M: Hello everyone! And welcome back to EnglishPod! My name isMarco. 
C: And my name is Catherine, so, Marco, today we’re talking aboutrent and housing. 
M: Right, we’re actually gonna be moving, we’re gonna be going to a new apartment or a 
new house. And so, we’re goona look at all the words related to this, because sometimes it 
can be a real hustle, right? It can be really difficult. 
C: Absolutely, well, you love moving, right? You were telling me how much you love moving 
your stuff and… 
M: Hehe. 
C: Negotiating a new lease. 
M: Well, I like the negotiation of the lease, but not the moving aspect. I hate… 
C: No, I don’t think anyone likes moving. 
M: Actually, I do like it at times, because then you can just throw away so many things that 
you have no need for and you wouldn’t throw away unless you moved. 
C: So, uh, let’s go to check out today’s dialogue to find out what happens to the characters. 
A: Ok, that’s fine. Bye.
B: What happened?
A: That’s it, my lease is up. I have to move.
B: What? Why? Can’t you renew it?
A: The owner apparently is selling this place to make
way for the construction of a parking lot
B: Well, I can help you pack. We should start looking
for a new place for you ASAP.
A: I think I might move in with my parents for a couple
of months until I can find something. You know
how hard it is to find a decent place around here.
I’m gonna have to put most of my stuff in storage
for a while.
B: Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to
help out.
A: Actually, would you mind looking after my pet
tarantula and snake for a couple of weeks?
B: hehe.. sure
M: Alright, we’re back, so, uh… well, it’s not much of a big deal I guess. If you have your 
parents nearby, you can just move back in with your parents. 
C: Easier said than done. 
M: Ah, true. True, we’ll get to that in a little bit, but let’s take a look at the words that are 
used today in “language takeaway”. 
Voice: Language takeaway.  
C: Alright, so this first one is an important one, because generally when you’re looking for a 
house or an apartment, there are two things you can do: you can buy a house or you 
can lease a house or apartment, so… 
M: Uhu. 
C: Lease here, Marco. 
M: Uh, it’s basically to rent, right? 
C: Uhu. 
M: It’s a contract where you’re agreed to pay a monthly or a… or a quarterly fee for using 
that house or apartment. 
C: So do you own your apartment or do you lease it? 
M: No… oh, mine? I lease. I’m… 
C: Yeah, ??? 
M: I’m not a home owner yet. 
C: Right, so owning a home is a lot more expensive at one kind of period where you have to 
just pay in. 
M: Right. 
C: ??? maybe a mortgage. But leasing is just a monthly fee, like you said. 
M: So in this case they had to leave, because their lease was expired. 
C: Exactly, so you can at the end of a lease do one of two things: you can stop and you can 
find a new apartment or you can renew your lease. 
M: Alright, and that’s our next word. To renew your lease basically means to… 
C: To continue. 
M: To continue. 
C: And this is actually a good word, because it can be used with a cont… any contract, 
because really a lease is a kind of contract. 
M: Uhu. 
C: And so, I can say, um: I renewed my job contract. 
M: Or maybe a magazine’s subscription. 
C: Yeah, so… 
M: You renewed your magazine’s subscription. 
C: It’s a… it’s a way of saying that you’ve committed to paying for the next six months or 
one year. 
M: Okay. Well, and after that the… as we said, the person decided tomove in with the 
parents. 
C: Mm. 
M: So move in. 
C: Move in, uh, well, we can say: he moved his car – he put it in a different place. But 
to move in is actually to, uh… to change houses or to change apartments and, uh, to… 
You’re literally moving your things and you’re moving clothing, you’re moving into a new 
home. So you’re living at a new place. 
M: So in this case this person is going to live with the parents. 
C: Mm. 
M: Move in, alright. And our next word is, uh, when you have to move, you have to pack. 
C: Okay, so you can pack a lot of things. In this case you’re packing a box with all of 
your belongings: your books and your pillows and all of that. But you can also pack a l… 
a suitcase. 
M: Uhu. 
C: Or you can pack luggage. So packing is putting things into something so that you can 
move them. 
M: So you can carry them or take them somewhere. 
C: Exactly. 
M: So in this case you have to pack your things, put them in boxes to take them to your 
new home. 
C: Uhu. 
M: And our last word is an acronym, when he said ASAP. 
C: Alright, snap-snap! Come on, ASAP, Marco! 
M: ASAP. 
C: Describe this for us quickly. 
M: Alright, so ASAP is an acronym for as soon as possible. 
C: Okay, so you often see this in the office on envelopes or e-mails. 
M: Right. 
C: So, please respond A-S-A-P, ASAP. This means, uh, please respond right away. 
M: As soon as you can. 
C: Uhu. 
M: As soon as possible. Alright, so five great words that we’ve just taking a look at. Let’s 
listen to our dialogue again and we’ll be right back. 
A: Ok, that’s fine. Bye.
B: What happened?
A: That’s it, my lease is up. I have to move.
B: What? Why? Can’t you renew it?
A: The owner apparently is selling this place to make
way for the construction of a parking lot
B: Well, I can help you pack. We should start looking
for a new place for you ASAP.
A: I think I might move in with my parents for a couple
of months until I can find something. You know
how hard it is to find a decent place around here.
I’m gonna have to put most of my stuff in storage
for a while.
B: Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to
help out.
A: Actually, would you mind looking after my pet
tarantula and snake for a couple of weeks?
B: hehe.. sure
M: Alright, we’re back and we have a couple of different phrases for you, so let’s look at 
those now in “fluency builder”. 
Voice: Fluency builder. 
C: Our first one is a little bit unusual. We heard the phrase my lease is up. So, Marco, let’s 
talk about this phrase – to be up. 
M: Alright, so if something is up, as in this case the lease, it means it’s expired, it’s finished. 
C: Uhu. 
M: Right? 
C: So it’s over. 
M: It’s over. 
C: Um, you can also say: our time is up. 
M: Right. 
C: Right? If we have a meeting, so that’s all the time I have, time to go away. 
M: Time is up, very good. So it’s always related to time or maybe a contract as in this case: 
my, uh… your lease is up. 
C: Uhu, so it means over or finished. 
M: Uhu, alright, so moving on to our second phrase. 
C: To make way for. Alright, so this is a great one. This often makes me think of, um, 
kings and queens in the old days, they say: make way for the king! So you have to get… 
M: Get out the way. 
C: Yeah, get out the way or to clear some space for them to move, because there’s too 
much stuff in the way. And so, in this case, the owner of the apartment where the guy was 
living in, uh, is trying to make some space or make way for a parking lot. 
M: Right, so he’s basically going to sell the building or a house and build a parking lot 
instead, so they are making way for the new paring lot. 
C: They are clearing space and this is actually really said, because my childhood home, uh… 
they destroyed it to make way for a larger ugly… 
M: Building. 
C: Big house, yeah. 
M: Really? 
C: Uhu. 
M: See, it happens all the time. Now they are making ways for malls and… and, uh, big 
buildings and… 
C: Uhu. 
M: All of the little houses are destroyed. And, uh, well, moving on to our last phrase, the… 
the person asked, uh, the friend if he would mind looking after the pet snake and 
tarantula. 
C: I would mind. 
M: You don’t like snakes with tarantulas? 
C: Uh, I don’t mind them as long as I don’t live with them. 
M: Hehe. So would you mind, how… this is a nice way to start a… a sentence if you wanna 
ask for a favor, right? 
C: Exactly, so here’s an… here’s an alternative: hey, Marco, can you do this for me? 
M: Mm, I could, maybe. 
C: Uhu, or I could say: Marco, would you mind doing this for me? 
M: It sounds… it’s more polite. 
C: It is more polite and it’s a little bit gentler. 
M: Uhu. 
C: Yeah. 
M: So it’s nice. 
C: And soft. 
M: It’s a nice way of… of asking someone for a favor. 
C: Exactly, and that’s why this is funny, because the favor is not like: would you mind 
watching my kitty? 
M: Hehe. 
C: The favor is: would you mind watching my poisonous pets? Hehe. 
M: Hehe. Right. Alright, so would you mind… but in the end the person agreed, so it’s… if… 
it works, right? 
C: It does work, so would you mind, um… so, listeners, would you mind listening to today’s 
dialogue one more time at its normal speed before we come back to you and talk more 
about renting an apartment. 
A: Ok, that’s fine. Bye.
B: What happened?
A: That’s it, my lease is up. I have to move.
B: What? Why? Can’t you renew it?
A: The owner apparently is selling this place to make
way for the construction of a parking lot
B: Well, I can help you pack. We should start looking
for a new place for you ASAP.
A: I think I might move in with my parents for a couple
of months until I can find something. You know
how hard it is to find a decent place around here.
I’m gonna have to put most of my stuff in storage
for a while.
B: Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to
help out.
A: Actually, would you mind looking after my pet
tarantula and snake for a couple of weeks?
B: hehe.. sure
M: Alright, so moving in, now you have different stages in your life, right? When you move 
out, for example, you move out of your parent’s home. And, uh, you live on your own and 
then maybe, like in this case, you would move back in with you parents. How do you see 
that happening? 
C: I see it very ???. My brother just move back in with my parents. 
M: Really? 
C: Um, yeah, I… I think that it depends on a person. Honestly, I mean especially because 
the economy is really been suffering for the last year, a lot of people are doing this, 
because, you know, in a lot of cities in America you can spend a thousand to two thousand 
dollars a month for an apartment to rent. 
M: Right. 
C: And that’s a small apartment or a shared apartment. 
M: Uhu. 
C: And so, I understand this is a really… well, it’s a better option now than it was before, 
because everyone wants independence, but… 
M: Right. 
C: Uh, sometimes you just can’t afford it. 
M: Exactly, and it’s a cultural thing, because some people, uh, move out of their parent’s 
homes maybe for college. It’s very common in the US for… 
C: Absolutely. 
M: To study in another city or another state, right? And, uh… but then maybe coming back 
home and moving in with your parents. Or in other cultures maybe they don’t move out at 
all. Maybe they’d only move out once they’re married. 
C: Exactly, so a lot of people in China, I think in, uh, Shanghai specifically… 
M: Uhu. 
C: Don’t move out until… don’t move out of their parent’s home until they’re going to get 
married. 
M: Right, people… and it does make sense in… in many big metropolises, because as you 
say, rent is expensive, living on your own is expensive and… well, you don’t have anyone to 
share those costs with like gas, water, electricity, even food, right? 
C: Exactly. 
M: It’s cheaper among more people. 
C: And not to mention a little bit scary living on your own for the first time. 
M: Hehe. It is a little bit scary. 
C: Uhu. 
M: What about having somebody move in with you? Maybe a roommate or a girlfriend or 
boyfriend. 
C: Ooh, that’s always a big stop, you know? 
M: A big commitment. 
C: A big commit… when you’re in a relationship and you ask your partner to move in with 
you, it’s, uh… yeah… 
M: Hehe. 
C: The step before marriage, I guess. 
M: Wow, there’s no… there’s nothing before that? Nothing before marriage? 
C: No. 
M: It’s pretty much it. Hehe. 
C: You tell me, I don’t know. Hehe. 
M: Alright, that’s all the time we have for today. Uh, but be sure to come to our 
website englihpod.com. If you have any questions or any comments about this topic, uh, 
we would be glad to have your input on it and we’ll see you guys there. 
C: And if you have any, uh, suggestions for the step before the step before marriage, please 
let us know, cause we are in the dark on this one, so, uh, until next time… 
M: Alright, bye-bye! 
C: Bye!