This lesson is suitable for intermediate-level learners. After listening, test your knowledge with our quiz.
Learning notes
Different phrases to use when looking for a gift or talking to a shop assistant:
- I’m just browsing.
- I’m after something special and unique .
- I’m looking for something practical.
- I’m torn between this and another option.
Colloquial expressions:
To need a hand with something is an informal way of saying or asking if someone needs help with something.
To blow someone away means to impress someone. This expression is often used to describe a strong emotional reaction, typically positive, to something surprising or impressive.
To keep the budget around the fifty-dollar mark is an informal way of saying to keep the cost of something to about fifty-dollars.
To be torn between something and something means to feel uncertain about making a choice between two options.
Vocabulary:
To browse means to casually look through a number of things, often without a specific goal in mind.
Unique means special, one of a kind.
Transcript:
(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript)
SBS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands and waterways throughout Australia.
Hello everyone, it’s Gloria! It’s almost the time of the year when everyone is going ‘gift hunting’. What are you thinking of?
For me, there’s an art to getting the best gift for each person, because I would want the gift to be creative but also practical at the same time. It’s often hard to have both at once. It depends on the person you are getting it for, right?
What are your thoughts on really practical gifts like a water bottle? Don’t worry, I am not saying that this is what I would get for anyone, but I am really interested in knowing what kind of things you all take into consideration when it comes to choosing a gift for someone.
Allan is shopping for a gift for his brother and Claire offers her help. Let’s hear their conversation.
Claire
Hey! Need a hand with anything?
Allan
Yeah, I’m just browsing ’cause I’m not sure what to get for my brother.
Claire
Ok, what kind of stuff are you thinking about?
Allan
Well, I’m after something really special, something that’ll blow him away.
Claire
Do you have a budget in mind?
Allan
I’m trying to keep it around the fifty dollar mark.
Claire
So, how about this shirt here?
Allan
Hmm… I’m looking for something really unique. Thanks, but actually, I’m torn between this and another option… I’ll have a think about it for a bit longer, I think.
Take your time Allan, take as much as you need. When I’m stuck for ideas choosing a gift, I would ask someone else’s opinion.
I am not necessarily asking for a concrete idea, like ‘get a pair of socks’, it’s more like I’m after a brainstorming sesh. Tallking to someone else helps me think from a fresh perspective myself.
‘Sesh’ is short for the word ‘session’, by the way. We can use it for all different kinds of activities like a ‘gym sesh’, a ‘study sesh’ or even a ‘catch up sesh’, which is a casual social get-together.
Claire first said,
Need a hand with anything?
For a while, everytime I heard shop assistants say this, I’d wonder why would I need their hands?
I have my own hands, are they gonna carry my stuff for me? But then, I learnt that this phrase is used to offer help in a friendly way. If you really don’t need the help, then you can say, ‘no thanks’ and then say, like Allan:
I’m just browsing.
This is what I hear all the time no matter what shops I go into, wherever there are shop assistants around, I hear people say ‘no thanks, I’m just browsing’. If you say this, it means you are just casually looking through items and want to be left alone.
You can say this if you’re not in the mood for talking.
But, as learners, talking to shop assistants can actually be a great way to practice conversation. Well you may never see them again so why not? And if you do feel like talking, a good thing to try is to start by saying a bit about what you are looking for.
Like Allan says here,
I’m after something really special, something that’ll blow him away.
To be ‘after something’ means to be trying to look for someone or something. For example, I’m always looking for this one specific brand of coffee beans. That can be difficult to find here.
So, wow, if someone gets me my favourite coffee beans as a gift for Christmas, it’ll blow me away. The phrase ‘to blow someone away’ means to surprise or please them very much. Allan is so sweet!! Getting a gift for someone that you just know they would love is such a win!!
It’s okay if we don’t know what to get for someone straight away, I reckon setting a budget is a great start. And I can tell that Allan shares a similar way of thinking:
I’m trying to keep it around the fifty dollar mark.
Allan means that he wants to spend around fifty dollars on the gift for his brother. If you want to tell people roughly how much you want to spend, you can use the word ‘mark’ and add the dollar value in front.
How much do you normally spend on a present? Something around the eighty dollar mark? Or maybe just the ten dollar mark?
For me how much I want to spend on a gift usually depends on who I am giving it to. I’m not saying the more I care about the person, the more expensive the gift has to be though, because it really is the thought that counts. The best gift is definitely one that a person really likes!
I got a very warm and fluffy scarf for my mum, with my very first pay check from my first job here in Australia. Although it wasn’t an expensive gift, my mother really loved that scarf because it was a cold winter back home and she knew I was thinking of her.
I understand what Allan is thinking when he said:
I’m looking for something really unique.
Unique means special, one of a kind, because you want the gift to be special for the other person. But finding something unique is not always easy, as Allan found:
I’m torn between this and another option
You can say, ‘I’m torn between something and something’ when you struggle and feel uncertain about what to choose because they both look good.
I am always like that too when it comes to the gift selection thought process!!! Coz you know that gift is important, it shows you care and so it has to be as special and meaningful as it can be... Can’t blame us for being torn, am I right, you all?
A big thank you to the students and teachers from the Carlingford Baptist Church English class who featured as our guests. Thanks also to Myoung Jae Yi for interviewing.
Paul Nicholson and Lily O'Sullivan voiced the characters of Allan and Claire, Josipa Kosanovic did the sound design and Professor Lynda Yates was our educational consultant.
