📘 Part 3: Money and gifts

This episode's vocabulary

Contactless (adj.) - relating to the use of wireless technology to make a payment using a credit card or debit card, or a mobile phone.

To haul (verb) - to pull something heavy or transport something over long distances.

Secure (adj.) - likely to continue and not fail or be lost.

Remotely (adverb) - from a distance.

To deem (verb) - to consider or judge something in a particular way.

Medium (noun) - something that helps you to do a particular activity.

To come/get to grips with something (idiom) - to make an effort to understand and deal with a problem or situation.

Mean (adj.) - not willing to give or share things, especially money to make an effort to understand and deal with a problem or situation.

Generous (adj.) - willing to give money, help, kindness, etc., especially more than is usual or expected.

Asset (noun) - something having value, such as a possession or property, that is owned by a person, business, or organization.

Stock (noun) - part of the ownership of a company that can be bought by members of the public.

Recession (noun) - a period when the economy of a country is not successful and conditions for business are bad.

Inflation (noun) - a general, continuous increase in prices.

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Questions and Answers

M: Why do people rarely use cash these days?

R: Well, I'm hardly an expert. But if I were to guess, contactless payments seem a lot better than having to haul around a lot of cash with you. And they're probably more secure as well. I mean, for example, you can cancel your cards remotely if they get stolen.

M: Do you think it's helpful to give money as gifts?

R: I think it's an increasingly popular choice compared to trying to predict what people might like, though sometimes it can be a bit strange to do. I mean, for instance, at work, it could be deemed inappropriate to give your colleague a gift of money. Why? Why not? I think it probably has something to do with the fact that you're together in a place where you're getting money anyway. So if you give them money, it's almost like you think they don't have enough or something. I mean, I think that's the logic behind it. I wouldn't complain if somebody gave me money at work.

M: Do people value money the most today?

R: What, over everything else? Probably not. I mean, money is a medium that you can use to get the things you want. It gets you access, which is what people actually want.

M: What do young people usually spend money on?

R: Well, if I were to guess it would be technology and gadgets that get them access to greater novelty and interaction, especially hyper-social teenagers.

M: Why do young people tend to waste money?

R: Well, when you're young, you don't give much thought to the future, do you? And why should you? Immediate needs are taken care of and there's all this time to get to grips with things like consequences, so you put it off until later. Plus, they lack the knowledge and experience to make informed choices.

M: Do people in your country like to save money?

R: Well, Scottish people have this reputation for being notoriously mean, when it comes to money, though I've yet to see any actual evidence of this. I actually think we're very generous in spirit.

M: What's the best way of saving money?

R: Well, ironically, by buying the right assets, or maybe more fittingly investing it appropriately. Precious metals are always going up in price, as are certain stocks, which are pretty much recession-proof. You spend money to make it in that way, I suppose.

M: Do you think in the future people will spend more money than today?

R: Well, yes. Because there's, because of inflation. So I mean, literally, there's more money to be spent. So yes, they will. That's just a fact.

M: And who should teach children how to spend money, how to manage their money?

R: I suppose the combination of teachers and parents, really. Because parents will have different values and spending habits and priorities. And then teachers can cover the general ground like what money is used for or what it can be used for.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers! This is the end of the speaking test. Hey, let's go wild and crazy!

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Discussion

M: So money, money. Yeah, some people say money, money, but we say money, money. And what should we remember about this word?

R: What should we remember about this word?

M: Money are or money is?

R: Oh, yeah, money is. Because it's uncountable. So we treat it like it's just one thing.

M: Yeah, so there is lots of money in my bag. Right? So there is. Can I say monies? They gave me a lot of monies?

R: You can. Well, you wouldn't say they gave me a lot of monies, but monies is... It's a way of talking about, I suppose different aspects of money, different amounts of money in different places. But that's like in high finance. That's not something you would say usually.

M: Rory uses his super strategy. I'm hardly an expert, but contactless payments. Contactless

R: Contactless payments. Yeah, when you just wave your card around and it pays for things.

M: Do you really call it like this? Contactless payments?

R: Contactless, yeah. What do you mean? What do you call it? Paying by card?

M: Yeah, pay by card.

R: Yeah.

M: Okay, you can pay by card, also you can pay by cash or in cash or with cash?

R: Pay with or pay in.

M: Ah, so pay in cash, pay with cash or you pay by card, dear listener, alright? So pay by card. Or you can be so cool, as cool as Rory and say contactless, contactless, contactless. I can't even...

R: Contactless.

M: Contact. Okay, so it's contact. Contactless, contactless. So you kind of in the exam, you rehearse... No! Pay by card! If you can't pronounce it, feel free to do that. contactless payments are more secure, safer, more secure, and also Rory used this, it's better than having to haul around a load of cash. So what happens if you haul, haul around cash?

R: It just means that you have lots of it. That's all.

M: Yeah. So you have like, so much cash, and you just like, carry it with you. Not really good. You can cancel your cards, if they get stolen. So, your cards could get stolen, somebody can steal your cards, not your card, somebody else's cards, so you can cancel your cards. And really, if you think about it, so people carry so little cash these days, everything is like contactless, right, Rory?

R: Yeah.

M: Do people in Scotland carry cash or you don't have cash at all?

R: No, I think most people these days, at least where you can have the choice, they only have cards and they pay by contactless.

M: And is it true that in Europe, for example, if you want to buy something with cash, it's not possible? So they accept only cards, and they don't accept cash.

R: There were places like this. I don't know if it's still the case. I've never been in a place that's been like that.

M: Because I've heard stories about Germany. So if you're a German listener, let us know that in some places in Germany, I can't pay with cash. They just don't accept cash.

R: Really?

M: Yeah, I've heard, I've heard some stories.

R: Okay. Well, I've never been in that position before. But then I suppose I've usually been paying with contactless, so I've maybe not been paying attention.

M: Interesting. So that's an interesting question. So we're getting even more digitalized. If we are deemed to do something, or something is deemed to be, what does it mean?

R: If it's seen as or in... But not with eyes, it's like deemed would be like, it's like in the eyes of society, or socially, as opposed to, you don't actually see something, you just understand it to be inappropriate.

M: So for example, it could be inappropriate. So it could be not appropriate to give money as a gift at work. That's an interesting example. So at work, for instance, giving money as gifts could be deemed inappropriate. Right? Also, you can say like, to give your colleague a gift of money. This is nice. To give money as a gift or to give your colleague a gift of money. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. So kind of oh, you earn so little. Here you are, darling. Get yourself some coffee.

R: Seems like a bit condescending, to be honest with you.

M: It's like the same like, perhaps if you give some soap or shampoo to somebody, this somebody may think, oh, yeah, I stink? I need to wash myself more often. It's a bit strange, what people might think. Then we spend money on something. Can I spend money for something?

R: I would just go with on.

M: On, right? So dear listener, it's on. So spend money on and usually it's kind of spend on so I spend money on clothes on shoes, people spend money on horrible things they don't need. And also, so we spend money, we waste money, right? Also on? I waste money on shoes. No, no, no. I invest money in shoes. It's an investment. Whatever I buy, it's an investment. All right? So for example, you bought, you spent money on this podcast, so you invested in your education. Dear listener, did you know that? It's a nice quality investment. And then people spend money on technology, gadgets. What did you say about hyper-social teenagers?

R: Ah, hyper-social like just means that you're really, really social. More than normal, which teenagers usually are. And with each other, not necessarily with adults. And then, because of this, they want more access to interaction and novelty because it gives them stuff to talk about during their interactions.

M: Yeah, and then novelty, right? So something new, so they usually spend money on novelty, like new games. To get to grips. That's a nice collocation. Actually, idiomatic language. To get to grips.

R: That just means to understand something, though, or fully understand something,

M: And then you put it off until later. So you are like, I don't want to do it today. I'm gonna put it off till tomorrow, or until later, till later. Till later.

R: Yeah, just delay a little bit.

M: And people waste money because they can't make informed choices.

R: But that's just like a special kind of choice where you have information.

M: It was nice when you talked about Scottish people, and how they save money. And Rory said like, oh, Scottish people are notorious for being mean. So mean, in this context is what? Stingy, yeah?

R: Yeah. It just means not sharing. Some people usually think it means to be nasty or rude. But the original meaning is to not want to spend money.

M: So Scottish people would not, for example, buy expensive gifts to each other, or would not buy drinks for each other, just, you know, just, just for fun?

R: Well, that's the myth, I suppose. But like, really, people buy drinks for each other here all the time. And in fact, people are ridiculously generous with their time and money. So I don't really know where this impression comes from.

M: So like, people are generous with the money. Or if in your country, people don't like spending money, if you say, okay, people in my country prefer saving money, or investing money in something. And what's the best way of saving money? Surely, by buying the right assets. So assets?

R: So an asset is something that increases in value over time, and doesn't create risk.

M: So by buying real estate, like houses, or by buying cars, for example, precious metals, like gold, silver, platinum. Stocks. Also Rory mentioned stocks. Certain stocks are pretty much recession-proof. So crisis-proof.

R: Yeah, there's like, oh, I was watching a video about this the other day, there's precious metals, technology, delivery companies, this kind of thing. They're all recession proof, because they're all absolutely essential services, or they're seen that way.

M: So you spend money to make even more money. Or you invest money, to again, to make money from your investments. Sweet. And make informed decisions. Rory, what other strategies have you used here? To keep going. Any second conditional strategies?

R: Things, like if I were to guess it would be. Oh, question tag. When you're young, you don't give much thought to the future, do you? And then I asked a rhetorical question. And why should you? And there was another question, yeah. When you asked do people value money the most today and I was like over everything else? So you value one thing over another.

M: Yeah. Yeah. Value money over friendship, over people, over, I don't know, your happiness. So, dear listener, now you do know how to save money. So just buy precious metals, invest in some stocks, or invest in a nice pair of shoes, or this podcast.

R: Yes. I was going to say or invest in our podcast, that would be nice. Which you already have, because you're a premium subscriber.

M: You are, so well done you. Well invested. Yeah, I think like spending money on education. That's the best investment, because education, you know, usually brings you even more money. Yeah, usually, not always. Quality education.

R: High-quality education.

M: Rory, Maria quality. Thank you very much! We wish you to have as much money as you want. And to have quality IELTS with us. See you in our next episodes!

R: Bye!

M: Bye!

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