English Teacher Melanie: Vocabulary – Talking about Clothing and Shopping
(The Eaton Centre, Toronto by barjack)
The listening lesson is called ‘Shopping at the Mall!’ is about … well, shopping at the mall! Let’s take a look at some vocabulary used to talk about clothing and shopping.
When you wake up in the morning, the first thing you do (perhaps after you eat breakfast and take a shower) is get dressed. You put your clothes on. At night, before you go to bed, you take your clothes off and put on your pajamas (or put your pajamas on).
Do you like shopping? Let’s go shopping! (NOTE: it is not go to shopping).
Do you have money to spend on clothes? If you not, you can still enjoy window-shopping – it’s free! When you window-shop, you just look at all the things for sale in a store without intending to buy anything.
If you do have money to spend on clothes, do you prefer to wait for a sale or do you shop when you need something? If something is for sale, you can buy it for money. If something is on sale, the price has been reduced from the original price.
When you find a piece of clothing you like in a store, it’s a good idea to try it on first before you buy it. You want to make sure that it fits. If you want to try something on, find a sales associate and ask: Can I try this on? or May I try this on? The sales associate will show you to the change rooms (also called ‘fitting rooms’ or ‘changing rooms’). While you are trying the clothes on, the sales associate sometimes asks: Does it fit? Would you like to try it in another size?
When you have decided to buy something, take all your items to the cash desk (or cashier) to pay for them. In Canada you have three options: you can pay by debit card (your bank card), use your credit card or pay cash. Most places accept a cheque, but almost nobody uses cheques to pay for things in a store anymore.
