"MY FUTURE HOUSE. I like our flat because it’s my home. But in the future I would like to have my own flat or house. In the beginning a small flat will be good enough, maybe somewhere in the centre of the city. But later when I establish a family, I would like to have a nice house with a large garden and a fireplace.

There are some differences in housing in our country and housing in the Great Britain or USA.

CZECH REPUBLIC. The Czechs mostly live in a small house for one family or in ablock of flats. Many people living in town have a cottage in the countryside and they like spending their weekends there. The garden is for Czechs an important place, it is designed for growing vegetable.

GREAT BRITAIN. I would like to say something about housing in Britain. Most of the houses in Britain are owned by people who live in them. Buildings are usually made of red bricks or stone. British house has 2 floors and 4 to 6 rooms. On the ground floor there are a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a hall. Upstairs there are a bathroom, a toilet and bedrooms for parents and children. There can also be a guestroom. British have 2 gardens – one of them is in front of the house, it’s quite small and actually only for decoration, that’s why there are a lot of flowers. Back gardens are much bigger, there are trees and it’s good for having parties or barbecue.

USA. In the US, they count the floors differently. The floor you enter from the outside is the first floor and then you go up to the second floor. In Great Britain it’s called the ground floor and then you go up to the first floor. The apartments in the US are always rented, you don’t own them like you can own the house. Not many Americans own a summer cottage – they would think that Czechs who do must be very rich. However, almost every American can own his own home – it is a symbol of freedom for them. Two-thirds of population have a single family house and they have bigger houses than the British. The Americans use to live at the suburbs. The houses are usually made of stone or wood."