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Shadowing practice: Inside London's Smallest Apartments

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  1. Rent prices in London are so expensive that most people cannot afford to live in normal -sized apartments.0:00
  2. This is like living room space.0:05
  3. This means that people must get creative and live smaller if they want to be in Europe's most desirable city.0:07
  4. This is the whole space right here.0:12
  5. Today, I'm on a mission to track down residents living in the most claustrophobic spaces.0:13
  6. And we begin with Harrison.0:17
  7. Oh, good.0:19
  8. How's it going?0:19
  9. Oh, you're good, man.0:20
  10. Who built his entire life on top of a literal dumpster.0:21
  11. You actually live here.0:24
  12. I live in Fulton.0:25
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  1. Wait, there's no lock?0:26
  2. It just opens?0:27
  3. Well, they were supposed to be a little bit of a lock.0:28
  4. Aha, there is a lock.0:30
  5. This is the technique.0:31
  6. This is also a nice security measure.0:34
  7. Someone did break in.0:36
  8. Oh, no.0:37
  9. And I came home one day.0:38
  10. They were sitting out here smoking.0:39
  11. And I was like, by the way, this is a skip, which in the UK is basically a dumpster.0:41
  12. Yeah, yeah.0:47
  13. So you live in a dumpster.0:47
  14. So I do live in a dumpster.0:48
  15. Let's do it, man.0:49
  16. Entering the skip house of London.0:50
  17. Whoa.0:52
  18. Cool.0:53
  19. It's not an easy entrance initially, but you get used to it.0:54
  20. So you actually live here?1:00
  21. This is freaking safe, bro.1:01
  22. What's going on?1:04
  23. Just a hop, skip, and a jump.1:06
  24. Easy.1:09
  25. Bro, this is so freaking cool.1:10
  26. This is the entire place.1:12
  27. How long have you been living here?1:14
  28. Two and a half years now.1:15
  29. And you built it yourself?1:16
  30. I built it, yeah, myself.1:18
  31. You seem like your construction type guy.1:19
  32. Yeah, that's pretty much my job.1:21
  33. Architecture.1:22
  34. So I came up with the idea three years ago when I was looking for places to live.1:23
  35. As everyone knows, London Rent is craziest.1:27
  36. So I was like, oh, it's got to be another way for me to find a place to live.1:29
  37. And I'd already done two or three projects with skips before.1:33
  38. And so then I kind of connected the dots and I was like, I wonder if I could live inside one.1:36
  39. You literally built this.1:40
  40. Came up with the idea, did the design.1:41
  41. How long did it take you to build it?1:43
  42. Took three or four weeks.1:44
  43. That's it.1:46
  44. Super quick.1:46
  45. It's just you?1:46
  46. Me and mainly one of my friends.1:47
  47. Do you actually pay rent here?1:49
  48. I pay a little bit towards the land.1:51
  49. Like tiny.1:52
  50. Like a hundred quid a month.1:53
  51. 250 a month now.1:55
  52. Harrison, do you mind giving me a little tour here of how things operate?1:56
  53. Of course.2:00
  54. We'll do the main things first.2:00
  55. Bed is above my head.2:02
  56. So I have a ladder all the way up.2:03
  57. So this is technically a living room.2:07
  58. This is like living room space.2:09
  59. Slash kitchen, slash kitchen, slash everything.2:11
  60. Storage is all up on the side.2:14
  61. So this is all clothes.2:16
  62. You hanging up jackets.2:18
  63. Yeah.2:19
  64. Toiletries.2:21
  65. Toiletries.2:21
  66. This drawing, I got my third birthday from my dad.2:22
  67. That's awesome.2:25
  68. What is this thing?2:26
  69. Rock climbing?2:27
  70. Rock climbing?2:27
  71. If you notice, there is a whole route.2:28
  72. What?2:30
  73. All the way up.2:31
  74. You know what I'm going to ask you next, Harrison?2:32
  75. I can't see a rock climbing route without taking it.2:34
  76. I'm going to try it too, but just show me the first step.2:37
  77. How do you do it?2:39
  78. These were just like second hand.2:39
  79. Okay.2:41
  80. Okay.2:42
  81. This is the start position.2:43
  82. Both feet up and then there's two holes behind.2:44
  83. And then you can swap your feet.2:47
  84. Okay.2:48
  85. There's another hole there.2:49
  86. The game is the ground is lava.2:50
  87. Can't touch the ground.2:53
  88. Then there's one more.2:54
  89. There.2:56
  90. There.2:58
  91. You can try it every night.2:59
  92. Little one there.3:00
  93. And then that's the last hole.3:01
  94. Nice, dude.3:04
  95. Now you're jumping the bed from there.3:04
  96. Exactly.3:05
  97. That is crazy.3:06
  98. Dude's rock climbing.3:08
  99. How many square meters is this?3:09
  100. You could say it's like four square meters, maybe.3:10
  101. On this side right here is the kitchen.3:14
  102. I see we've got a sink.3:16
  103. Do you have running water?3:16
  104. I have a tap outside, which comes up through a hose from my very kind neighbor.3:17
  105. So I basically carry this out pretty much every day.3:22
  106. Yeah, you hear that every night when you sleep?3:28
  107. I do.3:30
  108. God.3:30
  109. So we've got incense here smelling good.3:31
  110. Incense.3:33
  111. We've got Buddha, something over there, whatever that is.3:34
  112. We've got another Buddha cat thing.3:37
  113. That was my first gift.3:39
  114. The day I literally moved the skip into the land.3:40
  115. Somebody walked past.3:43
  116. Nice.3:45
  117. I spoke to her.3:45
  118. It's only good luck if the left arm is moving.3:46
  119. Yeah.3:47
  120. Wow.3:48
  121. Wait, you can't.3:49
  122. There we go.3:50
  123. The left arm should always be moving.3:51
  124. You got some Russian money up there.3:53
  125. You got some photos, skips, whatever that means.3:55
  126. Skips and a skip.3:59
  127. I like your little travel section.4:00
  128. That's cool.4:01
  129. You have power.4:02
  130. I have power.4:03
  131. How do you have power?4:04
  132. The water.4:05
  133. There's an electrical box like just behind here.4:06
  134. So I literally run an extension cable through here.4:08
  135. For free?4:10
  136. I pay for it.4:11
  137. I pay.4:11
  138. It works out as like 30 fans a month.4:12
  139. How much did you spend to build this house?4:14
  140. It cost me about £4 ,000, £5 ,000 over the course of since I've been here now two and a half years.4:15
  141. Then it works out as a good saving.4:22
  142. I'm heading upstairs to Harrison's bedroom.4:24
  143. But in order to get there, I'm going to rock climb.4:26
  144. So if I remember correctly, you start here.4:29
  145. Yeah, you might want to face the other way.4:30
  146. I'll take any tips if you have them.4:32
  147. That's the one.4:33
  148. I'm also pretty short.4:34
  149. No, this is good.4:35
  150. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.4:36
  151. That's it.4:36
  152. There's another hold up the top as well.4:37
  153. Yeah.4:39
  154. And then foot across.4:41
  155. Yeah.4:42
  156. Yeah.4:43
  157. Exactly.4:44
  158. That's good.4:46
  159. That's a nice one.4:47
  160. Damn, dude.4:49
  161. And then there's another little foot.4:50
  162. Oh, a little footsie.4:52
  163. It's not the best.4:53
  164. And there's a hidden hold behind it.4:55
  165. I got it.4:57
  166. Working up a little sweat here.4:59
  167. And then the last hold up as well.5:00
  168. Oh, f***.5:02
  169. Got it.5:03
  170. Don't crash down away.5:04
  171. I made it.5:06
  172. Damn.5:07
  173. Like this is actually insane.5:08
  174. Just for the fresh breeze.5:10
  175. So this is where you sleep.5:11
  176. So I imagine in the summertime it's really hot and wintertime is really cold.5:13
  177. Summertime I have like fan here.5:17
  178. Full blast.5:20
  179. Straight on me.5:22
  180. And then winter I've got heater downstairs and actually that works pretty good.5:23
  181. If you wake up from a nightmare and you stand up you're going to boom.5:26
  182. Dang your head.5:29
  183. So you got to be careful.5:30
  184. Do you have Wi -Fi?5:31
  185. Kind of.5:32
  186. I have like, I have a hotspot like a 3G dongle thing.5:33
  187. So you have water, you have electricity.5:38
  188. You kind of have internet.5:41
  189. Those are all pluses.5:43
  190. Those are all pluses.5:44
  191. Where's the bathroom bro?5:45
  192. Bathroom shower.5:46
  193. That's the most I've ever.5:47
  194. Port -a -Potty is the toilet.5:49
  195. That's all I've got.5:50
  196. And then shower, a shower, gym, a shower, work.5:51
  197. Whoa.5:55
  198. Okay.5:56
  199. Now we just got more intense.5:56
  200. No shower.5:58
  201. Just outside the skip house, five meters away is the loo.5:59
  202. They come and empty it like every couple weeks.6:04
  203. Okay.6:05
  204. It was amazing.6:06
  205. It was a couple weeks.6:06
  206. So it must be pretty stinky in there.6:07
  207. She tools store the head.6:09
  208. I've never in my life seen a bathroom uses a storage unit like this.6:12
  209. Okay.6:15
  210. Couple of spider webs and stuff.6:16
  211. But you got a place to do your business.6:17
  212. And that's all you really need.6:20
  213. So you need a shower is what you need.6:22
  214. I should have.6:24
  215. I really need a shower right now.6:24
  216. Whoa.6:26
  217. Harrison, the main question I want to ask you.6:26
  218. Are you happy in the skip house?6:28
  219. Of course.6:30
  220. Very happy.6:30
  221. I put up, yeah.6:31
  222. I'm trying to convince myself here.6:34
  223. I'm happy.6:36
  224. Harrison isn't the only one getting created to save money on rent.6:37
  225. On the other side of London, I connected with a girl named Shannon, whose home is a self -made boat on the canal.6:40
  226. It's quite the hipster part of town.6:45
  227. A lot of cafes, bars.6:47
  228. This must be the canal right here.6:49
  229. A little Amsterdam vibes.6:52
  230. Whoa.6:53
  231. This is cool.6:54
  232. This is the way down.6:54
  233. It's over here.6:56
  234. Looks like a proper squatter area.6:56
  235. Smells like piss.6:59
  236. Super interesting this neighborhood.7:00
  237. A lot of graffiti on the walls.7:01
  238. Nice to meet you.7:03
  239. All right.7:04
  240. This is Shannon's place.7:05
  241. Well, it's a little bit sketchy around here.7:06
  242. So just don't leave anything out because I got my phone swiped the other day.7:07
  243. The other day?7:11
  244. Yeah.7:12
  245. So someone came past on a bike and took the phone out of my hand.7:12
  246. What?7:16
  247. Yeah.7:16
  248. So he had to be quite careful.7:17
  249. All right.7:18
  250. So you come straight into my bedroom.7:19
  251. Cool.7:21
  252. If you can call it that.7:21
  253. It's basically a cubby hole for my bed.7:22
  254. So when I go to sleep, I'll move all that into the living room.7:23
  255. Love it.7:28
  256. You come straight through into my kitchen.7:28
  257. I just brought a little kitchen.7:30
  258. Like I have a gas oven and hob.7:31
  259. Water.7:33
  260. So that's drinking water and that's just.7:34
  261. You have a tap for drinking water.7:36
  262. Yeah.7:38
  263. So I have like a filter under here.7:38
  264. So that basically filters it to make it fresher potentially.7:40
  265. I've even got a little fridge freezer that actually does work.7:42
  266. We're kind of selling some Lucas aid because I'm over last time I came in here.7:45
  267. So that's all you have in here.7:48
  268. That's a sad fridge.7:50
  269. There's no food.7:52
  270. And then you come into the bathroom here.7:53
  271. Wow.7:55
  272. So it's a little tiny toilet and a shower.7:57
  273. Yeah, of course.7:58
  274. Have to get cleaned up.7:59
  275. It's not the canal.8:00
  276. We're going to jump in the canal.8:01
  277. That's the toilet.8:02
  278. That's the toilet.8:03
  279. So the toilet looks normal from that side.8:04
  280. Right.8:06
  281. If we go here, I'm not going to actually open it.8:07
  282. Don't worry because it's gross.8:08
  283. Under here is where you put your cassette.8:10
  284. That's where all my poop and piss off.8:12
  285. But basically I take that out and you screw off the little yellow thing and you put it in the canal.8:13
  286. I'm joking.8:19
  287. You definitely that.8:19
  288. You have a thing called an L sound, which is basically a giant well and you basically empty it all in there.8:21
  289. The canal and river trust who are basically the governors of the canal.8:25
  290. They basically say you need to put it in there.8:29
  291. So it's like it's like it's next to the area.8:31
  292. How far do you remove your poop?8:32
  293. Every two weeks, every three weeks maybe.8:35
  294. But I have another one of those.8:38
  295. So I interchange them.8:39
  296. So there's actually one at the front that's full that I'm waiting till I get to the point.8:40
  297. Now I'm going to empty them both.8:44
  298. And shower.8:46
  299. How does that feel?8:47
  300. Um, shower is really good.8:48
  301. Surprisingly, I actually have a really good shower.8:49
  302. I have a water, I have a boiler.8:51
  303. Yeah, I can show you that if you come in here.8:52
  304. So that is my electricity.8:54
  305. That's for coming windows.8:56
  306. It's cold.8:57
  307. That's my boiler basically.8:58
  308. So that is really good.8:59
  309. You even put storage behind every every nook and cranny has to have something in it.9:00
  310. Honestly, even here I've got dining table.9:04
  311. What?9:08
  312. Show me.9:08
  313. Oh my God.9:09
  314. I'm my back is against the wall here.9:10
  315. How do I film this?9:12
  316. Okay, I can't get it out.9:13
  317. It's too big.9:14
  318. They basically on clips and then these will come down.9:15
  319. So you go and then you can fold it out and put it in there.9:19
  320. This is so unique.9:23
  321. What are your friends and families think of your lifestyle?9:24
  322. My parents thought I was absolutely mad.9:26
  323. Um, and my friends love it.9:29
  324. My parents love it now as well.9:30
  325. I think people aren't surprised that I do it because I'm a bit of that sort of person.9:32
  326. Like I just try jumping into crazy things.9:35
  327. You consider yourself a minimalist?9:36
  328. Yes, I think, but that's more because my head is so busy that I like to have simple pleasures in life.9:39
  329. So I can keep active doing other things.9:45
  330. And if you stay in here for more than like, like if you're sick and you're just stuck in here, do you feel claustrophobic or do you feel lonely in9:47
  331. here?9:52
  332. No, never, never.9:52
  333. I like being on my own.9:53
  334. When I got it, it was like a really ugly pale blue.9:54
  335. So as soon as I came, I was like, I'm gonna make it a bit funky because I'm an artist and that's what I do.9:56
  336. How long have you lived here?10:00
  337. Two and a half years.10:01
  338. Yeah, it's been a struggle.10:02
  339. I'm not gonna lie.10:03
  340. It was a massive learning curve and a lot of tears.10:04
  341. I have a wood burner here that you basically put your wood in.10:09
  342. It's very clean at the moment.10:13
  343. I haven't used it for a while.10:14
  344. It actually works.10:15
  345. Yeah, it works really well.10:16
  346. You can actually wall the kessel on top and you can put a jacket potato inside and put a jacket potato in there.10:17
  347. It's a jacket potato.10:23
  348. A jacket, a baked potato.10:24
  349. A jacket potato.10:26
  350. A jacket potato.10:28
  351. That's a funny Britishism.10:30
  352. A jacket potato.10:31
  353. It's like he's wearing a jacket.10:32
  354. So two and a half years.10:33
  355. What's been the best and the worst part about living here?10:34
  356. The best part is definitely the community.10:36
  357. Like the boating community is all very creative, very fun, very free.10:38
  358. And obviously you're right next to nature.10:42
  359. So you get to see like little birds and like amazing things and you get to move everywhere.10:43
  360. The worst thing.10:49
  361. You actually drive the boat around.10:49
  362. To go anywhere.10:51
  363. Even on the main Thames River.10:52
  364. You can.10:54
  365. I haven't.10:55
  366. You have to be like a certified driver to own this, right?10:56
  367. No.10:58
  368. You don't.10:59
  369. Anyone can do it.10:59
  370. Do you often host guests here or you just kind of stay along when you're here?11:00
  371. I have a lot of parties here, yes.11:03
  372. What's the maximum capacity you could have?11:05
  373. Um, 10.11:07
  374. But in summer we could sit on the roof.11:09
  375. The government legally allows you to park on the side of the canal and just stay here?11:11
  376. So the maximum is two weeks.11:14
  377. So you can't stay longer than that and that's basically to keep the canals going.11:16
  378. Because otherwise everyone would stay.11:19
  379. But who's checking how long you stay?11:21
  380. There are people.11:22
  381. They go up and down and they check your number plate.11:23
  382. That's maybe why mine is facing inward.11:26
  383. Mine's facing the wrong direction.11:30
  384. They're not going to say what.11:31
  385. So they're not checking.11:32
  386. Now you're not checking.11:33
  387. Wait.11:35
  388. Hold on a second.11:35
  389. What if you stay 15 days?11:36
  390. They could actually give you a fine.11:38
  391. They give you, not a fine, they give you a warning.11:39
  392. They basically can ban you from having a boat license.11:41
  393. And the boat license isn't like a driving license.11:45
  394. It basically means that they've allowed you to be on the canal.11:46
  395. Can I ask you how much you spent on this whole project?11:49
  396. The boat itself is 24 ,000 and I've obviously upgraded it in certain ways.11:52
  397. I've given it better electricity all in all probably about 26 ,000.11:55
  398. But I was paying rent before for a thousand pounds a month in for one room in a three bed house.12:01
  399. That's like two years of rent there and now you have your own place.12:06
  400. And I have my own place.12:08
  401. How much does water and electricity cost?12:09
  402. Electricity and water free.12:12
  403. Really?12:13
  404. Because I got solar panels.12:14
  405. You seem really happy and excited to live here and that's amazing.12:15
  406. I love it.12:19
  407. I find it quite freeing because I had to get rid of a lot of my items.12:19
  408. And I think living very minimally is a good way of like being happy.12:22
  409. What's your job?12:28
  410. I'm a video producer and I also teach art classes and I'm an artist.12:28
  411. Speaking of, can I see your art on your arms?12:32
  412. Oh, yeah.12:35
  413. Like it's cool.12:36
  414. It's like, so it's like a vine.12:37
  415. Yeah, they're different flowers basically.12:39
  416. And that's my dog, Gilbert.12:41
  417. He's not here today, obviously.12:43
  418. Oh, where's Gilbert?12:44
  419. He's with my boyfriend.12:45
  420. He's a bit of a nightmare.12:46
  421. He's a little pug and he just does it.12:47
  422. I have a pug too.12:48
  423. Do you?12:49
  424. You have a pug?12:49
  425. Yeah, I have a little black pug.12:50
  426. Oh my goodness.12:53
  427. There's Gilbert.12:54
  428. Great.12:55
  429. Why is he not here?12:55
  430. Damn, I love that.12:56
  431. Oh no, sorry.12:57
  432. I'm like a sus and pug.12:57
  433. He just gets in the way when I'm trying to do things like this.12:58
  434. What's in this?13:01
  435. Just random stuff over here.13:01
  436. Yeah, that's just all my storage.13:02
  437. You have to make use of every inch of here.13:04
  438. Yeah, even under here is storage.13:05
  439. Clothes.13:07
  440. Okay, gotcha.13:08
  441. Oh, my clothes.13:09
  442. Oh, you get a lot of spiders.13:10
  443. Oh my god.13:12
  444. Where's the guns?13:14
  445. Right there.13:15
  446. You don't mind holding the spider's.13:16
  447. I love spiders.13:17
  448. You love spiders?13:18
  449. Yeah, they get rid of the mosquitoes.13:18
  450. Oh my god, you're actually playing with a spider right now.13:20
  451. That doesn't freak you out.13:23
  452. No, and I'm not going to get rid of him either.13:24
  453. I'm going to put him in it.13:25
  454. I hate spiders.13:27
  455. It's my resident spider.13:28
  456. We are now going upstairs.13:29
  457. Let's go out.13:30
  458. Let's go out.13:31
  459. So, do you want to actually get on the top?13:33
  460. Sure.13:35
  461. Why Little Drifter?13:36
  462. Did you put that on there?13:37
  463. No, but it was cool that before, but I will show you something.13:38
  464. Whoa, that's cool.13:44
  465. He's on me forever.13:45
  466. So, you basically just need to give yourself a big jump.13:46
  467. Get on top.13:48
  468. Can we sit on the solar panels?13:51
  469. Yeah, of course you can.13:53
  470. Wow, so the solar panels actually charge everything that you need.13:54
  471. Yep.13:57
  472. So, when you're sitting on top of your house and there's people walking on the street, do you get weird looks or do you have people say, is that your13:57
  473. house?14:03
  474. I have everyone talking to me or taking photos, especially when I was in Camden.14:03
  475. I think there's a lot of tourists around there.14:07
  476. And someone actually pokes their head into my hatch to look in and I was like, oh, hello.14:08
  477. Do you suggest it to people?14:15
  478. Do you think it's a good lifestyle?14:16
  479. I think it's a lot of work.14:18
  480. You need to be a certain person to do it.14:19
  481. You have to get your hands dirty.14:21
  482. But if you like adventure and you like exploring new places and you don't mind being on your own, anywhere from home that helps.14:23
  483. Don't go for it.14:29
  484. Shannon's life on the canal shows just how much sacrifice people will make to live in London, but just wait until you see what's next.14:31
  485. I'm taking the tube to South Kensington to meet our next interesting character of the day named Caesar.14:37
  486. From what I've gathered so far, he lives in a tiny, tiny space.14:42
  487. Excited to meet him and excited to take the tube.14:46
  488. It literally is a tube, by the way.14:49
  489. That's why it's called the tube.14:50
  490. Quiet in here.14:55
  491. Nobody talks.14:57
  492. Weird.14:58
  493. Travel tip.14:58
  494. If you come to London, take the tube.14:59
  495. It's like two times faster than sitting in traffic.15:01
  496. Trust me.15:03
  497. This is a nice little area here.15:04
  498. Fancy building, double -decker buses.15:06
  499. Random thought here as I'm walking in the streets of London.15:08
  500. I can't tell if I like New York better or London better.15:10
  501. They're both really similar in my mind.15:12
  502. The biggest difference is that there's no huge skyscrapers here.15:14
  503. But as far as the diversity on the streets and the vibe of the different neighborhoods, it's pretty comparable to New York City.15:16
  504. I'd like to hear your guys' thoughts in the comments down below.15:22
  505. Which one's better?15:24
  506. London or New York?15:25
  507. I'm going to say London.15:26
  508. If we're going to talk about food, it's New York.15:28
  509. But if we're going to talk about culture and just cooler things to do, we'll go London.15:30
  510. Look at this little charming side street that I found.15:33
  511. Lovely.15:37
  512. Before I take you guys into the next tiny flat of London, I want to take a second to thank the sponsor of this video, which is Revolute.15:38
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  532. Thanks again to Revolute for supporting this video and now let's go to the next tiny flat in London.16:48
  533. Good to meet you.16:55
  534. Hey, nice to meet you.16:57
  535. How's it going?16:57
  536. Yeah, good.16:58
  537. I'll show you my tiny home.16:59
  538. Yeah.17:01
  539. Come up.17:02
  540. I'm coming.17:03
  541. I do come into my lovely home.17:04
  542. Bienvenidos.17:07
  543. Bienvenidos, yes.17:08
  544. This is cool, man.17:09
  545. Yeah.17:10
  546. This is the whole space.17:11
  547. This is the whole space.17:12
  548. I've seen the bedding on top.17:13
  549. This is my living -in -city area where I have food, where I study, where I work sometimes.17:15
  550. Dude, this is my home.17:20
  551. Yeah.17:22
  552. Arizona is where I live.17:22
  553. Yeah.17:24
  554. You've been there?17:24
  555. I've been to so many places in America.17:25
  556. This is the whole space right here.17:26
  557. So does everyone have a space this small?17:28
  558. Every flat here is this small?17:32
  559. No, I think this is one of the smallest places in London because this place used to be a Kerset, a cardboard, Johnnie's cardboard.17:33
  560. Do you pay much less rent than the other people here?17:41
  561. Yeah, I think so.17:44
  562. But the rent in London is crazy.17:45
  563. I pay around 1 ,400 pounds.17:47
  564. Pounds for this place?17:50
  565. For this place, yeah.17:51
  566. That's a lot, bro.17:52
  567. Yeah.17:54
  568. That's too much.17:54
  569. The location is High Park where we went for a run is my garden.17:55
  570. Can I do a little tour?17:59
  571. Yeah, please.18:00
  572. Check out how much you have.18:00
  573. You have a little sink area here?18:01
  574. Is this a rice cooker?18:04
  575. It's kind of like an air fryer.18:05
  576. Air fryer.18:08
  577. This is like your little hideout area?18:09
  578. Yeah, this is, I'm working from home today.18:11
  579. So this is where I work today.18:13
  580. This is my sofa.18:15
  581. So down here, I always put the winter clothes in here.18:16
  582. Wow, that's smart.18:20
  583. It's very smart.18:21
  584. You need winter clothes here.18:22
  585. Yeah, this place is very well designed, right?18:23
  586. Oh.18:26
  587. Oops.18:27
  588. If you're a mirror?18:28
  589. Yeah, I got this from China when I was there.18:29
  590. You can't even stand up?18:32
  591. Yeah, because, well, I'm not very tall either, but even I can't have to walk like this.18:33
  592. So is that stressful that you can't stand up?18:37
  593. No, it's okay.18:39
  594. For me, it's fine.18:39
  595. It's very quick to get into my bed.18:40
  596. Yes, I need to climb the stairs.18:42
  597. Here I am in my lovely bed.18:45
  598. How many years have you been living here?18:47
  599. Nearly five years.18:49
  600. And you love it?18:50
  601. Yeah, I love it.18:51
  602. I love this place.18:52
  603. Do you have any plan to leave or are you going to stay here?18:53
  604. Well, at the moment, my landlord is a really good friend of mine.18:56
  605. He's in the process of selling the flat, so I don't know what's going to happen.18:59
  606. Oh, you might lose it.19:03
  607. Yeah.19:04
  608. That's sad.19:05
  609. Yeah.19:06
  610. Are you going to live in a bigger space?19:06
  611. I prefer location rather than space, but you will see what happens.19:09
  612. So I'm not too sure.19:14
  613. What's your job?19:15
  614. I do office work.19:16
  615. And how many years have you lived in London?19:17
  616. Nearly 17 years.19:19
  617. Oh, wow.19:21
  618. It's a great city.19:21
  619. Everybody I talk to is like, I can't afford it.19:22
  620. I can't afford it.19:24
  621. So tell me about the prices here.19:24
  622. Yeah, the prices here are insane.19:26
  623. It's insane.19:28
  624. It's like a coffee.19:28
  625. It's like five pounds.19:29
  626. Pizza is like 15 pounds.19:30
  627. For me, I think accommodation is the most expensive thing in London, in the UK.19:32
  628. So if you go further out, it will get cheaper, but it's crazy.19:36
  629. You need to have a really good job if you want to have an easy life here.19:39
  630. Because I have some friends.19:44
  631. They have two or three jobs because they have to pay rent.19:45
  632. You know, they share a flat.19:48
  633. You never thought about living in a different area to be cheaper?19:50
  634. I feel like this is my home.19:53
  635. So I really like living in here.19:55
  636. I prefer to spend more money living in a small place close to my garden high park, then live further out and then have to commute.19:57
  637. Let me show you the bathroom.20:06
  638. There's not much space in here.20:07
  639. In here, I have some of my running shoes hanging here.20:09
  640. And then this is the bathroom.20:13
  641. This is the whole bathroom?20:15
  642. Yeah.20:17
  643. This is the whole bathroom.20:18
  644. And then this is the shower.20:19
  645. And that's it.20:22
  646. The sink.20:24
  647. The toilet sink.20:25
  648. The sink is quite small.20:26
  649. Yeah, very small.20:27
  650. And I have a cupboard here.20:28
  651. This is yours?20:29
  652. Yeah, it's also mine.20:30
  653. It's in the hallway?20:31
  654. Yeah, in the hallway.20:32
  655. Wait, so nobody steals anything?20:33
  656. No, I always leave it open.20:35
  657. So in here, there's some more running shoes.20:36
  658. We're actually in the middle of the hallway.20:38
  659. And you've got extras.20:40
  660. Did you put this here?20:41
  661. No, it was already there.20:42
  662. And your landlord just said, hey, you can take this as more storage?20:43
  663. Yeah, sure.20:46
  664. So I think every flat in this building has one of those.20:46
  665. It's just funny because this is a staircase.20:49
  666. Yeah, it's here.20:51
  667. People live in this.20:52
  668. I've never seen that before.20:53
  669. Dude, it's so small in here, but it's cozy.20:55
  670. You understand what I mean?20:57
  671. Yeah.20:58
  672. I'm not stressed about it.20:59
  673. It's fine.21:01
  674. Yeah, me too.21:02
  675. It's super well organized.21:02
  676. If I disconnect my laptop from here, I'm going to put this here.21:04
  677. I can do this.21:09
  678. And then I have more space.21:11
  679. So it's really cool.21:12
  680. When you watch TV, you just lay down here?21:14
  681. I lay down here.21:15
  682. Is all your marathon stuff?21:17
  683. Yeah.21:18
  684. Dude, you're crazy.21:18
  685. I've run 22 marathons in five continents for water rate.21:20
  686. But it's an NGO that provides clean water and sanitation facilities for everyone everywhere.21:25
  687. I also have a website as well called rancesaran .com.21:31
  688. And so far, I've raised nearly $25 ,000.21:35
  689. Congratulations.21:38
  690. Yeah, thank you so much.21:39
  691. That's so inspiring, man.21:40
  692. You do it all yourself.21:41
  693. Yeah, all by myself, yeah.21:43
  694. What is your motivation and your drive to do good for society?21:44
  695. My dad suffered from cancer and then he got cured.21:48
  696. And then I said, oh, I want to do something to give back to the community.21:51
  697. So then I started running and then I run 10 marathons today for cancer research.21:55
  698. Dude, you're a really genuine person.22:00
  699. It's crazy.22:03
  700. I don't often meet people that are really, like when they speak from the heart, you can feel it.22:04
  701. You know what I mean?22:09
  702. I think my mom and dad made me like this.22:10
  703. You're very honest.22:14
  704. I get a lot of recognition.22:15
  705. For example, I won an award a few years ago signed by Be Careful with You.22:17
  706. I just came in here and I banged my head on the ceiling.22:22
  707. I won an award signed by King Charles.22:25
  708. I don't do charity work or help people to get recognition.22:28
  709. It's nice to get recognition, but I do it because I think it's the right thing to do.22:31
  710. I think everyone should do at least something with their lives to help people.22:36
  711. Do you have any final words of wisdom about life, about anything?22:42
  712. You just need to find your ikigai.22:45
  713. You just need to find your purpose in life.22:47
  714. So my purpose in life is helping people and supporting communities.22:49
  715. So that's my advice for everyone.22:52
  716. Caesar's story is a reminder that in London, location matters more than size.22:54
  717. But what makes this city truly great isn't just the neighborhoods.22:58
  718. It's the diversity.23:01
  719. Every corner of London feels like a different country.23:02
  720. So my next stop takes me to a hood called Hackney, where I'm ready to experience a little slice of Bangladesh.23:04
  721. I'm here with Amina and we actually met in Bangladesh a few weeks ago, which is pretty cool.23:09
  722. Hi Amina.23:14
  723. Hi everyone.23:15
  724. How are you?23:16
  725. I'm very good.23:17
  726. Thank you.23:18
  727. Tell me about this area.23:18
  728. This is called Hackney.23:20
  729. If you talk to anyone from London, what do they say about Hackney?23:21
  730. I mean, it's always considered the most dangerous area.23:24
  731. Really?23:27
  732. I grew up here, so I've seen it all.23:28
  733. What makes this place so sketchy or dodgy as you would say?23:31
  734. Well, it used to be.23:34
  735. I would say it's a lot nicer now.23:36
  736. What kind of people live here?23:38
  737. Where we are right now, it's a little bit nice.23:39
  738. If you look around, you can kind of see it's a little bit nice.23:42
  739. So on one end of the street, you'll get really nice streets like this.23:44
  740. And on the other end, it's a stark contrast.23:47
  741. Look at these Jews.23:50
  742. Shalom.23:52
  743. Look at this.23:53
  744. It's crazy.23:54
  745. These like pay us Hasidic Jews.23:54
  746. Do you see how it's changed?23:56
  747. And it's the same road.23:58
  748. Like we just taken one road up and we're just like in this really ultra orthodox community.23:59
  749. We're rolling up to Amina's building in Lower Clapton Hackney.24:04
  750. So basically this is all former council of states.24:09
  751. A private company came and bought it.24:13
  752. So now we have lifts, which we didn't have before.24:15
  753. So if you live on the top, you'd have to walk up.24:18
  754. You would have to walk up.24:20
  755. So wait, this is actually really interesting.24:21
  756. Like all of the buildings around here, they're just made from the same brick.24:23
  757. And they all look the same from the outside.24:26
  758. Yeah, they are.24:27
  759. So growing up in a community like this, like you must know all your neighbors.24:28
  760. Oh yeah.24:32
  761. I always knew all of my neighbors here.24:32
  762. Do you have a lot of Bangladeshis in the community?24:34
  763. So here in particular, we don't have many Bangladeshi families.24:36
  764. So it's really diverse here.24:40
  765. This is your childhood house?24:41
  766. Yeah, I grew up here.24:43
  767. That's cool.24:44
  768. Yeah.24:45
  769. Oh, guess what?24:46
  770. Like everything, the door's broken.24:48
  771. That's how you know what you're coming into.24:52
  772. Up we go.24:54
  773. When you walk out your front door, you just see like a hundred rooms in another building.24:56
  774. Yeah.25:01
  775. Like that's it.25:02
  776. This is home.25:03
  777. Yeah.25:04
  778. This is where I run around, learn how to ride a bike.25:04
  779. Everything's here.25:07
  780. Welcome to my crib, joking.25:09
  781. So here is the kitchen.25:13
  782. Okay.25:15
  783. You can't have a dryer and a washing machine.25:15
  784. So it's very, very difficult.25:18
  785. Yeah.25:19
  786. L shape.25:20
  787. And then starting to smell like curry.25:21
  788. What's over here?25:23
  789. What is that?25:24
  790. Dahl.25:25
  791. Yeah.25:26
  792. That smells good.25:27
  793. This is the kitchen situation here.25:29
  794. This smells incredible in here.25:31
  795. Like everything looks really fresh.25:33
  796. Oh my God.25:35
  797. You must have had a lot of great meals in this kitchen.25:36
  798. I did.25:38
  799. Yeah.25:39
  800. Is there like all the curry powder in here or something?25:39
  801. Yeah.25:41
  802. It's the first one I opened.25:41
  803. Dude, stay away.25:45
  804. Stay away from there.25:46
  805. You know what that is?25:48
  806. Her room?25:49
  807. Her room.25:49
  808. You cannot look at this because this is crazy.25:51
  809. First of all, I have been traveling.25:54
  810. I'm allowed to have a mess.25:56
  811. Okay.25:57
  812. Get out.25:57
  813. Nice to meet you.25:58
  814. What's your name?25:59
  815. I'm Fatima.26:00
  816. Fatima.26:01
  817. Lovely name.26:02
  818. Wait, we're not leaving.26:03
  819. Say again?26:05
  820. No, no.26:05
  821. I hate you guys.26:08
  822. So this is a makeup.26:10
  823. This is actually a lovely thing.26:11
  824. Maybe this is Amina.26:13
  825. Somebody actually drew that.26:15
  826. Yeah.26:16
  827. That's really nice.26:17
  828. These are like new earrings that I bought from Bangladesh and they're like gifts.26:17
  829. For who?26:21
  830. I've unpacked them, but I've not...26:22
  831. How many times have you been to Bangladesh?26:24
  832. At least six times.26:26
  833. You live in London, which is like polar opposite of Dhaka.26:28
  834. Complete opposite, honestly.26:30
  835. Do you feel like half of you belongs in Dhaka and half of you belongs in London?26:32
  836. I do have an identity crisis all the time.26:36
  837. Like when I'm over there, I don't really feel like I belong there and they treat me very different.26:39
  838. And over here, like there are some moments where I feel like I belong, but certain scenarios feel like I don't really belong here.26:43
  839. Do you agree?26:51
  840. They just think I'm a friend.26:52
  841. Sorry.26:54
  842. People in Bangladesh can smell me.26:56
  843. They can definitely smell me and they know that I just don't fit in.26:58
  844. Well, you look Bangladesh, but when you're talking and when you act, like what's the difference?27:02
  845. Like if you're walking on the street, how would someone know you're not from there?27:07
  846. First of all, I think my eye colour is not very Bengali.27:09
  847. Is it green?27:12
  848. Yeah.27:13
  849. And obviously, I act a bit snobbish.27:15
  850. Like, oh, it's belly.27:19
  851. And how do you feel about, like, which one do you prefer?27:21
  852. I have a loony sister.27:25
  853. Is there any reason you would prefer Dhaka over London and for any category?27:25
  854. Food, culture, anything like that?27:29
  855. Oh, yeah.27:31
  856. The food is amazing over there.27:32
  857. And you speak Bengali fluently.27:34
  858. My sister speaks even better than me.27:36
  859. She can do two dialects really well.27:38
  860. Yeah, you speak Bengali fluently.27:41
  861. Very well.27:43
  862. Very well.27:44
  863. Very well.27:45
  864. But we also speak another dialect.27:46
  865. We can swap in with another one.27:48
  866. From Sillat.27:50
  867. Sillat.27:50
  868. So, you know, it would be something like, you know, you're eating very well.27:51
  869. You're eating very well.27:54
  870. You're eating very well.27:55
  871. I'm not saying that.27:56
  872. I'm not saying that.27:57
  873. That means she gave it to my sister, no more.27:58
  874. Okay, so what else can show me?28:01
  875. This is the living room.28:02
  876. My mom's like, whoa.28:06
  877. She's tidying it up.28:08
  878. Hi.28:09
  879. Hi.28:10
  880. Thank you for letting me in your house.28:10
  881. My mom is actually practicing her English.28:13
  882. She's quite good.28:16
  883. She can actually speak a lot better than she gives herself credit for.28:17
  884. Are you from Thaka?28:20
  885. Yes.28:22
  886. Originally?28:22
  887. Yeah.28:23
  888. Originally.28:23
  889. It's my mom that's from Thaka and my dad is from Sillat.28:24
  890. Got it.28:26
  891. It looks nice in here.28:27
  892. Yes, so actually these are like my dad's old books.28:28
  893. We've kept them.28:32
  894. That's me.28:33
  895. I don't know why.28:34
  896. Hold on.28:35
  897. Actually, I got one even better.28:36
  898. If you stay right here, I'll bring it back.28:37
  899. That's me standing right here.28:39
  900. Oh, in this spot?28:42
  901. Yeah.28:43
  902. And if you see, this was our old front door.28:44
  903. That's cool.28:48
  904. This is in my living room.28:49
  905. I don't know why I'm putting this place.28:50
  906. We actually had like another three, two different families staying with us.28:53
  907. Yeah.28:59
  908. So how many humans slept in this house at once?28:59
  909. Probably about good 15.29:02
  910. Really?29:04
  911. Yeah.29:05
  912. Absolutely.29:06
  913. But this is very Bangladeshi.29:06
  914. We just make space.29:08
  915. And you all had one bathroom?29:11
  916. Absolutely, yes.29:13
  917. So what if two people needed to use it at once?29:14
  918. Then you're waiting.29:15
  919. Knock on the door and say, no.29:17
  920. We would just knock on the door and say, get out.29:20
  921. The size of the home really doesn't matter in our culture.29:22
  922. It's the size of the heart that really matters.29:24
  923. We have really big heart.29:26
  924. That was lovely.29:28
  925. Because it's so diverse here and you've met, there's not a lot of Bangladeshi's in this community.29:29
  926. Is it harder to get along with people?29:33
  927. Is there kind of this like separation or divide?29:35
  928. No.29:37
  929. Are there cliques in this community?29:38
  930. No.29:40
  931. Do you know when?29:40
  932. No and yes.29:41
  933. What do you mean?29:42
  934. No, there are no cliques.29:43
  935. Because think about it.29:44
  936. Like all the juicing out here.29:45
  937. When we grew up here, we got along with everyone.29:46
  938. We knew all of our neighbors, right?29:49
  939. You never really felt like the divide in terms of you're from here, you're from there.29:50
  940. It was nothing like that.29:55
  941. It was just, you're simply from Hikini.29:56
  942. Absolutely.29:58
  943. That's it.29:58
  944. Do you consider this a small house?29:59
  945. It's...30:01
  946. This is normal.30:01
  947. It's very normal.30:02
  948. For this neighborhood?30:03
  949. Yeah.30:04
  950. All of them are like this.30:05
  951. They're quite identical.30:06
  952. This is British English versus American English.30:08
  953. I have a kanker sword.30:10
  954. Do you know what that means?30:12
  955. Never heard of this.30:12
  956. Sounds like kangaroo.30:13
  957. It's not Aussie English.30:15
  958. A kanker sword is usually called a mouth ulcer.30:17
  959. Oh, I see.30:19
  960. Oh, my God.30:21
  961. Oh, my God.30:22
  962. Thank you.30:22
  963. Thank you.30:23
  964. Doga.30:24
  965. Yes, good.30:25
  966. That's what I said.30:26
  967. Shukria.30:26
  968. It's watermelon.30:27
  969. Thank you.30:28
  970. Do you like watermelon?30:29
  971. Do you want some?30:30
  972. Yeah, it's cold.30:31
  973. So, in Bengali it's called tormuz.30:32
  974. Tormuz.30:34
  975. It's really good.30:34
  976. Thank you.30:35
  977. Okay, I have some more words.30:36
  978. Ready?30:38
  979. Truck?30:38
  980. Truck is a truck.30:39
  981. Lorry.30:41
  982. The word lorry is the name of a woman in my country.30:42
  983. A sweater.30:44
  984. Jumper.30:46
  985. Pants.30:46
  986. Trousers.30:48
  987. Yeah, trousers.30:48
  988. Dipper.30:49
  989. Nappy.30:51
  990. Don't think of you know all the words because you've seen movies.30:52
  991. If you just said to me, what is a nappy, I wouldn't know what it is.30:55
  992. Really?30:57
  993. Yeah.30:59
  994. Flashlight.31:00
  995. Torch.31:01
  996. You're fast.31:03
  997. Sorry.31:04
  998. No, you're like...31:05
  999. You said we're playing a game.31:06
  1000. I'm really competitive.31:07
  1001. Vacation.31:08
  1002. Holiday.31:09
  1003. Eraser.31:10
  1004. And the opposite side of a pencil.31:11
  1005. Eraser.31:14
  1006. Rubber.31:15
  1007. Sorry.31:16
  1008. Rubber.31:17
  1009. I can understand that.31:17
  1010. Try to say it like me, rubber.31:18
  1011. Rubber.31:20
  1012. Rubber.31:20
  1013. Try to say rubber in American English.31:21
  1014. Rubber.31:23
  1015. Rubber.31:24
  1016. Rubber.31:25
  1017. Rubber.31:29
  1018. Roll the tongue.31:29
  1019. Rubber.31:30
  1020. Just want to let you know the watermelon was very delicious.31:31
  1021. Look, she started getting it more.31:35
  1022. What is this one?31:37
  1023. Mango.31:37
  1024. I'll try the mango.31:38
  1025. You see, we are hospital people.31:39
  1026. Yeah, I never said you weren't.31:40
  1027. And we continue to feed.31:41
  1028. I feel like so cultured being here.31:44
  1029. This is great.31:45
  1030. I completely forgot I was in the United Kingdom for like the last hour.31:46
  1031. Except for your accent.31:50
  1032. Yeah.31:51
  1033. After visiting four of London's smallest homes, one thing is clear.31:52
  1034. This city pushes people to be creative if they want to live here on a tight budget.31:55
  1035. From tiny dumpsters to homemade boats to micro apartments, Londoners are reinventing what a home can look like.31:59
  1036. The question is, would you ever live this small just to be here?32:04

American accent training inside Drew Binsky's tour of London's smallest apartments

This is american accent training built from an unscripted conversation: Drew Binsky narrates his tour of London's tiniest homes, then sits down with Harrison, who lives inside a converted skip, the British word for a dumpster. The pace runs at 260 words per minute, faster than 97 percent of the clips in this catalogue, so you are hearing real, fast American speech, not something slowed down for learners.

The clip sits at B2, and most of it is spontaneous reaction rather than rehearsed lines: Drew's surprise, Harrison's matter of fact answers, questions that cut each other off. That mix of speed and spontaneity is what daily english conversation practice actually sounds like once you leave a classroom. Watching Harrison explain his own home, in his own words, is also simply good travel content to shadow: you are learning how someone actually talks about their life, not reading a transcript written for a course.

Shadow these lines for english speaking practice: reactions, questions, disbelief

A handful of lines from the opening carry the texture worth repeating out loud.

  • "You actually live here." Four words, and the stress falls on "actually", the word carrying Drew's disbelief. Match that stress when you repeat it and you are practising intonation, not just vocabulary.
  • Drew asks, "So you live in a dumpster." and Harrison answers, "So I do live in a dumpster." The reply swaps "you" into "I do", turning a question into a flat confirmation, a small pattern worth hearing on repeat.
  • "This is freaking safe, bro." packs a casual intensifier and an address term into four words, the kind of everyday english a phrasebook will not give you.
  • "Just a hop, skip, and a jump." is Harrison's idiom for an easy, familiar path in and out of his home. Repeat it whole, not word by word.

How to improve your english accent working through this B2 shadowing clip

Work through this section of the tour in the order Drew filmed it, the story is told step by step, and the lines build on each other. Each step below points at specific lines from the opening you were shown.

  • Start with Drew's setup, lines 1 to 5, still narration and closer to a normal reading pace, a warmup before the conversation speeds up.
  • Move to the entrance, lines 11 to 33, where "You actually live here." and "This is freaking safe, bro." arrive back to back. Say each one at full speed first, then slow it down once.
  • Finish on lines 41 to 54, where Harrison explains the timeline himself, "I built it, yeah, myself." and "Took three or four weeks." in short, confident sentences, good practice for speaking english fluently in your own explanations.
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