Part I east or west – home is best

What does the word ‘home’ mean for you? How do you say the word in French? In Spanish? In German? In your language?

Although people usually know what the word means, it often has no exact translation. It’s not surprising really, because the idea of home varies from country to country and from person to person. A home is more than a roof and four walls. It’s the cooking, eating, talking, playing and family living that go on inside which are important as well. And at home you usually feel safe and relaxed.

The original meaning of the word ‘home’, in English and other Indo-European languages too, was a safe dwelling place, a village, even a world. In Old English it came to mean a fixed abode where people habitually lived and sometimes was extended to include members of a family. Webster’s says that ‘house’ comes from the same root as ‘sky’ and was used to mean a ‘covering and concealing’. Our modern usage of these two words can be traced back to these original meanings. ‘Home’ has connotations of a feeling of belonging, a centre of affection, a place where you can find refuge and rest, it is something intimate and private. Generally, ‘home’ only refers to one’s own place; we’d say ‘I went round to Adrian’s ‘house’ not his ‘home’. House, in the meaning of a covering or storage place, is clear in such things as a greenhouse, hen-house, the House of Commons, a clearinghouse, etc. It is a physical structure not a place where one should supposedly receive kind treatment and feel relaxed (‘Make yourself at home’).

Exercise 1

Think of all the compound words beginning with ‘home’ (e.g. homebred, -coming,

-less, -made, -maker, -stead, -straight, -video, -work, -land, -team) and compare these with any expressions containing ‘house’.

Exercise 2

How many new words can you make by combining a word on the left with a word on the right? Use your dictionaries to help with the meaning and the spelling.

HOME	work made trained wife sick plant proud town coming less grown bound keeping warming
HOUSE

Exercise 3

Listen to the conversations. They contain examples of some of the compounds in Exercise 2. After each conversation, discuss these two questions.

Who is talking to who? What exactly are they talking about?

Here are some lines from the coversations. Fill the gaps with a compound word.

1. She is so cute. Is she ________ yet?

2. Do you think you could possibly water my _________ for me?

3. Don’t worry, I know how ________ you are. I’ll make sure everything stays clean and tidy.

4. Let’s give her a spectacular ________ party when she gets back.

5. Not me. I’m the original happy _________, remember? Four kids, _______ cakes, _________ vegetables!

6. We’re having a _________ party on the 12^th. Can you come?

7. ‘Yeah. Mind you, there’s much more _________ to do!’ ‘That’s a drag!’

8. I never thought you’d be so __________.

Listening

Listen to three people from Uganda, South Africa and China. What do they miss most when they are away from home? Fill in a table below.

	Miss	Don’t miss
1.
2.
3.

 Reading

Have you ever felt homesick? Read the passage from a boy’s story, Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, a very famous American novelist. In this extract Tom and his friends have gone camping.

They found plenty of things to be delighted with, but nothing to be astonished at. They discovered that the island was about three miles long and a quarter of a mile wide, and that the shore it lay closest to was only separated from it by a narrow channel hardly two hundred yards wide. They took a swim about every hour, so it was close upon the middle of the afternoon when they got back to camp. They were too hungry to stop to fish, but they fared sumptuously upon cold ham, and then threw themselves down in the shade to talk. But the talk soon began to drag, and then died. The stillness, the solemnity that brooded in the woods, and the sense of loneliness, began to tell upon the spirits of the boys. They fell to thinking. A sort of undefined longing crept upon them. This took dim shape, presently – it was budding homesickness. But they were all ashamed of their weakness, and none was brave enough to speak his thought.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who are ‘they’? Where are they?

2. How are they feeling? Why are they ashamed of the way they are feeling?

3. Have you ever been camping with some friends? Have you ever been exploring?

4. When was the first time you slept away from home? How did you feel? What home comforts did you miss the most?

5. When you go to another place or abroad, what do you miss the most about your home town and country? (family, friends, pets, house, food and drink, culture, sense of humour, TV, shops, institutions, not being able to speak your native language?)

6. How often do you phone and write home when you are away?

Very often people can’t say what a home is, because they don’t feel it. For some people it’s the best place in the world, but others want to get out of that place as soon as possible. Home is not just a house you live in, it’s a good atmosphere in the family that makes a house home. Read the following opinions and underline the main ideas.

KATE: What is home for me? I can say that my home is the best place in the world. It’s a place where I can always meet love and sincerity of my relatives. Only there I can find kindness of my mother and understanding of my father. To me being at home always means being with my family who cares for me and supports me when I need it. People say “East or West, home is best” and I completely agree with them. Wherever I am, I always feel lonely and miserable, because I can’t stay away from home for a long time. I can’t even imagine being far from my parents, as it is very difficult for me to do without their help and respect. You know I’m happy only when we are together. Only then I feel desirable, for I know that they also need my attention and sympathy. I don’t understand those people who say that for them their home is just a roof over their heads. Can it be true? I guess not, because I think that a real home is a place where you feel cosy and safe, otherwise it is not home.

NATALY: What is home? I know that when people say “home” they mean their family first of all. I think that they are right. I also believe that home is the place where I can find care and attention of my parents. I need them very much, especially when I am in trouble, because I think that they are always the first people to help me. I like my home because I was born and brought up there and my dearest people live in that place. But now when I am grown-up enough to live on my own I think that I need more independence and freedom. I’m grown-up enough to make my own decisions and to build a home of my own. I think of a place where I can have a rest and stay alone, for only the feeling of independence can make me happy and comfortable at home. I am thankful to my parents for their understanding and attention, but my idea of home is a little bit different from my relatives. And this is the only reason I’d like to live on my own.

MARK: Home? To my mind home is just a house you live in. It’s simply a roof over my head and a place where I sleep and eat. Some people say that their homes are the only places they feel comfortable in. I can’t agree with them. My home is like a cage for me, where I’m not allowed to do what I really want. I can’t say that my parents are cruel and rude with me, but they live their own lives and are not very much interested in mine. My parents never pay attention to me and they don’t want to understand my soul. What’s more I never feel desirable at home, because my parents ignore me very much. I try to spend at home as little time as possible. I like to be with my friends, because I know that they need me. My home is the last place I want to be at, because I feel lonely there. It’s lonely there. It’s not a home, it’s just a place where I live.

Exercise 4

Look through the opinions to say whether the following ideas are true or false. If the idea is wrong correct it.

1. Kate likes her home very much.

2. Nataly wants to live at home as long as possible.

3. Mark doesn’t like his home.

4. Kate’s parents understand her perfectly.

5. Nataly can always find care and attention in her home.

6. Mark’s home is a cage for him.

7. Kate feels lonely and miserable at home.

8. Nataly thinks that she is grown-up enough to live alone.

9. Mark likes to spend a lot of time at home.

10. Kate suffers a lot when she is far from home.

11. Nataly’s idea about her home is similar to her parents’ idea.

12. Mark’s parents are rude and cruel.

Exercise 5

Look into the opinions on the problems that bother people very much. Complete the following table and explain why you think so.

		Kate	Nataly	Mark
	I can’t stay far from home.
	I don’t feel desirable at home.
	I want to live alone.
	My parents ignore me.
	I can’t live without my parents’ help.
	I want to be more independent.
	I need my parents very much.
	My parents don’t understand me.
	I am not allowed to do what I want.
	I am very lonely.

As you see these people really have some problems. What can you advise them to do to solve these problems?

Exercise 6

Say who these words belong to. Do you agree or disagree with the following words? Comment on them and explain why you think so.

• ‘My home is the best place in the world’.

• ‘I need more independence and freedom’.

• ‘East or West, home is best’.

• ‘My home is just a roof over my head’.

• ‘I can’t stay away from home for a long time’.

• ‘I am grown-up enough to live on my own’.

• ‘My parents are not interested in my life’.

• ‘Home means family first of all’.

• ‘I can’t feel desirable at home’.

• ‘Home is the place where you always feel cosy and safe, otherwise it’s not home’.

• ‘Only at home you can meet understanding and care of your parents’.

• ‘My home is the last place I’d like to be at’.

Speaking

What is your idea about ‘home’? Can you explain what the word ‘home’ means to you? Find whether your groupmates share the idea about home with you or not? Why?