KÉPLEÍRÁS A NYELVVIZSGÁN – 201806 – HÁZIMUNKA

Alapfok B1

In the picture, I can see a mum with a small child on her arm. She’s ironing a pink towel. She’s wearing a red nightgown and she hasn’t had time to comb her hair yet. She must be busy. It is not easy to do the housework when you have a small child. Children always want to play and they often cry. The woman looks tired and she’s not happy that she has to do the ironing. They are in a living room, there is a bookshelf behind them with a few books and some decorations on it. The room is tidy. There are a few baby toys on the brown leather sofa.

I still live with my parents. My mother does most of the housework, but I always help her. I usually do my room, vacuum the carpets and do the washing up. Her task is the washing and the ironing and she does the cooking, too. I don’t so much like doing the housework, but you must do it even if you don’t like it. I usually listen to music when I do the housework. My favourite type of housework is hoovering but I hate cleaning the windows.

Középfok B2

In the picture, there is a tired-looking mum with a happy toddler on her arm. She’s doing the ironing on an ironing board and the small child is looking at her with interest. She’s ironing towels. She has finished three towels already and there is one more to go. It can’t be easy to do the ironing while balancing a child. She is still in her nightie and a nightgown, probably she hasn’t had the time to get dressed. Her hair is messy, there are hair curlers in her hair. Mothers with small children are always busy and it is not easy for them to find the time to do the housework. They are in a tidy, not too crowded living room. You can’t see many toys lying about, just one or two on the sofa behind them. The girl is little, she’s about two years old. Children of this age are usually very active and try their mother’s patience. They want to help to do the housework, but they are not skilful enough so everything takes longer when they are involved. It’s usually the woman who does most of the housework in the household though nowadays there are more and more men who do their bit and don’t let their spouse do it all. Housework can be a burden, only few people like doing it. But it cannot be escaped, it must be done whether you like it or not.

I am personally not so keen on doing the housework. I quite hate doing the washing up and hoovering the carpets, but washing and putting out the clothes to dry are fun. I love the smell of the freshly washed clothes. I don’t always use the same washing powder and fabric softener. I like to try new scents and I can spend a long time in the shop trying to decide which product has the nicest smell. I could very well do without ironing, but I don’t like crumpled clothes so I do it anyway. I still don’t have children, so luckily I don’t have to carry a small tot while I am doing the ironing. It would be a lot more difficult that way.

 Felsőfok C1 

It’s quite a typical picture of a mother trying to balance rearing a child and doing all the necessary household chores at the same time. She looks quite run down and she is not even dressed properly though it’s broad daylight. She’s ironing towels which is baffling for me because towels usually don’t need ironing. If I were in her place I would do something more important instead. Housework can be a real burden especially if you don’t have anybody to share it with. In most households, it’s the woman who has to do the brunt of the housework, but there are more and more generous husbands and fathers who are willing to take some of the burden off their shoulders. Young mothers are generally overworked and overtired because toddlers are active and busy exploring the world and they don’t tire easily. Housework is a never-ending process and it is not very rewarding because it only shows if you don’t do the housework, but it doesn’t really show how much time it consumes to make your house or flat spick and span. Labour saving devices can help a lot, but human labour is still indispensable in household tasks.

It’s a hotly debated issue whose task the housework is. Is it the mother’s who stays at home all day with a toddler as is the case of the woman in the picture, or the father’s who spends the whole day away from home and would be happy to have some well-deserved rest after work when he gets home? The answer is not easy as probably the woman is equally tired and would need some relaxation and private time after spending the day with an overactive two-year-old. Maybe they should take it easy and do only those chores that are absolutely necessary and leave the rest for a less busy time. Or – if they can afford it – they could employ a cleaning lady. It can really prove to be enormous help. I remember when I was a child we used to have a cleaning lady who came every week. She was like one of the family, we liked and appreciated her. She worked for the family for many years and everyone was in tears when there was a point that she had to leave as she was too old and too tired to carry on with cleaning any longer. It was easier to keep order with her steady and conscientious help and we got so used to her that we desperately missed her for a long time after she had stopped working for us.