زندگی در آپارتمان

Living in a Condo or Co-op

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 294: Living in a Condo or Co-op.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 294. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com. You can download a Learning Guide for this episode that contains all of the vocabulary, definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions not found on the podcast, cultural notes, and a complete transcript.

This episode is about two people talking about living in a “condo,” or condominium, or a co-op. Let’s get started.

[start of story]

Diane: I’m so exasperated! I’m really tired of the homeowner’s association in my condo building.

Ricardo: What’s the matter with it?

Diane: The people who sit on the condo association board are a bunch of donothings. I’ve filed complaint after complaint and they refuse to enforce the house rules.

Ricardo: Well, that might not be so bad. I used to live in a co-op in New York City. The board of directors in my building was constantly issuing violations to the shareholders and we were fined for the smallest infraction. It was a nightmare. What kinds of complaints have you been filing?

Diane: I’ve been complaining about my noisy neighbors. They have parties every weekend. The board said it sent letters to them, but nothing has changed.

Ricardo: That’s a tough one. It’s often hard to get people to quiet down.

Diane: That’s not all. The common areas aren’t well maintained, and they’re often dirty or in need of repair.

Ricardo: That’s too bad…

Diane: And, the clubhouse is always busy with board events when I want to reserve it.

Ricardo: That’s frustrating…

Diane: You bet it is. And, what’s more…

Ricardo: Whoa. I think I have a solution for you.

Diane: What?

Ricardo: Move!

[end of story]

Our dialogue between Diane and Ricardo begins with Diane saying, “I’m so exasperated!” To be “exasperated” means to be frustrated, to be tired of something, to be angry that something continues to happen over and over again. “My neighbor’s children are always yelling and screaming outside. I am exasperated” – I don’t know what to do. Move, I guess!

Diane says that “I’m really tired of the homeowner’s association in my condo building.” A “condo” (condo) is a condominium. It’s like an apartment building, but each person owns their own apartment; we would probably call it their own “unit” (unit). It’s not something you rent, it’s something that you buy and then you own. Condominiums are very popular in big cities; they’re cheaper than buying a house.

Everyone who owns a condo in the building is part of, usually, a homeowner’s association. A “homeowner” is someone who owns their own house – who has their own house. An “association” is an organization or a group of people. So, a “homeowner’s association” is the group of people who live in a particular building. Most condominiums have homeowner’s associations, and they have rules. And, each month you have to pay money to the homeowner’s association so that what are called the “common areas,” the places where everyone uses such as the stairs and the hall area, can be clean and kept up. To “keep up” something means to make sure that it is in good condition, that it doesn’t get dirty, that it continues to work properly Ricardo says, “What’s the matter with it?” meaning what is the problem – what is wrong with your homeowner’s association. Diane says, “The people who sit on the condo association board are a bunch of do-nothings.” A “board” is a group of people who run an organization. Some businesses have “boards of directors.” The verb to “sit” is used to mean to be on or to be part of. Diane complains that the people who sit on her condo’s association board are a “bunch” of, or a group of, do-nothings. A “do-nothing” is a person who doesn’t do anything – someone who is lazy, someone who doesn’t do what they are supposed to do.

Diane says she’s filed a complaint. A “complaint” (complaint) is when you say that there is something wrong. A “complaint” is sometimes called a “grievance.” It’s when you write something down or you talk someone to tell them that you are not happy, that there is a problem. Diane says that the condo board “refuses to enforce the house rules.” To “enforce” means to make someone do what the rules say, to make a law or a rule be obeyed. In this case, she’s asking for the board “to enforce the house rules.” These are the rules, the regulations, the laws that everyone agrees on in a particular place. So, each condo association – each building – has its own rules that you have to follow. These could be about noise; they could be about where to put your trash; they could even be about the color of your door. All of these could be part of the “house rules.” Ricardo says that he “used to live in a co-op in New York City.” A “co-op” (co-op – it can be also spelled without the hyphen – coop) stands for “cooperative.” A co-op is a little different than a condo; a co-op is almost like a business that everyone owns and is a part of. When we talk about a “housing cooperative,” everyone owns and is a part of the building where you live, and so you usually have a group of people who you elect to help “run,” or manage, the property. It’s not quite the same thing as owning your own separate unit in a building; it’s similar. Co-ops are sometimes less expensive than condos.

Ricardo says that the board of directors in his co-op building were “constantly issuing,” or giving, “violations to the shareholders.” A “violation” (violation) is when someone tells you that you are breaking the rules, or when you break the rules – when you do something wrong. A “shareholder” is someone who is part owner of a company. Remember, I said that co-ops are different from condos because you are like someone who owns part of a business. We call the person who owns stock, or someone who owns part of a business, a “shareholder.” Ricardo says that in his co-op they “were fined,” they had to pay money, “for the smallest infraction.” An “infraction” (infraction) is similar to a violation – when you do something wrong. An “infraction” is usually less serious than some other sort of violation.

Diane says that she’s “been complaining about her noisy neighbors” because “they have parties every weekend.” She says the board has sent them letters, “but nothing has changed.” Ricardo says, “That’s a tough one” – that’s a difficult situation. “It’s hard to get people to quiet down” – not to make noise.

Diane says that the common areas aren’t well maintained. To “maintain,” remember, means to make sure that they are clean and that everything is working in them. She says that the common areas are “often dirty” and “in need of repair,” meaning they are not working properly.

She goes on to complain that “the clubhouse is always busy with board events when I want to reserve it.” A “clubhouse” (clubhouse – one word) is a building in a co-op or a condominium or other organization, where a big group can meet or do something “recreational,” something for fun. To “reserve” means to arrange for something to use in the future, to say I want to use that thing or that place on this day at this time. Both “clubhouse” and the verb to “reserve” have some additional meanings; take a look at our Learning Guide for those extra explanations.

The dialogue ends with Ricardo saying, “That’s frustrating…” and Diane says, “You bet it is. And, what’s more…” meaning she has even more things to complain about, even more problems to tell Ricardo.

Ricardo interrupts her and says, “Whoa,” which is an informal way of saying stop: “whoa” (whoa). “I have a solution for you,” Ricardo says. Diane says, “What?” and Ricardo says, “Move!” – move to a different place.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of story]

Diane: I’m so exasperated! I’m really tired of the homeowner’s association in my condo building.

Ricardo: What’s the matter with it?

Diane: The people who sit on the condo association board are a bunch of donothings. I’ve filed complaint after complaint and they refuse to enforce the house rules.

Ricardo: Well, that might not be so bad. I used to live in a co-op in New York City. The board of directors in my building was constantly issuing violations to the shareholders and we were fined for the smallest infraction. It was a nightmare. What kinds of complaints have you been filing?

Diane: I’ve been complaining about my noisy neighbors. They have parties every weekend. The board said it sent letters to them, but nothing has changed.

Ricardo: That’s a tough one. It’s often hard to get people to quiet down.

Diane: That’s not all. The common areas aren’t well maintained, and they’re often dirty or in need of repair.

Ricardo: That’s too bad…

Diane: And, the clubhouse is always busy with board events when I want to reserve it.

Ricardo: That’s frustrating…

Diane: You bet it is. And, what’s more…

Ricardo: Whoa. I think I have a solution for you.

Diane: What?

Ricardo: Move!

[end of story]

The script for this episode was written by Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse, hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan. This podcast is copyright 2007.