[wpaudio url=”https:\/\/www.btbpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Our-House.mp3″ text=”Our House”]<\/p>\n
Now that I have a great job in a great place, I am hoping to build a new house here in Gifu either next year or the year after. I have to build it before the spring of 2014 to avoid the higher rate of consumption tax. I worked it out, and the difference between buying in 2014 and buying in 2015 would be the price of a new car! <\/p>\n
I have a lot of friends who have built houses in Japan, so I often ask them for advice. It is interesting to hear what people say. Most of them are really happy with their houses, but of course they have some regrets as well. One of the things people mention most often is the number and location of electrical switches and sockets. Many of them say things like, “I wish we had thought more carefully about where to put the sockets in the living room.”<\/p>\n
Anyway, I thought this might be an interesting topic to discuss on the blog because the language is quite tricky. (If you have my A-Z book, please read “hope\/wish” before you write your comment.) I would like you to tell me what you like and don’t like about the house or apartment you live in, so you will need sentences like this:<\/p>\n
I love the fact that the kitchen is always warm, but I wish that we had a bit more storage space upstairs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I think this will be a good exercise for your English, and it will also give me lots of ideas for when I build my own house. (Some of it might be interesting for Kattie, as well!)<\/p>\n
Look forward to hearing your opinions.<\/p>\n
PS
\nIf you say the words “Our house” to any British person of my age, they will reply “In the middle of our street.” This is because of the song “Our House” by a group called Madness that was a huge hit in the 80s. You may have heard a live version of it earlier this year because they performed it at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert. Here is the video for the original song.<\/p>\n