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ESL and EFL Printable English CONVERSATION WORKSHEET: HOME Part 1: Vocabulary Builder

A Rooms in the house.

1 Match the rooms to the most usual activities.

1 living room

a watch DVD's

2 family room

b talk to visitors

3 bathroom

c cook

4 bedroom

d take a shower

5 dining room

e grow houseplants

6 kitchen

f have morning coffee

7 breakfast room

g serve dinner to guests

8 sun room

h sleep

9 home theater

i do the laundry

10 study

j do homework and work assignments

11 entrance hall

k socialize with friends and family

12 utility room

l greet guests

2 Match the household items to the rooms from above that you are most likely to find them in.
Many are possible in more than one room.
couch 1,2 bed easy chair sideboard rug TV armoire oven desk bookcase refrigerator
tub sink coffee table table-mat trash can carpet computer

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B Verbs for taking care of the house.

1 Complete the housekeeping phrases with the verbs from the box.
sweep mop make

wash do

put away

mow take out

vacuum

polish clean scrub

1 sweep / mop the floor

2 _____ the dishes
3 _____ the silver
4 _____ the carpet
5 _____ the windows
6 _____ the toilet
7 _____ the lawn
8 _____ the garbage
9 _____ the groceries
10 _____ the beds
2 Complete the sentences with verbs from the table. Use the correct tense/form.
1 I'll carry the groceries in from the car, but could you _____ them _____?
2 I wish you'd _____ the lawn more often. The front yard looks terrible!
3 I don't know who ______ these dishes, but they're not very clean.
4 We have three dogs in the house, so I have to ______ the carpets almost every day.
5 If you can't wipe your muddy feet before you come in, you could at least _____ the floor once
in a while.
6 We hardly ever use our good silver because it takes so long to _____.
7 Could you remove some stickers from your bedroom window? I cant _____ the windows
properly with so many of them on.
8 Im teaching my children to ___ their beds, but they find it difficult and completely pointless!
9 Could you _____ the garbage before you leave?
10 I'm going to put in a new toilet. Even though I ___ it hard, this one doesnt look as shiny as it
should.

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C Types of homes
C1 Tick the ones you already know. What type of house do you live in?
tee pee

single-family
apartment

row house
ranch

yurt

igloo

log cabin

condominium

cottage

C2 Write the word next to the definition.

1 a portable home made of a conical structure covered with skins used by Native Americans Tee
pee
2 a building with units owned by several individuals __________
3 a suite of rooms within a larger building _________
4 a dome-shaped structure made of snow ___________
5 homes attached to one another by a common wall

___________

6 a small single-storied house, especially in the country ___________

7 a rustic home usually made of logs ___________
8 a big house in which the owner of a farm lives ___________
9 a circular, domed, portable tent used by nomadic peoples of central Asia _____
10 a small, traditional house surrounded by a garden ___________

D Read and record

D1 Read about a couple talking about how to arrange their furniture in their new house. Then,
record the text.
Dina: It looks like everything's packed for the big move tomorrow.
Paul: Yeah, it does. Do you want to label stuff so the movers know where to put it?
Dina: What do you mean? We know where everything goes, don't we?
Paul: We know, but the people carrying the stuff don't. And we can't be everywhere at the same
time, telling people where to put stuff. So I thought it'd make things easier if we just tape notes
to the furniture and boxes saying where they go.

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Dina: You're right, that might make things easier. I'll get a notepad. [pause] Okay, so where does
the big bed go, the front bedroom or the back one?
Paul: Let's put it in the front bedroom. I think the back bedroom will make a better office, 'cause
it has two windows and the view is nicer.
Dina: Great. So I guess the long chest of drawers goes there too?
Paul: Yep. And that old chair the cat likes to sleep in. You know, the blue one?
Dina: OK, so the big bed, the long chest and the blue chair go in the front bedroom I guess that
means the desk and all the bookcases go in the back bedroom?
Paul: I thought we could put the tall black bookcases on either side of the fireplace in the living
room. What do you think?
Dina: That's a good idea. Then we can keep all the nice books in there, and the short bookcases
can go in the back bedroom.
Paul: Great. Where's the dining table going? It certainly won't fit in the kitchen.
Dina: I guess it'll have to go in the living room, along with the sofa, the big leather chair and a
couple of small tables. That'll pretty much fill up the room, won't it?
Paul: I'm actually wondering if we could put windows on the screen porch and use it as a dining
room year round?
Dina: Well, not right away. We can put the garden furniture back there for now, and maybe next
year we can turn it into an eating space.
Paul: You're right. Okay, now we just have to label the boxes....

Listen to a peers recording and write the names of the rooms next to the items they mention.
living room front bedroom back bedroom screen porch kitchen bathroom

1 big bed front bedroom

2 chest of drawers ______
3 old blue chair _____
4 desk _____
5 tall black bookcases _____

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6 short bookcases ______

7 dining table _____
8 couch ______
9 leather chair ______
10 small tables ______
11 garden furniture ______

D2 Listen again. Answer the questions.

1 Who is moving their furniture and boxes?
2 Why can't they put the dining table in the kitchen?
3 What might they do with the screen porch? When?

E READING

When John Milkovisch saw the beer truck heading for the local grocery store, "He'd run over
there and clean them out," says his son Ronald. "He never had less than 8 to 10 cases stacked up
in the garage." During a twenty year period, from 1968 until his death, Mr. Milkovisch emptied
about 50,000 cans of beer, and in the process discovered a unique way to dress up his house in
an eco-friendly fashion. He used flattened cans to cover the sides of his house and workshop, and
made curtains for shading the sun with beer can tops and tabs.
Local people have been admiring or just staring at the house for years. Now after being
restored at a cost of about $400,000 it is a folk art monument, and is open to the public. When

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the mayor of Houston cut the ribbon on opening day he said, "Most people who take the lead in
doing something truly innovative are considered a little bit crazy."
Inside the house, there is a quote from Mr. Milkovisch on one wall. "They say every man should
leave something to be remembered by. At least I accomplished that goal."
adapted from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/us/07beer.html

E1 Answer the questions

1 Whats innovative about John Milkovischs house?
2 What was the process Mr. Milkovisch used to make household things out of cans?
3 What exactly did he use the cans for?
4 What was Mr. Milkovischs greatest accomplishment?

E2 Discuss
1 What do you think of Mr. Milkovisch's idea?
2 Do you think his house is worth preserving as a museum?
3 Do you know of any innovative or unusual houses in your area?
4 If you could make any kind of house you wanted, what would it be like?

Scroll down for the answer key

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Answer key ESL and EFL CONVERSATION WORKSHEET: HOME Part 1: Vocabulary Builder

A1
1b
2k
3d
4h
5g
6c
7f
8e
9a
10 j
11 l
12 i

A2
bed: 4 easy chair: 1, 2, 4, 8, 9,10 sideboard: 5 rug: all TV: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 armoire: 4 oven:
6 desk: 4,10 bookcase: 1, 2, 4,10 refrigerator: 6 tub: 3 sink: 3, 6 coffee table: 1, 2, 9 tablemat: 5, 7 trash can: 6 computer: 1, 2, 4, 6, 10
B1
2 do
3 polish

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4 vacuum
5 clean
6 scrub
7 mow
8 take out
9 put away
10 make

B2
1 put ... away
2 mow
3 washed
4 vacuum
5 sweep
6 polish
7 clean
8 make
9 take out
10 scrub

D1
Front bedroom: bed, chest of drawers, old blue chair
Back bedroom: desk, short book cases
Living room: tall black bookcases, dining table, sofa, big leather chair, two small tables.

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Screen porch: garden furniture

D2
1 movers
2 the room is too small
3 put windows in next summer

E1
1 He used cans of beers to dress up his house.
2 He emptied the cans, flattened them and removed tops and tabs.
3 He covered the sides of his house and workshop and made curtains with tops and tabs.
4 He built something unique to be remembered by.

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