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

This episode's vocabulary

Come to think of it (idiom) - used when one has had a sudden realization.

Transaction (noun) - an occasion when someone buys or sells something, or when money is exchanged or the activity of buying or selling something.

To put off something/someone (phrasal verb) - to decide or arrange to delay an event or activity until a later time or date.

Emphasis (noun) - the particular importance or attention that is given to something.

To turn up (somewhere) (phrasal verb) - to arrive or appear somewhere, usually unexpectedly or in a way that was not planned.

To be short on (something) (idiom) - having not enough of some quality (and too much of some other quality).

Ultimately (adverb) - finally, after a series of things have happened.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, could you start speaking now, please?

R: On my last birthday, I got some money from my parents. That was pretty nice. Oh, in greater detail, this was actually my 33rd birthday. And I was away from home at the time. And I still am. Come to think of it, it was for my birthday, but it didn't happen until afterwards. I'd bought a lot of things for my new apartment and my parents had offered to pay for them. And this particular transaction was them doing exactly that. Oh, the reason that it took a bit longer than usual was because I wasn't really bothered about actually getting anything for my birthday. And I was quite happy to pay for everything by myself. So I never really put too much of, well, an emphasis on it or stressed it too much. Oh, I did explain this to them. But as it turned out, I couldn't or didn't get much of a say in it. Because then it just sort of turned up in my account with a message on WhatsApp saying, oh, here's the other half of your birthday present, hope you enjoy it. It's always good to have money, but it's not like I was short on it at the time. However, at least they were thinking of me. And that was quite nice. In greater detail about what it ultimately paid for. I've mentioned this before in the last episode, when we were talking about different things that I'd bought online, and I bought a bed, the one that clicks together quite easily. It was like something out of IKEA, to be honest with you. It worked really well. And then I got a vacuum cleaner. But it was one of the small portable ones because there's not really much to vacuum in this place. It's just for the floors, to be honest with you, and there's not much floor space. And I also bought, oh yeah, I got the microwave. And like I say all of this was delivered way before anyone paid for anything or anyone gave me the money. But it was nice how everything...

M: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And do you usually get money on your birthday?

R: I don't really know. I have sometimes but it's not a regular occurrence.

M: Thank you!

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Discussion

M: Hey, yeah, dear listener, when you speak for too long, the examiner will stop you. Yes, the examiner will interrupt you. So you're speaking and then the examiner goes thank you, thank you, or just shows you with a gesture like okay, stop, or just says thank you. And when the examiner says thank you, it means shut up. It means just stop. You are giving me too much. I control the time. And we are already, well, we should finish. Rory, is this bad when the examiner interrupts?

R: No! It just happens because you don't have a timer. How do you know how long you're speaking for?

M: Yeah, you speak from one to two minutes. And if you speak more than two minutes, the examiner will stop you. This is okay. This is fine. All right? So the examiner will stop you and then will ask you a very short question just to finish off this speaking part two part. Okay? So the topic is "describe a time when you received money or got money on your birthday". So what's with the preposition? To get money on your birthday or for your birthday? It's very confusing.

R: Well, on will be for the day and for will be the purpose. Or the reason why.

M: Ooh, so if my birthday is on the sixth of May, and I can get money on my birthday, so parents give me money on the sixth of May, the day of my birthday. So I got money on my birthday. If I get money for my birthday, my birthday is on the sixth of May I got money on the 15th of May, you know, with the delay. So I got money for my birthday or maybe earlier but in Russia, we don't give presents earlier.

R: No.

M: Do you in Scotland? What about you? After your birthday?

R: Well, it has to happen because I live away from home so... They maybe they arrived earlier but I didn't actually open them until the day.

M: Yeah, but some people give money or presents before your birthday. Maybe like two months before your birthday or a month before your birthday. I don't know, a couple of weeks, days. So yeah. So to get money for your birthday, or to get money as a gift, as a present, or to get money as a birthday present. So the story is in the past. So we, Rory used Past Simple. I think Past Perfect somewhere. Maybe not this time.

R: Did I? No, I did. My parents had offered to pay for it.

M: Oh, yeah. Nice. Past Perfect. Right? So I, yeah, my parents had offered because before, right? yeah. Sweet. So I bought a lot of things for my birthday. Because my parents had offered. Before they first offered and then I bought. Yeah, sweet. When can I use this phrase? Come to think of it, it was for my birthday. Come to think of it.

R: Yeah. Oh, actually, that's a good thing to mention here, because come to think of it is used for adding more details. And here it's like saying, oh, now I'm thinking about it. And then you move into more information. And that's important because that was one of our focuses in this episode. Was what happens when you run out of ideas? What things can you say to just smoothly move from one idea to the next?

M: So if I want to add more details, I can just start off with come to think of it, it wasn't that much. Just a couple of rubles for some reason. You know, but... I wanted much more but they just gave me this, you know, chicken feed. Can I say chicken feed? Or you get paid chicken feed at work?

R I don't know. I've never heard that before, to be honest.

M: Oh, really? Like I got paid chicken feed or they pay chicken feed?

R: Yeah, I've never heard that before.

M: Oh, really? Wow. Wow. Maybe this is old-fashioned. No one says it or uses it anymore. Like little money, very little money, but usually about work. Anyway. So, Rory bought a load. A load of things you said or lots of things?

R: A load of things. But you could also say lots of things or loads of things.

M: And then this particular transaction. So this particular purchase.

R: So transaction is just when you give people money, or when you, when money changes hands. Oh, okay. So just your parents, they sent you the money, right? But they didn't send you cash, right? So they just sent you the money.

R: Yeah.

M: Online. To your bank account, right? I wasn't really bothered about getting anything for my birthday. I wasn't really bothered, like, I...

R: It's not a big deal.

M: It wasn't a big deal. I was quite happy to pay for everything by myself. But my parents, you know, these annoying people had offered to pay for my bed and for my microwave and for my flat and for my food and for my education and everything. It's just parents, you know. I would have done it all by myself, but it's just parents. What a nice joke. It turned out. A phrasal verb.

R: Yes. So that just means, well, it's a way of focusing on the end result. So as it turned out, and then talking about the result.

M: As it turned out, I didn't get much of a say. So they just parents decided to give Rory the money. And then Rory said, since it just turned up in my account. So it turned out that parents decided to give him the money and the money turned up in Rory's account. Appeared. The money magically appeared on Rory's account. Really nice. But sometimes, at the birthday parties, people give money to each other in an envelope. So they put money in envelopes. Or just they just hand over the money just like this.

R: Well, it's usually in a card. Although in this case, it was just a notification on my bank account saying you've got money.

M: Ah, okay, so either in a card or in an envelope or just like they make a transaction. To make a transaction, right?

R: Yeah.

M: I wonder what people do in your country, dear listener? Do they usually give money on your birthday? Or like what? In Turkey, I know on wedding days, people give gold.

R: Do they?

M: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Gold.

R: Oh, we need to move to Turkey.

M: I know, I know. So if I get married in Turkey, people would come to my wedding and they would give me gold. Seriously. It's not money, it's gold. Nice. What a lovely tradition. And still, still, they do. So Turkish people if you're listening, is it true?

R: Is it true and also sent gold.

M: Yeah, send gold. I'm not getting married, just send gold.

M: In Azerbaijan and Baku, they give money. So...

R: We need to move.

M: Alright. Anyway, you've used a nice word, I was short on it at the time. So I was short on money.

R: But that just means I didn't have much. Or well, it's not like I was short on money. So that just means I had money at the time. And there was no need to have more. Can I say I was short for money?

R: No. Short of money.

M: Short of or on money?

R: Of.

M: Wait, wait, so it's not on?

R: Short of money.

M: I was short of money. Right. Okay. So I kind of, I didn't have much money.

R: So I'm not short of money but not short on, like short on it or short on time.

M: I'm short on time.

R: Yeah.

M: I'm short of money.

R: Yes.

M: Excellent. So dear listener, if you've never got money on your birthday, you just lie. You make it up. And it's okay. Right? Yeah. So just imagine that Rory came to your birthday, and gave you a nice sum of money on your birthday in a nice pinky envelope kissed by me, you know, with my lipstick on it. And a flower. Yay! That's nice. Thank you very much for listening! And we'll hear you and meet you in speaking part 3. Bye!

R: Bye!

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