Speaking Part 1 · Birthdays 5 題 Band 7+ 範答 + 慶祝活動詞庫

Q1. How do you usually celebrate your birthday?

Fairly low-key these days, to be honest — I've never been a big-party person. Last year I had dinner at a small hotpot place with four close friends, got home before 11, and called it a success. My mum still insists on a family meal separately, usually a few days before or after the actual day, which is sweet and has become a quiet tradition of its own.

Q2. Did you celebrate your birthdays differently as a child?

Very differently — childhood birthdays were a genuine event. My mum would make a proper cake from scratch, invite six or seven kids from my class, and we'd play noisy games for a couple of hours. Looking back, I'm not sure I appreciated the effort she put in. Now I can barely be bothered to plan my own dinner; she used to plan the whole afternoon.

Q3. Do you usually give presents on birthdays?

To close family, always — to friends, it depends on how close we are and whether they'd actually want something. I've got a few friends where we've agreed to skip presents entirely and just do a nice dinner instead, which I honestly prefer. The gifts I'm proudest of are the ones that required me to actually pay attention, not just spend money.

Q4. What's the most memorable celebration you've had?

Probably my grandmother's 80th birthday, about six years ago. The entire extended family came back to her house in Taichung — cousins I hadn't seen in a decade, aunts from Kaohsiung — and we held a proper banquet at a local restaurant. What made it memorable wasn't the food or the speeches; it was seeing three generations in one room, which doesn't happen often anymore.

Q5. Do you think celebrations are important in modern society?

I do, actually, maybe more than they used to be. Life has got so individual and so scheduled that if you don't mark certain occasions deliberately, whole years can slip by without a proper pause. Birthdays, New Year, graduations — they force you to stop and take stock, which I think most of us need more of, not less.

Band 6: I celebrate my birthday with my family. We eat cake and have dinner. My friends give me presents.

Band 7+: Low-key these days, honestly — I'm not a big-party person. Last year I had hotpot with four close friends, got home before 11, and called it a success. My mum still insists on a separate family meal a few days later, which is sweet and has become a small tradition of its own.