Flat-sharing – the inside story

You’ve got a problem. You’re going to go to university in a different town and you need somewhere to live. Or perhaps you just don’t get on with your parents. What can you do? Have you ever thought of sharing a flat?

I know all about it because I’ve been sharing flats for the past four years, since I moved to Edinburgh to study. I must admit my first experience was a bit of a disaster. I saw an advert in the newspaper from a girl who had a flat and was looking for a flatmate. When I met her, she seemed really nice, and I noticed that she had lots of great CDs I wanted to hear and a big TV. However, I changed my mind about her a few days after I moved in. I came home from college one day and threw books and jacket onto the living-room sofa. My flatmate looked at them, looked at me and shouted: “I hope you’re not going to leave those there!” It was then I found out that she was absolutely obsessive about being tidy. It was obvious that we were incompatible, as I’m definitely not the world’s tidiest person. I moved out after the first month.

I then decided to try sharing a house with several people. I rented a room in a big old house which I shared with four other girls (two Brazilians, a Russian, and an Italian). It was great because the house was always full of young people from all over the world and we had a lot of parties. However, there were three problems. Firstly, it was almost impossible to do any work because the house was so noisy. Secondly, there was only one bathroom, and there was always someone in it, especially first thing in the morning when I was already late for class. But the biggest arguments we had were always the day the phone bill arrived!

After a year the foreign girls went home, and I decided to look for a new, perfectly quieter flat! This time I decided to share with a friend, somebody I already knew well. We’ve been living here now for nearly a year and we get on really well – except for her irritating habits of eating yoghurts and finishing with coffee! But it’s great having someone else to help to pay the rent, to share their dinner with you when you’re too exhausted to cook, and who, unlike your parents or partner, doesn’t mind what time you get up or if you’ve left your bedroom in a mess. And best of all, when you’ve had a bad day or you’ve broken up with your boyfriend you know there is someone to talk to.

с In pairs, underline all the new words or expressions in the text, and try to guess their meaning from the context. Now find a word or expression in the text, and try to guess their meaning from the context. Now find a word or expression which means:

1. having or using something with another person (v.)

2. person you share a flat with

3. began living in a flat or house (v.)

4 discovered (v.)

5 always worried about (adj.

6. having everything in the right place () adj.

7 some, but not many(adj.)

8 annoying (adj.

9 very tired (adj.)

10 different from (prep.)

11 untidy, with everything in the wrong place

d Now read the text again. Do you think, in general, the writer is for or against flat-sharing?

Do you think the problems are the same if you live with your family or a partner?

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