Shopping Online

Hello everyone and welcome to another lesson at EnglishPod. My name is Marco.

And I am Catherine and today we're talking about shopping online. So this is an elementary level lesson.

That's right. We're going to shop for things online. So eh before we get's started with this dialogue, let's take a look at one word we have for you on "vocabulary preview" Voice: Vocabulary preview

Okay. The word we're looking at today is EBay.

Ebay. Okay, so this is a proper noun, it's a .. actually a website, EBay.com.

That's right. It's kind of like a store on the Internet for people who want to buy used things.

Ahem, Okay, so maybe if you have a TV that you don't want anymore, you go on EBay, you put pictures of it online and you offer it, and anyone can buy it.

That's right. So you can be a buyer, that means you buy things, or a seller, so you sel l things.

So this is interesting. Usually you find used things on Ebay, but you can also find new things.

You can. It's kind of like the Chinese website Taobao.

Ahem. I have actually even seen people selling cars on Ebay.

Cars. I can't imagine buying a car on the Internet.

Really. Now they .. they have even very luxurious cars on Ebay. So let's talk about more about online shopping a little bit later on, but now, why don't we listen to our dialogue for the first time, and then we'll come back in just a little bit. Dialogue first time 1:35- 2:40

All right, we're back. So now we have four keywords for you on "language takeaway". Voice: Language takeaway

The first word you might have already heard, as ? 3:00 used already we're talking about going on the Internet to do something. So we say to go online.

Okay. So by saying that you're going online, you say that you're using the Internet.

That's right. So you can shop for something online. Online means the Internet, right, on the Internet. So we don't say in the Internet, we say we are on the Internet. Eh, for example: Oh, he's been on the Internet all day long, I wanna use the computer.

Okay. So I can say: He's been online all day long.

That's right.

Okay. So that is online. And when we go online, and we're looking through different websites, or maybe we are looking at items on Ebay, we are browsing.

Okay, the verb here is to browse. Now to browse is to look at, but not carefully. Just to look at with maybe the idea to shop or to buy later.

Okay. So you can use browse for online things, but you can also use it for physical things like you are in a shop, you're browsing.

That's right, so I can go to a clothing store where I can browse. Eh for example if the woman in the clothing store says "would you like to buy something", I say no, I'm just browsing.

Just browsing.

I'm just looking.

Okay, very good. And then when they were talking about Ebay, and how it works, the person mentioned that they have a point system.

All right. A point system. Now this is something you hear about a lot on websites these days, for example many websites have different users. And so How do I know which users or which in this case sellers, are the best. Well we have a point system. More points means better. Fewer points means worse. Eh you may also call this a star system. So it's basically .. a point system is a way to show who is a very good community member, and who is not.

That's right. And that takes us to our next word. So if a person has a lot of points in the point system, that means they are trustworthy.

Okay, trustworthy is an adjective, he is trustworthy , they are trustworthy. This means that I can trust them.

They are reliable.

That's right, so I don't think they will lie to me. I don't think they will cheat me.

Okay. So a person can be trustworthy , a company can be trustworthy .

Right. Or, you can say phhhhhhh (exclamation) he never pays me back. He's not very trustworthy when I lend him money.

Okay, very good. So four keywords there. Why don't we listen to them again in our dialogue and we'll be back shortly. Dialogue second time 5:42 6:47

All right, we're back. So now we have three key phrases that we saw in our dialogue, and let's take a look at those now in "fluency builder". Voice: Fluency builder

Well the first phrase we have here is related to that last word we had, trustworthy. Someone is not trustworthy if they will rip you off.

Okay, so it's a phrase over 7:11 "to rip you off" . Or to rip off.

To rip someone off. That's right, so eh they ripped him off. He ripped her off. This means to steal money from someone, or to cheat someone.

Right. So maybe if a pair of shoes that usually in a store costs 50 dollars, and then your friend sells them to you for 200 dollars, you friend ripped you off.

That's right, he ripped you off. That's not a good friend, he's not very trustworthy.

All right. So now when they were talking about how safe it is to make purchases online, the person explained that it's pretty safe, and that no one has ever hacked his information.

Okay, so this is an important verb that has to do with the Internet. To hack information is to steal information on the Internet. So someone who hacks, who steals information is called a hacker. Okay, and this is something that's very bad. We want to go to secure and safe websites, because we don't want people to hack our personal information.

That's right. Okay, so the verb is to hack. And finally in the end when they were gonna look for a sweater for a dog, the person said: you know what, this is graper??? 8:30 (comment: grape colour) , are you sure you wanna start to shop online? Once you do this, there's no turning back.

Oh, I love this phrase, there is no turning back. So this is eh .. well you think about someone who's leaving. You say: there's no turning back. You can't go back, you can't return to where you were. This is something we say as a warning. So listen, this is your final decision. If you say yes, you cannot change your mind. You cannot say no later.

So you can't turn back later.

That's right. So there's no turning back now.

Okay, no turning back. Very good, interesting phrases, keywords and everything, so we should listen to this dialogue one last time, and we'll be back to talk with you a little bit more. Dialogue third time 09:15 - 10:30

All right. So now, talking about online shopping, have you ever bought anything online, used your credit card online?

Eh, I have. I have used my credit card on Amazon.com to purchase books on the Internet, but I know that you are much more of a fan of online shopping, you use the Chinese website Taobao all the time.

Yeah, well actually I wrote this dialogue and it's kind of based on something real. Because you know, sometimes going to the stores, it can be great and you can see things and physically touch them, but I'm a little bit more practical. I know exactly what I want. Or maybe I saw it. So I don't wanna have to go to the stores, and deal with you know haggling or negotiating. Or sometimes it's even more expensive. So.. I just .. you know, from the comfort of my own home, just put in my debit card number, and buy things online and I get it delivered all overnight.

Well and you never go shopping now. When you'll shopping you have to go to the clothing store for clothes, to video games stores for video games. And on the Internet it's all in one place. You're at home, you're in your pyjamas, you use your credit card ..

And the cool thing is you can even eh, sometimes you wanna buy small things, like in this case maybe a pillow or you wanna buy.. like... Recently I bought some candles, some .. decorative candles. So, I don't know, do you really wanna go out downtown, look for the candle shop where you can get them? You can just do it online.

Do it online. Let us now, do you shop on the Internet. If you do, what kind of services do you use, what stores do you go to? Let us know, our website is EnglishPod.com and I hope to see you there.

All right, bye everyone. C,M Bye