the British bathrooms

and also a lot of older houses

only have one bathroom for the whole family

whereas an en suite room in the US is very common

where the master bedroom has a bathroom attached to it

and that's just for the parents or the person

the adults in the house to use

another big difference is that in the UK

from when I was growing up

it might have changed a little bit now

but most people didn't have a dryer

so they had a washing machine

which is usually smaller

than the American washing machine

but they don't have a dryer

so they had to hang up their washing outside

which is quite funny because in the UK it rains a lot

so it's difficult to get this done

you could also put your clothes on the radiators

I remember doing this if I needed my school pants to be

dry quickly whereas in the US

there are specific laundry rooms

or laundry closets that have a washer and a dryer

and storage to put all of your washing materials

so a lot of people well

nearly everyone in the US has a washer and a dryer

ceiling heights are usually bigger in the US too

especially in homes built in the last 30

40 even 50 years where the ceiling height

especially in the living room

in the main rooms is really high up there whereas

in the UK due to the old style of housing

ceiling heights tend to be a lot smaller

now going outside people in the UK will say garden

whereas Americans will say yard

yard and many British homes have small gardens

but people really take care of their gardens

the grass is always looking good

it's always green there are usually no weeds in houses

whereas in the US uh

in a lot of areas things grow really quickly

and weeds are a big problem here

so gardens aren't as nice

in my opinion as they are in the UK

but usually there is a larger backyard

now have you been in houses in the UK

and in the United States? and if so

share your experiences about the difference

between the houses in both countries

now it's important to know as well

that the experience of going to a suburb in Atlanta

is different to an apartment in downtown Manhattan

New York City there are lots of differences there

but in general if you think about the difference

between the suburbs and neighbourhoods in America

and the ones in the UK there are lots of differences

let's now look at some quotes about houses

before talking about some idioms

which are really useful really useful in terms of um

being able to speak English well

and understand English because these are used a lot

now the first a quote about houses and homes is this

home is where the heart is home is where the heart is

now this is from Pliny the elder

so we're going back a long time

but the idea behind this quote

home is where the heart is

is meaning that it's not just a place

so a home is not just a place

it's about the people and the feelings inside it

and you can feel at home

even if you move to a different country or city

now the second quote is from The Wizard of Oz

and it's this there's no place like home

there's no place like home

and this means that no matter where you travel

home is the most comfortable and familiar place

so Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz was missing home

and saying there is no place like home

and this phrase is often used when people

return home after a long trip

and if you've watched the movie

you'll know that Dorothy says this

while clicking her red shoes together

and what's interesting is that this movie is from 1939

so a long long time ago

now the first idiom we're going to discuss

before talking about some phrases you can learn

is a roof over your head a roof over your head

meaning that this is a place to live

to have a place to live

and people often use this when they want to feel

gratitude for having a house

so you might hear someone say

even though this apartment is tiny

at least I have a roof over my head

and we should be grateful we have food

a warm bed and a roof over our heads

the next one is to feel at home

to feel at home now

this means to feel comfortable and relaxed

even in a new place so you might say

for example when you move into a new neighbourhood

our new neighbours are so friendly

they made us feel at home right away

they made us feel at home right away

and after just a few weeks in Spain

I started to feel at home

I start to feel at home

so this means that you feel comfortable and relaxed

even in your new place

now something similar to this is make yourself at home

make yourself at home

and this is a polite way to tell guests to

relax and feel comfortable

in your house so instead of them saying

oh can I

can I go to the bathroom? or where's your bathroom?

or can I get a drink of water?

you say make yourself at home

get anything you want just do what you want here

within reason

that obviously if someone says this to you

don't take it too far

but the idea here is to feel relaxed and comfortable

now the last phrase is the walls have ears

the walls have ears which is really interesting

because this phrase originated from castles

and a lot of the castles in medieval times had hidden

listing holes

so people could hear secret conversations

so that's where this comes from

the walls have ears

and it basically means when someone says this

be careful what you say

because someone might be listening

you might also say something like

we shouldn't gossip too much at the office

the walls have ears

in case you're thinking

someone might be listening to our conversations

but I love the fact that it comes from

the medieval times

when people used to listen through holes

in castle walls now

we're gonna end on some key housing

vocabulary differences between the UK and the USA

now just stay for this part

because we're gonna go through it quickly

now we talked about before uh apartments

I always say apartment

but in the UK you're going to hear flat flat

now in the US you might also hear the word condo

and I'm just gonna double check the meaning of this

I think it's when a condo is an apartment that you own

yes it's true

condos are individually owned

while apartments are rented

typically

from a landlord or property management company

so if someone says I live in a condo

it means that they own this apartment

if someone says I live in an apartment

the probably meaning that they rent this apartment

we also heard garden versus yard

now it's not common to have one of these in a house

but it is in an apartment

and it's this elevator or elevator and lift

so you can take a lift in the UK

you take the elevator in the USA

and another difference with this

is that the ground floor in the UK is the one

on the bottom

and in the US you're going to hear first floor

this is the first floor if you're buying a house

you're going to use an estate agent in the UK

and a realtor realtor in the USA

if you gonna rent

you'll maybe use a rental agency in the USA

whereas you'll use a letting agency in the UK

and before we talked about a semi detached house

where there is one main building

but two houses within this building in the UK

semi detached in the USA is a duplex duplex

now the British pronunciation of this would be duplex

duplex but in the USA is duplex duplex

what to do now is to

check out the phrases in the description

and then also watch or listen to another episode

so if you're on Spotify or apple

just go to the podcast and

and find an episode that appeals to you

if you're on YouTube

there will be a video on your screen

or you can go to the description as well

thank you for being here and I'll speak to you soon

bye for now