Real Talk #005 – Shoe shopping

Culips ESL Podcast

When you don’t have the right pair of shoes, just getting around can be a real pain. Join
Andrew and Morag as they share the essential vocabulary for shoe shopping. Because
when you need a new pair of shoes, you need them right away—even if you’re visiting an
English-speaking country!

Fun fact

Canada has a museum dedicated to shoes! The Bata Shoe Museum is located in Toronto, Ontario, and focuses on shoes over the past 4,500 years. In fact, the BSM has a collection of more than 13,000 shoes and shoe-related artefacts!

Expressions included in the learning materials

• like your shoes; did you get them in town?
• Where is your sale section?
• Can I try these on?
• Can you show me your [xyz]?
• I don’t know what shoe size I am. Could you help me?

Sample Dialogue

Sales clerk:	How are you doing? Can I help you find anything?
Customer:	Ah, it’s OK, I’m just looking around for now.
Sales clerk:	Sure. If you need anything, just let me know.
Customer:	Sure. Wait, um, actually, excuse me? Do you have anything like, this but in black?
Sales clerk:	In black? I’ll take a look in the back. What size are you?
Customer	I’m an 8.
Sales clerk:	OK, I’ll be right back. OK, I found something I think you’re gonna like.
Customer:	Oh, they’re cute!
Sales clerk:	Yeah, try ’em on, see how they feel.
Customer:	Hey, do you have a mirror anywhere?
Sales clerk:	Yeah, just over there.
Customer:	OK, thank you.
Sales clerk:	So? What do you think?
Customer:	Well, I mean they look good, but they’re kind of uncomfortable. They’re sort of narrow in the toe. I don’t think they’re going to work.
Sales clerk:	They just need to be broken in. They’ll be tight for the first day, but after that, they’ll be the most comfortable shoes you’ve ever owned.
Customer:	OK, well, I think you’ve sold me because they are really cute so … OK, I’ll take them.

Audio/Learning Materials: Culips English Learning Podcast