Today is the second class in our current four class set. We will begin class with a casual conversation. Our reading today is about meeting Einstein (we did this one a while ago, but it is a great reading). Please use the reading to find words that are new or interesting. Our listening is about fashion. I have included a transcript. Please note the listening story is from 2013. Today’s grammar reviews ‘could, able to, managed to’ sentences. A new question has been added to your writing page. I have also included an edited version of your old writing. If you have any questions regarding the edit- please ask me in class about it.
Click HERE for the reading
Click HERE for your writing document
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
And I'm Melissa Block. This week on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED we've been talking about fast fashion, companies such as H&M, Zara, Forever 21, that make billions of dollars from young, trendy and, more often than not, female shoppers. Today, we hear about a related video phenomenon. First the word haul, that's H-A-U-L, and you'll find videos, lots of them featuring young women showing off the latest styles.
NPR's Reema Khrais reports some of them are turning a passion for shopping into a business.
REEMA KHRAIS, BYLINE: If you don't quite understand what haul videos are, here's a taste.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEOS)
KHRAIS: They call themselves beauty gurus and no detail is too minor for them to broadcast to the world.
ABIGAIL MOSCARITOLO: This was on sale for $20 with 70 percent off, so you do the math, like 50 percent off is $10. So it's less than $10.
KHRAIS: That's Abby Moscaritolo. She's 19 and buys all of those adorable tops out of her own pocket. In fact, her parents only recently found out about her haul videos and none of her close friends know.
MOSCARITOLO: I'm a very, very shy person, not the type of person that would put themself out on the internet.
KHRAIS: But clearly, she's not shy when it comes to fashion. Apparently, a lot of teens aren't.
LISA GREEN: Haul videos are big and they are growing.
KHRAIS: That's Lisa Green, head of industry, fashion and luxury brands at Google.
GREEN: We actually now have over 700,000 haul videos on YouTube and that's up from only 150,000 in 2010.
KHRAIS: You can thank hauler rookies like Abby for those rising numbers. They're emulating their favorite and most successful haulers, like this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)
KHRAIS: That's Glamourista16. Her real name is Caitlin Ellsworth and she's been hauling for three years. She's actually one of Abby's idols. So I recently introduced the two. Caitlin, meet Abby. Abby, meet Caitlin.
MOSCARITOLO: Hi.
: Hi. Nice to meet you.
MOSCARITOLO: Oh, I'm a big fan, by the way. Like, I love your videos. It is so awesome to actually get to talk to you. It's so cool.
: Oh, thank you.
KHRAIS: Caitlin has tens of thousands of fans. So many trust her sense of style that now makeup and clothing companies ask her to do haul videos and that's snowballed to things like product deals and sponsorship offers.
: You can definitely make a lot. And, you know, some girls are making six figures. It can definitely be a really good job.
KHRAIS: Caitlin works with more than 15 companies. In most cases, fashion and makeup retailers approach her with a deal. They say, hey, if you make a video a month featuring our product, we'll let you keep it and pay you X-amount.
: For me, it's not an incentive just to get free products. I love trying new things and I think it's fun.
KHRAIS: Lately, she's been trying a lot of new things from Windsor clothing. The fashion retailer doesn't pay Caitlin, but gives her license to pick out and keep whatever outfits she chooses. Evelyn Campos, with Windsor, says they started relying on haulers as a marketing tool during tough economic times.
EVELYN CAMPOS: We needed a way to reach out to our customers without having a huge marketing budget. And we felt that this was right up our alley with our target demographic. So we reached out to Glamourista16 and we started from there.
KHRAIS: And it worked. Check out this stat. According to a Google study, four out of 10 people, 40 percent, who watch haul videos will end up virtually or physically visiting whatever store is mentioned. Statistically speaking, that's huge, and it's exactly what Caitlin needs if she's going to reach her big dream.
: I'm currently working on, you know, expanding my name and I definitely want to have my own beauty business, whether that be with makeup or fashion or whatever...
KHRAIS: Making it to the fashion big leagues isn't impossible, but it won't be easy. Only a handful of haulers have pulled that one out of the bag. Reema Khrais, NPR News.