Views #787 | Low-Intermediate 4

Dislikes Shopping

Shona talks about items which she does not like to shop for.

Todd: OK, Shona, let's talk about shopping. What are things you don't like to go shopping for?

Shona: The two things I don't like shopping for are food and shoes. And food because I just find it incredibly boring and I just like to get in and out of the supermarket as quickly as possible and just get what I need because I find it really like scary and weird to like how there are just so many items, like, that I don't have a clue what they are and they're all like there on the shelf. They're so many of the same thing. I just find it really weird. And the lighting in supermarkets. It is just too bright for me, and I just - everyone's walking around like zombies with their trolleys and I just find it very weird.

Todd: Actually, it's funny you say that because I love shopping for food. In America, I love shopping for food because I can read the labels. In Japan, where we live now, it's not so fun because I can't read and it really drives me nuts, when I can't...

Shona: Exactly. Exactly.

Todd: OK.

Shona: Shoes.

Todd: Shoes.

Shona: Shoes I cannot shop for because I have like quite big feet. I've got like a size eight, which is like a forty. I think it is a forty-one. I think it's quite big for a girl, and I always see like really pretty shoes I really want, but they just don't fit my big feet, so it's like a big disappointment.

Todd: Actually, you know it's funny you mentioned about the shoe size because, you know, if the United Nations does anything, they should make a universal shoe size.

Shona: Yeah, and like dress sizes as well. It's like really confusing.

Todd: Like, everytime you buy shoes, it will say, " UK 12, USA 10, International 6" or whatever and it's always really confusing.

Shona: I know exactly.

Todd: OK, so you don't like food. You don't like shoes. Anything else you don't like to shop for?

Shona: I don't like to shop for technical things.

Todd: Oh, that's the best.

Shona: No. It's good for like some people.

Todd: Oh, I love that.

Shona: Especially male. I'm not being like sexist, but for me shopping for technical stuff is just so boring and it confuses me on end.

Todd: Actually, that's probably what I like to shop for the most. I think it's fun.

Shona: I can tell, actually. No, I just, I hardly ever need to get anything that's like too technical. If I do, like, I'll just ask someone else's advice because I just don't have a clue.

Todd: Right, but you have a computer right?

Shona: I have one, yeah. I have a laptop.

Todd: And you have an MP3 player?

Shona: Yeah, but these things have both been bought for me. I didn't buy them myself.

Todd: Ah.

Shona: Yeah, so that's why. A hair dyer, like I don't mind buying something like that but anything technical and it's just I'm not going to enjoy shopping for it.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!!

incredibly boring

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I just find it incredibly boring and I just like to get in and out of the supermarket as quickly as possible.

When you find something 'incredibly boring,' it means that you have no interest in it and it therefore does not hold your attention.

Notice the following:

  1. I have always found studying incredibly boring.
  2. What if he finds me incredibly boring?

I don't have a clue what they are

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There are just so many items, that I don't have a clue what they are.

'I don't have a clue what they are' means that you have no knowledge about certain things.

Notice the following:

  1. I have seen them before, but I don't have a clue who they are.
  2. They look really old, but I don't have a clue what they are.

zombies with their trolleys

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The lighting in supermarkets is just too bright for me, and everyone's walking around like zombies with their trolleys.

'Zombies with their trolleys' refers to the way in which shoppers at supermarkets look so bored that they resemble the living dead.

Notice the following:

  1. I hate going to the supermarket, because all the people look like zombies with their trolleys.
  2. The supermarket near me is open 24 hours a day, and in the middle of the night the shoppers look like zombies with their trolleys.

drives me nuts

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In Japan, where we live now, it's not so fun because I can't read and it really drives me nuts.

When something 'drives you nuts,' it means that it annoys you.

Notice the following:

  1. The way you have to queue for a checkout drives me nuts.
  2. It drives me nuts the way that you sing when you are in the shower.

a universal shoe size

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If the United Nations does anything, they should make a universal shoe size.

A 'universal shoe size' refers to Todd's wish that there should be an international shoe measuring system.

Notice the following:

  1. I wish their was a universal shoe size, as I find it very confusing.
  2. There should be a universal shoe size as I find it hard to remember what the continental sizes are.

Vocabulary Quiz

incredibly • clue • zombies
drives • universal
  1. People shopping for the holidays really look like with their trolleys.
  2. I tried to read that book, but I didn't finish because it was boring.
  3. A shoe size would make shopping on the internet much easier.
  4. It was pretty obvious from her response that she doesn't have a what she's talking about.
  5. It me nuts the way he never looks at me when he's talking.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

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