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Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning

Date: Apr 09 2010

Grammar: Simple Future Tense

Intro

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How do you know when spring has arrived? Is it when the birds start chirping and flowers start blooming again? Or is it when you suddenly feel a powerful desire to clean out your closet and scrub your bathroom?

Spring cleaning is one way people choose to mark the changing of the seasons. In the first warm days of the year, they clean their houses from top to bottom. Although spring cleaning may not be the most exciting way to welcome the longer days and nicer weather, sometimes it’s necessary, especially if you’ve fallen behind on your housework during the winter.

Find out if Beren and Devan will be doing their spring cleaning this year.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Beren

Beren

Devan

Devan

Beren:  Do you spring clean?

Devan:  I do. I do it every year.

Beren:  Really?

Devan:  Yeah.

Beren:  Like top to bottom cleaning?

Devan:  Yep, scrubbing, bleaching, mopping, dusting.

Beren:  Woah. Do you throw stuff away? Do you clean out your closet?

Devan:  That’s my one problem, is that I like to clean my house really well, but I am secretly a bit of a hoarder.

Beren:  What do you hoard?

Devan:  Too much stuff. Like I have this closet that’s gonna be my big project I’m gonna tackle this year that’s full to the brim with all these boxes of stuff that’s just like all these things I’ve accumulated throughout my life like, you know, toys and love letters.

Beren:  Really? You’re gonna spring clean your love letters?

Devan:  It’s time.

Beren:  It’s a good time.

Devan:  It’s time, you know? It’s just all these little things I’ve been hanging on to for so long. All my old report cards and it’s like, if my parents don’t even want to hang them on the fridge then why am I hanging on to them, you know?

Beren:  What is it about the spring that lends itself to cleaning?

Devan:  Everything’s fresh and new and like everything that died off is blooming again, you know, it’s like a fresh start.

Beren:  You’d think it’d be like New Year’s Eve cleaning then.

 

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Discussion

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Devan spring cleans every year. Her only trouble is with throwing old things away. She likes to hold onto everything from old toys to love letters. This year she plans to clean out her closet full of old stuff.

Many people like to clean in the spring because it is a time of new beginnings. You can start over in the spring with a totally clean house. Beren is surprised that Devan spring cleans. It doesn’t sound like Beren plans to do a spring cleaning this year, but maybe she’ll do a New Year’s Eve cleaning instead.

Do you spring clean? Is there a traditional time to do a top to bottom cleaning in your country?

 

Comments

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Steven_etc

Steven_etc

Peru

Not really. We clean whenever we want (in my case, almost never).Laughing

02:27 PM Apr 09 2010 |

n.mahdizadeh

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i absolutly love spring cleaning because every thing be fresh and clean,even the weather and the season!and i try to clean my mind too in spring cleaningSmile

12:46 PM Apr 09 2010 |

abalsalafi

Saudi Arabia

Yes I spring clean, but there is no speial day for me to do that, it is upto my mind and my free time. In my country Saudi Arabia there is a traditional time to spring clean, it is Eid-Alfitr day, one of two hollydays here. In this day most people start to spring clean even if some of them are hoarders, In that time you will see them mopping, dusting, bleaching and scrubbing, which means a top to bottom cleaning.

10:59 AM Apr 09 2010 |

foufou363363

Lebanon

In Lebanon we usually do a top to bottom cleaning every month. we clean the windows, the closets. we also vacuum and mop every week.

10:55 AM Apr 09 2010 |

Victoriaa

Victoriaa

France

I dont spring clean and I'm not sure such a tradition exists in Russia. And I fully agree that its hard to part with some old things which you've been keeping for a long time. But from the other hand, if spring is associated with the new beginning, its a good occasion to throw away all your old stuff and begin to collect new interesting things!!!!

08:18 AM Apr 09 2010 |

L_a_d_a

L_a_d_a

Ukraine

this weekend i`ll have spring cleaning:)

in my country people clean houses mostly before the Easter but anyway it`s in spring

08:14 AM Apr 09 2010 |

nonstop07

nonstop07

Turkey

we celebrate every year Norouz in our country when the winter finished. norouz means that cleaning top the bottom of the house, top the bottom of spiritually.

07:53 AM Apr 09 2010 |

bbc_princess

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Yeah, we spring clean every year traditionally, because New Year in my country which we call "Norouz" starts exactly when the spring starts!

Although it demands a great deal of time and energy cleaning our house from top to bottom, I believe, like Devan, it's like a fresh start.

 

07:16 AM Apr 09 2010 |

Dangerdude

Dangerdude

Syrian Arab Republic

 

It's really a great time after the cold, raing and even snowy days, we all have been

through.To welcome our dear friend The Spring with a top to bottom cleaning plus a smile

drawn on everyone's face.

:)


Having everything cleaned and fragrant around us with a nice and shiney

weather, It feels calm and ease.

06:31 AM Apr 09 2010 |

mossavi

mossavi

Afghanistan

oh,yeah i like  spring cleaning.if i have enough money i will thow away the old staff,and buy the new and brand ones,

04:55 AM Apr 09 2010 |

Freshack

China

In fact , in our Chinese traditional families , we do New Year's Eve cleaning every year . However,to my family , we never spring clean . Maybe it's a head work,and it's a difference from the west…In the dialog,there are some sentences which is hard to understand for me,such as" What is it about the spring that lends itself to cleaning" ...

04:51 AM Apr 09 2010 |

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