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Today, you're coming with me to the

grocery store, the pharmacy, and the gas

station to immerse yourself in real-life

English. No amount of AI lessons or

trainings can prepare you for how the

real world works. So, join me, and by

the end of this lesson, you will be able

to go out into the real world and use

English with confidence. If you're new

here, hi, I'm Vanessa from

speakenglishwithvanessa.com,

and for over the past 10 years, I have

been teaching real-life English to over

7 million of you here on YouTube. And

every single week, I create a free PDF

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includes everything you're about to

learn today, plus I have included a

special speaking bonus. You will have

the chance to have real speaking

practice with me. It is essential that

you not just listen to today's lesson,

but that you immediately use what you've

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Well, all you need to do is click on the

link in the description, enter your name

and email address, and voila, just like

that, this worksheet will land in your

email inbox. It is my gift to you. So,

are you ready to join me at the grocery

store? Back when my son was so small and

so adorable. Let's go.

All right, first things first, we are

going to go through the parking lot and

get a cart. I call this just a cart, but

some people call it a shopping cart, and

here in the South where I live, people

call it a buggy, a buggy. Our first stop

is the free fruit snack for kids. This

is Freddy's favorite thing to do in the

grocery store, so I sure hope they have

something for him.

Look at this, Freddy.

You want a banana?

Yeah?

Okay, can you open it?

Maybe you need some help.

Wow.

Hold it down there.

>> [gasps]

>> Yummy.

>> [laughter]

>> All right, let's go get some stuff from

the produce section.

Notice that I said the word produce

section. This just means where you can

buy fruits and vegetables, but let's pay

attention to the pronunciation of that

word produce. The emphasis is at the

beginning, produce, produce.

There's another word which is a verb, to

produce something. I produce one YouTube

video every week. Here the emphasis is

at the end, produce. I produce a video.

This is different than the produce

section. We're in the produce section

right now, and let's see what's going to

happen next. Who knows? It could be

anything.

>> [laughter]

>> Should I get the single ones or should I

get the bag?

Well, let's see. There's

94 cents for this, and there's 1 2 3 4 5

6 in here for $5. It's a better deal,

but they're in a bag. Look at this.

Oh.

Yeah, let's get some lemons.

When you're buying produce, you have two

options. You can buy loose produce, like

the broccoli that I bought, or you can

buy bagged produce, like the lemons that

I bought, or here, like the potatoes.

And really, there are so many to choose

from. It's pretty unbelievable the type

of options that we have these days. I

feel so lucky to have these options. As

we go through the bulk section, where

you can buy items in bulk, you'll see

these bananas in a bag that are on sale.

I want you to know the difference

between on sale and for sale. These

bananas are on sale. That means there is

a discount. It's on sale. But really

every item in the grocery store is for

sale. For sale means that you can buy

it. There's no special discount, there's

no special price. It's just for sale.

Here we are at the deli counter. At the

deli counter, you can order freshly

sliced lunch meat. You might say, "I'd

like half a pound of turkey, please." Or

"I'd like a pound of cheddar cheese,

please." We decided to not order

anything today because there was only

one person working early in the morning

and the wait was too long. But that's

all right. Let's move on to the next

thing.

In the bakery, you can get some freshly

baked donuts, bread, or cakes. Because

Freddy is turning two soon at the end of

March, we've been talking about cakes a

lot recently. He's very excited about

getting a birthday cake or cupcakes.

Let's see.

What cake would you like for your

birthday?

This one? Yeah.

>> This one or this one? This one. This

one? This one. This one? This

one. This one? Oh, the one with the

cereal all over it?

>> [laughter]

>> That looks exciting.

You know what would be really good?

Yeah. You get some hummus.

You want some hummus? That's bell pepper

hummus. That's yummy.

Yummy Freddy.

Thank you.

In the grocery store, you have the

option to get fresh fish or frozen fish.

But, watch out because usually the fresh

fish has been previously frozen. You can

also get fresh cuts of meat or you can

get prepackaged meat. If you want to get

a fresh cut of meat, you could say, "I'd

like 2 lb of ground beef, please." This

is a really polite and common statement

that you can use.

Now, I'm going down in aisle. Notice

this pronunciation. Aisle. The S is

silent. Go down in aisle or you can say,

"It's on aisle three." Great

pronunciation.

Crackers? You're excited about crackers?

>> [laughter]

>> All right, we got to get some pretzels.

I want to get this kind.

Hold it. You want to hold it?

Okay.

And I'm going to get this one.

That's our special snack. Take it.

Good job, Theo.

>> special snack. We don't get many treats

like chips and stuff, but pretzels.

I love pretzels. Always got to get

pretzels. Yep. I'm walking past a case

of frozen meat and on the other side is

an end cap. An end cap is a shelf on the

end of an aisle. The chips are on the

end cap. We're going to get some poster

board

for Theo.

And for Freddy.

Okay, you need some poster board, too?

Ha ha.

Is it down here? Oh, let's go down here.

Where are you going? We need some poster

board. Oh, look at this.

Yes. Next, I'm going to be walking to

the dairy section. The dairy section

includes milk products like milk,

yogurt, cheese, and also for some reason

eggs are included in this. The dairy

section is refrigerated.

There are refrigerated items in this

section. Let's take a look at this

pronunciation.

Refrigerated.

That final T is going to sound like a D

in American English because it's

surrounded by vowels. This is very

common for American English. I'm going

to say the word again and I want you to

try to say it with me. Refrigerated.

Refrigerated.

I'm in the refrigerated section getting

some refrigerated

items. I hope that this helps. I know

this word is tricky, but you can do it.

All right, let's go get yogurt.

Where's the yogurt?

That way.

That's right. It's that way.

Do you think we need to buy any eggs?

We actually don't need to buy

We don't need to buy any eggs because

our chickens make so many eggs.

We are looking for a plain whole milk

yogurt.

Vanilla.

Vanilla, vanilla.

I don't want vanilla yogurt.

Plain whole milk yogurt, but this is so

expensive.

Do we need yogurt that bad, Freddy? We

need yogurt. Okay. We need yogurt that

bad.

Okay. I know, but I don't know.

Okay.

Now it's time for a little splurge. A

splurge is something you don't need.

Maybe it's a little too expensive, but

you really want it. I'm going to get

some sparkling water with a little bit

of fruit juice in it. It's so tasty.

Let's talk a little bit about alcohol.

In the state where I live, North

Carolina, you can buy wine and beer in

the grocery store. This is a very simple

thing to do, but if you want to buy hard

liquor, so this is considered like rum

or vodka, you need to go to a special

store called a liquor store. Here in the

South where I live, we call these an ABC

store, but you need to go to this

specialized store if you want to buy

something else, not just wine and beer.

But for now, I'm not going to get any of

it.

I need to get some more gardening

gloves.

Believe it or not.

Yeah, mine have holes in all the

fingers.

The point of gardening gloves is to keep

your hands safe, but if they have holes

in all the fingers

and this will save me a trip to Lowe's.

Before we check out, there's one keyword

that I haven't talked about yet and we

need to talk about it. Can you guess

what it is? It's the word grocery.

Grocery store, that's where I'm at and

I'm buying groceries. There's two

different pronunciations for this and

it's just a regional difference or a

personal preference. You can say grocery

with an s sound in the middle. Grocery,

grocery,

but for me, I say grocery

with a sh

sound in the middle. Grocery store.

Grocery store. Both of these options are

correct, and it just depends on what you

feel the most comfortable saying. So,

you could say, "I'm at the grocery

store." Or, "I'm at the grocery store."

"I'm buying groceries."

Or, "I'm buying groceries." Both of

these are beautiful, very natural, and

it's the most common expression that

you're going to hear in the US when we

talk about a store where you buy food.

It's the grocery store.

Now, it's time to check out. We can use

this word as a noun or a verb. Let's

check out. Or, let's go to the checkout.

You can also say the checkout counter.

Let's go to the checkout counter. I need

to buy the things that I put in my cart.

Let's check out. It's time to check out.

At the checkout counter, watch out

because there are a lot of snacks and

junk food waiting for you. The grocery

store wants you to splurge and buy these

things. For me, I try to avoid them.

It's always unhealthy, not really a good

choice. But, this is here to make a

last-minute purchase. I want to know, in

your country, are there a lot of snacks

and junk food options waiting at the

checkout? I think this is kind of common

around the world, but let me know in the

comments if this happens in your

country. Now, I'm asking the kind

checkout lady if I have her permission

to film while I'm checking out. I wanted

to give you this experience to see the

final step at the grocery store. Well, I

forgot all of my bags today, so I can

>> [laughter]

>> I can help to check out, too.

Um let's do paper.

Now all of the items are going down the

conveyor belt and the checkout lady is

scanning them while I put them in my

bag. I usually bring my own bags, but

this day I was so focused on filming I

totally forgot. So I chose to get paper

bags. I can compost the paper bags in my

garden, but you might choose to get a

plastic bag because you can reuse them

as a trash bag in your house. It's time

to pay for all of these groceries. I'm

scanning my membership card so that I

can get a few discounts and she asked me

if I want to use cash or credit or she

might say cash or card and you can

choose which one.

Thank you. Thanks to you too. I

appreciate your help.

>> [laughter]

>> Yes. Bye.

Now I go out through the automatic doors

like magic and load the groceries in the

car. I load the groceries in the car and

then at home I will unload the

groceries.

Thank you for going to the grocery store

with me. Now it's time to hop over to

the pharmacy and see how real American

pharmacies work plus learn some

essential vocabulary for daily life. And

see when my daughter was just a tiny

little baby. Let's go.

All right, are you ready to join me

Vanessa and my baby Matilda inside the

pharmacy? Let's go.

So inside a pharmacy in the US there are

a lot of things that you can purchase.

You might think that a pharmacy is just

for medicine, but that's not true.

There's a lot of different sections, so

let's walk around. Here we are in the

cosmetics section. Cosmetics means

makeup.

And you can see down each aisle like

this.

You can buy soap, shampoo, really

anything you can imagine.

Um little toys and trinkets.

There are endless amounts of things you

can get at a pharmacy. In fact, this is

something that the US is kind of known

for for having stores that are a

one-stop shop. That means you can stop

one place and get everything you need.

Very convenient and kind of a

stereotype.

This is where you would go if you were

celebrating a birthday party and you

wanted to buy some balloons, candles,

themed birthday plates for your kids,

birthday cards, any cards for really any

occasion. In fact, this is something

that pharmacies are known for is having

lots of cards. So, if you are on the way

somewhere and you realize, [music]

"I forgot to bring a card." Well, you

can just stop into a pharmacy. Let's

see.

So, over here you can see this is the

actual pharmacy part.

You can go to the clinic. You can

actually see somebody who is a certified

nurse or doctor, someone who can give

you some advice about a medical issue.

Generally, it's a good idea to make an

appointment, but you can always drop in

and ask if they have any

any way that you can talk with someone

if you have an issue. Um over here, you

can see

it says in big letters what we came for,

pharmacy.

So, at the pharmacy, this is where you

would go if you were going to pick up a

prescription. And in the US, there's a

couple different ways to get medicine.

Unfortunately, a lot of medications that

are pretty typical like an antibiotic,

you have to have a prescription, which

means you need to see a doctor first.

You have to pay to see the doctor. The

doctor has to evaluate if you need that

medicine and then they will send a

prescription to your chosen pharmacy. So

when you go to a doctor in the US,

they'll ask, "What is your preferred

pharmacy?" And you'll choose maybe a

place like this and you'll say uh the

address and the location and then you

can come here and you can pick up your

prescription whenever it's available.

I see my baby has noticed the

microphone.

You want to grab that? Not a good idea.

Um it is possible that you could ask the

pharmacist or if they have a little

clinic like this, you could ask them for

some advice. So if you have no

appointment, if you just need some

medical advice, maybe you're on a

vacation and you have a cough that won't

go away, you can ask, "Hey, do you have

any recommendations? What should I do?"

You could ask them for advice. Who knows

what they'll say, but it's always worth

it and it's no problem to ask. Um let's

take a look at some of the aisles to see

what kind of medication you can get over

the counter and I'll explain what that

means.

So for example,

uh this is the children section, but

let's say you have allergies, terrible

allergies.

>> [laughter]

>> And you visit the US during

like a spring season, you will need to

get some allergy medicine. This is

something that you can get over the

counter. These are children's allergy

medications

um in the children section. Um but you

can get allergy medicine, you can get

pain and fever relieving medicine over

the counter. And I've always been a

little bit confused by this phrase

because where's the counter?

There's no counter.

Instead, that's the counter uh where you

actually have to have a prescription.

So, don't be confused. Over-the-counter

means that you can just walk in and get

it. You don't need a prescription, you

don't need a doctor's approval. You can

just walk in and get anything

over-the-counter, even though that's the

counter. Don't be confused. Sometimes

English is strange. All right, let's

keep walking and see what else you can

get.

Need some Kleenex? You can get Kleenex.

You can get wrapping paper if it's

Christmas time like it is now.

Uh you can get reading glasses if you

forgot your reading glasses.

Uh you can even get some kind of like

minor medical supplies.

There are some hearing aids. There are

some braces for your arm.

There are alarm clocks.

Uh paternity testing kits.

>> [laughter]

>> I didn't even know you could get that

here. There's thermometers,

uh pain medication.

Um sometimes in the US we do use You all

right, baby? Sometimes we do use the

brand name.

Oh, little cough? Maybe you need some

medication.

We do use the brand name to talk about

medications. So, if you ask a

pharmacist,

um I have a cough, what should I do? And

they recommend a specific brand name to

you and you're not familiar with it, you

can just ask, oh, is that a cough

medication or is that a fever-reducing

medication? You're welcome to ask for

clarification because sometimes I don't

know what the medication is either.

So, feel free to ask for clarification

if you're not sure. All right, let's

keep going.

Lots and lots of medication. Lots and

lots.

>> [laughter]

>> All right, we're getting to the section

of stuff. Not Not medicine anymore.

Candy candy candy. Oh, so if you need to

buy any dry goods, maybe last-minute

Christmas presents.

>> [laughter]

>> Um you can get toilet paper, laundry

detergent, all of these types of dry

goods. And there's even lots of

different types of food. So, let's go

take a look at the food.

There's candy and candy and candy and

candy.

Lots of candy. Um

but there might be, you know, seasonal

items as well. Right now, it is almost

Christmas. I know it's after Christmas

when you're watching this, but imagine

Christmas.

Um so, lots of candy for stockings and

different seasonal things.

Um there's many toys down here. Let's

actually go down the next aisle. I want

to show you something.

These types of things are like

grab-and-go snacks. So, you could get

pistachios,

chocolate-covered almonds. I love that

kind of stuff.

Um more trail mix, dried fruit, chips,

lots of soda, lots and lots of soda.

Uh beef jerky, lots of beef jerky

apparently.

Different types of popcorn and juices.

And back here,

it's a little bit loud. There are

coolers where you can get cooled drinks.

And guess what? In some pharmacies in

the US, you can buy

alcohol. Did you hear that right?

Alcohol.

>> [laughter]

>> You can get beer and wine in some

pharmacies.

And that's really normal. Um here, I

guess in this pharmacy, I don't see any.

Um it might be state by state, too.

Different states have different rules,

but don't be surprised if you walk into

a pharmacy and there's wine. Grab a

bottle of wine and go have a party.

Let's go down here for the last section.

This is the baby section. So, if you

have a baby like I do and you need to

buy anything like specific baby

medicine,

um baby soaps,

diapers, wipes, any of these types of

things, you can get this here. So, it's

pretty incredible. Pharmacies are so

inclusive. Many different things. They

are really a one-stop shop. Now, I must

say that often times pharmacies in the

US are going to be more expensive than

going to somewhere like Walmart or

purchasing something online if you have

that option. But, you know what?

Sometimes when you're visiting or you're

traveling, it's nice to just go to one

of these places that's an easy access

and one-stop shop and you can just get

whatever you need to get. All right, I'm

going to grab a pack of baby wipes.

You always need baby wipes when you have

a baby and we're going to go to the

checkout and I'll show you how the

checkout works. If I remember right,

this pharmacy has a couple checkout

options. So, let's go see.

Oh, you can even get stuff for your car.

>> [laughter]

>> Pretty amazing. If you need some washer

fluid or something for your car or to

wash your clothes,

it's here.

Welcome. If you have your extra So, I'm

going to use the self-checkout because

that's

the easiest option and there's nobody

here right now. Um

and I think those are pretty much

pretty much the same all around the

world.

>> I did. Um one little note as I do this,

there is a photo studio. So, if you want

to have any pictures printed and you

don't have access to doing that online,

If you are finished shopping,

>> place to do that. So, you can

um

get your pictures printed here.

All right, I'm going to

>> Scan coupon now. Touch to continue or

touch finish.

And I'm going to continue.

No. Your total is $5.

>> And I will use my card.

>> System processing. Swipe or insert card

and follow instructions on PIN pad. All

right, now I know in some countries you

have to just put your card in really

quickly. Sometimes in the US it's quick.

Sometimes you [music] have to leave it

in there. So, please read the PIN pad

little screen and make sure you're doing

it the right way.

All right, I don't want a receipt, so

I'll click no receipt.

And that's it. I'm not going to use a

bag, I'll just carry it out myself.

Let's go. You're welcome.

>> I just want to let you know there also

is an ATM at a lot of CVS's. Um, you can

use the ATM or what you can do if you go

to the checkout counter where there's an

actual person there. Um, I think you can

do this at the self-checkout, too. You

can choose cash back and you can get

cash back. So, if you need $20 in cash,

um, you're welcome to go to the counter

and buy something small, buy a little

candy bar or some gum,

and then ask for some cash back. And you

can get cash back or you can use the

ATM. That's what we call it in the US.

In fact, it's right here. ATM.

You can use that as well to get money

back. All right, let's leave. Come on.

All right, I want to show you something

else down here. [laughter]

This uh is kind of a blast from the

past. I don't know if in your country

people use DVDs still or if they're more

likely to use Netflix. In the US DVDs

are not very common, but this is a

machine

where you can rent

DVDs, and they will come out of here. I

guess this little slot.

They'll come out, and you can actually

take the physical DVD home. It's called

a Redbox.

Um it's kind of a blast from the past. I

don't know how many people actually use

these. But, you know what? If you need a

DVD, go for it. Enjoy the Redbox at the

pharmacy.

Thank you for coming to the pharmacy

with me. Now it's time to do our final

errand and go to the gas station. We

need to fill up the car with gas so that

we can get where we need to go. Let's

go.

Hey, I just realized my light's on and I

need to fill up. Want to come with me?

There's a couple expressions I want to

share with you. The first one is my gas

gauge. So, on my dashboard, there is a

gauge that shows me E to F, and that

means empty to full. Right now, the gas

gauge is closer to E, so that's why

we're heading to the gas station. And

usually, if you have a somewhat modern

car,

if your car is low on gas, you will see

a fuel light or a gas light appear on

your dashboard. And that's a little

warning to let you know, get some gas

soon so that you don't run out. There's

two idioms we can use to talk about my

situation right now. We could say I'm

running on empty or I'm on E, and that's

referring to empty. Now, we use this to

talk about the car. I'm running on

empty. That means I have hardly any gas

in my car. It's just fumes coming out. I

better get to a gas station soon. But,

we can also use this for your personal

life. Let's say that you've been working

really hard. You've been staying up

late. You've also been taking care of

your family. You're exhausted. You have

no energy left. You can say,

uh guys, I'm running on empty. I'm on E.

I just need to take a nap. Can you guys

just chill for a moment so that I can go

to the other room and take a 15-minute

nap. I'm running on empty. So, this is

great for talking about your car or for

yourself. All right, let's head to the

gas station where I will introduce you

to some more great daily life English

expressions.

All right, here we are at the gas

station. In the US, we call this a gas

station and there's usually a little

convenience store where you can buy

little snacks and things like that. Now,

I want to let you know that there's

different terms we use for gas that you

will hear all around the world and in

the US. You've heard me say a few times

gas. Well, this is not talking about

steam. This is short for gasoline.

So, we put gasoline in the car and in

the US, we shorten that to gas. But, you

could also say fuel. I need to put some

fuel in my car. And there's a specific

type of fuel called diesel fuel that in

the US is not common for ordinary cars

like what I have, but big trucks,

construction vehicles,

uh 18-wheelers, these type of big

tractor trailers, they use diesel fuel.

And I want to let you know that in the

US, we do not use the word petrol to

talk about what you put in your car for

fuel. But, this is more common in Europe

and in the UK.

So, if you hear someone in another

English-speaking country say, "I need to

put some petrol in my car." They're

talking about the fuel, the liquid that

goes in the car. But, here we call it

simply gas. Now that I've pulled up to

the pump, I need to open the fuel door.

Usually, there's a little button or a

latch down here to open the fuel door

and I'm going to start choosing which

grade of fuel I want. So, come on to the

other side of the car and let's start.

Here in the US, we have self-service gas

stations. That means you have to pump

the gas to yourself. But, a long time

ago, they used to have full-service gas

stations where there was someone who

worked here who would pump the gas for

you. But, I have to do it myself, and

that includes paying for the gas. You

have a couple options. For me, I'm going

to pay at the pump, but if you have

cash, you need to pay inside. For me,

I've never done this I think because

it's so much more convenient to pay with

a card at the pump. So, let's see how

that works. I'm going to choose to pay

with my card, so I will choose the

option for debit. You could also choose

credit if you want. I need to insert and

remove my card, and then I will have to

choose which grade I want. But, we're

going to let it process for a moment.

I'm going to add my PIN,

which will keep my card information

safe.

It's authorizing. Do I want a receipt?

Nope, I don't need a receipt.

And now I'm going to need to choose

which grade I want. All right, so I

already put in my payment information.

Now I need to take out the pump and

choose which grade. I'm going to choose

87. That's the lowest. It's the

cheapest, also, but it's also what my

car needs. And I need to put it in the

gas pump. So, I'm going to take off the

gas cap

and insert the gas pump

into the gas tank.

Turn it on,

and you can see here that it is starting

to add gas to my car, and the price is

going up and up and up.

>> [laughter]

>> Here in the US, we generally have

cheaper fuel than other countries,

especially Europe, but you know,

>> [snorts]

>> it still adds up after some time. All

right, now that the gas is pumping, let

me tell you some basic vocabulary here.

This is the gas pump. It's the piece

that I put into my gas tank, and the

tank is the term that we use for that

container that holds the gas in your

car. And after I finish pumping gas,

that's the verb we use, to pump gas,

I will need to close the gas cap so that

everything is sealed in the car and it's

not a flammable hazard. All right, my

gas just finished, so I'm going to put

the nozzle back, very important step,

and I will also close my gas cap. Make

sure it's locked, close the gas door,

and that's about it. There's some other

things that you can do at the gas

station if you would like. For example,

you could use a squeegee and clean off

your windshield. You could throw away

some trash. A lot of gas stations also

have an air pump. Sometimes they're

free, sometimes they're a dollar,

but you can add some air to your tires

if you need to, or you could go into the

convenience store and pick up some

snacks if you feel like it. So, are you

curious how much it cost me to fill up

my car with gas?

Well, here in the US we use gallons.

That might not be the same for you, but

I put about 15 gallons of gas in my car,

and it cost me $46.

For me, I don't drive an awful lot, so

this will last several weeks, but it's

still an expense that you have to pay if

you want to get around in the US.

Great work joining me at the gas station

and learning the real-life English that

you need to know. Don't forget to

download today's free PDF worksheet that

includes all of the vocabulary that you

just learned in today's lesson, plus you

can download the bonus speaking

practice, where you'll get a chance to

practice speaking with me and using what

you just learned. If you don't use it,

you're going to lose it and forget it.

So, make sure you download the free

worksheet. Just click on the link in the

description, enter your name and email

address, and voila, just like that, it

will land in your email inbox so that

you never forget what you learned today.

Well, thank you so much for learning

English with me, and I'll see you again

next Friday for a new lesson here on my

YouTube channel. Bye.

But wait, do you want more? I recommend

watching this video next where do you

will join me at three more essential

places that you need to learn how to

speak about: the donation center, the

bank, and the post office. I'll see you

there.

Please choose the correct answer for each question below: