IELTS Speaking Lesson about Money Flashcards
Warm Up Questions
Speak out your answer to the following questions!
Are you good at saving money?
Did you save money as a child?
Is money important?
Essential Money Vocabulary
By careful to use the right collocations when learning and practicing
new vocabulary.
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See the examples below. We start with the most common mistake…
I gain money X ☹
I earn money 😁 (by working / by adding value)
I win money 😁 (by gambling at a casino)
The following are more collocations and expressions you may use
with ‘money’.
You can make money, if you invest wisely
You can earn a fortune, if you are lucky
You can donate money (to charity)
The following 4 expressions mean
“He spends a lot”
He is a spendthrift
He spends money like nobody’s business
She spends money like there is no tomorrow
He has more money than sense
The following expressions mean
“It was expensive”
It cost an arm and a leg
It cost a fortune
I paid over the odds
I paid through the nose
They charged an exorbitant price
These expressions can be used to say something is cheap.
It is going for a song
It is dirt cheap (=very cheap)
It is dead (=very) cheap
It is cheap as chips
Buying Expensive Things
The following are all related to spending a lot of money
I like to fork out on gifts
I like splash out on clothes
I am happy to dig deep (into my pockets) and buy expensive things, if they are value for money.
I often splurge out on new books
I tend to spend lavishly when it comes to clothes shopping
The following are all related to NOT spending a lot of money
- Yes, but I need to keep an eye on my wallet
- No, I can’t afford it
- No, I am a bit strapped for cash at the moment
(= don’t have much money) - I am on a tight budget at the moment
- I am on a shoestring budget(= don’t have much money)
- No, I am quite frugal / thrifty (=careful with money)
Expensive Activities
What activities would you say are expensive?
Some sports need pricey equipment, like golf, paragliding, scubadiving.
Travelling can be expensive, especially if you go in first class.
International travel can cost a lot too.
Taking a holiday can cost an arm and a leg, especially when you stay in 5 star hotels Collecting things (e.g. classic cars, antiques in general…) can be expensive
More Idioms About Money
The following are all idiomatic expressions or idioms on the topic of
money.
Which of the following are true for you?
* I am a bargain hunter (= like looking for things that are good value for money)
* I love to splash out when I go shopping for clothes
I like to save for a rainy day
*Right now, I know someone who is living on a shoestring
*I don’t have enough money to make ends meet (= to get by or to survive)
*We had to live from hand to mouth (=had little money)
*I am strapped for cash these days (=have little money)
*He’s rolling in it (=he is very rich/ he is loaded)
* I am going to splash / fork out on a new computer
(=spend a lot of money)
Sample Answers to Student’s Questions
Keith, do you think it is ok to lend money to friends or family
members?
A:
Well, I think, by and large, I think, it’s absolutely fine to lend money to friends or family members.
I know some people have reservations about doing that, but for me
friends and family members, when they are in need or if they need a
helping hand, then, you know, I think we should be the first person to help them out.
So, if a…., my brother or my sister asks for money, I would probably go
ahead and lend it to them. Provided, I had enough money to do that, I mean, I wouldn’t put myself in debt and go into the red in order to help them by lending them money.
So, it would have to be some money I had put away or put aside and
then I were free to use and help them out.
So, for me, I think it’s absolutely fine to do that.
Keith, is money everything to you?
OK, not at all, by no means, by no stretches of the imagination.
Whilst on the one hand, I think money is important, we need enough money to buy clothes and food and to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle and may be it’s nice to splash out every once in a while and treat yourself to something special, maybe, some clothes or something similar, but for me, certainly money is not everything.
I think, there are much more important things in life, such as
relationships with friends and family, enjoying the little things or the little moments in life.
I know it’s a bit of the cliché, but smelling the flowers, a beautiful
view, watching a funny moment where the kitten is rolling on the floor
playing with the wool.
Those are also very important things.
So, whilst I think money is important, it’s not the most important thing
for me.
Keith, is it good to buy products from famous brands?
OK, I am not one for buying famous brands, partly, because they are
so expensive, but also because expensive things are no guarantee of
high quality.
Sometimes, you can fork out a lot of money on an expensive brand
and end up being really disappointed with the shabby quality of the product that you get.
Now, if you are very rich and somebody who spends money like there is no tomorrow, then it’s absolutely fine to buy products with famous brands.
In fact, I think, a lot of those people don’t care so much about the
quality, but rather they focus on showing off the brand to other
people.
It’s almost like a status symbol and so, I guess, in some respects, you
are paying for that status symbol, rather than paying for the quality of
the item that you are buying.
So, as with many questions, it depends on who is doing the
purchasing
