Speaking Boost · C1 · Lesson 25 of 50
Speaking Boost C1 · Block 5: Culture and Identity

What does home mean?

Home can be a house, a city, a language or a feeling. Review participle clauses, advanced relative clauses, ellipsis and substitution and sentence relatives, learn -ever words, and give the final talk of Block 5.

1

Warm-up

5 min
1.1

Home and place

Answer each question with 2–3 sentences.

  1. What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word home?
  2. Do you feel at home in more than one place?
  3. What do you miss when you are away?
  4. Would you ever leave your country for good?
  5. Is home a place or a feeling?
  6. What makes a house feel like a home?
2

Words and phrases

12 min
2.1

New words

Read each word and the example. Then say a sentence about home.

2.2

Which word?

Choose the word that fits.

  1. The sad feeling of missing your home when you are away is called .
  2. Many families found in neighbouring countries when they fled.
  3. People who are forced to leave their homes suffer .
  4. Many people feel strong in the place where their family has lived for generations.
  5. After years of travelling, she decided to in a small town.
  6. War can families from the places they have known all their lives.
  7. A community of people living abroad who share a homeland is a .
  8. After many years away, even the smell of the streets felt to her.
2.3

Opposites and pairs

Choose the right answer, then press Check answers.

  1. homesickness is sadness when you are
  2. a refuge is a place of
  3. displacement = being forced to
  4. roots = the
    of a person in a place
  5. to settle = to make a
  6. a diaspora is a community living
2.4

Useful phrases

Use these phrases to describe home and what it means to you.

  • Wherever I go,...Куди б я не пішов,...Wherever I go, I take my language with me.
  • Whatever happens,...Що б не сталося,...Whatever happens, I will return one day.
  • Whoever lives here...Хто б тут не жив...Whoever lives here becomes part of the town.
  • Whenever I smell..., I...Щоразу, коли я чую запах..., я...Whenever I smell bread, I think of home.
  • However far I travel,...Як би далеко я не поїхав,...However far I travel, I feel connected to it.
  • Whichever place I choose,...Яке б місце я не обрав,...Whichever place I choose, I will miss the other.
  • Home is where...Дім — там, де...Home is where people know your name.
  • Having left home,...Покинувши дім,...Having left home at eighteen, she missed it.
3

Read and react

8 min
3.1

What home means

Read the text. Hover over the dotted words for help.

What does home mean?

What does home mean? For some people it is a house, for others a city, a language or a group of people. The word is surprisingly hard to define, and many researchers argue that home is as much a feeling as a place. The geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, in a book from 1977, wrote about the difference between space, which is abstract, and place, which we fill with meaning.

The longing for home has an old history. The word "nostalgia" was coined in 1688 by a Swiss medical student, Johannes Hofer, who used it to describe the illness of soldiers who were suffering from homesickness. Today, many people experience a similar feeling, however comfortable their new lives may be. Wherever they go, the familiar smells and sounds of their childhood seem to follow them.

Some people choose to move, while others are uprooted. According to United Nations estimates in recent years, more than a hundred million people worldwide have been forced to leave their homes because of conflict, persecution or disaster, many of whom hope to return. For them, home is a place they long for, rather than one they can visit. Whatever the reason for leaving, a diaspora often keeps its language, food and customs alive, sometimes more strongly than the people who stayed.

Others describe themselves as "third culture kids", children raised in countries other than those of their parents. Having grown up between cultures, they sometimes say that home is people rather than place. Whoever you ask, you will hear a different answer.

So what does home mean? Perhaps a place where you are known, where you feel safe and where your story makes sense.

Where do you feel at home, and why?

3.2

True or false?

  1. Tuan wrote about the difference between space and place.
  2. The word nostalgia was coined by a Swiss medical student in 1688.
  3. The text says that every displaced person wants to leave for ever.
  4. Some people say that home is people, not a place.
  5. The text gives one definite answer to the question.
3.3

What do you think?

  1. Can home be a person?
  2. What do you keep from your home when you leave?
  3. What do displaced people need most?
  4. Can you have more than one home?
4

Grammar for speaking

10 min
4.1

Grammar for speaking

-ever words

Use wherever, whatever, whoever, whenever, however and whichever to mean it does not matter where, what, who, when, how or which. They begin a clause and are followed by a subject and verb, or are the subject themselves. Write them as one word.

Wherever I live, I feel at home. Whatever you decide, I will support you. Whoever wrote it understood the place. Whenever I smell bread, I think of home. However far I travel, I feel connected to it.

Review of the block

Combine participle clauses (Having left home, she...), advanced relative clauses (many of whose residents), ellipsis and substitution (I hope not; the old ones), and sentence relatives (, which surprised many).

Having left home at eighteen, she missed it. The village, many of whose residents have left, is quiet. A: Is it dying out? B: I hope not. The family moved, which surprised everyone.

Block 5 review

Use the grammar from this block.

participle clauses (L21) · advanced relative clauses (L22) · ellipsis and substitution (L23) · sentence relatives and reduced relative clauses (L24)

Common mistakes: write wherever, whatever, whoever, whenever as one word, use whoever (not whomever) as the subject, and do not add extra words. ✗ Where ever I live → Wherever I live. ✗ Whomever wrote it understood → Whoever wrote it. ✗ Having leaving home → Having left home. ✗ many of who residents → many of whose residents. ✗ I hope it not → I hope not.

4.2

Choose the right form

  1. I live, I feel at home.
  2. you decide, I will support you.
  3. wrote it understood the place.
  4. home at eighteen, she missed it.
  5. The village,
    residents have left, is quiet.
  6. A: Is the language dying out? B: I
    .
  7. The photos,
    in 1950, show the old house.
  8. The family moved,
    surprised everyone.
4.3

Fix the mistake

Each sentence has one mistake. Type the correct words.

  1. Where ever I live, I feel at home. →
  2. Whomever wrote it understood the place. →
  3. Having leaving home, she missed it. →
  4. The village, many of who residents have left, is quiet. →
  5. I hope it not. →
  6. The photos, taking in 1950, show the house. →
4.4

Talk about it

Answer in detail. Use -ever words and the grammar of Block 5.

  1. Wherever you live, what makes it feel like home?
  2. Whatever happens, what would you take with you?
  3. Having left a place, what did you miss most?
  4. Is home a place you can return to, or only a feeling?
  5. Whoever you ask will give you a different answer. What is yours?
  6. What advice would you give to someone who has just moved?
5

Three views and a final talk

8 min
5.1

Three views on home

Three people discuss what home means. Compare them. Who links home to a place? Who links it to people? Whose view is closest to yours?

Person 1

Ana, 38

  • Left her hometown ten years ago
  • Lives in a cosmopolitan city
  • Says home is where her people are
  • Visits her hometown each summer
Person 2

Marek, 70

  • Lives in the house where he was born
  • Says roots matter
  • Has never wanted to leave
  • Worries that his village is emptying
Person 3

Dr Salma, 45

  • Studies displacement
  • Says home is a mix of place and people
  • Argues that refuge must be offered
  • Warns that going back is not always simple
5.2

Final talk of Block 5: culture and identity

This is the final speaking task of Block 5. Your teacher will time you.

  1. Plan for one minute, then speak for two minutes.
  2. Part 1: say what home means to you (use at least one -ever word).
  3. Part 2: use at least two structures from Block 5 (for example a participle clause and an advanced relative clause).
  4. Part 3: say what you think a community can do for people who have lost their homes.
2:00
6

Personal questions

10 min
6.1

Part I: Me

  1. Where do you call home?
  2. What do you miss when you are away?
  3. Would you move abroad for work?
  4. What would you take with you if you moved?
  5. Do you keep in touch with your hometown?
  6. Do you prefer a city or a village?
  7. What makes a place feel familiar?
  8. Have you ever felt homesick?
6.2

Part II: Other people

  1. Who makes your house a home?
  2. Who in your family lives abroad?
  3. Who do you call when you are homesick?
  4. Who should help people who have lost their homes?
  5. Who has helped you to settle in a new place?
  6. Who would you like to welcome to your home?
6.3

Part III: A bit deeper

  1. Is home a place or a feeling?
  2. Should everyone have the right to return home?
  3. Is it good to be a citizen of the world?
  4. Is nostalgia helpful or harmful?
  5. Can a new country become home?
7

Roleplay

12 min
7.1

Talking about home

You

Speaker

A friend (your teacher) asks you what home means:
  • say what home is for you
  • describe a place you miss
  • say how it feels to be away
  • use wherever or whatever
Speak for at least 2 minutes in total. Use -ever words and participle clauses.
Your teacher

Friend

Says things like:
  1. What is home for you?
  2. What do you miss most?
  3. How does it feel to be away?
  4. Do you think you will go back?
7.2

Final discussion for Block 5

You

Speaker

You are in a discussion group (your teacher). Talk about culture and identity:
  • talk about belonging
  • talk about stories and traditions
  • talk about cultural borrowing and home
  • summarise your view
You do most of the talking. Use: participle clauses · whose / whom · I hope so · which surprised... · wherever
Your teacher

Group member

Says things like:
  1. What does belonging mean?
  2. Why do stories matter?
  3. Where is the line on borrowing?
  4. What does home mean?
8

Homework

at home

Your homework score

Do all four exercises, then press Check all homework. Correct answers will appear next to your mistakes.

– / 30
H1

Complete with a word

homesicknessrefugedisplacementrootssettleuprootdiasporafamiliar
  1. The sad feeling of missing your home when you are away is called .
  2. Many families found in neighbouring countries when they fled.
  3. People who are forced to leave their homes suffer .
  4. Many people feel strong in the place where their family has lived for generations.
  5. After years of travelling, she decided to in a small town.
  6. War can families from the places they have known all their lives.
  7. A community of people living abroad who share a homeland is a .
  8. After many years away, even the smell of the streets felt to her.
H2

Block 5 review: choose the correct form

  1. he goes, he writes home.
  2. you need, ask me.
  3. called did not leave a name.
  4. abroad, she learned a new language.
  5. The town, shops have closed, is quiet.
  6. A: Will it rain? B: I hope .
  7. The letter, in 1990, was found.
  8. They moved away, upset us.
H3

Correct or incorrect? (Block 5 review)

Decide if each sentence is grammatically correct.

  1. Wherever I live, I feel at home.
  2. Where ever I live, I feel at home.
  3. Whoever wrote it understood the place.
  4. Whomever wrote it understood the place.
  5. Having left home at eighteen, she missed it.
  6. Having leaving home at eighteen, she missed it.
  7. I hope not.
H4

Match the two halves

  1. Wherever I go,
  2. Whatever happens,
  3. Whenever I smell bread,
  4. However far I travel,
  5. Whichever place I choose,
  6. Home is where
  7. Having left home at eighteen,

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© Yevheniia Kolesnykova, Academy of Languages. All rights reserved. No copying or reuse without written permission.