The Apartment with the Green Door — Easy English Story

Transcript

Introduction

A: Hello, and welcome to Recursio Easy English Stories. Today’s story is called “The Apartment with the Green Door.”

A: This is a B1 story about looking for a place to live, and knowing when you’ve found it.

A: Listen for these phrases: to look for a place, to view an apartment, the rent, a deposit, and bills are included.

A: And these: a landlord, to sign a lease, It’s a bit small, I’ll take it, and to move in.

A: After the story, we’ll go through all the useful phrases and practice them together.

A: You can practice today’s phrases in Recursio — the link is in the description.

A: Let’s begin. It’s a Tuesday evening in March.

Two months of looking

A: Petra was sitting on her bed with her laptop on her knees and a cold cup of tea beside her.

A: She had been looking for a place for two months.

A: For five years she had lived with roommates. Good ones, mostly. But five years is a long time.

A: Now she wanted one door that was hers, and nobody else’s dishes in the sink.

A: The problem was the city, and the prices, and the fact that everybody else wanted the same thing.

A: She had viewed nine apartments. She counted them sometimes, like a bad list.

A: The first one had no windows in the bedroom. The landlord called this “cozy.”

A: The fourth one was above a bar that played music until three in the morning.

A: The seventh was perfect, and somebody took it while she was still standing in the hallway.

A: The ninth had a shower in the kitchen. Petra still didn’t fully understand that apartment.

A: So that evening she opened the website again, without much hope, and scrolled.

A: And there it was, at the bottom of the page, with three bad photos.

A: One room, plus a small kitchen. Third floor. Old building on Vine Street.

A: The rent was two hundred less than everything else she had seen that month.

A: And the last photo was of the front door of the building, painted a strong, dark green.

A: Petra looked at that green door for a while.

A: Then she wrote a message: “Hi, I saw your listing. Is it still available?”

A: The answer came in four minutes: “Yes. Can you come tomorrow at six?”

A: Petra typed “yes” so fast that she made two mistakes and had to write it again.

The green door

A: Vine Street was narrow, with tall old buildings and a bakery on the corner.

A: The green door was smaller than it looked in the photo. There was no elevator.

A: On the third floor, the landlord was waiting with the door already open.

A: She was about seventy, in a gray cardigan, with reading glasses pushed up into her hair.

C: Petra? I’m Mrs. Dorn. Come in.

B: Thank you. Sorry, the stairs are — a lot.

C: They are. That’s why the rent is what it is.

C: And I don’t come up here often anymore. I try not to climb them more than once a day.

A: Petra stepped inside, and stopped.

A: The room was small. Really small. One window, one radiator, a wooden floor with fifty years of marks in it.

A: But the window faced west, and the whole room was full of orange evening light.

B: Oh.

C: Yes. That’s what it does at this time of day.

A: Mrs. Dorn said it the way people talk about the weather. She wasn’t trying to make the apartment sound better. It was just true.

B: It’s a bit small.

C: It is a bit small. There’s the kitchen, through there. And that door is the bathroom.

A: Petra walked to the window. Down in the street, somebody was carrying bread home.

B: Can I ask about the rent?

C: Five hundred and twenty a month.

B: And what about the bills?

C: Most bills are included — heating and water. Electricity is separate. It’s about thirty a month, less in summer.

B: Is there a deposit?

C: One month’s rent. The lease explains how the deposit is held and when it can be returned.

A: Petra did the math in her head, twice, and both times it worked.

B: Can I ask a few more things?

C: Ask everything. It’s easier now than after you’ve moved in.

B: Is there a laundry room in the building?

C: In the basement. Two machines, and one of them is always broken. It changes which one.

B: Is it noisy at night?

C: Not really. It’s a quiet street after nine.

B: And the neighbors?

C: Above you, a young couple with a dog. Below you, a man who plays the radio in the morning.

B: How loud?

C: Loud enough to know he’s alive. Not loud enough to be a problem.

B: I can live with that. Is there parking?

C: No. There’s no parking on this street at all.

B: I don’t have a car.

C: Then that’s one problem you don’t have.

Mrs. Dorn’s kitchen

A: The kitchen was three steps long. There was a small table under the window, with two chairs.

B: Is the furniture staying?

C: The table and the chairs, yes. There’s a bed too, if you want it. I can take it away if you don’t.

B: I’d like to keep the table and the chairs. I have my own mattress.

C: Then I’ll take the bed to my daughter’s.

B: Is there anything that needs fixing?

C: The window in the kitchen sticks. And the second burner on the stove is slow.

C: I’ll have the window done before you move in. The stove — I’ll be honest, it’s been slow for years.

A: Petra laughed. It was the first time she had laughed in an apartment viewing.

B: How long is the lease?

C: One year. After that we can talk about it. I’m not going to sell the place.

A: In the doorframe between the kitchen and the room, there were pencil marks. A lot of them, at different heights, with dates beside them.

A: Petra stopped in front of them without meaning to.

C: My son and my daughter. Every birthday, until they were too tall to care.

C: I lived here thirty-one years. My husband and I, and then the children, and then just me.

C: I moved to my daughter’s house in December. In the end, it was the stairs.

C: I’ll paint over the marks before you move in.

B: You don’t have to.

C: No?

B: No.

A: Mrs. Dorn looked at her for a moment, and then at the doorframe, and said nothing at all.

A: They went back into the main room. The light had moved across the floor and gone a little redder.

C: I should tell you — there are two other people coming tomorrow.

A: And that was the moment.

A: Petra thought about the nine apartments. About the shower in the kitchen.

A: About standing in a hallway while somebody else took the good one.

B: I’ll take it.

C: You haven’t seen the bathroom.

B: I’ll take it anyway.

C: Then look at the bathroom, and if you still want it, we’ll do the paperwork.

A: The bathroom was very small, and completely fine.

B: It’s fine. It’s all fine.

C: You’re saying that too quickly.

B: I’ve seen nine apartments. One of them had a shower in the kitchen.

C: In the kitchen?

B: Next to the fridge.

C: That’s not a shower. That’s a mistake with pipes.

A: And that was when Petra decided she liked Mrs. Dorn.

Keys

A: Two days later, Petra came back and signed a lease at the small kitchen table.

A: The kitchen window was already fixed. It opened without a sound.

A: They read every line together, slowly, and stopped twice to discuss something.

C: This part explains how the agreement can end and how much notice you may need to give.

B: If I want to leave, what should I do?

C: Send me notice in writing. This lease says one month for you, but local rules can also apply.

B: All right. I’ll keep a copy of the lease.

C: Good. And ask if anything in it isn’t clear.

A: They both signed, and Petra paid the deposit, and Mrs. Dorn wrote her a receipt by hand.

A: Then she put two keys on the table.

C: The big one is the green door downstairs. The small one is this door.

B: Only two?

C: Only two. It’s a small life up here. That’s not a complaint.

B: When can I move in?

C: The lease starts Saturday, so you can move in then.

B: Perfect. My friends are free on Saturday.

C: Good. Ask them to bring the heavy things up first, while everybody is still friendly.

B: Thank you. Really.

C: Don’t thank me. You’ll be carrying furniture up those stairs on Saturday.

A: On Saturday, Petra moved in.

A: Two friends helped her carry a mattress, four boxes, a chair she loved, and a plant that did not survive the week.

A: By four in the afternoon everybody had gone home, and she was alone in her own apartment for the first time in her life.

A: She sat on the floor with her back against the wall, because the chair was still in the hallway.

A: The room was full of that orange light again.

A: She had no curtains. She had no internet. She had one plate, one cup, and a spoon.

A: She sat there for a long time and didn’t do anything at all.

A: Later, she made tea in a pot, because the kettle was in a box somewhere.

A: She drank it at the small table, in the chair Mrs. Dorn had left her.

A: And in the doorframe next to her, at the height of a small child, somebody’s birthday from a long time ago.

A: In June, a short note came from Mrs. Dorn. She asked whether Petra had settled in and whether the kitchen window still opened properly.

A: Petra wrote back that the window was fine, the stairs were still terrible, and the evening light was exactly as promised.

A: She put Mrs. Dorn’s note on the fridge, and it stayed there for a year.

Phrase review

A: Now let’s go through the useful phrases from the story, one by one.

A: And if you’d like to remember them afterwards, you can save them in Recursio and review them over time.

A: First: to look for a place. It means you’re trying to find somewhere to live.

A: Petra had been looking for a place for two months. “How long have you been looking for a place?”

A: Next: to view an apartment. It means to go and see it before you decide.

A: She had viewed nine apartments before this one. “I’m viewing two places on Saturday.”

A: Next: the rent. The money you pay every month to live there.

A: Petra asked, “Can I ask about the rent?” You can also say, “How much is the rent?”

A: Next: a deposit. Money that may be paid at the start as security during the rental period.

A: Petra asked, “Is there a deposit?” You can also ask how it is held and when it can be returned.

A: Next: bills are included. It means the monthly costs are included in the rent.

A: Mrs. Dorn said most bills are included — heating and water, but not electricity.

A: Next: a landlord. The person you rent from. For a woman you’ll sometimes hear “landlady.”

A: Mrs. Dorn was Petra’s landlord. “I’ll ask the landlord about the window.”

A: Next: to sign a lease. The lease is the rental agreement — the price, the length, and the rules.

A: They signed a lease at the kitchen table. “We signed a lease for one year.”

A: Next: It’s a bit small. The polite way to say a place is smaller than you hoped.

A: Petra said it in the doorway. “It’s a bit small, but the light is beautiful.”

A: Next: I’ll take it. A short, direct way to say you want something. For an apartment, the details and paperwork still have to be agreed.

A: “I’ll take it.” Three words, and two months of searching are over.

A: And last: to move in. To bring your things and start living there.

A: Petra moved in on Saturday. “When can I move in?” “We’re moving in on the first.”

Mini recall

A: Now a short recall. I’ll describe the situation, you say the phrase. Then I’ll give you the answer.

A: You’re trying to find somewhere to live. What are you doing?

A: Looking for a place.

A: The money you pay every month. What is it called?

A: The rent.

A: Heating and water are part of the monthly rent. How do you describe that?

A: Bills are included.

A: You put your name on the rental agreement. What are you doing?

A: Signing a lease.

A: You’ve decided. You want it. What do you say?

A: I’ll take it.

A: And the day you bring your things and start living there. What are you doing?

A: Moving in.

Outro

A: That was “The Apartment with the Green Door.”

A: Today’s phrases were: to look for a place. To view an apartment. The rent. A deposit.

A: Bills are included. A landlord. To sign a lease. It’s a bit small. I’ll take it. And to move in.

A: If you’d like to review these phrases and remember them, open the link below and practice them in Recursio.

A: Thank you for listening. And if you’re looking for a place right now — I hope yours has good light.

A: See you in the next story.