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Online Reviews

Learn English with this online reviews English lesson

Date: May 23 2018

Themes: Hobbies, Tech

Grammar: Articles, Quantifiers, and Determiners

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

Go Super to Listen

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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What’s on your shopping list? New clothes? Furniture? Books? Concert tickets? Gifts?

You might become overwhelmed quickly when you think about all the stores you need to visit to purchase the items on your list. On the other hand, you might just pour yourself another cup of coffee, sit down on the sofa, and turn on your computer. Online shopping has made it easy to buy lots of items from your home. Businesses like it, too, and many offer free shipping for customers who choose to order products online.

Unfortunately, if you’re shopping for clothes, you can’t try things on when you’re ordering them from a computer. But if you’re skeptical about the quality of a product, you can usually read reviews to get a good idea of what others think. People love sharing their opinions, and it seems safe to be candid when you’re writing something at home.

Jessica and Marni have different shopping styles. Learn who likes to go out and who likes to stay home in this English lesson about internet shopping.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Marni

Jessica

Marni: Jessica, I need to go get a new sweater. Do you want to go to the mall with me?

Jessica: Oh, Marni, I hate going to the mall. You should shop online.

Marni: Oh no, I like to go in stores. I like to try things on and really see things up close.

Jessica: It’s so nice, though. All of the people online post reviews for everything that they purchase. So if you’re feeling skeptical, just trust the research that’s out there. You can see images online, and sometimes you get free shipping.

Marni: Yeah, but I don’t know that I trust that people are being honest and candid. You can look at pictures, but there’s nothing that beats actually trying something on and feeling the fabric.

Jessica: I always shop online, and I’ve had great luck so far.

Marni: Really?

Jessica: Yeah. I do lots of research before I make any purchases, especially big purchases. If a lot of people post enough positive reviews, then you’re probably going to be OK.

Marni: I love the customer satisfaction of having somebody wait on you at the store. It’s kind of awesome.

Jessica: It’s true. But shopping in your pajamas is also a lot of fun.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Go Super to Listen

Marni needs a new sweater, so she asks Jessica to go shopping at the mall with her. However, Jessica hates the mall. She gives Marni another option: order the sweater online!

At first, Marni says no. She likes trying things on and feeling fabrics at the store. She likes having another person help her. Ordering something online seems scary.

Jessica tells Marni that online reviews help her out when she wants to purchase anything from the internet. She can read what other customers have written. She only buys items that have high customer satisfaction.

Do you agree with Jessica’s arguments? Would you rather shop online or go to a store? How much do you trust online reviews?

Comments

hermitlady

China

Yes. basically I agree with jessica’s arguments. Now I buy something online more than going to a store. Honestly , I am always skeptical of online reviews. Thought I choose to see the online reviews when I had to buy something which I really had no idea about.

I deeply agree with the article today’s which is “You might become overwhelmed quickly when you think about all the stores you need to visit to purchase the items on your list.” Yes. Sometimes the feeling is so strong that it is too a waste of time.

Generally I buy something such as cloths ,study articles, books , something of low value on line. I never bought food and valuables on the internet.

leilahavaneh

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

well i prefer to go to stores n buy my items .once i bought somthing by online . bt nw m regret bcoz its nt way good n also they had said it is free shipping bt after arriving they got some money for it .so i never buy on line anymore.its better to see n touch the item closly than juz seein

facbookfacbook

Turkey

I just got my new member .. I want to make stronger my english .. a little help here because I am not familiar with the environment.

nazaniin15

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I just got my new member .. I want to make stronger my english .. a little help here because I am not familiar with the environment.

nazaniin15

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Hi … I’m off I’ll translate. Many do not understand what you told ..

ttsuka

Japan

I saw prescription glasses sold online. I was tempted to order but decided not to at the end for reasons that I don’t remember. I might try next time though. Personally, my attitude to online purchasing has changed quite a bit from generally skeptical to generally trusting. Reviews are an important reason. At the end of the day, you can’t beat the efficiency and flexibility of online shopping (I somehow online shop in the middle of the night) and the price discounts offered there.

Daggny

Ukraine

I make purchases both at the stores and online. I go to the malls or markets to buy food and clothes, but the onlline shopping is more convenient when I need to buy some gifts, books, household utensils, etc. I always read customers’ reviews to make sure that an online shop is reliable and goods are of high quality.

sandraa95

Sweden

i prefer shoping online bcz you can find all of the items you need on the page but you may not find them in store bcz some of the times they run out of them or maybe you hadnt been notice to stuffs in shop.. whenever i go to H&m i cant choose what i want bcz time is limited and the people with me cant stand waiting for hours for me when i wanna try on thing.. im slow and i cant decide immedietly.. but when im at home its much more better

Ngubo Sixtus

South Africa

buying online is a right way to get things that other customers admired,because that shows how good are they and you can get things are not around you mall. i do like to buy online.

rahim21

Malaysia

Hello guys.. In Malaysia shopping online is becoming more popular. Most people, especially professional and ‘Y’ generation preferred to purchase online. You can save a lot of time by shopping online. However the most rural area the online shopping in my country still limited due to low internet coverage and less exposure. I would like to advise to those who want to buy online must be very careful and not easy trap into any fraud. Please carefully check the original website and bare in mind not to disclose everything your personal data. Happy shopping!!

mojtaba

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

in iran you can shopping from internet and when you delevery your goods then pay your money and its so good becuase if your shopping have a problem you can return goods but if you pay online can use from discount .I shopping online alot and until now I don’t have problem whit that

beciricky

South Korea

For me, I prefer for staying home and buy things from Internet. The merit from using an Internet is to have enough time to deceide the item. For example, I go to the shop but as you know there are a lot of shops in shopping mall. when i take time to choose the cloths, I feel pressure from the clark who is helping me to choose. The pressure is that i should buy it if not, i am just taking the time of the one. Thats the reason why i prefer for online shopping to have more time and no pressure to choose the items.

AryelLanes

Brazil

In my opinion, shopping online is a way better! It’s exactly what Jessica said: you can see the pictures, not care about how you’re dressed up like, check the reviews, compare the prices, get a free shipping sometimes and much more, all in the comfort of your own home!

It’s nice having somebody wait on you at the store, but one of the things that put me off the most is having to deal with those sellers who are always sticking around as if we were going to steal something. I mean, I know they have to be careful because they can’t predict what kind of person is walking in their store, but don’t they have security cameras, alarms and bodyguards especially for these situations? Damn, I like to breathe and to hear my own thoughts when I’m shopping. I hate the feeling of not being trusted! When we shop online we don’t have to deal with that… And IF we really need to reach out to someone, the online chat for customers is right there. As simple as that!