From Couch Potato To Cabin Fever

B1 – Intermediate

We all have different ways we like spending our downtimes. Some people would rather enjoy much of their free time hanging out at home.

Listen to the audio and read the transcript about different expressions related to house/home.

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/words-and-their-stories-from-couch-potato-to-cabin-fever-132322483/118835.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think about being a couch potato?
  2. What are other alternatives to being a couch potato?
  3. How do you cope with cabin fever especially in winter?
  4. How might becoming an empty nester feel like for parents?
  5. How can older parents deal when their kids leave the nest?
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6 replies on “From Couch Potato To Cabin Fever”

1-I think it is not good to spend many hours watching TV
2-they can be reading freely, going for a walk
3-You can read, listen to music, cook
4-After having children for many years, parents feel alone
5-They can do other things, like travel.

You practiced writing well for this lesson.

Here is a better way to write this sentence:

they can be reading freely, going for a walk

Instead of being a couch potato, one can be enjoy reading freely, go for a walk, or practice some sports.

Remember to practice consistently.

What do you think about being a couch potato?
I think that although it is something quite common today, it is a sad way of wasting time. There are a lot of interesting things that you can do if you don’t spend your free time watching televisión.
What are other alternatives to being a couch potato?
You can go out for a walk, do exercise, read a book or go to see some friends. They all are more productive ways of spending your free time.
How do you cope with cabin fever especially in winter?
I try to have things to do at home in order not to feel bored.
How might becoming an empty nester feel like for parents?
I think it might be a feeling of loneliness, like if your live do not have a purpose anymore.
How can older parents deal when their kids leave the nest?
They may find out what are their interests apart of their children, and focus in them. Thus, they will be able to fill their time and they will feel that their lives are not empty.

Great job answering the questions. You wrote most of your sentences well.

Note how this sentence can be improved:

I think it might be a feeling of loneliness, like if your live do not have a purpose anymore.

I think it might be a feeling of loneliness. It could be as if your life do not have a purpose anymore.

Thanks for your efforts!

1. What do you think about being a couch potato? Couch potato is a person who does’nt like do things outside his/her home. There could be some reasons to became a Couch potato: to be a lazy person, to be afraid about people contact, to be sad…
2.What are other alternatives to being a couch potato? For example, to be an active person that likes to spend time outside home, playing some sport, meeting with some friends, etc
3.How do you cope with cabin fever especially in winter? We can plan some play around winter. For example: if there is snow on the street, we can make a snowman or if we can travel to a forest, we can bring some part of trees, plants and other herbal material and make a beautiful home winter decoration.
4 & 5. How might becoming an empty nester feel like for parents? How can older parents deal when their kids leave the nest? I think is one step all parents have to pass as we spent a lot of years taking care of our children and suddenly we remain alone. But if the parents has some other new excited projects, this new situation it should not be sad for them.

We welcome you to the Phoneenglish blog! Thank you for taking the time in answering our questions.

Here is one sentence you can write better:

Couch potato is a person who does’nt like do things outside his/her home.

Couch potato is a person who doesn’t like doing things outside his/her/their home.

Cheers to more entries from you!

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