Interviews

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Display these statements and have students discuss whether they agree or disagree before listening:

Agree/Disagree Statements

1. 1. “Money can make people happy.”
   2. “Lottery winners often become unhappy.”
   3. “Winning the lottery would change your life forever.”
   4. “You should always tell your family if you come into a lot of money.”
   5. “Finding money is better than winning the lottery because it’s private.”
   6. “It’s important to get professional help to manage a large amount of money.”
   7. “Having a lot of money can bring more problems than benefits.”
   8. “Telling others about your wealth can put your safety at risk.”
   9. “People without financial skills are likely to lose any large amount of money they receive.”

Students can explain their reasoning and anticipate how these ideas might come up in the interview.

Here are some words and expressions that appear in the video:

Now, watch the interview and answer the comprehension questions. You can also turn on the automatically-generated captions for the video once you start it.

Randall: In this video, Aubrey, let’s talk about a topic we all love to talk about and that is money. And just imagine it . . . Just imagine, for example, that you discovered . . . . either you discovered in the backyard. You know, there was a buried box of money. Uh, no one seems to have claimed it, or just let’s go to a situation where you win the lottery and you come across, no matter what the case is, legally, you come across a huge amount of money. The question is, would you tell your family? Why or why not?

Aubrey: I guess those are two completely different questions because winners of the lottery are published. That’s public information. So it’s hard to hide that if people are looking for it, especially if you win big.

Randall: Yeah.Well . . .

Aubrey: If you find money, you said legally, right?

Randall: Right. Legally?

Aubrey: Well, I guess technically you don’t have to tell your family, but you definitely have to tell the government because other than otherwise, that’s illegal. The IRS wants to tax you on stuff. You’re legally supposed to pay taxes on all your illegal activities, too, which is interesting. Um, but would I tell you guys?

Randall: Yeah. Just you came across. You came into a lot of money. Let’s just say. Well, I don’t know. Let’s just say $10 million.

Aubrey: Oh, well, that would definitely be obvious.

Randall: Yeah, but you know what? Who would you tell? Why would you tell? Imagine people are not watching and . . . and keeping track of who is winning money here and there.

Aubrey: Would you? I Suddenly have a paid for car; I’d probably move out of the place I’m renting.

Randall: Okay, but to what degree? Yeah. I mean, would you publish it on Facebook or Instagram or. . . ? Okay, so who would you tell? Who would . . . Who would be the first person you told?

Aubrey: Probably my dog. Like, “Hey, Bemo, we just won it big, buddy!

Randall: You might get him some additional treats and so forth.

Aubrey: And then I guess I’d better tell you, because I think I owe you some money.

Randall: Well, let me ask.

Aubrey: You probably want to know about it.

Randall: Well, what could be the dangers? Uh, certainly you could use that money for good, but what could be some dangers of telling the wrong people?

Aubrey: Well, I think, statistically speaking, like lottery winners tend to end up broken and miserable, [Yeah] right? And some of it’s because of the way people treat them. You know, you got people coming out of the woodwork that maybe you never talk to that now want money?

Randall: Yeah, I I think it would be . . .

Aubrey: And you know, you’ve got all this money, but you don’t have the skills to manage it.

Randall: Yeah.

Aubrey: So then it’s gone.

Randall: Yeah, I probably tell a lawyer, maybe get a lawyer, help a financial advisor.

Aubrey: Yeah.

Randall: Someone to help manage that because I don’t know. Yeah, that would be delicate because there would be, for some people, a certain expectation now that you have money, therefore this and this.

Aubrey: To do X, Y, and Z. Yeah.

Randall: Yeah. And I don’t think that would be . . .

Aubrey: Now that you have money, you’re going to pay me back, right? The stuff that I for sure actually for realsies let you? I guess that’s fair.

Randall: Yeah. But I, I just think that sometimes. Would you tell family? I don’t think I could hide it that well. I mean, imagine you came . . .  You won $500 million and. Yeah, I guess, you know, you could always say, “No, I’m going to live the same lifestyle. Nothing’s going to change.” But I’m sorry. You know, probably for me. I’m . . . I’m going to retire. At least from teaching. I at least I would think about it. And then you guys would probably say, “Well, why did you do that, Dad?” And then all of a sudden, you see out in the front. Maybe I have, uh, a new yellow . . .

Aubrey: A Jeep that you wanted?

Randall: A Jeep. And I got my new Jeep and so forth, and you’d probably think, okay, I think there’s something going on, but.

Aubrey: So now that you’ve got all this money, I think our Christmas presents need to be bigger.

Randall: All right, well, thank you, Aubrey, for . . . And what?

Aubrey: Oh, well, I was just going to say, you know, because obviously now. So it’s $500 million, right? This is this pre- or post-tax money?

Randall: Yeah. Yeah. With that amount of money, I’m I’m not going to count a few million.

Aubrey: It doesn’t matter.

Randall: It doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter at all. Alright. Well, thank you, Aubrey. Uh, let’s just hope one of us comes into some money and again, just be looking out for that yellow Jeep in the driveway.

Aubrey: I’ll look forward to my bigger Christmas presents.

Intermediate Level

1. If you won $10 million, who would you tell first? Why?
2. Do you agree with Aubrey that lottery winners often become unhappy? Why or why not?
3. What changes would you make in your life if you suddenly had a lot of money?

Advanced Level

1. What ethical considerations would you face if you found a large amount of money? How would you handle them?
2. Aubrey mentions that lottery winners often lack the skills to manage their money. What financial skills do you think are essential to avoid such problems?
3. How might suddenly becoming wealthy affect your relationships with family and friends, both positively and negatively?

The following activities deal with related topics to give you additional language practice.

• • The Value of Money – Interview