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Talking about gifts

Episode 250425 / 25 Apr 2025

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

This podcast is one year old! Beth and Neil celebrate and have a real conversation in easy English about gifts. Learn to talk about giving and receiving presents, and what you do when you don't like a gift.

Vocabulary

it's the thought that counts
an expression used to say that thinking to get someone a gift is more important than what the gift is

return (a gift)
take a gift back to the place where somebody bought it

exchange (a gift)
take a gift back to the shop and get something else instead

gift card
a card with a specific amount of money on that can be spent in a specific shop

visit
go to a place for a short time

Transcript

Beth
Hello and welcome to Real Easy English. In this podcast, we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Beth.

Neil
And I'm Neil. And you can see a video version of this podcast on our website, where you will also find a worksheet to help you, bbclearningenglish.com.

Beth
Hello Neil. How are you today?

Neil
I'm very well, Beth. Thank you. I'm excited, actually. We have balloons in the studio because we're having a bit of a celebration.

Beth
We are. It's a very special day. It is the first birthday of Real Easy English, so I'm actually going to blow up this last balloon.

Neil
Yeah. Go on, go on. Big red balloon. That means we're ready for the party.

Beth
Yeah. Give me one sec. OK! Let's go. So to celebrate this week we're going to talk about gifts.

Neil
Amazing. Let's get started.

Beth
Neil. Do you like buying gifts?

Neil
Good question. Yes and no. So, I don't like the first part when I'm thinking about what to buy for someone.

Beth
Right.

Neil
But then sometimes when I get a good idea for a really good gift for someone, I get excited. And then I do like buying gifts.

Beth
Yeah, I think that makes sense. If it's something where a person you don't know what to buy for them, like you're going to end up with flowers or chocolates, I don't think that's very exciting. But if there's a person you know 'absolutely they are going to love this present' then I think buying is really exciting.

Neil
Now, receiving gifts is also good fun, isn't it?

Beth
Yeah.

Neil
Do you like receiving gifts?

Beth
Yeah, I enjoy receiving gifts. Of course, it depends on what the present is. But then I'm always very thankful, anyway, that I've been given a gift. No matter what it is.

Neil
It's the thought that counts, isn't it?

Beth
It is. It's the thought that counts. What does that mean?

Neil
It means that it's really nice that somebody has thought about you. And that's more important than the actual gift that they have given you.

Beth
Yeah. Yeah. There's quite a common expression when we're opening presents. Do you like receiving gifts?

Neil
I love receiving gifts. Who doesn't like getting presents?

Beth
I feel like you're expecting a gift now. I don't have one for you. Sorry.

Neil
What kind of gifts do you not like?

Beth
That's a good question. I don't like receiving clothes. Sometimes I've been given clothes as a present. And they might be something that, like, I wouldn't choose, but often they don't fit, like something that is way too big for me or way too small, and then you end up having to return it, maybe exchange it for something else. So I think clothes aren't the best idea unless the person buying really knows you and your style. What about you?

Neil
I have returned a gift.

Beth
Yeah.

Neil
Usually something like clothes. And if it's from a family member, I think you can be more open about not liking it.

Beth
Do you normally return and get the money, the cash, so you can buy anything you like or do you exchange?

Neil
I think I prefer to exchange because then at least you're getting something from the person. It's in the same kind of area that, that they were thinking about when they bought the gift. They didn't quite get it right, but it still, you know, it feels good.

Beth
Neil, what do you think about gift cards? Now, gift cards are like a voucher that you get to spend money in a specific shop.

Neil
Yeah, gift cards are easy, aren't they? Because the person that you give it to can make the choice. And that's the difficult thing.

Beth
I was given a gift card once for a jewellery shop that is quite expensive, and I was given a £50 gift card, which is a lot of money. But there wasn't really anything I wanted to buy from there. So I think with a gift card, it depends on the place again. I couldn't really do anything with this gift card, to be honest.

Neil
Yeah.

Beth
I was still grateful, though.

Neil
I'm sure, because it's the thought that counts.

Beth
Exactly. It's the thought that counts.

Neil
Let's recap the vocabulary we've heard in this podcast, starting with it's the thought that counts. Which means that it's more important somebody thought about you than the actual gift itself.

Beth
And we had gift card or gift voucher. That's a card with a specific amount of money on that can be spent in a specific shop.

Neil
If you return a gift, it means you take it back to the place where somebody bought it from.

Beth
And if you exchange a gift, then you return it to the shop, but you get something else from that shop instead.

Neil
That's it for this episode of Real Easy English. Try the worksheet on our website and you can practice what you learned. That's bbclearningenglish.com.

Beth
And we hope that you're enjoying this podcast. Send us what you think to our email address. learningenglish@bbc.co.uk.

Neil
And next time we'll be talking about mistakes. See you then.

Beth
Bye.

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