Buying Men's Shoes

Hello everyone and welcome back to EnglishPod.

My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we've got an upper intermediate level lesson.

That's right.

We're going to go and buy shoes.

Okay, this is very fun.

I like buying shoes.

Although I have a hard time finding shoes in my size sometimes but we're here talking

about men's shoes specifically.

That's right.

We've actually decided to talk about this topic, buying shoes separately between men

and women's shoes because I think each type of shoe has its own type of vocab and that

can be very useful for men or women.

That's right.

So let's take a listen to today's dialogue and we'll be back in a moment to talk more

about the specifics of men's shoe styles.

Hi, I'm looking for a pair of shoes for my son.

Sure thing.

Here we are.

If you're looking for dress shoes, we have several different styles of Oxford for boys.

We also carry athletic shoes, hiking boots.

Oh, Jacob, how about these sneakers?

Mom, they've got Velcro.

Well, then how about these?

What is this style called?

They're tennis shoes.

They're very popular with teens and young adults.

Oh, mom, can I get these?

What are those?

They're Chuck Taylors.

Everyone has them.

Can I please?

I don't know.

Would they go with your clothes?

The backs are really high and the way the tongue just sticks up, they're almost like

a boot and the sole doesn't look like it would have a very good grip.

They're only $45 and they've got cool fluorescent orange shoelaces.

Mom!

Mom!

Okay, try them on.

What size are your feet?

He's a size nine.

We'll try a size 43 on you first and see how that fits.

A what?

They come in European sizes.

He should be a size 43.

I'll be right back.

All right, we're back.

So as you saw, we have a lot of different shoe styles and so we're going to take a

look at these on Language Takeaway.

Language Takeaway.

Okay, first up we have a very popular style of shoe.

This is called an athletic shoe.

Okay, athletic shoe.

Now I imagine that athletes wear these shoes.

Good guess, Marco.

So athletic athletes.

This is actually for sports in general.

So this is sports shoes but in English we say athletic shoes.

Okay, so it's not specifically for any type of sport but they're just comfortable shoes

that you can do most sports in.

Right, like running shoes and basketball shoes and soccer shoes.

These are all kinds of athletic shoes.

Very good.

Okay.

So these types of athletic shoes, they're usually kind of low, right?

They don't have a lot of support around the ankle.

No, but they do have a lot of support in the heel, the bottom of your foot.

Right, because you're running, you need that extra support.

Exactly.

Now on the opposite, if you're going hiking, if you're maybe trekking, then you need a

special type of shoe that's going to give more ankle support and these are called hiking

boots.

Okay, hiking boots.

So like you were saying, you get a lot of support in your ankle, that's the back of

your foot and the area around your leg.

So these shoes tend to come higher on your leg.

They're taller on your leg and they're usually pretty heavy.

And I think they are more weather resistant.

So if it rains or if it's wet, these shoes will respond better.

You're not going to get wet feet.

So hiking boots.

And now we have another interesting word, I never really understood why they're called

this way, but we have sneakers.

Sneakers.

Okay, I love sneakers.

I always wear sneakers.

A very common brand that you see with sneakers is Puma, also Adidas.

So Converse is another brand.

Sneakers are shoes that are not fancy, they're not like leather or work shoes, but they're

also not athletic shoes because you don't necessarily use them when you're playing sports.

They're basically very simple shoes for normal daily stuff.

Normal walking.

Young people wear them usually.

Okay, sneakers.

Now I never understood why they're called sneakers because I think if you sneak maybe

on someone, I guess these shoes are good for sneaking up on people.

Perhaps, I don't know.

They're less noisy than other shoes.

Yeah, that's right.

Okay, so we have sneakers.

And now another type of shoe that can be a little bit confusing, they're called tennis

shoes.

Okay, tennis shoes can be considered a kind of sneaker.

Again, it's not the kind of shoe that you would normally wear to work.

It's not leather, it's not a hiking boot.

They're low shoes, so low ankles generally.

And they tie up.

But you would think that you use these shoes to play tennis.

Not necessarily.

But not necessarily, right?

I mean, you don't have to play tennis.

They're not specifically designed to play tennis.

Perhaps originally they were tennis shoes for the game tennis, but nowadays they're

very, very common.

They're like sneakers.

They're shoes that most young people wear to school or to play around in.

Okay, so they're kind of like you say, a sneaker.

And now moving on, these might seem a little bit strange, but we call them Chuck Taylors.

Chuck Taylors, well basically Chuck Taylor is a brand.

Converse Chuck Taylors.

We also call them Chucks.

And this is a style of shoe that this brand made very famous.

They're very, very thin canvas shoes.

So the fabric is not leather, it's canvas.

And they come in bright red or black or green.

And some of them are very low.

And some of them have a piece of the ankle that comes up.

So it almost looks like a boot to a certain extent.

But it's not like a hiking boot.

It's not very hard.

It doesn't support your ankle as much.

It's just the style is higher.

Exactly.

And so because these are made of fabric, they're very thin.

They're very light.

They're not very good for hiking, for example.

Right.

So these are called Chuck Taylors.

They're very, very popular with teenagers, right?

That's right.

Teenagers all over the world wear Chuck Taylors.

And I think they're very old.

This style, these Chuck Taylors have been around for like 30 years.

Yeah, I think since the 1960s or 70s.

But they're still popular.

Yeah.

And they haven't changed.

They haven't changed.

Right.

So these are the five types or styles of shoes that we're going to take a look at.

Why don't we move on now to more specific vocab related to the parts of the shoe on

Language Takeaway Part 2.

Language Takeaway.

Okay.

So Jacob is talking to his mother and his mom wants to know, hey, how about these sneakers?

What do you think?

And Jacob says, Mom, they've got Velcro.

Okay.

So Marco, what's this Velcro Jacob speaks of?

Well, as you can see, Velcro is capitalized, right?

And so that means this is a proper noun and it's actually a brand.

Okay.

It's like Chuck Taylors.

Like Chuck Taylors.

So Velcro is supposed kind of like a zipper, right?

A fastener.

But instead of zipping it up, you just put two pieces of cloth together and they stick.

Okay.

And when you pull them apart, they make that sound.

They make a loud sound.

And so sometimes with baby shoes or young children's shoes, we don't want to tie them

because that's too hard.

So we have Velcro.

This is a kind of fabric, like you said, that sticks together.

We don't have to spend all this time tying things.

So you see Velcro on hats, on gloves, on jackets, on shoes.

It's a very popular way to make things, close things or to keep things secure.

In a very easy way, right?

You just push them together and that's it.

They're sealed.

Exactly.

So the next time you see it, now you know that it's called Velcro.

I imagine in other languages, it's probably called the same thing.

Well, right.

It's the brand name.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, okay.

And well, now moving on to the parts of the shoe, we have the tongue.

Okay.

Well, think about the body part, the tongue, right?

When you look at your tongue, it's straight and it's flat and it kind of curves at the

bottom.

Right.

So when you're putting your shoe on, you know, in the front of the shoe, you can make it

stuck.

You have to pull the tongue.

Right.

It's a piece of fabric or piece of the shoe where the top of your foot is.

Yeah.

Very good.

So that's called the tongue.

Now, some shoes have a very small tongue or a low one and others have a very high one.

Like for example, Chuck Taylors, they have a big tongue.

That's right.

Very long tongue.

And so the tongue is the part that rests on top of your foot.

And usually the shoelaces are over the tongue.

Exactly.

And now moving on to the bottom part of the shoe, that's called the sole.

Okay.

S-O-L-E.

Sole.

This is a really important part of shoes.

I always look at the sole before I buy a pair of shoes because this is the part that you

use the most because you're walking on the ground.

Right.

So for example, hiking boots, they will have a very high sole and they will have kind of

like a pattern so that you don't slip if you're walking on dirt, right?

That's right.

Sometimes rubber, a rubber sole.

But other times, like Chuck Taylors also have a rubber sole but it's very thin.

It's very thin.

And some shoes, for example, they have a plastic sole maybe because they're used for other

purposes so they might be a little bit slippery if you go onto a smooth surface.

Exactly.

So the sole, that's the bottom part of the shoe.

And the last part of the shoe that we're going to take a look at and probably the most

important are the shoelaces.

Shoelaces.

So shoelaces are basically long pieces of string that you use to tie your shoes closed

because you want your shoes to be tight on your foot.

You don't want it to be too loose otherwise it might fall off.

And Chuck Taylors and some other shoes are very famous for having crazy colored laces

or for people using crazy colored laces to tie them up.

Right.

So that's the part they use to tie or tighten the shoe with.

So on the opposite, if a shoe doesn't have shoelaces, it's probably going to have Velcro.

That's right.

Velcro or shoelaces.

Okay.

So those are all the words that we have for you today.

Why don't we go back and listen to the dialogue for the last time.

Hi.

I'm looking for a pair of shoes for my son.

Sure thing.

Here we are.

If you're looking for dress shoes, we have several different styles of Oxford for boys.

We also carry athletic shoes, hiking boots.

Oh, Jacob, how about these sneakers?

Mom, they've got Velcro.

Well, then how about these?

What is this style called?

They're tennis shoes.

They're very popular with teens and young adults.

Oh, mom, can I get these?

What are those?

They're Chuck Taylors.

Everyone has them.

Can I please?

I don't know.

Would they go with your clothes?

The backs are really high and the way the tongue just sticks up, they're almost like

a boot.

And the sole doesn't look like it would have a very good grip.

They're only $45.

And they've got cool, fluorescent orange shoelaces.

Mom!

Mom!

Okay, try them on.

What size are your feet?

He's a size nine.

We'll try a size 43 on you first and see how that fits.

A what?

They come in European sizes.

He should be a size 43.

I'll be right back.

All right, so talking about shoes, you say that you always take a look at the sole.

Why is this?

Because I'm always afraid that my shoes are going to wear out.

And I don't buy shoes very often.

I love sneakers.

I love my Pumas.

And I love flat shoes.

And so when you buy a pair of shoes you really like, you don't want to buy another pair in

six months.

You want to get a pair that has a really good sole so that it will last for a long time.

Right, right.

Yeah, that's true.

I think for me, yeah, that's probably one of the most important parts is the sole, as

long as it's comfortable.

Because some soles of some shoes can be very rigid.

Yeah.

So it's a little bit uncomfortable to walk with.

But I don't know.

I don't really have that many pairs of shoes if I think about it.

Well, most people have one fancy pair of shoes for special occasions.

And then a pair of work shoes that are leather.

And then maybe a couple pairs of sneakers and some sandals for the summer.

So you have sandals and you have flip flops.

Are they the same?

Well, sandals is basically a kind of shoe.

It's an open shoe that you wear in the summer.

Flip flops are a kind of sandal.

So they usually have a V in the front.

And that's where you put your big toe.

The second toe.

So we wear them in the shower or at the beach.

They're usually made of plastic or rubber so that you can get them wet.

But flip flops are a kind of sandal.

Very good.

It's very interesting how many styles and types of shoes.

And actually for men, I think it's not that complicated.

But when we get into women's shoes, then we'll see a lot of different things.

There are too many styles.

I can't keep track.

All right.

So that's all the time we have for today.

But we'll see you guys on the website if you have any questions, any doubts, or if you

just want to chat with us.

We'll see you at EnglishPod.com.

See you guys there.

All right.

Try it out.