Practical English Vocabulary: Shopping in a mall

159,338 views ・ 2012-01-26

Learn English with Rebecca


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:00
Hi, my name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson, you'll learn how to find your way around a
0
0
10960
00:10
shopping mall more easily by understanding some of the common vocabulary used in this
1
10960
6200
00:17
very popular place, okay?
2
17160
2520
00:19
So first of all, let me start by clarifying a basic concept.
3
19680
6480
00:26
We have two words to describe places that have stores.
4
26160
4240
00:30
One is a mall, M-A-L-L, and it's pronounced mall, shopping mall.
5
30400
6120
00:36
So what's a shopping mall?
6
36520
1520
00:38
A shopping mall is a place which is closed, and it has lots of stores inside.
7
38040
7140
00:45
So no matter what the weather is like outside, hot or cold, you can shop indoors in comfort.
8
45180
7300
00:52
That's the idea of a shopping mall.
9
52480
2280
00:54
Some shopping malls are very large and have many different floors and hundreds of stores,
10
54760
5440
01:00
and other malls are small, okay?
11
60200
2800
01:03
But that's a mall, an enclosed space.
12
63000
4360
01:07
The other one is a plaza, a shopping plaza.
13
67360
3880
01:11
In North America, when we say shopping plaza, we mean a group of stores that are outdoors,
14
71240
6760
01:18
okay?
15
78000
1000
01:19
It's a set of stores that are grouped together outside, and that's a shopping plaza.
16
79000
7280
01:26
Usually it's much smaller.
17
86280
1880
01:28
It might be located on the corner of a street or something like that, okay?
18
88160
4560
01:32
So that's a basic distinction.
19
92720
2080
01:34
But now let's see what happens when you go inside the mall, okay?
20
94800
4800
01:39
So this is a store directory.
21
99600
2880
01:42
You will usually see at the entrance or at different entrances of a mall, a large store
22
102480
5840
01:48
directory and also a map.
23
108320
2120
01:50
Obviously we didn't have space for the map here, but what I want to teach you today is
24
110440
5880
01:56
the vocabulary and a lot of the words that are used to describe the many stores that
25
116320
6000
02:02
are located inside the mall, okay?
26
122320
2880
02:05
So let's have a look at our list.
27
125200
2880
02:08
The first one is appliances.
28
128080
3000
02:11
So what are appliances?
29
131080
1960
02:13
What are stores that sell appliances?
30
133040
3360
02:16
Appliances are basically domestic devices.
31
136400
3440
02:19
That means machines or devices that we use in the home, such as washers and dryers and
32
139840
7680
02:27
also refrigerators, could be smaller appliances like toasters and blenders.
33
147520
5440
02:32
These are all considered appliances, large and small, okay?
34
152960
6320
02:39
The next word might not be familiar to you because it's not used that often in regular
35
159280
5600
02:44
English, but it is a formal word to describe clothes.
36
164880
4920
02:49
The word is apparel.
37
169800
2760
02:52
Apparel means clothing, okay?
38
172560
2400
02:54
So you might not see the word clothes, you might see the word apparel.
39
174960
2840
02:57
It's a little more formal word.
40
177800
2880
03:00
So under apparel, you will see many different categories.
41
180680
3920
03:04
You might see men's apparel, women's apparel, children's apparel, baby's apparel.
42
184600
7000
03:11
These are sometimes referred to as infants, very young children are called infants.
43
191600
5120
03:16
So you might see apparel with all of these subdivisions.
44
196720
5440
03:22
You might also see the words men's and women's wear.
45
202160
5520
03:27
Men's and women's wear or children's wear also refers to apparel, which also refers
46
207680
6680
03:34
to clothes, all right?
47
214360
2080
03:36
So whether you see the word apparel or women's apparel or women's wear, it all means clothes,
48
216440
7240
03:43
all right?
49
223680
1320
03:45
So that's something to keep in mind.
50
225000
2040
03:47
Then there are sometimes some specialty stores within the clothing division.
51
227040
5520
03:52
For example, you might see a lingerie store, okay?
52
232560
4680
03:57
Lingerie is a word which means that that store sells women's underclothes and nighties and
53
237240
6920
04:04
so on, all right?
54
244160
1640
04:05
That's lingerie.
55
245800
1000
04:06
That's here.
56
246800
1000
04:07
All right, let's go on.
57
247800
2160
04:09
You may also find a department store.
58
249960
2400
04:12
A department store is usually a large store which has many different departments, doesn't
59
252360
5800
04:18
sell only one kind of item, but many different kinds of items, okay?
60
258160
6200
04:24
Then if you're hungry, you'll want to go to this place.
61
264360
2400
04:26
This is the food court.
62
266760
1960
04:28
Now does it mean that they have court cases here?
63
268720
3880
04:32
Does it have anything to do with law?
64
272600
2000
04:34
No, it doesn't.
65
274600
1240
04:35
A food court just means a place where there are many different, usually fast food kind
66
275840
7400
04:43
of restaurants, okay?
67
283240
2320
04:45
And it might be in a roundish area or a square area with lots of space, open space for people
68
285560
5800
04:51
to sit and eat.
69
291360
1640
04:53
So a food court has many fast food outlets where you can go to grab a quick bite to eat
70
293000
6680
04:59
if you're in a rush.
71
299680
1000
05:00
Now under the food division, there might be other areas, there might also be restaurants
72
300680
6120
05:06
in the mall which are usually a little bit more expensive, a little bit more formal where
73
306800
5480
05:12
you can go and have a sit-down meal.
74
312280
3400
05:15
And you may also find under the food category, coffee shops and cafes, all right?
75
315680
6920
05:22
Next you might see furniture shops, again they might be specialized furniture shops
76
322600
4520
05:27
or not.
77
327120
2000
05:29
Also gifts, different kinds of gift shops, card shops, bookshops, et cetera.
78
329120
7600
05:36
You might see a category called hair care, that means things to look after your hair.
79
336720
5480
05:42
It might include hairdressers, hair salons, beauty salons, and also spas.
80
342200
6920
05:49
You would be able to find them under hair care.
81
349120
3720
05:52
Then we have health stores.
82
352840
2080
05:54
These can include places that have natural foods or nutrition houses.
83
354920
5520
06:00
It could include pharmacies and drugstores as well.
84
360440
3520
06:03
Then we have a category called hobbies.
85
363960
3960
06:07
So hobbies are things that we like to do in our spare time, in our free time.
86
367920
4680
06:12
So you might find craft shops here and shops which sell games and things like that.
87
372600
5200
06:17
These are called hobby shops.
88
377800
3240
06:21
Next we have a category called household.
89
381040
3040
06:24
So household means anything to do with the house, basically.
90
384080
4080
06:28
So it could mean items that you have in your kitchen or items that you have all over your
91
388160
4880
06:33
house to decorate your house, to make it more attractive.
92
393040
3760
06:36
But usually it refers to more kitchen type of items, all right?
93
396800
5640
06:42
Leather goods.
94
402440
1400
06:43
Leather goods, here we'll find shops that sell purses and bags and briefcases and so
95
403840
5680
06:49
on.
96
409520
1000
06:50
Okay?
97
410520
1000
06:51
Things made of leather, usually.
98
411520
1000
06:52
Last, on this side, we see office supplies where you can buy all kinds of stationery.
99
412520
7000
06:59
Stationery means paper and pens and pencils and so on.
100
419520
3680
07:03
And these are office supplies, okay?
101
423200
2360
07:05
Sometimes they also sell some electronics and computers and so on.
102
425560
4680
07:10
On this side we see optical, which has everything to do with your eyes, eyeglasses, sunglasses.
103
430240
7280
07:17
Maybe get your eyes checked.
104
437520
1000
07:18
That would be under the optical category, all right?
105
438520
4440
07:22
Recreation, you might find there things like movie theaters or music shops.
106
442960
6120
07:29
They might be found under the recreation category, all right?
107
449080
5400
07:34
Next we have a sort of an all-inclusive category called mall services.
108
454480
6280
07:40
Now those are services offered by the shopping mall to help their customers.
109
460760
5560
07:46
You might find a lost and found section.
110
466320
3800
07:50
Also security, you can contact security there.
111
470120
3440
07:53
You may find a personnel department there or human resources department if you're trying
112
473560
5440
07:59
to get a job, for example.
113
479000
2480
08:01
Or the washrooms, they can direct you to the washrooms.
114
481480
3380
08:04
It also has an information section there, all right?
115
484860
4820
08:09
Another type of category of stores, which we see very often, and usually these are nowadays
116
489680
4680
08:14
the most crowded stores of all, these are the technology and electronics stores, where
117
494360
6600
08:20
they sell computers and cell phones.
118
500960
2680
08:23
Usually at least in Toronto where we are, these stores are packed, and I'm sure it's
119
503640
3960
08:27
all over the world.
120
507600
1880
08:29
And last, different kind of toys, which are for children, toy stores, okay?
121
509480
5880
08:35
So these are simply categories, and usually under these you'll see the names of lots and
122
515360
5400
08:40
lots of stores.
123
520760
1000
08:41
Of course, some of them fall into different categories, but at least if you're looking
124
521760
4120
08:45
for something, you'll know where to look.
125
525880
2720
08:48
So let me ask you a few questions and see if you can find the right category to locate
126
528600
5960
08:54
certain items, okay?
127
534560
2520
08:57
So let's say you want to buy a microwave.
128
537080
3480
09:00
Where would you look?
129
540560
2320
09:02
You would look in the appliances section, okay?
130
542880
4720
09:07
Good.
131
547600
1000
09:08
If you would like to collect a new dress, where would you look?
132
548600
3480
09:12
You would look in women's wear or women's apparel, correct?
133
552080
5800
09:17
Good.
134
557880
1000
09:18
If you wanted to present a man with a tie for his birthday, where would you look?
135
558880
5800
09:24
Okay.
136
564680
1000
09:25
You would look at men's apparel or men's wear, right?
137
565680
6040
09:31
Good.
138
571720
1000
09:32
If you wanted to get a haircut, where would you go?
139
572720
5040
09:37
You would go look here, under hair care, and look for a beauty salon or hairdresser or
140
577760
7520
09:45
a barber.
141
585280
1000
09:46
A barber is just a hairdresser who specializes in cutting men's hair, okay?
142
586280
7400
09:53
If you wanted to grab a quick cup of coffee, where would you go?
143
593680
4880
09:58
Where would you look?
144
598560
1640
10:00
You would look probably under the food section, might be in the food court, and under food
145
600200
5080
10:05
you may see a category for coffee shops or cafes.
146
605280
4840
10:10
If you lost your wallet, where would you go?
147
610120
4240
10:14
Where would you go to find that?
148
614360
2760
10:17
You would go to the mall services and go to the section where the lost and found exists,
149
617120
6680
10:23
right?
150
623800
1000
10:24
Good.
151
624800
1000
10:25
Suppose you wanted to buy a new briefcase for a friend of yours, where would you look
152
625800
5560
10:31
for that?
153
631360
1000
10:32
Well, a few places, you could go to a department store, you might find it there.
154
632360
5840
10:38
You could certainly go to the leather goods store, they may have briefcases there, and
155
638200
5920
10:44
sometimes we also find briefcases in office supply stores, right?
156
644120
4600
10:48
Okay.
157
648720
1000
10:49
A few more.
158
649720
1000
10:50
Let's say you wanted to buy a dishwasher, a new dishwasher, where would that be?
159
650720
5040
10:55
What kind of store would you have to look for?
160
655760
2600
10:58
The store that sells appliances, again.
161
658360
3280
11:01
Lastly, if you'd like to apply for a job, let's say at the mall, to pay for all these
162
661640
6240
11:07
things that you've been buying, where would you go for that?
163
667880
3600
11:11
Well, you would need to go to the personnel department or the human resources section
164
671480
6440
11:17
of the mall, alright?
165
677920
1920
11:19
If you'd like to do a quiz on this subject, you can go to our website, www.engvid.com.
166
679840
7960
11:27
Thanks for watching.
167
687800
1000
11:28
Bye for now.
168
688800
3720
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7