Learn about exchanging currency
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Exchanging money in Spain is quite convenient. One can change money at bank offices in airports, banks, exchange offices, or withdraw money from an ATM. |
| Rates applied when withdrawing money from an ATM are likely to be quite good. However, when using an ATM, it is advisable to make one lots withdrawal as you may be charged by both the local bank and your home one. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| So, first things first, let’s find a location that will exchange money. |
| First, let’s review some previous phrases and patterns we’ve already covered. |
| In Spanish, “Is there an ATM near here?” is ¿Hay un cajero cerca? |
| ¿Hay un cajero cerca? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: ¿Hay un cajero cerca? |
| And now, let’s hear it once again, ¿Hay un cajero cerca? |
| The first word, hay, means “there is.” |
| hay |
| This is followed by un, which in Spanish is “a” for masculine singular. |
| un |
| Let’s take a look at the next word, cajero, which means “ATM.” |
| ca-je-ro |
| And one more time, cajero. |
| Finally, we have cerca, which means “near.” |
| Let’s break it down: cer-ca. |
| And hear it one more time, cerca. |
| So, all together we have, ¿Hay un cajero cerca? |
| Literally, this means “Is there an ATM near?” but we translate it as “Is there an ATM closeby?” |
| Now, to ask for a bank, we can just replace the word for ATM with bank and the phrase works just fine. |
| Is there a bank near here? is ¿Hay un banco cerca? |
| ¿Hay un banco cerca? |
| The only thing that changes is the thing you are looking for. In this case, it’s banco. |
| Let’s break down this word and hear it one more time: ban-co. |
| And banco. |
| For times when there is neither a bank or an ATM, you can ask, “Where can I exchange currency?” which is ¿Dónde puedo cambiar divisas? |
| ¿Dónde puedo cambiar divisas? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: ¿Dón-de pue-do cam-biar di-vi-sas? |
| And now, let’s hear it once again, ¿Dónde puedo cambiar divisas? |
| The firs word, dónde, means “where.” |
| dónde |
| This is followed by puedo, which in Spanish is “I can.” |
| puedo |
| Let’s break it down by syllable and hear it once again: puedo. |
| And puedo. |
| Then we have cambiar, which means “to change” and “to exchange.” |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: cam-biar. |
| And hear it once again, cambiar. |
| So, to recap here, we have - Dónde puedo cambiar… |
| Literally, this means “Where can I exchange…” |
| Finally, we have divisas, which in Spanish means “foreign currency.” |
| divisas |
| And one more time, divisas. |
| So, all together, we have - ¿Dónde puedo cambiar divisas? |
| Literally, this means “Where can I exchange foreign currency?” |
| Exchanging currency is pretty straightforward. You need to fill out some forms and then present the amount you want to exchange it. |
| One extremely useful phrase is “Smaller denominations please” as it is usually beneficial to have smaller amounts of currency on you for paying for the bus fare or the taxi fare, etc. |
| In Spanish, “Smaller denominations please” is En billetes pequeños por favor. |
| En billetes pequeños por favor. |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: En bi-lle-tes pe-que-ños por fa-vor. |
| Now, let’s hear it once again, En billetes pequeños por favor. |
| The first word, en, means “in.” |
| en |
| This is followed by billetes, which in Spanish is “note.” |
| billetes |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: bi-lle-tes. |
| And once again, billetes. |
| Next, we have pequeños, which in Spanish is “small.” |
| pequeños |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: pe-que-ños. |
| And let’s hear it once again, pequeños. |
| So, to recap here, we have - En billetes pequeños… |
| Literally, this means “In small notes…” |
| Let’s take a look at the next two words, por favor, which mean “please.” |
| por favor |
| Finally, you can also use the phrase, “Break this” to indicate you would like smaller amounts of the currency. |
| In Spanish, “Break this please” is Cámbiemelo por favor. |
| Cámbiemelo por favor. |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: Cám-bie-me-lo por fa-vor. |
| And now, let’s hear it once again, Cámbiemelo por favor. |
| The first word, cám-bie-me-lo means “you change it to me.” |
| Let’s break down this word and hear it one more time: cám-bie-me-lo. |
| And cámbiemelo. |
| This is followed by por favor, which in Spanish is “please.” |
| por favor |
Outro |
|---|
| Okay, to close out today’s lesson, we'd like for you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for saying it aloud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so buena suerte, that means “good luck” in Spanish. |
| Okay, here we go! |
| “Is there an ATM near here?” - ¿Hay un cajero cerca? |
| ¿Hay un cajero cerca? |
| ¿Hay un cajero cerca? |
| “Is there a bank near here?” - ¿Hay un banco cerca? |
| ¿Hay un banco cerca? |
| ¿Hay un banco cerca? |
| “Where can I exchange currency?” - ¿Dónde puedo cambiar divisas? |
| ¿Dónde puedo cambiar divisas? |
| ¿Dónde puedo cambiar divisas? |
| “Smaller denominations please.” - En billetes pequeños por favor. |
| En billetes pequeños por favor. |
| En billetes pequeños por favor. |
| “Break this please.” - Cámbiemelo por favor. |
| Cámbiemelo por favor. |
| Cámbiemelo por favor. |
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