Have you ever heard the old English saying "East and West, home is best"?
春节才过， 元宵节将至。“身在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲。”无法回家团圆的朋友们，do you miss your hometown so much? Do you often feel a little bit homesick? “今夕为何夕，他乡说故乡。”这一期，就让我们来聊聊自己的故乡，并借此慰藉思乡之情。

Hometown is a topic often talked about when people first meet. Today, we are going to learn lots of expressions to describe our hometowns or cities and places.

小刘是一个international student。 International students are students coming from different places in the world to study at a country other than their home countries. 快要过年了，让我们听听小刘和他的美国同学Latoya 都说了些什么。

不知道你有没有注意到，"anyway" appears three times in this conversation. 下面我们就依次回顾一下这个副词的用法以及作用。

作“无论如何”讲：Liu decides not to go back to Beijing for the Chinese New Year. Latoya says "Anyway you can stay here and celebrate the Valentine's Day instead". "Anyway" in this sentence means "at least".

作“但是”讲：Latoya believes it is better to stay in the dorm and she gives two reasons. Then she uses "anyway" meaning "in spite of this", to show that although she thinks in another way she is also willing to help Liu if he prefers to rent an apartment. ("Well, anyway, let me know. I have a friend who might know an apartment if you're really interested.")

作“至少”讲：Hearing Latoya's words, Liu decides to stay in the dorm. The "anyway" in "I'd better stay in the dorm for a semester anyway" also means "at least".

对话中，小刘询问Latoya 住dorm还是apartment 好。其实，初到异乡的人们面临的第一个问题就是解决住房问题。In some cases, the institute or university will provide housing or at least supply a list of currently available apartments. Experience shows that most newcomers to the US spend two to four weeks of concentrated searching (that is all day, every day) finding proper accommodations. 找房的艰辛由此可见。

不少大学都设有专门的房产机构。MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), for example, has a housing office in charge of off-campus house affairs. It has listings of rooms, apartments, shared apartments, and houses for rent in the Greater Boston area. The office provides information about public transportation, rental furniture, and other housing related subjects. It also provides listings of temporary housing and real estate agents. 这些机构的房源都相当得紧俏，you can never expect to get the lists in the mail because they become outdated within a very short period of time.

The housing offices in universities also maintain lists of people who have apartments to rent and are looking for roommates, as well as those who would like to share an apartment. 同人合租公寓可以像选择住在dorm的小刘一样，结交来自不同国家的朋友，了解不同国家的风土人情。

那么，两个人见面，究竟怎么聊才能让"what's your hometown" 这个话题顺畅地展开呢？下文提供了一个谈家乡的对话模板，套用这个模板，保证你就可以自如地和朋友夸夸家乡。另外，我们也提供了一个谈家乡的对话实例。听听录音，看看文字，它会帮你加深对模板的理解哦。

A	Asks about the hometown
B	Answers
A	Asks about the location
B	Answers
A	Asks what the place is like
B	Gives a general description; for instance, whether it is an interesting place
A	Keeps the conversation going by asking another question
B	Answers the question. Gives more information
A	Asks whether there is anything he doesn't like
B	Answers the question fully. Keeps the conversation going by asking about the other
A	Answers the question and talk about the hometown
对话实例：

情人节、情人节、元宵节，一连串的喜庆节日渡过之后，我们是不是应该沉静下来，整理思绪，规划一下自己的职业人生？三月是招聘的季节，仅在北京，就有37个招聘会在各郊区县相继拉开帷幕。那么，你准备好了吗？希望下一期的求职英语能令你获益匪浅，并助你攀上事业的新高峰。