Learn how to talk about Black Friday in advanced English
- Language level: upper intermediate & advanced / B2, C1
- Skills: advanced English vocabulary, comprehension, writing fluency
- Time: 5-20 mins
Friday is one of my favourite days of the week. Most of us are ending our work week and looking forward to having fun on Friday night and the weekend. (I’m obviously referring to the pre-Covid era!)
However, for one Friday every year, that day means something else entirely. It’s happening again with Black Friday 2020.
Black Friday has turned into one of the single biggest shopping days in the US and other countries. Retailers cut prices to the bone on pretty much anything and consumers go mad for it!
Whether you like it or not, support it or detest it, I’m sure you’d love to be able to have some sweet new advanced English vocabulary to help you express you views!
Let’s get to the lesson then!
ps. You’ll hear gorgeous Scottish accents in the clip below
Vocabulary Builder: Black Friday
Let’s start with some vocab work! Match the word to its description
Collocations Match
A collocation is a combination of two or more words which frequently occur together.
(ps. learning common collocations is a fab way to expand your advanced English vocabulary)
Meaning in context
Choose the correct meaning of these idioms and phrasal verbs:
Let's watch this clip about Black Friday from ITV news
Comprehension check:
Black Friday: Are the deals for real?
Time to paraphrase what you heard.
If you want to share, write your answers in the comments
- What two misnomers does the journalist mention about Black Friday? (0.00 – 0.18)
- What does the woman say about ‘the run-up to Christmas‘ and what does she mean when she says “shopping for amateurs“? (0.18-0.37)
- What was the main finding of the report carried out by Which? (0.46 – 1.11)
- How have traders ‘hit back‘? (1.11 – 1.37)
- Why are shoppers suspicious about Black Friday? (1.38-end)
Listening Extra
Listen again to the clip. As you listen, tick off the words from the list as you hear them. (The list is in order)
- misnomer
- inflated
- bargain
- run-up to
- supply and demand
- canny
- savvy
- get their hands on
- hit back
- kick-start
- small print
- shop smart
- be lured into
Your turn to talk about Black Friday
What do you think? Write your answers in the comments
- Have you ever done any shopping on Black Friday? Did you find a bargain?
- What do you think about Black Friday? Are you for it? Against it? Somewhere in the middle…?!
Choose 3-4 words from the lesson and make your own sentences showing how you’d use them.
A note from your teacher!
I have to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Black Friday, but then again, I’m not a huge fan of the sales in general. (By the time the sales come around, I can never find my dress size or shoes that fit!)
Having said that, I have become more used to buying online over the last few years and I have to admit, I’ve found some good deals, especially for house items and things like that.
So, in the spirit of Black Friday, I would like to offer my followers something too! Make sure you’re on our mailing list to find out what bargains you can get your hands on!
1) First, he mentioned that the black Friday lasts the whole weekend and not only one day. Secondly, prices are inflated before black Friday so the discount is not real.
2) She said that prices are much cheaper during the year than the last days before Christmas. She said that black Friday is kind of an event for people who love doing shopping
3) Only 5% of the products were cheaper on black Friday. Most of the products showed a price reduction in the following months
4) Traders consider that Black Friday still has a huge impact on Christmas shopping, and can be the driving force to encourage people to do some shopping. They try to attract clients with special offers and huge discounts.
5) Big discounts only apply to a few products so offers are not as special as they say to be