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Welcome to our Daily English Listening Practice with this week’s series:
Shopping Vocabulary
This is the 5th part of a 5-part series of advanced, natural English vocabulary. The following free listening exercises are spoken by two native English speakers. So listen carefully!
Please listen to the audio files for explanations.
Transcripts unavailable.
Notes from the Audio Files
Shop Locally / Local Shops
- As opposed to: instead of
- Supermarket chain: A popular or big supermarket
- Locally farmed / grown: Grown or raised at a nearby farm or field
- Deterred: discouraged from doing something
- High end: high quality often higher prices
- Fair prices: not too cheap but not too expensive for the seller and buyer
- Local shops = local businesses
How to use it:
“Local shops are usually a bit more expensive, but I think it’s worth supporting your local community.”
“I love the local market, it’s always got the tastiest veggies and that little craft shop with the homemade accessories are so sweet.”
Donate Clothes / Clothing Box / Donation Box
- Spring cleaning: a custom where people clean their houses during the spring season
- Outskirts: on the outside edges
- Tax Write off: a way to save money on your taxes
- Purging: getting rid of a lot of things
- Reused or resold: used again or sold again
How to use it:
“I donated all my winter clothes to a charity shop when I left. Hopefully someone will have more use for them.”
“So, there’s a clothing box in the supermarket parking lot, but we could just drop it off in the back of the Salvation Army.”
Thrift Stores / Charity Shops / Op Shop
- Charity shops: UK
- Thrift stores: USA
- Op Shop: Australia, NZ (opportunity shop)
- Donated items: things that people give away to charity shops
- Nice parts of town: Affluent or new areas of a town or city
- Well – off: Wealthy
- Rummage/ dig through
- Goes to a good cause:
How to use it:
“I think I’ve bought my last four or five books from charity shops, and a friend of mine hunts for rare vinyls in them as well.”
“I love finding great deals on second-hand items at the thrift store.
Garage Sales / Bargain Hunters
- Boot Sale: A second-hand item sale, usually on the weekends in the UK
- Junk: useless items
- Trinkets: small and unique items
- Snooping: looking thoroughly and carefully
- Haggling / Bartering / Talk down the price : ways to ask to lower the price on something
- The type of people who: You can listen to the last clip on Personality Day 3 for more info!
- Obscure: rare or unknown
- Estate Sales: Everything in a house or estate is for sale.
How to use it:
“Antiques fairs are full of bargain hunters. I’ve never heard such a heated argument about the price of a teapot before in my life.”
“They’re having a community garage sale this Saturday, we should hit ’em up for a new sofa!”
Upcycle / DIY
- Hardware store: a store selling tools, materials, machinery and paint etc.
- Creativity strikes: When I suddenly feel creative
- Pinterest: online website for creative ideas and interests
- The skillset: a particular set of skills / talents
- I kinda stick to: I only do what I know I’m good at
- Repurposing: changing the way something is used
- Building something from scratch: making something from nothing, or from the very beginning
How to use it:
“She’s been making a little bit of money on the side by upcycling old furniture, she’s getting really good at it to be fair!”
“I love picking up bits and pieces at the thrift store then upcycling them into something totally new.”
Congrats! You made it to the fifth and final day of the shopping vocabulary list. There’s a lot to learn, so if you have any questions at all, please ask us in the comments!
Thanks!
Kat and Mark
