Learn how to give instructions to a hairdresser
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Visiting a British Hairdresser. David Here. |
| Kellie: Hello. I'm Kellie. |
| David: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to give directions for a haircut. The conversation takes place at a hair salon. |
| Kellie: The speakers are strangers. |
| David: So they will use informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| hairdresser: So, what are we doing today? |
| Katrina: My hair is getting too long now. My fringe is always covering my eyes. |
| hairdresser: Okay, so we'll cut the fringe. How about the length? |
| Katrina: I want that shorter too, so maybe four or five inches shorter? |
| hairdresser: That'll make your hair shoulder length. |
| Katrina: It'll be the shortest my hair has been in years but that's fine. It'll grow back eventually! |
| David: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| hairdresser: So, what are we doing today? |
| Katrina: My hair is getting too long now. My fringe is always covering my eyes. |
| hairdresser: Okay, so we'll cut the fringe. How about the length? |
| Katrina: I want that shorter too, so maybe four or five inches shorter? |
| hairdresser: That'll make your hair shoulder length. |
| Katrina: It'll be the shortest my hair has been in years but that's fine. It'll grow back eventually! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: Are there many hair salons in the UK? |
| Kellie: Yeah, there are. You’ll find several in big cities and even in small towns and villages. People in the UK usually call them hairdressers though. |
| David: So “I’m going to the hairdressers” is the same as “I’m going to the hair salon.”? |
| Kellie: That’s right. There is a wide range of natural hair colours in the UK, and it’s also okay to be a little adventurous with fake colours. |
| David: I’ve seen some crazy hair styles too! |
| Kellie: Yeah, although people in customer service or who work for the government will probably tone down the crazy colours and styles. |
| David: Is it expensive to get a haircut? |
| Kellie: It depends on where you go. Some hairdressers are very expensive, but most salons have a range of prices that are dependent on the skill level of the hairdresser. |
| David: So better and more experienced hairdressers cost more? |
| Kellie: Yes. If you want a really cheap cut, then colleges and universities that teach hairdressing courses will let their students cut your hair for a really low price. |
| David: That sounds dangerous! |
| Kellie:Yeah, I wouldn’t trust them with my hair! But each to their own! |
| David: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: today [natural native speed] |
| David: the present day, after yesterday but before tomorrow, the current day |
| Kellie: today[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: today [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: hair [natural native speed] |
| David: the fine filaments that grown from the skin of humans and animals, and especially on the head of humans |
| Kellie: hair[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: hair [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: long [natural native speed] |
| David: not short, of great length |
| Kellie: long[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: long [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: fringe [natural native speed] |
| David: the sections of hair that cover your forehead and/or the sides of your face |
| Kellie: fringe[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: fringe [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to cover [natural native speed] |
| David: to be over something, to hide or conceal it |
| Kellie: to cover[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to cover [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: length [natural native speed] |
| David: how long something is |
| Kellie: length[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: length [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: inch [natural native speed] |
| David: an imperial unit of measurement equivalent to 2.54 centimetres |
| Kellie: inch[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: inch [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: anyway [natural native speed] |
| David: despite what has been said before |
| Kellie: anyway[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: anyway [natural native speed] |
| David: And lastly.. |
| Kellie: to grow [natural native speed] |
| David: to increase by natural development |
| Kellie: to grow[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to grow [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| David: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: to grow back |
| David: meaning "to return to a previous state through natural development" |
| David: We can use the verb “to grow” when something has become bigger or matured through natural development. |
| Kellie: Yes. Like a child becoming taller as they age, or a tree getting bigger. By adding “back”, we refer to growth in the past. |
| David: So it’s not only growing, but it’s growing to a state it used to be in. |
| Kellie: That’s right. If you had long hair but then cut it short, it won’t stay short. It will grow again. |
| David: It will grow back. |
| Kellie: Right. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. My toenails grow back so quickly. |
| David: ..which means "I cut my toenails but they grow again so quickly." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Kellie: shoulder length |
| David: meaning "long enough to reach the shoulders" |
| David: The shoulders are parts of the body. They’re where our arms are attached, by the base of the neck and top of our trunk. |
| Kellie: We use “length” to explain how long something is. |
| David: So if it’s shoulder length... |
| Kellie:..it’s long enough to reach the shoulders. This is used pretty much exclusively to describe hair length, although you could probably use it for a head covering too. |
| David: Can we switch out “shoulder” for other parts of the body? |
| Kellie: Of course! Hair can be “waist length” or even “ankle length” too! |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. I want to keep growing my hair until it is shoulder length. |
| David: .. which means "I want to keep growing my hair until it reaches my shoulders." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In this lesson, you'll learn how to give directions for a haircut. |
| David: We’ll need to describe the haircut we want, which means... |
| Kellie: ..adjectives again! We’re going to build on what we learnt in Lesson 18. |
| David: In Lesson 18, we learned about comparative adjectives and how to use them to compare two things. |
| Kellie: Now we will learn about superlative adjectives. We can use these to compare not two things, but everything. |
| David: Why compare two books when you can compare several, or even every book ever? |
| Kellie: Exactly! Think big! Superlative adjectives follow the same rules as comparative ones. So one-syllable adjectives are grouped together and can be made superlative by adding “e-s-t,” “-est,” |
| David: For example, “tallest,” “cutest,” and “biggest.” |
| Kellie: If they have two syllables and end in a “-y”, we add “i-e-s-t”, “-iest. |
| David: As in, “happiest,” and “scariest.” |
| Kellie: If it’s two syllables without a “-y,” or three syllables or more then we don’t change the adjective. Instead, we add “most” or “least”. |
| David:For example, “most beautiful,” “least strange,” “most awake,” and “least convenient.” How about the irregular adjectives? Like “good”? Listeners, remember that the comparative form of that was “better.” |
| Kellie: The superlative form is “best”. |
| David: In the dialogue Katrina said “It’ll be the shortest my hair has been in years.” |
| Kellie: Yeah, that’s a good use of it. |
| David: Let’s quickly look at the adverb “too”. |
| Kellie: There are two meanings of “too”. One meaning is “also”, which we covered in an earlier lesson. |
| David: What is the other meaning? |
| Kellie: It can also mean excessively. In this case, it’s used before the adjective or noun it is modifying. |
| David: Like, “My hair is too thick and heavy.” |
| Kellie: Yes. That means that your hair isn’t just thick and heavy, but that it is too thick and heavy to deal with. |
| David: Going back to the dialogue again, Katrina says “My hair is getting too long now”. |
| Kellie: Yeah. She then follows by explaining why her hair is too long. |
| David: It’s getting in her eyes, right? |
| Kellie: Right. It’s not just long, it’s so long it’s causing trouble. |
| David: Thanks for the explanation. |
Outro |
| David: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Kellie: Bye. |
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