Break Up in the House

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

• clean break
• space
• distance
• move on

• lease is up
• headache
• with
• shift

• met someone else
• Band-Aid

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

When you fall in love, you want to spend every moment with your new partner. You’re always over at each other’s houses anyway, so you figure, “Why not move in together?” It’ll save money and you’ll get to be together even more.

But what if the relationship doesn’t work out? When you break up, usually the last person you want to see for a while is your ex. But unless you happen to break up on exactly the day that your lease is up, you’re stuck living with the person who just broke your heart for a while.

One of Marni’s friends is living with her ex-boyfriend, and as she begins to tell Devan about it, she discovers that Devan has done that twice. What a headache!

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Marni

Devan

Marni:  I was just hanging out with my good friend Sarah, and she broke up with her boyfriend about two months ago and they’re still living together.

Devan:  Yeah, I’ve done that a couple of times actually. It’s horrible.

Marni:  It’s the worst!

Devan:  The first time I did that was because I felt…I broke up with him and felt guilty.

Marni:  OK, so the guilt like…you let him stay there?

Devan:  Yeah, he was like, “Can you live with me till I find another place to live…?” and I just felt guilty.

Marni:  Oh gosh.

Devan:  But how awkward is that, still living with someone you’re not with anymore?

Marni:  Well, OK, so how big was your place? Like she’s in a one-bedroom apartment.

Devan:  That’s what that was.

Marni:  Oh my God. So they’re, like, taking shifts on the couch, somebody’s sleeping in the room. It’s not good.

Devan:  It’s not good. It just prolongs the breakup and makes it a lot harder to do. Relationships are like a Band-Aid. You should just rip it off.

Marni:  Exactly, and you need a clean break. You need some space and distance, and when you’re still in the same tiny space and you’re constantly dealing with that person even though you’re trying to move on, it just doesn’t work.

Devan:  Have you ever known anyone that met someone else while they were still living with their ex-boyfriend?

Marni:  Yes, and that doesn’t work either because then there’s a lot of “that person’s not allowed in the house,” there’s some jealousy, some resentment.

Devan:  It’s kind of weird to think about because you don’t want to plan in advance to break up with somebody because that’s kind of messed up, but at the same time, if you just break up but then you still have to live together for a while, it’s not good. That’s why you shouldn’t really live with someone until you’re ready.

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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