Episode 0231

Hello everyone and welcome to English Pod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and we're shoe shopping again.

That's right. We are going shoe shopping, but this time it's a little bit more complicated because we're getting women's shoes.

That's right. So there are so many different kinds of women's shoes. I'm not even sure I know them all myself, but in this intermediate level lesson, we're going to cover some of the basics for you.

That's right. So before we jump into this dialogue, we have a word that we want to preview with you today, and let's take a look at it now on vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview.

Okay, so we're shopping today for a certain kind of shoe. It's not a sports shoe, it's a dress shoe.

Okay, that kind of doesn't make sense because a dress is a noun, a shoe is a noun, and so you're gonna get a shoe that's a dress?

No. A dress shoe is a style of shoe. It means shoes that you wear when you're wearing fancy clothes.

So it's kind of like a formal shoe. A dress shoe is for a for a shoe, a type of shoe that would go well with a dress.

That's right, not sneakers. But don't be fooled. This is not about dresses, because men can wear dress shoes too. It means shoes you would wear to a conference or to a wedding or to church. So these are things that are a little bit fancier than everyday shoes.

Okay. Awesome. So we're shopping for a dress shoe and there are so many types and styles of shoes for women. So why don't we listen to our dialogue for the first time and we'll be back in a second.

Hi, excuse me, sir. I'm looking for a dress shoe. My usual pair that I've had for years have finally been stretched out of shape. They don't provide any support anymore.

Sure. What kind of shoe are you looking for? We've got strappy sandals, sleek high heels, edgy pumps. If you're looking for something a little more practical, we've got Mary Janes, ballerinas.

Show me some classic high heels, please.

Okay, right this way.

What color did you have in mind?

Black, classic.

Of course. We've got this style here that is very popular. Because it's an open-toed shoe, you can wear it any time of the year. They look great on everyone.

Too shiny. And I wear pantyhose with my shoes, so let's look for a closed-toe shoe.

Okay. These are a very nice pair of leather shoes with a two-inch heel, so they are very comfortable.

I don't like the pointed toes. Let me take a look at what else you have.

Too high. That one looks like the back would cut into my heel. I have a high instep, so I doubt that one would fit properly.

I don't want bows.

I find slingbacks very uncomfortable.

Those might as well be stilettos.

What size?

Seven and a half.

Here we are.

How does it fit?

Have a nice day, ma'am.

All right, we're back. So a lot of shoe styles as you notice, a lot of them are very, I don't know, I don't even know what they are. So why don't we try and explain them now on language takeaway.

Language takeaway.

So the first kind of shoe we've got here is very popular in the summer. It's called a strappy sandal.

A strappy sandal.

So we know what a sandal is.

Yeah.

It's uh it's kind of like what you wear to the beach. It's a shoe that it doesn't really cover your whole foot, just the bottom.

It's very open.

Mhm. And well, what about strappy?

Strappy comes from the word strap. So a strap is like a thin piece of fabric or leather that connects other pieces. And so a strappy sandal means that it's it's got many of these different little straps on it, many lines everywhere that connect it. So it's very open. It's made of many different thin pieces.

Okay, good. So we have a strappy sandal, basically a sandal with many straps.

And uh well, she went on to describe sleek high heels. So this is a two-part thing here. Sleek is an adjective which basically means really cool-looking.

Or more like it's it's pretty and fancy and um usually sleek things are also kind of simple. Like a Jaguar is very sleek car.

Okay. And so this is the adjective to describe the high heels. So we have high heels.

Okay, we have high heels, um that are kind of fancy shoe. Basically, these are shoes that are not flat. So the heel is very tall.

That's right. So basically, this is what a lot of women wear uh with dresses. Basically, the heel has a piece that kind of sticks out and makes the woman look taller. So basically, it's like they're walking on the tips of their toes the entire time.

Right, and they make click cluck, click cluck and they make that sound. But there are different kinds of heels. Okay, high heels obviously means that they're tall. You can have low heels too, those are shorter. But high heels, there are different kinds. One kind is pumps.

Pumps, okay. And the dialogue we actually saw the salesman describe them as edgy pumps. So edgy, what does edgy mean though?

Edgy means cool. Or hip. So young people like to wear edgy clothes, like rock and roll kind of clothes. Not so much older people.

Okay. And uh pumps are a type of high heel you say, but what is the difference?

Well, pumps basically are the kind of simple heel that a woman will wear with a pant suit or with a skirt to the office. And so they usually have a closed toe and um and they're quite simple heels.

Okay. Uh and the opposite or well, maybe a little bit different from pumps would be stilettos.

So stilettos are a very special kind of heel, stiletto. Um, it it refers basically to the difference in the the back of the shoe where you have the heel, um because sometimes heels are kind of thick and heavy and they make the clunk clunk sound. But stilettos are very, very, very thin, they're very, very tall.

Okay. So stiletto heels. I think it's probably easier to walk with pumps rather than stilettos, right?

Stilettos are famous for being very, very hard to walk in. It's almost like the back of your heel is a chopstick.

Wow. I cannot imagine doing that.

All right, so this is uh the classification of our high heels. Uh why don't we move on now to Mary Janes.

Okay, so we've got high heels and heels. We also have flats. These are flat shoes. So one important kind of flat is a Mary Jane. Sounds like a good name, right?

Yeah, it is a name, right? Mary Jane.

Mary Jane.

So what type of shoe is this?

This is basically a usually a leather shoe, but it can be different materials. And it's round in the front and it has one strap. And they're very cute.

Okay. Usually little girls wear Mary Janes, but they're pretty popular these days with older people too.

Ah, okay, okay.

So they're they're round in the front, they are usually black, and they have one little strap that goes over the top of your foot. Mhm. Mary Janes. Okay.

All right. So we've taken a look at Mary Jane's. Now moving on to, I think it's a similar type of shoe, ballerina shoes.

Well, ballerina shoes are similar because they're flat, but that's about it. Uh ballerina shoes are very, very thin, they're very, very weak. Um and usually they're pretty simple, they're pink or white or black, and they're almost like a slipper.

Okay. So they don't have the strap on top.

No, they're stretchy and you just slide them onto your foot. It's named after a dancer's ballerinas. You know the dancers who wear pink and they put their hair up and they spin around. And um they're not hard on the bottom, they're usually quite soft and they're always flat.

So maybe these uh ballerina shoes, they're not the specific types of shoes for dancing if you're a ballerina.

Right.

But uh maybe they're more adequate for maybe walking around the house or or or something you don't really go out hiking with ballerina shoes.

No, you don't go out hiking, but they're very popular to wear now to school or work.

Okay. And uh the other type of shoes that we had, actually, this was really confusing to me. Slingbacks. Slingback shoes.

Well, slingbacks can be hard because they can be heels, um they could be pumps, but it basically refers to a part of the shoe. So normal shoes, they cover the back of your foot, but slingbacks have one strap in the back. So maybe if I look at my foot in a slingback, I can see part of my heel.

Okay. So slingbacks have a little strap on the back of your heel since the shoe doesn't close in the back.

Right.

Okay. But you also have high heels and and women's shoes that don't close in the back, but that you don't have a strap in the back either, right?

Those are open shoes. So, yeah, they're open in the back. But a slingback, there's one strap that that keeps your shoe on.

Okay. A lot of different types of shoes we've just taken a look at. Why don't we go back, listen to the dialogue again and we'll be back shortly with fluency builder.

Hi, excuse me, sir. I'm looking for a dress shoe. My usual pair that I've had for years have finally been stretched out of shape. They don't provide any support anymore.

Sure. What kind of shoe are you looking for? We've got strappy sandals, sleek high heels, edgy pumps. If you're looking for something a little more practical, we've got Mary Janes, ballerinas.

Show me some classic high heels, please.

Okay, right this way.

What color did you have in mind?

Black, classic.

Of course. We've got this style here that is very popular. Because it's an open-toed shoe, you can wear it any time of the year. They look great on everyone.

Too shiny. And I wear pantyhose with my shoes, so let's look for a closed-toe shoe.

Okay. These are a very nice pair of leather shoes with a two-inch heel, so they are very comfortable.

I don't like the pointed toes. Let me take a look at what else you have.

Too high. That one looks like the back would cut into my heel. I have a high instep, so I doubt that one would fit properly.

I don't want bows.

I find slingbacks very uncomfortable.

Those might as well be stilettos.

What size?

Seven and a half.

Here we are.

How does it fit?

Have a nice day, ma'am.

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at five key things on fluency builder.

Fluency builder.

Okay, well the reason we're shopping today is because the woman needs a new pair of shoes because her old shoes can't be worn anymore. What's wrong with them, Marco?

She said that they were stretched out of shape.

Okay, so to stretch or to be stretched out, this means that maybe they've been pulled and worn and um they're stretched so much that they don't have the original shape anymore.

Right. So just imagine you have a new T-shirt and all of a sudden somebody takes you from your T-shirt and pulls you really hard. And usually what happens is this T-shirt is going to be stretched out of shape. You pulled it so hard that it loses its original form. So now maybe the neck is very low or the T-shirt is too long on one side.

Right.

So that's what happens when you stretch something out of shape.

Great. Okay.

So her old shoes are stretched out of shape and they don't provide support anymore.

Okay. So to provide support. Now what kind of support is she referring to?

She's talking about foot support. So, for example, slippers are a kind of shoe basically that don't provide support. They're very soft. But can you walk around all day in slippers? No, it doesn't help your foot. But if you're trying to find shoes that are really good for walking, you need to find ones that provide support. That means that always support your foot, the bottom of your foot. Otherwise, your foot gets too tired.

Not only the bottom, but it could be also your ankle. For example, if you can't really go hiking with uh with shoes like these with sandals because obviously you're walking around rocks and it doesn't provide support on your ankle. Maybe you can hurt your ankle if you don't have it.

So maybe a hiking boot will provide more support.

Exactly.

All right, and then the woman also mentioned that well it's hard for her to find a shoe because she said I have a high instep.

Okay, so think about the foot. You've got toes in the very front and a heel in the very back, but in the middle on top, you have the instep. So this is basically the top of your foot.

Okay. So if she has a high instep, it means that her foot is kind of thick.

That's right. Some people have thin feet, she has kind of a thick foot. So fitting her foot into a shoe is sometimes hard.

Right. We're not talking about the width of the foot, we're talking about the height or how tall it is from the bottom to the top of the foot.

tall it is.

Right. So that's what she means by high instep.

And well, they also mentioned different types of shoes. She said she didn't want an open-toe shoe. She wanted a closed-toe shoe.

That's right. So this is a really important classification for women's shoes especially. Um, open-toe means that the toe of the shoe, the very, very front, has a hole or an opening. So you can see the toes.

Right.

Uh closed-toe is the opposite. So personally, in the wintertime, I always wear closed-toed shoes because I think open-toed shoes are too cold.

Too cold. Okay. So that's basically it. I guess men, we don't really have this type of shoe between open toe and closed toe.

No. No, you don't really. But heels maybe you could have an open-toe, you can have an open-toe shoe or closed-toe shoe.

Right, right. Okay. So a lot of interesting things. This is uh useful for women out there and also for boyfriends. Maybe now you know what type of shoe your girlfriend may want.

That's right.

All right. So let's listen to this dialogue for the last time and we'll be back shortly.

Hi, excuse me, sir. I'm looking for a dress shoe. My usual pair that I've had for years have finally been stretched out of shape. They don't provide any support anymore.

Sure. What kind of shoe are you looking for? We've got strappy sandals, sleek high heels, edgy pumps. If you're looking for something a little more practical, we've got Mary Janes, ballerinas.

Show me some classic high heels, please.

Okay, right this way.

What color did you have in mind?

Black, classic.

Of course. We've got this style here that is very popular. Because it's an open-toed shoe, you can wear it any time of the year. They look great on everyone.

Too shiny. And I wear pantyhose with my shoes, so let's look for a closed-toe shoe.

Okay. These are a very nice pair of leather shoes with a two-inch heel, so they are very comfortable.

I don't like the pointed toes. Let me take a look at what else you have.

Too high. That one looks like the back would cut into my heel. I have a high instep, so I doubt that one would fit properly.

I don't want bows.

I find slingbacks very uncomfortable.

Those might as well be stilettos.

What size?

Seven and a half.

Here we are.

How does it fit?

Have a nice day, ma'am.

All right, so talking about shoes, there are so many types and I think women are notoriously famous for having a lot of shoes. Why is this?

Some women are, some women aren't. It depends on the person, but part of the problem as you said earlier is that there's so many different kinds of women's shoes that now we expect women to have a different pair of shoes for every different occasion. Work shoes, hiking shoes, running shoes, wedding shoes. I don't know, summer shoes, winter shoes, fall shoes. So, you need so many different kinds of shoes, you end up buying many different kinds.

I think I think that that's true and also basically, women like to look nice. So that's why, you know, you do your makeup, you have earrings, and they have nice bags. So I guess it's also part of it is that uh you pay more attention to what type of shoe you're wearing that maybe goes well with the outfit. I think maybe guys, not all guys, obviously as well as not all women. But guys are a little bit more generic, it's like jeans, pretty much go well with any type of shoe as long as it's maybe black or or brown, right? Or something like this.

True. Although I know a lot of guys who have many different kinds of shoes.

True, true. It takes up a lot of space in the closet as well.

It does, it does. Shoes are hard to carry around.

And actually, I find it kind of hard to get rid of my shoes. I think they have to be ripped or just completely unwearable in order for me to throw a shoe away because otherwise it's, you know, it's still, you can still wear it sometimes on the weekends.

Yeah. That's true. Although I I tend to wear my shoes down. That means I wear them until they die.

Really? actually I've had shoes that I've worn the the the soles down and then I just get it the sole changed because I like the shoe so much.

Oh. Well, let us know, do you guys like to buy shoes? Do you have a lot of shoes? Maybe you don't have that many shoes. Um, we're curious to know about this in other cultures as well because I know in the States, in the United States, um shoe shopping is very, very popular.

In Holland they have a traditional wooden shoes.

Yeah, they do. Those are called clogs.

Clogs. So let us know maybe what type of shoes are also very unique to your country or culture. We're at Englishpod.com. We'll see everyone there. Bye.

Bye.

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Something that holds a person.

Support.

A shoe with a bottom part having straps.

Strappy sandals.

A low cut, low-heeled shoe.

Edgy pump.

The shoe with the toes exposed.

Open-toed shoe.

The length of the heel is 2 inches.

2-inch heel.

The shoe having a narrow top.

Pointed shoe.

Squeeze between the thumb and a finger.

Pinch.

The inner sole of a shoe.

Insole.

Tight and hurts the body with a sharp thing.

Cut into.

Let's try that faster.

The length of the heel is 2 inches.

2-inch heel.

Tight and hurts the body with a sharp thing.

Cut into.

The inner sole of a shoe.

Insole.

Something that holds a person.

Support.

A shoe with a bottom part having straps.

Strappy sandals.

The shoe having a narrow top.

Pointed shoe.

Squeeze between the thumb and a finger.

Pinch.

The shoe with the toes exposed.

Open-toed shoe.

A low cut, low-heeled shoe.

Edgy pump.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Support.

It is important that your shoes support the arches of your feet so that your ankles don't roll in.

Support.

Support.

I find that it is so much easier to walk in a shoe that has arch support.

Cut into.

Cut into.

Cut into.

2-inch heel.

I can't stand high heels. So if I have to wear them, I only ever wear shoes with a 1-inch heel.

2-inch heel.

I don't know how models can stand, let alone walk in 4-inch heels.

2-inch heel.

Pinch.

Pinch.

Does the size down fit better or are they pinching your feet?

Pinch.

I haven't yet been able to buy shoes in China because the shoe sizes are smaller, so my toes are always pinched.

Insole.

I always put insoles in my shoes so I don't need to worry about how comfortable a shoe is before I buy it.

Insole.

The doctor suggested that my mother get special insoles made for her shoes.

Insole.

I always wear good quality shoes so I never needed to buy insoles.