(2024) Describe a Time When You Received Money as a Gift

Describe a time when you received money as a gift
Describe a time when you received money as a gift

You should say:
– When it happened
– Who gave you money
– Why he/she gave you money
– And explain how you used the money

I wanna talk about the time when I decided to apply to a top-notch high school / university and when I got admitted, the school / university offered me scholarship and my parents also gave me money as gift.

Being one of the most selective school/university in my city/country, it admits less than 10% of its applicants every year. To get in, I had to pass all the exams with flying colours and stand out in a group interview in English which assesses candidates’ critical thinking and communication skills.

I had a year to prepare for the exams and the interview. I knew there’s room for improvement in my study, so I really worked my ass off/ applied myself. That whole year I studied from dawn to dusk, stopped playing truant, took in everything my teachers were saying in class, buried myself in books and studied intensively until I knew the subject inside out. In order to be productive, I made myself study plans every month, breaking the long-term goal into manageable tasks and prioritizing them by jotting down a to-do-list everyday. At the end of the day, I would tick off the tasks that had been completed, which gave me a sense of achievement and kept me motivated.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing I wasn’t very good at physics at the time, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. I just couldn’t make head or tail of mechanics, I only just scraped through my final exam of physics the first year, and it really held me back. Then I turned to my tutor for help, to whom I feel so grateful, it’s because she gave me regular feedback on my work that my physics came on in leaps and bounds as a result.

The rest is history, I sailed through all the exams, passed the interview and secured a place at the university. When the result came out, I was of course over the moon. I won scholarship and received money from my parents as I said early. I think the monetary rewards were the icing on the cake.

Well, it was my last birthday and I got the money as a gift from my best friend. Actually, she was supposed to come to my birthday party on that day from another city, but you know because of the pandemic she would be put in quarantine if she came. So, she was really worried about this situation because she really want to come since we were best friends.

But then I persuaded her not to come because I think it was right for her to put her safety and also her family’s safety at first. And then she decided not to come. So on that day, I got the money from her. She couldn’t give me the actual Red Envelope of money so she sent me a red packet of money on WeChat.

It’s actually a very popular and convenient way for people in China to give others money. When the clock hit 12 am, I got the money as a gift from her right away, and she also sent me her best wishes. I got 520 Yen from her, and this number is very special actually because the pronunciation of this number in Chinese in Mandarin is similar to the pronunciation of I love you in Mandarin.

So it was really special and interesting, I was very touched and also she explained that she knew that I have already got everything I need. I mean I don’t want any luxury goods or any electronic devices. I’ve pretty much had everything I need so she thought money would be a better gift for me. I could use this money to buy things I like later.

I also think money is a very practical gift because in the past I got some gifts from other friends and I never used them. I think that was a waste. So I was very happy with this gift, and we promised each other that we would meet up as soon as the situation of pandemic got better.

Describe a Time When You Received Money as a Gift sample video

1. Why do people rarely use cash now?

Sample answer 1: Well, consumers are paying by credit cards or online payment methods because they are convenient and safe to use. Not to mention, many merchants nowadays don’t even take cash anymore.

Sample answer 2: I think this is the result of the prevalence of credit cards and digital payments, both of which are far more convenient than paying by cash. You just swipe your card during purchase or show the payment code on your phone instead of having to count out cash. In fact, a lot of hotels, airlines and rentals no longer accept cash for transactions.
Besides, there’re many benefits of paying by credit card, such as building up a strong credit score and earning points and rewards like shopping discounts, hotel stays, and frequent flyer miles. With more and more people ditching bills and coins in favor of credit and digital payments, cash may disappear completely as a form of currency one day.

2. When do children begin to comprehend the value of money?

I have no idea, probably 5 to 6 years old when they begin to be given allowance? I mean by this age children should have become aware that one has to pay money for something before taking it out of the store. Before this, they might only understand the quantities of money but not their value. For example, they may mistaken that that two dimes worth more than a quarter. Then, if parents educate their kids the value of money and cost of goods at an early age, their children probably get the idea earlier than kids without such education.

3. Should parents reward children with money?

Sample answer 1: Yes. It’s a good way to motivate children to do things like housework. At the same time, kids can learn about making money through working. It is also a good opportunity for parents to teach basic financial literacy, such as controlling spending and saving money for a rainy day.

Sample answer 2: Although some parents may think that rewarding kids with money will simply spoil them, I believe financial rewards actually work fairly well to encourage kids to repeat positive behaviors, such as completing chores and following rules, and these financial incentives can provide a great transition into money management and financial literacy.
For this to work, though, parents must know how to properly use these types of rewards. For example, rewards should be pre-planned and discussed in some detail before rolling them out, and any sort of reward should target a specific behavior or action the child performs. Also, financial rewards shouldn’t be overused because when we incentivize everything, it becomes less effective.

4. Is it good and necessary to teach children to save money?

Yes, the concept of saving for a rainy day must be passed on to children from an early age. Teaching children how to save is an important step to help them become financially responsible adults. There’s many benefits of teaching kids to save money. It helps children to understand the difference between ‘needs’ wants’, and ‘wishes?.
For example, the food they eat every day is a need whereas a shiny new bike is or a want and the latest tablet are wants that they need to save for. At the same time, it will instill the thoughts of goal setting – saving certain amounts of money as a goal to get what they want. Most importantly, they develop patience and discipline. Saving money will show them nothing is easily available, they need to earn it.

Describe a Time When You Received Money as a Gift | IELTS Speaking Part 3

Some IELTS Speaking part 2 cue-cards you may like :

Credits

Vocabulary: Cambridge Dictionary

Image : Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash

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