London is the shopping capital of the world. Every year millions of overseas visitors shop here. But what makes shopping here so great? There’s only one way to find out. I’m off to do some shopping – follow me!
At Harrods
Knightsbridge is famous for upmarket shopping. This is where the rich and famous come to buy… their socks. And this is the one and only Harrods… the ultimate in luxury. Even royalty shop here. If I’m lucky, I might see someone famous.
If only they had it in my size. Lovely! Thank you!
Done quite well there – what’s next? Taxi! Harvey Nichols, please.
At Harvey Nichols
Harvey Nichols – or ‘Harvey Nicks’ for short – is a great place for designer fashion.
Well, I had to buy couple of things… What?
At Hamleys
The biggest toy shop in the world – now you’re talking!
So cute… err… it’s not for me.
Oxford Street
London’s Oxford Street is retail heaven. It’s got over 2 kilometres of shops to choose from… and, of course, Selfridges for shopping with style. Taxi!
Could you drop all this off home for me, please? I’m off to explore a different sort of shopping in Britain.
If you like shopping all under one roof, then there are big shopping centres all over Britain. The Olympic-sized shopping centre at Westfield, Stratford, is huge. With over 300 shops, it’s one of the largest shopping centres in Europe.
At Lock's
Great shopping isn’t just about big shops. Smaller shops can offer something special too. Tucked away in the heart of Piccadilly is a great shopping gem. Lock’s sell that must-have in gentlemen’s fashion: the hat! Lock’s opened in London in 1679. Their hats can be seen across the world. They pride themselves on their personal service.
Richard: Sue Simpson is a hat specialist. Hi Sue.
Sue: Oh, hi Richard.
Richard: Wow, a bowler hat, you don’t see many of those these days, do you?
Sue: Well, we don’t call it a ‘bowler’ here at Lock’s, we call it a ‘coke hat’ because it was invented in 1850 for Thomas Coke…
Richard: …by this very shop.
Sue: …by this very shop and we still call it a ‘coke’ to this day.
Richard: Ah, the classic top hat. When would I wear that?
Sue: That’s a beautiful silk top hat. You would wear that for a society wedding, or the time you see most of them is at Ascot, which is the famous race meeting in June.
Richard: So what’s your best-seller here at Lock’s?
Sue: Our best-seller would be a classic tweed cap or this trilby here, which is called a ‘Voyager’, and the novelty of this one…
Richard: …is it folds up so you can pop it into your luggage.
Sue: …pop it into your luggage.
Richard: Excellent. Is that a deerstalker?
Sue: Similar to a deerstalker, but this is a country cap with a fastening that goes over the top. And this was invented originally for wearing in open-top cars, but now it’s more commonly worn on the hills out shooting and this keeps the ears warm and stops it blowing away.
Richard: I like it; I’ll take this one.
Comments
Hi everyone, this is the first time I've known this website and I found it's very useful to learn English. In my country, the majority of the population is not very rich so they don't usually do some upmarket shopping, most of them prefer buying things in market or popular shops because the goods are very cheap and diversified.
In my country , the shops are many but these have big prices and a common man can not afford to buy.
Hi LearnEnglish Team. I am really appreciate your work to help us improving our English skill. I've already watched Big City Small World and Word on the Street series. I found out it is really interesting to know about England life and those series very helpful to discover the British culture. By other hand, the contents in those series is being express extremely attractive by the actors' performance. Now, I'm watching Britain is Great series, it's a great series too because of itself has all the advantages above. But, I just realize I need to practice English too, that is the primary reason make me come to this site. I always watch the clip with entertainment purpose and see the transcript if I meet some new vocabulary. I need to improve my English skill too. I dont know whether my method help me to get my goals. Is there any advice gave to me to make me watch those videos more efficient? Thank for taking time to read my comment.
Hi ngqudong,
It sounds like you're on the right road to achieving your goals! I would suggest also using the transcript in a different way. After listening to (watching) each episode, try to do it again and speak along with the presenter. Use the transcript as a script for you and try to speak with the presenters. This will give you practise in speaking with a natural tempo and natural intonation and will help you with your fluency, without needing any partner.
I hope that suggestion is helpful.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I have just discovered this site and registered. It's really great and helpful videos for me. I have great desire to learn English fluently and hope my dream comes true finally :) I know I make mistakes but I will do my best! Thank you to you all for helping me.
I really appreciate all what you've got to offer us; it really is amazing. I do have a sort of problem though; can we download videos in HD? Thanks in advance.
Hello Abdelkadir khellaf,
I'm afraid the videos on LearnEnglish are not available for download for technical and legal reasons. We do make audio files available for our audio sections such as podcasts.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you for your reply. I would like to have some explanation about a sentence that has actually got me confused; it is found in the transcript of the first video. It goes as follows ". Lock’s sell that must-have in gentlemen’s fashion: the hat! ". The sentence is to be found in "at Lok's" section. First I though " must_have functioned as an adjective in that sentence, but I am not that confident. Thank you in advance.
Hello Abdelkadir khellaf,
You are correct that in this sentence 'must-have' is an adjective. It means that the item is extremely desirable and fashionable.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Well, I live in Almaty and I have never been in London. This video gives information on number of upmarket shops, including the ultimate in luxury Harrods, designer fashion place Harvey Nicks, baby's world Hamleys, retail heaven Oxford Street, the Olympic-sized shopping centre at Westfield, Stratford.
Likewise there is a great shopping gem in the heart of Piccadilly. The most interesting fact is that Lock’s opened in 1679. This is a history. It might be the outstanding difference between shopping in London and shopping in Almaty.
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