## Step 2 - Reading

A shopping convert

You are going to read a blog about the pros of shopping in real stores.
Je gaat een blog lezen over de voordelen van winkelen in echte winkels.

- Make a group of three or four.
  Maak een groepje van drie of vier.
- In your group, discuss the following questions in English:
  Bespreek in je groepje in het Engels de volgende vragen:
  - Wat is de munteenheid (currency) van Groot-Brittanië?
  - Welk teken (symbol) gebruiken de Britten voor hun munteenheid?
  - Wat betekent de afkorting 'p' in, bijvoorbeeld, '20p'?
  - Als iets in Nederland 10 euro kost, wat kost het - op dit moment - dan ongeveer in de Engelse munteenheid?
  - Gebruik eventueel internet om de antwoorden op te zoeken.
- Read the text.
  Lees de tekst.

A shopping convert I used to be one of those people that buys everything online. Especially shoes and clothing. For example, I would order shoes – sneakers, flip-flops, sandals, whatever – in three different sizes. After all, you never know what size you will need exactly. But the result was, I was always left with at least two pairs to return, and often I was left with no shoes at all. Because they weren’t as nice as they had looked on the website, or because they didn’t feel good, or because they didn’t look good on me. So I had to send them all back. I had to fill in the forms, put the shoes back into their boxes, go to my local supermarket to drop them off... Once I even waited so long that I forgot to send them back at all! That was an expensive mistake. £80. Ouch. So I decided to make a change. I took the bus to the city centre instead (which was cheaper than I thought) and actually went to physical shoe stores. And you know what? It was great fun! I went with a few friends, and we spent the afternoon shopping, having a drink and most of all, having fun. The only problem, really, was that I didn’t actually buy any shoes. I found a pair of boots I liked, but they didn’t have them in my size. But the store offered to order them for me and send them to my house. I didn’t even have to pay the £3.50 delivery charge! The £3.50 I saved I used for my bus fare, and after that I even had 20p left! OK, my friends and I bought cans of soda, so I actually spent about 80p more, but who’s counting? It was worth it, because I discovered how much fun it can be to go shopping with my friends. I’m never going back to online shopping! Well... except maybe in the winter.

Do the exercise.
Maak de oefening.