📘 Part 3: Street markets and shopping

This episode's vocabulary

Handmade (adj.) - made using the hands rather than a machine.

Craft (noun) - skill and experience, especially in relation to making objects; a job or activity that needs skill and experience, or something produced using skill and experience.

Readily (adverb) - quickly, immediately, willingly, or without any problem.

Farmhouse (noun) - the main house on a farm where the farmer lives.

To flood (verb) - to fill or enter a place in large numbers or amounts.

Mass-produced (adj.) - produced cheaply and in large numbers using machines in a factory.

Goods (phrase) - things for sale, or the things that you own.

At the touch/push of a button (idiom) - very easily.

Embrace (verb) - to accept something enthusiastically.

Authenticity (noun) - the quality of being real or true.

Status symbol (noun) - a thing that people want to have because they think other people will admire them if they have it.

Conversation piece (noun) - an unusual object that causes people to start talking.

Chain (noun) - a group of shops, restaurants, hotels, or other businesses owned by the same company.

Personalized (adj.) - used to describe an object that has someone's name on it, or that has been made for a particular person.

To fork out something (phrasal verb) - to pay an amount of money, especially unwillingly.

Convenient (adj.) - suitable for your purposes and needs and causing the least difficulty.

En masse (adverb) - all together and at the same time, in large numbers.

Questions and Answers

M: What kinds of markets are there in your country?

R: Well, aside from what's normal in most other countries, I have no idea. I mean, we have farmers' markets where farmers, well, market their goods. And art shows and things like that. But these are all things which are commonly found everywhere. I'm not sure there are unique markets, although the goods at them would be unique to the country.

M: What are the differences between shopping in street markets and in big shopping malls?

R: Oh, there are lots. Like with street markets, you can be sure that you're supporting local businesses and the local economy, though the quality and availability of products might be questionable, which is usually what a shopping mall can give you, usually.

M: What goods are typically sold in street markets?

R: I think it's usually freshly made or handmade in nature. But I haven't seen enough to say for certain, that you can often find food or arts and crafts since these are things which are readily freshly made or made by hand. Like in my own country that might include farmhouse cheeses or toys made of wood.

M: Do you think small markets will disappear in the future?

R: That's a very good question. I mean, there's a temptation to say that they will, as large companies flood the market with mass-produced goods. And these are readily available online at the touch of a button. On the other hand, people are embracing authenticity more and more. So perhaps that will be enough to keep these places alive.

M: Why do some people like to buy luxuries and expensive goods?

R: Because they have more money than sense? No, not really. I think there's a correlation between expense and quality. So the more you pay for something, generally, the better it is. And some people will pay for something more expensive as a status symbol, or as a conversation piece to show off to others. You can't discount that.

M: Some people think that the goods sold at discount stores are of poor quality. But what do you think?

R: Well, I suppose it depends on how you use whatever it is you're buying. I mean, generally, clothes made at fast fashion chains are lower quality. But if you wear it right, then it might not matter whether it's low quality or not.

M: How have people's shopping habits changed in recent years?

R: Well, there's definitely a lot more online shopping going on, isn't there? And aside from that, services becoming more personalized, or at least personalizable for lack of a better term. The goods themselves are also a lot more tailor-made than they used to be if you fork out enough since... I think these digital systems can let you specify what you want, and make it more likely you can get it because the communication channels are more direct.

M: What are the advantages and disadvantages of shopping in a big shopping centre?

R: Well, it certainly seems like everything you need is in one place. So it's quite convenient. And then you see it all in real life, which is important for a lot of people like with clothes, you can try them all. I suppose the downsides might include queuing, a lack of availability and personalization and just the noise of that many people being in one place.

M: What makes large shopping centres popular?

R: I think it's just convenience, really. Like I said everything is there and mostly readily available en masse. The parking might also be more available. Though, that's just another aspect of the convenience, really.

M: Hey! Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

Discussion

M: So what kinds of markets do we have there? In speaking part two, we talked about flea markets. Okay? Where you can buy some vintage secondhand stuff. Some older things like local products. Rory talked about farmers' markets, okay? Where farmers sell their goods.

R: But I can't think of any other specific kinds of market that are quite close by. I think that's the main one but the countryside where I live is quite close. So there's, it's no wonder there's that many.

M: You can also talk about weekly markets or weekend markets. Like some markets on the weekend that you have in your neighbourhood. Okay? So like neighborhood markets. Or there are some night markets, dear listener. For example, in Thailand, there are night markets. So you go there and the market is open only at night.

R: But what do they sell at night markets?

M: Oh, like all sorts of things. The question is what they don't sell. But if we talk about a market, it could be in an open space, like in the street, or in a closed space, and then, dear listener, you can also say that okay, food markets, clothes markets, okay? Like souvenir markets. So a market can only sell clothes, or a market only sells food, for example, or everything together. Like a huge market in Bangkok. Like Chatuchak weekend market. But it happens on the weekend. Okay? Yeah, and people who sell things at a market are called vendors. Okay? So they could be traders, sellers or vendors.

R: Oh, that's the word, vendors. I always called them traders. Well, I mean market traders as well. But I suppose "vendors" is more commonly used.

M: There you go to, like a fish market, dear listener, okay? Typical markets, only sell different like seafood there, sea products. Like restaurants go there and buy the best fish before they cook it? Okay? Yeah, that's enough for this answer. Okay? Rory, you also said something like unique markets, but I don't think like unique markets. What, did you make it up?

R: Oh, I said there are no unique markets in my country. I mean, they're not unique in the sense that this is a specifically Scottish kind of market. I don't know about any like that. Every, well, not every town. Most highland towns have markets like the Elgin markets or the Aberlour market. But again, they're all farmers' markets. They all sell goods from farms and local craftspeople, that's nothing particularly novel about Scotland.

M: Okay. We shop in street markets, we can shop in shopping malls, okay, so a huge shopping mall with different shops or stores in there. Okay? So with street markets, you are supporting local businesses, dear listener. And you are supporting the local economy. Because, usually, local people sell their local stuff, handmade stuff or things they grow themselves at these markets. But the quality of products might be questionable, because, okay, it's not checked. It's just like a farmer made something and like they sell these things to you. So there's like no state control. But in big shopping malls, everything is legal, and official. There is a control system on products, they pay taxes, so everything is quite like official and legal. And usually in a shopping mall, you can be sure of the quality of goods. Goods, products or items. And what do they sell in a street market? Rory told us about freshly made or handmade things.

R: Yeah. The things... Yeah, they were made shortly before or recently.

M: Yeah, if we talk about food, which is freshly grown, just from their garden.

R: And handmade. Yeah, handmade would be made by hand with like a carving tool. Maybe?

M: Yeah, yeah, like local art, crafts, clothes. Well, anything, really, right? Vintage things, secondhand things. For example, like farmer cheeses, toys are made of wood. Actually, you can say just like everything is sold. If you want to show off your super vocabulary, you can say something like dairy products. Dairy? Like milk, cheeses, and textile products. Textile? Like towels, blankets, curtains. Jewellery. And also, Rory, if I want to say that a lot of little things, like souvenirs, like little thingies are sold, like what word can we have for this? Starts with K?

R: Oh, it's not knickknacks, is it?

M: Yeah. It is. Yeah, like all different knickknacks, like little things, you know, like little souvenirs and stuff. Kitchen utensils are something we can use in a kitchen. So these are a couple of nice words for you to use here. A nice way to start answering a question is if there is a temptation to say that they will disappear. So there is a temptation like I'm tempted to say that they will disappear, that small markets will disappear. Temptation. You know? Temptation is usually about something bad like, oh, I stopped smoking but now, like I feel this temptation, like... Maybe like a cigarette? You know?

R: Is this one the weird... Sorry, not one of the weird, but one of the less common parts of the show where we comment on pronunciation and grammar.

M: Ah, yes, go ahead.

R: Because I said, there's a temptation to say they will. And I stressed will here, but I didn't say will disappear. I just said they will. So I removed the main verb and left in the helping verb. And then I stressed it to mean I'd replaced the disappearing part in this case and stressed the will because this is the main idea. But... And then I moved into the other part of it.

M: Yeah. And the question is, will small markets disappear? The answer, there is a temptation to say that they will. Because blah, blah, blah.

R: So this is another way you can paraphrase the question.

M: And you can say that people can buy anything online at the touch of a button, very quickly, kind of, it's convenient to buy things online, you can get everything you want at the touch of a button. But people are embracing it. Embracing? Like they're hugging. Authenticity. Authenticity? Something being authentic, real, like local. So if you go to Zimbabwe, in Africa, you go to a street market, everything's going to be like super African, not like British or American. It's going to be African. So people enjoy authenticity. Or you can say people are embracing authenticity. That's why small markets and street markets will stay. Expensive goods luxuries, or luxury items. So very expensive products. And you can say that the more money you pay for something, the better it is. A very nice structure. People pay for something more expensive as a status symbol, or as a conversation piece. So I should maintain my status, I buy a Ferrari. So a Ferrari is used as a status symbol to show everyone your status. And also, you can buy a Ferrari as a conversation piece. Because when you drive your super yellow, or red Ferrari, everybody goes like, oh, where did you get this? How much is it? Oh, it's a nice car, can I take a photo? So you can talk about it. So sometimes people buy, and purchase expensive things as a conversation piece.

R: I loved that phrase. Conversation piece. I use it all the time when I'm talking about things in my house because I have all this random stuff. So people are like, what is that? And why do you have it? And I'm like it's just a conversation piece, really.

M: Yeah, kind of like a statue of something, or just a vase from Egypt. Goods are sold at discount stores. Do they sell secondhand things?

R: I hope not. They're supposed to tell things that are new, but they discount them because they're mass-produced, or maybe they're out of fashion or out of season.

M: And sometimes we can say that things which are sold at the discount stores are of poor quality. And here you can say that clothes made at fast fashion chains are lower quality.

R: Yeah, well, a chain is like it's a series of stores under one umbrella. So for example, I think H&M is a chain of stores or different forms of Walmart are a chain.

M: Shopping habits. We can say that shopping habits have changed recently. Or shopping habits have changed over 10 years. Okay? Present Perfect. And here Rory uses a tag question.

R: Oh, yes. There's definitely a lot more online shopping going on, isn't there?

M: Yeah, so there is online shopping, isn't there? And actually, it's not a question. It's like, isn't there? Because it's a fact, ar you can say that people buy things online, don't they? There is a lot of online shopping going on. Isn't there? So online shopping, also service is becoming more personalized. Meaning that shop assistants analyze your habits and offer you things you want? Not like everybody, but you specifically. Also, products or goods are tailor-made. Okay? So they are tailor-made, especially for you. Not for a lot of people. So you could fork out, is a phrasal verb.

R: Yes. But fork out is just to produce cash. Usually, quite a lot of it.

M: Yeah. So you have to fork out for designer clothes. Okay? Or you have to fork out for a new house in the centre. So fork out means to pay an amount of money.

R: A significant amount.

M: A big shopping centre or a big shopping mall. All right? A typical question is about advantages and disadvantages. For advantages, we say benefits, for disadvantages we can say drawbacks. And Rory told us that everything is in one place. It's quite convenient, not comfortable, no. Convenient. You get there and you get everything you want, even more than you want in one place.

R: It's not necessarily comfortable if there are hundreds of people in one place, though.

M: Yeah. It could be crowded.

R: It's probably cracked.

M: The downsides might include crowds of people queuing. Queuing? Like standing in a line. Lack of availability, maybe the product is not available. Lack of personalization. So the shop assistant doesn't talk to you. Because they have a lot of customers. It could be noisy.

R: It's probably going to be noisy. I can just imagine all those people.

M: Oh, and then, Rory, you use this en masse. What is this en masse? A very strange word.

R: It looks like en masse. But it's en masse. En is French. But en masse is like in a mass.

M: Yeah. What does it mean?

R: In a big amount. Or a large amount.

M: So there are a lot of products in the shopping centres and they are readily available en masse. So like lots of dresses there for you. Lots of phones, lots of shoes. Yeah?

R: Yeah. I'm just trying to think of anything else that exists. Like, lots of people go shopping at the weekend en masse, or at the same time of day, they go home en masse as well. So it's like in a big group, usually.

M: Yeah. Also, you can talk about parking spaces. So the parking is convenient. Plus you have some entertainment opportunities. You can go to a restaurant, you can go to a cinema, you know? Watch a movie. And then like shop around for different goods, you know? So entertainment and shopping. Hey! Everything is in one place. Rory, have you ever been a shopaholic?

R: No. Well, I mean, right up until I bought the house. And then I turned into one because I had to buy all of this stuff. But not because I was enjoying the experience of shopping. Just it's the necessity of everything.

M: Sweet. Thank you for listening! We'll get back to you in our new super episode. Bye!

R: Bye!

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