Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast, number 501, Buying Glasses.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast, episode 501.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in In beautiful Los Angeles, California.
This episode is called Buying Glasses.
We're going to listen to a dialogue between Alice and Pierre talking about someone who needs to buy some eyeglasses.
Let's get started.
Oh, look at these.
Don't I look great?
I've always wanted sunglasses like these.
You're supposed to be here helping me pick out frames for my new bifocals.
I don't know why you won't get progressives.
That's what everybody is getting these days.
I've always had bifocals, and that's what I'm going to get.
Are you going to get metal, plastic, or rimless frames?
I'm not sure.
The optician said that with my prescription I could get any kind.
Okay, try these.
How do they feel?
I like the way the hinges move but they're too small for my head.
Hey, these are nice.
I think I'll go with these.
There's no accounting for taste.
Okay, but what about the lenses?
There are so many options.
You can get ones that reduce glare, ones that darken automatically, ones with anti-scratch coatings.
I want to keep it nice and simple.
I don't want any of those options.
How about these for a backup pair?
They're designer frames.
Give me those.
I should have known better than to let you tag along.
What was I thinking?
Alice says to Pierre, oh, look at these.
Don't I look great?
I've always wanted sunglasses like these.
Don't I look great, of course, means I look great in these, don't I?
Asking for the other person to agree.
Ella says that she's always wanted sunglasses like these.
Sunglasses are glasses we use to protect our eyes from very bright sunshine.
Pierre says you're supposed to be here helping me pick out frames for my new bifocals.
Pierre is saying that Alice is supposed to be helping him pick out frames.
Frames are the metal or plastic part of your glasses that hold in what we call the lenses, the things that you see through made of glass or plastic.
The frames can be metal or plastic and they go behind your ear so that they stay up, so that they stay in place.
Pierre needs to get bifocals.
Bifocals are glasses that have two sections with a small line separating them.
The largest section is for seeing distance, that is, seeing things that are far away.
And bifocals typically have reading glasses or a reading section in the glasses.
That's a smaller section of the lens which you use to read.
So you can have one pair of glasses to do two different things.
Bi, of course, means two.
I have bifocals, so I can see far when I'm driving, for example, and I also can see close up when I'm reading.
Ella says to Pierre, I don't know why you won't get progressives.
Progressives is a special kind of glasses that have two or three sections, that There is a section on the top that helps you see far away, a section in the middle of the lens that helps you see a medium distance, not too far, not too close.
And then there's a section that helps you see things close, for example, when you're reading.
The difference is that progressives don't have a little line that separates the different parts of the lens, whereas a bifocal would.
Progressive has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Ella says everybody is getting progressives these days, nowadays.
Pierre says I've always had bifocals and that's what I'm going to get.
Alice asks him, are you going to get metal, plastic, or rimless frames?
Metal is something that is hard, a material made of iron, steel, aluminum.
Those would all be metals.
Silver, gold, and nickel are also metals.
Plastic is a strong material that is made by taking petroleum oil and making it into a hard object.
Rimless glasses are glasses that don't have any edges.
The lens, remember the lens is the part of the glasses that you see out of, that you look out of.
They are attached to the frames but there is not any plastic or metal around the actual glass or plastic lenses.
So it looks like you just have these two lenses sitting in front of your eyes.
The rim, R-I-M, of the glasses are the parts that go around the lens, the edge of the lenses.
Rimless would be without a rim.
And that's what rimless glasses are.
Well, Pierre says, I'm not sure...
The optician said that with my prescription, I could get any kind.
I could get frames that are metal, plastic, or rimless.
The optician is the person who makes the glasses, puts the.
If you are going to have your eyes checked, you go to a doctor called an optometrist.
But if you are just buying glasses, then you would go to an optician.
The optician is not a doctor.
It is a person who knows about how glasses are made and helps you select a pair and put them on your face.
When you have your eyes examined by the optometrist and they determine you need glasses, you are given something called a prescription, which is a piece of paper where the doctor writes down what kind of glasses you need.
We use that same word if a doctor is giving you some sort of drug prescription.
They would write down the name of the medicine.
That's your prescription.
It's the piece of paper that has that information, usually with the doctor's signature, that you then bring in order to get your glasses or your drugs.
Ella says, OK, try these.
How do they feel?
Pierre says, I like the way the hinges move, but they're too small for my head.
A hinge H-I-N-G-E is a small piece of metal that connects two larger pieces of wood, plastic or metal.
If you have a door in your house, there are at least two hinges.
The door opens and closes, but there's a metal plate that connects the door to the wall and that allows you to open the door.
So the hinge opens and closes.
It's flexible.
Your glasses have hinges.
If you have glasses that connect the lens part of the glasses, the lens part of the frame, with the pieces of the frame that go on either side of your head and behind your ears,
So Pierre likes the hinges on the pair of glasses that Alice showed him, but he says they're too small for his head.
Obviously he has a very big head.
Hinge has a couple of meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Pierre says, hey, these are nice.
I'll go with these, meaning I'll select these.
Ella says, there's no accounting for taste.
The expression there's no accounting for taste is used to show that you don't like another person's choice of style or fashion.
To say there's no accounting for means there's no way to explain.
So everyone has different tastes, a different sense of style and fashion.
Alice doesn't like Pierre's taste.
She obviously doesn't like the pair of glasses that Pierre is trying on.
Alice says, okay, but what about the lenses, the clear plastic or glass pieces that you see through?
You also call that clear piece of plastic or glass in a camera a lens.
Ella says there are so many options.
You can get lenses that reduce glare, ones that darken automatically, ones with anti-scratch coating.
Glare.
G-L-A-R-E is a bright light that is reflected off of a piece of glass or plastic.
If you have glasses that reduce glare, they make it less.
That means you won't have that problem of the bright light reflecting off the glass or the plastic.
It's also possible to get lenses that darken automatically.
So instead of having a pair of glasses that you use inside the house and another pair of sunglasses that you use outside, you can get lenses that will automatically darken when you go outside into the light.
I had these for a few years when I was in high school, but they were rather inconvenient because it takes a while for the lenses to darken and to brighten up to undarken.
So they weren't very convenient in my opinion.
Lenses can also have anti-scratch coatings.
A scratch is when you make a mark on a piece of glass or plastic that you don't want.
You can also scratch, for example, the back of a watch or the front of a watch.
Coating is something that goes over something else, usually to protect it.
So anti-scratch coating is a special chemical they put over the glass, over the lenses, that prevents it from getting scratched.
Pierre says, however, I want to keep it nice and simple, meaning very simple.
I don't want any of those options.
Alice says, how about these for a backup pair?
They're designer frames.
Something that backs up something else is something that you use in case the first thing doesn't work or the first thing doesn't operate properly.
If you have a computer, you should also have another external disk drive or some sort of online service that backs up your files.
Notice it can be used as a verb as well, to back up.
I backup my files every day on an external hard drive.
Backup pair refers to a pair of glasses that you use in case your first ones break or you have a problem with them.
Alice is looking at a pair of designer frames.
Designer means that they are made by a company.
They're usually of a certain style or shape.
And they're usually more expensive.
So if you buy a dress made and designed by Versace, for example, or you buy something made by Prada, these are designer products.
They are things that have a very special and unique sort of design to them.
Pierre says, give me those clothes.
To tag, T-A-G, some would pronounce it tag.
But in my Minnesota accent, it's tag.
To tag along means to go with someone somewhere.
They're going even though you are not invited initially, or the person is going even if you don't go with them.
So if your older brother is going to the movies, you may say, can I tag along?
Meaning, can I go with you?
You didn't invite me, but I'd like to go.
In this case, Alice tags along with Pierre to buy some glasses.
Pierre is wishing that he never invited her to come with him.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Ooh, look at these.
Don't I look great?
I've always wanted sunglasses like these.
You're supposed to be here helping me pick out frames for my new bifocals.
I don't know why you won't get progressives.
That's what everybody is getting these days.
I've always had bifocals, and that's what I'm going to get.
Are you going to get metal, plastic, or rimless frames?
I'm not sure.
The optician said that with my prescription, I could get any kind.
Okay, try these.
How do they feel?
I like the way the hinges move, but they're too small for my head.
Hey, these are nice.
I think I'll go with these.
There's no accounting for taste.
Okay, but what about the lenses?
There's so many options.
You can get ones that reduce glare, ones that darken automatically, ones with anti-scratch coatings.
I want to keep it nice and simple.
I don't want any of those options.
How about these for backup pair?
They're designer frames.
Give me those.
I should have known better than to let you tag along.
What was I thinking?
We don't have a backup script writer.
We have only the wonderful Dr. Lucy Say, who wrote this script.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
