Speaking Skills - Buying a football shirt | Premier League British Council Partnership

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Skills: Listening & Speaking

Vocabulary: Phrases to use in a shop

Speaking Skills - Buying a football shirt

In this podcast, Jack visits a sports shop to buy a shirt for his son. After the dialogue, Jack focuses on some of the language and then the dialogue is repeated with gaps so you can practise using the same language.

If the listening was a bit difficult, you can listen again and read the transcript at the same time.

Listen and read

Introduction

Hello and welcome to this week's Premier Skills English podcast.

In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English. The Premier Skills English podcast is part of the Premier Skills English project.

As well as the podcast, there’s the Premier Skills English website, where you’ll be able to find all these podcasts and the transcript and extra activities that go with them.

So if you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or any other podcast platform, check out our website!

And don’t forget to listen to the end of the podcast because we have a new football phrase for you to guess!

This week, I’m making this podcast alone and so I thought I could try something a bit different. You see, I have been an English teacher for a long time and for the last 20 years, I’ve been trying to get my students speaking in class. Speaking practice, for most people, is really essential if you’re learning English. I don’t think you need to speak to a native speaker and speaking practice is useful even if you are not really communicating. I’ve been working on this podcast for a long time as well and I think it’s a good resource if you want to learn or revise vocabulary or think about some grammar. But there’s not been any way for you to practise speaking.

So I thought I’d try something in this podcast. I’m going to try something out and I’d like you to let me know if you think this kind of exercise is useful and if you’d like more podcasts like this. In this podcast, I’m going to present some language through a role play and I’m going to focus especially on one side of the dialogue. And then I’m going to present the dialogue again with some gaps in it and I want you to try saying the lines. You can say them out loud if you are listening to this on your own, or you could just say them in your head if you are on a bus or somewhere in public.

At the end of the podcast, I want you to let me know what you think about this sort of activity. Do you think it’s useful for you to practise English like this and would you like more podcasts like this?

In the roleplay, I’m in a shop. It’s a sports shop and I’m buying a football shirt for my son. While you listen to the roleplay, I want you to answer the following questions. What team’s shirt am I looking for and what number do I want on the back?

In the shop

Shop assistant: Can I help you?

Customer: Yes please. I’m looking for an Arsenal shirt for my son.

Shop assistant: No problem. Are you looking for a home shirt or and away shirt or a third shirt?

Customer: It’s got to be a home shirt please.

Shop assistant: How old is your child if you don’t mind me asking?

Customer: He’s 8, but he’s big for his age so he wears 9-10.

Shop assistant: Here we are. They come with long sleeves or short sleeves.

Customer: Short sleeves, please.

Shop assistant: And do you want to personalise it or would you like to pick a squad player?

Customer: His hero is Saka so can you do a number 7?

Shop assistant: Of course. If you can hold on a minute, I’ll get that printed for you in a jiffy. Would you mind taking this tag to the till and your shirt will be ready in about five minutes.

Customer: Thanks.

At the till

Cashier: Can I help you?

Customer: Just this please.

Cashier: Thank you. OK - a junior shirt. Saka! Good choice. That will be £65 please. Will that be card or cash?

Customer: Card, please.

Cashier: No problem. You can tap or put your card in when you are ready.

Beep

Cashier: That’s gone through. That’s perfect. Do you want the receipt or shall I put it in the bag?

Customer: Can I take it, please?

Cashier: Of course. Here you are. Your shirt will be ready to collect from the counter there in just a few minutes.

Customer: Thank you very much.

Cashier: Thanks.

__________________________________

Before the roleplay, I asked you two questions. The first was which team’s shirt was I buying for my son. The answer probably won’t surprise you if you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while.It was an Arsenal shirt. The second question was what number did I want on the back of the shirt. And the answer was number seven for Bukayo Saka.

OK. Now it’s time to look at the dialogue. Listen to the first two lines.

Shop assistant: Can I help you?

Customer: Yes please. I’m looking for an Arsenal shirt for my son.

This is normally what shop assistants ask. They might ask: do you need any help? Or they might ask: are you looking for anything in particular?

Most of the time, if I’m in a shop, I’m looking for things, but I might not actually be buying things so I would say: I’m just looking or I’m just browsing.

This time, I did need help. I said: I’m looking for an Arsenal shirt for my son, but I could have said: I want to buy an Arsenal shirt for my son or even I’m after an Arsenal shirt for my son. To be after something is an informal way to say that you are looking for something. You use it for things that you want to buy, but not normally for food and drink and groceries. You can also say that the manager is after a new goalkeeper or the police are after the bank robber.

Listen to the next lines:

Shop assistant: No problem. Are you looking for a home shirt or an away shirt or a third shirt?

Customer: It’s got to be a home shirt please.

This time, I said it’s got to be a home shirt. This is an informal way to say that I want or need a home shirt. It’s definitely an informal expression. I could have said I’d like a home shirt please or I’d prefer a home shirt please.

Listen to the next few lines:

Shop assistant: How old is your child if you don’t mind me asking?

Customer: He’s 8, but he’s big for his age so he wears 9-10.

Shop assistant: Here we are. They come with long sleeves or short sleeves.

Customer: Short sleeves, please.

Children’s sizes in the UK are often based around the average size of children at different ages. My son really is big for his age so he wears clothes that are for children at least a year older than him. I imagine this is the same in other countries, too?

The shop assistant offered me a shirt with long or short sleeves. In the dialogue, I just said: Short sleeves, please. I could have said: Can I get one with short sleeves, please? Or I’d like a shirt with short sleeves, please.

Listen to the next couple of lines:

Shop assistant: And do you want to personalise it or would you like to pick a squad player?

Customer: His hero is Saka so can you do a number 7?

When you buy a football shirt in a club shop or in a big sports shop, they can print names and numbers on the back of the shirt. So you can buy a shirt like your Premier League hero or you can put your own name or nickname on the back and any number you want. I saw a woman wearing a shirt that said Mrs. Jack Grealish and the number, well it was a number that represents an intimate act. Please don’t guess as I won’t publish any comments that do.

The shop assistant gave me the tag from the shirt when he took it to be printed and asked me to take the tag to the till. When I went to the till, I gave the cashier the tag and paid by card. I always pay by card and hardly ever have cash these days, but if you come to the UK on holiday, you will probably pay with cash so listen to the second part of the dialogue again.

At the till

Cashier: Can I help you?

Customer: Just this please.

Cashier: Thank you. OK - a junior shirt. Saka! Good choice. That will be £65 please. Will that be card or cash?

Customer: I’ll pay with cash, please. Here you are.

Cashier: Thanks. £65 so that’s £15 change. Here you are. Do you want the receipt or shall I put it in the bag?

Customer: Can I take it, please?

Cashier: Of course. Here you are. Your shirt will be ready to collect from the counter there in just a few minutes.

Customer: Thank you very much.

Cashier: Thanks.

I think that this language is quite straight forward. I just want to point out the prepositions. We say pay by card and pay with cash.

Now I want you to listen to the dialogue again, but this time there will be gaps where the customer spoke. Try to say the same things that I said.

Shop assistant: Can I help you?