Rebecca Byrne and we're discussing couch surfing. Have you heard of this

before Rebecca?

Jackie: Hi Kate, well no….I'm afraid I've never heard of couch surfing but let me try

to work it out…..A couch is another word for a sofa or long soft seat on which

more than one person can sit, and surfing (when not used in the sporting sense)

can mean the act of visiting lots of different places. For example surfing the

web is when you visit lots of different websites. So, I assume couch surfing

has something to do with visiting lots of different people's couches or sofas….?

Kate: Good guess work! Couch surfing is a relatively new term used to describe an

internet-based hospitality service - the practice of either offering your sofa to a

stranger to sleep on or staying with someone you've never met before. This

accommodation system has become a world wide success in the last two or

three years providing people all over the world with a couch or a floor to sleep

on absolutely free.

Rebecca: Well, it sounds like a great idea and is certainly a cheap way of finding

accommodation in a strange country, but it doesn't sound very luxurious to me!

I think I'd rather have a bed in a hotel than somebody's sofa ….but I can see

there must be some benefits…. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

Page 2 of 4

Kate: And we'll be finding out about them later in the programme, but before we go

any further, here's my question for this week. Which city is currently the most

popular destination for couch surfing. Is is:

a) London

b) New York

c) Paris

Rebecca: Answers

Kate: We'll check you answer at the end of the programme. But first, let's find out

a bit more about how couch surfing works. There are various websites

which contain databases of people willing to offer their couch to strangers to

sleep on. So if you are looking for somewhere to stay, you simply look up

the area where you're going and see if there is anyone there willing to give

you a bed or couch and then you contact them.

Rebecca: But why would someone let people come and stay with them – people who

they've never even met before?!!

Kate: Well, hopefully we're going to find out. We're going to hear from a

journalist called Fleur Britain was so interested in the system of couch

surfing that she decided to use to during a ten week journey across Russia,

China, Kazackstan and Mongolia only staying with people who offered her

a couch. In the following extract she uses the word motives. What does this

mean Rebecca?

Rebecca: Well, a motive is a reason for doing something.

Kate: And worldly views?

Rebecca: Well, this means the experiences of people who have travelled a lot or had

 experience of many different places. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

Page 3 of 4

Kate: Let's listen. Can you hear the reasons or motives why people are willing to

offer their houses (or couches) to strangers for free and volunteer to be hosts?

Hosts are what we call people who have guests in their house, for eg. if you

came to stay in my house for a night or two, I would be your host.

Extract 1

Actually you'll find that lots of hosts have many motives, maybe they want to practise their

English, maybe they live in a country where it's difficult for them to get a visa, or actually to

afford to travel. Sometimes people want their children to experience the worldly views of

travellers. Some people are just instinctive hosts and they just love having people in their

house.

Rebecca: She said that people have a range of motives. That maybe they want to

practise their English, that maybe they want their children to experience the

worldly views of travellers. Or maybe they just like having people in their

houses. She called them 'instinctive hosts' which means they don’t have

any other reason for wanting people to stay with them other than just

enjoying the experience.

Kate: So we've heard about why people might want to offer their house to

strangers, but what are the benefits to the people who are sleeping on the

couches – the travellers? We’re going to hear the word 'compelling'. What

does this mean?

Rebecca: Compelling is used to describe something which is very exciting or

interesting and it makes you want to do it.

Kate: And 'inside track'? 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

Page 4 of 4

Rebecca: Inside track means getting access to something which only certain people

have. So if I had an inside track on something, I would have a special

position or relationship with a person that gives you advantages that other

people do not have.

Kate: Let's listen. What unique experiences did she have through couch surfing?

Extract 2

There are so many compelling things to the idea of couch surfing in that you get amazing

access to the inside story. So we would start off by looking at our guidebooks, you know,

instead we got the inside track, and were taken to things that weren't in the guidebook,

taken to their friend's houses, went to house parties….

 

Rebecca: She said she was taken to friend's houses and parties. You can really see

why you can get the 'inside track' to a country and how couch surfing can

help you to meet people to see the real side of a country rather than just

being a tourist.

Kate: So would you ever like to try couch surfing?

Rebecca: answers

Kate: And finally to the question I asked you earlier…..Which city is currently the

most popular for couch surfing?

The answer is in fact Paris with 22,000 surfers visiting the city.

Kate: That's all we have time for. Until next week. Goodbye.