📙 Part 2: Describe a time when you received money as a gift

You should say: when it happened, who gave you the money, why they gave you money, and explain how you used the money.

This episode's vocabulary

• Odd (adj.) - strange or unexpected.
• Age of majority (noun) - the age of majority is the legally defined age at which a person is considered an adult, with all the attendant rights and responsibilities of adulthood.
• To invest (verb) - to put money, effort, time, etc. into something to make a profit or get an advantage.
• Fit (adj.) - to be suitable for something.
• Envelope (noun) - a flat, usually square or rectangular, paper container for a letter.
• To save (verb) - to keep money or something else for use in the future.
• A rainy day (idiom) - a time when money might unexpectedly be needed.
• To wind up (phrasal verb) - to find yourself in an unexpected and usually unpleasant situation, especially as a result of what you do.
• Imaginative (adj.) - good at thinking of new, original, and clever ideas.
• To arise (verb) - to start to happen or exist.

Questions and Answers

R: It's a bit odd to discuss money so openly as it's considered a little rude where I'm from. However, when I was younger, I used to get money on my birthdays from certain relatives. One particular occasion that stands out was my 18th birthday, and this is an important birthday, as it's actually considered the age of majority in my country. That's when you're recognized as an adult in the eyes of the law and the wider culture. So you're seen as ready to make adult decisions and can be trusted with things like large amounts of money. So in keeping with that idea, my parents gave me quite a large amount of money that I had to invest as I saw fit. This was actually the day after my 18th birthday party. Since I doubt it would have been a good idea to make such serious decisions there and then, but the purpose was connected to me being older. They gave it to me in an envelope and said I could use it however I liked. I think it was part tradition and part letting me know they were seeing me as someone they could trust with such a large amount or such a responsibility. And I hope I managed to make a decision they would have agreed with. Since my parents are quite good with money themselves, I decided to save it in a bank account for a rainy day, and about 16 years later, that day came when I used it to buy things for the house that I bought. I hadn't touched it in all that time, so it had built up quite a bit of interest, and I wound up with more than I thought I had at the start. Part of me wishes I'd invested it in Bitcoin or something, but no one knew much about that at the time, and I wasn't very imaginative when I was younger, so I suppose that was the wisest choice at the time. Although if a similar situation arises again, I will know exactly what I'll be doing.

M: And do you usually give money as a gift?

R: I can't think of the last time I've done that. I don't think it's something I would ever do.

Discussion

M: What a story, dear listener. Rory got a big sum of money. He waited 16 years, one, six years, wow, and only then he spent it. Wow. Impressive.

R: Well, there was nothing else to spend it on.

M: Exactly, you see, nothing, nothing to spend your money on. Yeah, there's nothing in the world. No, no, there's no travelling. There aren't any nice clothes.

R: Well, I already got to travel, and I don't really buy nice clothes for myself.

M: So dear listener, a time when you got money as a gift, maybe for your birthday, maybe during a wedding, okay? So, but I think like everybody had such a situation. It may not be a big sum. Okay? Some money as a gift, okay? If you've never experienced it, lie.

R: It's a very unusual topic.

M: No. Why is it unusual?

R: It's, it's not normal to talk about money so openly where I'm from, it's considered a bit vulgar, to be honest.

M: Yeah, but you don't say how much money, right?

R: I know, but that's not the point. It's just money in general. It's, it's uncouth to talk about it publicly.

M: Oh, really?

R: Yeah, absolutely. You don't... Or at least when I was younger, you were told not to talk about money.

M: How interesting. We talk about money. What about you, dear listener?

R: I love that. Maria's like, well, we're gonna talk about money now.

M: No, like, like, we talk, like in my culture, it's okay. Well, some people might say, like, no, I think it's like, it's best not to discuss it, or I can't say like how much I earn. But other people are very open about it. So, you know... So Rory started it off with, it's a bit odd, strange to discuss money, because, in his culture, it's odd to discuss money. Maybe in your culture, it's okay. If it's not, you can start with it's strange to discuss money so openly, or it's a bit odd, a bit odd, a bit strange to discuss money so openly, because it's considered rude where I'm from. When I was younger, I used to get money on my birthday. Okay? I used to, but not anymore. And one particular occasion that stands out was my 18th birthday. So one birthday does stand out, like I remember it vividly. It was my 18th birthday. An important birthday, dear listener, because our roar returned 18. And in Scotland, this is the age of majority. What does it mean? The age of majority?

R: It's just the age when you become recognized as an adult. So in Scotland, and I think in the UK as a whole, this is 18. I'm pretty sure it's the same in Russia, is that right?

M: Oh, I think it's 21.

R: Oh, wow, okay.

M: Yeah, but yeah, 18 is also like an important age when you are recognized as an adult in the eyes of the law, dear listener. The law recognizes you as an adult. And you can make adult decisions, and you can be trusted. You can be trusted with large amounts of money, amount of money. So my parents gave me quite a large amount of money, or my friends gave me, or my relative, my grandma. Well, you can say, okay, my grandma gave me some money. Maybe it wasn't a lot. Doesn't matter, okay? But you got money. To invest as I saw fit, as I wanted.

R: So you do something as you see fit.

M: Like what I want. So they gave it to me in an envelope.

R: Or an envelope.

M: Envelope. Like a letter.

R: Envelope.

M: Envelope?

R: Well, apparently envelope is the verb and envelope is the noun. But I think that might be a class thing. To be honest with you, because I've heard people say envelope to mean the paper that you put a letter inside.

M: Envelope, according to Cambridge online dictionary.

R: Quite. So, like I say, this could be a class thing.

M: Oh... Okay, how do you say it again?

R: I say envelope, but a lot of people say envelope. Both of these are completely valid. Some people consider the way I say it to be quite posh.

M: Wow. And Rory is posh because he got a lot of money from his parents.

R: I am not posh.

M: He lives in a castle, dear listener, which is haunted by posh ghosts.

R: Maria has a very skewed understanding of what it's like to live my life.

M: Scotland freedom.

R: But yes, Scotland freedom!

M: It was part of tradition. So in Rory's culture, it is part of tradition to give a large sum of money on your 18th birthday. I managed to make a decision, and I decided to save the money. So I saved it. Money is it, dear listener. Okay? Please be careful. I saved it in a bank account. So I saved the money.

R: That's super important for money. I hear people make this mistake all the time.

M: Okay, how about that? I'm gonna make mistakes. Could you please correct me and pronounce the full sentence accurately? Okay, Rory?

R: Okay.

M: My parents gave me a money.

R: Oh, they gave me money.

M: I invested them into my business.

R: I invested it into my business. Or I invested it in my business.

M: There were a lot of money there.

R: There was a lot of money there.

M: A money that I got from my parents were very good.

R: The money that I got from my parents was very good.

M: Yeah, dear listener, okay? Please don't say a money. No, no, no, no. Moneys, no, no, no. Money - it. It. Okay? I got the money from my parents, or I got some money or a lot of money. And I decided to save it in a bank account for a rainy day. For a rainy day means a special day when you may not have enough money, so you can just like save it for a rainy day. I wonder what you have in your culture because in my culture, we say a black day. So we save money for a black day. But in English, it's to keep or save money for a rainy day.

R: Why is it a black day?

M: I don't know. Yeah. We say black. Black and dark, when you don't have anything. And then you kind of, you take this money, or you take something you've saved, maybe something sweet. Chocolate for a rainy day. And if you saved it for a rainy day, you can say, I hadn't touched it. Again, it is money. So I hadn't touched it for a very long time, and then I used it to buy a house. Also, I invested it in Bitcoin, for example. It was the wisest choice. Wise, very smart. The wisest choice. Super smart. And you can finish off with if a similar situation arises again, if somebody gives me money, I know exactly what I'll be doing. So I'll be doing the same thing.

R: Well, or I'll be investing it in cryptocurrency.

M: Hey! Right, dear listener. I think it's a, it's an easy topic, okay? We can talk about money. You can lie about money. So, yeah, even if someone gave you, I don't know, $5, okay? I got money for my birthday, no problem, or for my wedding, or just, you know, just, some people just get money just because. You know? Like oh, wow, they gave me money.

R: They gave me money. We're breathing.

M: Thank you very much for listening, and we'll get back to you in our next episode about money and financial literacy. Bye!

R: Bye!

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