Ep.14 Livin' at Home

英語 × 英文 × 樂詞不疲

❶　Intro
When angry, American fathers commonly shout, “As soon as you’re 18, you’re on your own means a lot. It means you’re a legal adult, and, more often than not, people move out of their parents’ home when they are 18.
...And some of them come back or never leave at all. Adults live with their parents for lots of reasons. Sometimes their parents need care, or they need a place to stay to save up money after college. Even though it’s relatively common, people tend to look down on adults who live with their parents in the United States. Listen to Beren and Marni talk about it.
❷　Dialogue
Marni: So I was reading that Time Magazine article recently about when you…Like, people in their 30s and moving back in with their parents…
Beren: Yeah, that’s a huge thing.
Marni: Yeah, and I was thinking, you know, in this culture, there’s such a stigma against living with your parents past a certain age. Like, you’re sort of viewed as a failure or something. But in many cultures, in many places in the world it’s pretty normal to live with your family.
Beren: Yeah, you don’t move out until you’re married. And if you never marry, you never move out.
Marni: Well, that or even sometimes you marry and yet you just live with your family and then, you know…Sort of in this country, I think parents move back in once they’re elderly, but it’s like, there’s this huge gap of time where it’s totally taboo and frowned upon, if you will…
Beren: I know a bunch of people who are actually moving back in with their parents.
Marni: I did it for like half a year when I was 29. It was great. I saved a lot of money.
Beren: Yeah?
Marni: Yeah. And my parents were happy to have me there. It’s an interesting thing. I don’t know…Is it so terrible?
❸　Discussion
Marni recently read an article about how many grown Americans are moving back in with their parents. It made her think about how in many countries, it’s perfectly normal to live with your parents past 30.
Beren notes that in a lot of places, people live with their families until they get married. But Marni points out that sometimes even married people continue to live with their family.
In the US, parents sometimes move in with their children when they get older and need someone to help take care of them. But there is a gap of 30 or 40 years between when the child turns 18 and the parents become elderly when it’s regarded as strange for them to live together.
Nonetheless, Beren knows a few people who have moved back in with their parents. Marni lived with her parents for a brief time a little while ago. She saved money and her parents were glad she was there. What’s so wrong about living with your parents when you’re an adult?
❹　Grammar Point
You’re vs. Your
Marni says, that in the U.S., if you live at home as an adult, “You’re sort of viewed as a failure.” On the other hand, in many other cultures of the world “it’s pretty normal to live with your family.”
Even though you’re and your sound the same, they mean two very different things. You’re is actually a contraction of “you are,” as in “You’re cute.” Contractions like this are especially common in spoken English. Your is a possessive adjective. It describes a noun by telling us to whom it belongs, as in, “I love your new dress!” (The dress belongs to you.) Other possessive adjectives are: my, his, her, their, and our.
It’s also important to note that the second person (“you”) is often used as a way to refer to people in general. That’s how Marni uses it in this dialog.
❺　Quiz
⒈ How old are most Americans when they leave their parents’ house?
❶ 16
❷ 18　✓
❸ in their 20s
❹ 30 or married, whichever comes first
⒉ Living with your parents into adulthood is frowned _ by some.
❶ on
❷ upon　✓
❸ at
❹ No word necessary.
⒊ Why is living with your parents into adulthood looked down on by some?
❶ It is a remnant of the past, not modern.
❷ It implies an inability to support yourself.　✓
❸ It is strange and baby-like.
❹ It is morally wrong and incestuous.
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