ESL Podcast 467 – Buying Men’s Shirts

ESL Podcast 467 – Buying Men’s Shirts

* Original dialogue:

Francesca: Hurry up! Come out of that fitting room so I can see how the dress shirt fits.

Eddie: The first one didn’t fit at all. The sleeves were too short and it was too form fitting. I like my shirts to be on the roomy side. I’m trying on the second one.

Francesca: Come on, let me see. Okay, I think this one fits you pretty well. The collar is the right size, not too loose or tight. The cuffs on this one fall at just the right place, don’t you think?

Eddie: Yeah, it’s fine.

Francesca: Try on the T-shirts.

Eddie: Okay, but I’m not trying on the fancy ones with a V-neck. I like my T-shirts the old-fashioned way – with a crew neck.

Francesca: All right, but try on the short-sleeve and the long-sleeve ones, too. Hurry up.

Eddie: Hold on, I’m changing as fast as I can. Oh, geez. I’ve heard of oversized T-shirts, but this is ridiculous.

Francesca: Let me see. You’re right. You’ve got enough room in there for two people!

* Listening note:
1. fitting room- a small room with a door where you can try on the clothing in the store, usually with a mirror inside. Also called- dressing room.

2. dress shirt- a nice men's shirt, something you will wear to the office and it's more formal with buttons in the front.

3. form fitting- too tight

4. on the roomy side- a little bit too big.

5. cuffs- at the very bottom of the sleeves, usually there's a button closing the sleeves.

6. crew neck- a T-shirt usually informal with a crew neck and something wear underneath the formal shirt.

7. oversided- too big

* Comments:

The two listening website introduced this week are really useful for not only the beginners and also advanced learners. Actually, I had a TOEIC test last Sunday. During my preparation, i didn't have many official guide CDs to practice my listening. Fortunately, professor Sally gave us two great websites for us to practice listening ability online. Before I took the test, I used Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab as a helpful tool. I can choose the practical content I want and those videos are classified in different levels. For students like us, videos in "Difficult or Very Difficult" levels are suitable. After the short statement or conversation, there are some questions for testing your understanding. This function is just perfect for me to prepare the listening test. In addition, the website offers the function that if you move the mouse to the key vocabularies, it shows the definition and explanation. It is really convenient. Compare to Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab, ESL Podcast is quite useful as well. After the conversation, the experienced teacher gives a very clear explanation. Moreover, the video can be downloaded to your own MP3 and you can listen it when you're walking or waiting for a bus. It's such a great advantage. But i think the speed is too slow for the advanced learners like us. Also, the vocabularies and explanation should be written out on the website. However, if students can use these two websites frequently, it will definitely increase their abilities of listening.