Learn how to make a money transfer in Germany
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here. Upper intermediate season 1, lesson 15. Transferring German money because it’s fun. Hello and welcome to Germanpod101.com. The fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn German. |
| Judith: I’m Judith and thanks again for being here with us for this upper immediate season 1 lesson. |
| Chuck: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to make a money transfer in Germany. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place at a German bank. |
| Chuck: The conversation is between Frank and a bank employee. |
| Judith: The speakers are in a business relationship. Therefore they’ll be speaking formal German. |
| Chuck: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jones: Entschuldigung…. Ich möchte Geld überweisen, aber irgendwie geht das nicht… |
| Bank: Ja, das geht nicht, weil der Automat kaputt ist. |
| Jones: Hmm, aber ich muss die Überweisung unbedingt heute machen, da sonst mein Strom abgestellt wird …. |
| Bank: Sie können die Überweisung auch schriftlich machen…. |
| Jones: Schriftlich? Was heißt das? |
| Bank: Ich gebe Ihnen einen Überweisungsträger. Den füllen Sie aus und geben ihn bei mir ab…. |
| Jones: Okay, dann mache ich das. Können Sie mir dabei helfen, denn ich habe noch nie so einen…äh...Träger ausgefüllt … |
| Bank: Ja, natürlich. |
| Bank: Also, zuerst der Name des Empfängers, darunter seine Kontonummer und die Bankleitzahl…. |
| Jones: Okay, weiter… |
| Bank: Jetzt das Kreditinstitut… |
| Jones: Das was? |
| Bank: Das ist die Bank des Empfängers… |
| Jones: Ach so…wieso steht dann da nicht einfach „Bank“… |
| Bank: Jetzt der Geldbetrag. |
| Jones: Ah, das Wort kenne ich! |
| Bank: Äh, aber Sie müssen die Zahl mit einem Komma schreiben! |
| Jones: Oh, stimmt. Daran habe ich jetzt nicht gedacht… |
| Bank: Jetzt der Verwendungszweck …Haben Sie eine Rechnungsnummer oder eine Kundennummer? |
| Jones: Ja, beides. |
| Bank: Dann schreiben Sie das dort hin. |
| Jones: Okay. |
| Bank: So, und jetzt noch Ihren Namen und Kontonummer. Nicht das Datum und Ihre Unterschrift vergessen, weil ich die Überweisung sonst nicht ausführen kann …. |
| Jones: So, geschafft! Vielen Dank für Ihre Hilfe! |
| Bank: Kein Problem! |
| Jones: Excuse me...I'd like to transfer some money, but somehow it's not working. |
| Bank: Yes, it's not working because the machine is busted. |
| Jones: Hmm, but I really need to make this transfer today, otherwise my electricity's getting shut off. |
| Bank: You can do the transfer on paper instead. |
| Jones: On paper? What does that mean? |
| Bank: I'll give you a transfer form. Just fill it out, and give it back to me. |
| Jones: Okay, I'll do that. Can you help me with it? I've never filled out such a form before. |
| Bank: Yes, of course |
| Bank: First, the recipient's name, and then his account number under that, and the Bank number. |
| Jones: Ok, what's next? |
| Bank: Now the financial institution. |
| Jones: The what? |
| Bank: That's the bank of the recipient. |
| Jones: Ahh, why doesn't it simply say "Bank" then... |
| Bank: Now the amount. |
| Jones: Oh, I know that word! |
| Bank: Ah, but you have to write the number with a comma! |
| Jones: Oh, that's right. I hadn't thought of that... |
| Bank: Now the purpose of the transfer. Do you have a bill number or an account number? |
| Jones: Yes, both. |
| Bank: Then write them there. |
| Jones: Okay. |
| Bank: So, now your name and account number. Don't forget the date and your signature, because otherwise I can't perform the transfer. |
| Jones: Ok, done! Thanks for your help! |
| Bank: No problem! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: Okay, maybe we should talk about the different forms of money and how they are used in Germany because it’s quite different from the States. |
| Chuck: Alright sounds good. |
| Judith: For example, checks are not used anymore and they cost a lot to cash in. |
| Chuck: They are pretty much considered obsolete here. |
| Judith: Yes definitely. |
| Chuck: Last time I cashed it, I wonder what, $15? |
| Judith: Yes it’s very, very normal. Whenever I get checks from Amazon or whatever, yeah I pay for 15 Euros or so. I mean that’s from overseas, but still. Instead of that, we are using wire transfer. This is a standard method of giving larger sums of money to friends, or to business who send you a product along with invoice to you, send them a wire transfer. You only need to know the bank account number and the bank number for this. |
| Chuck: Note that this is actually free, well or cheap within all of Europe, depending on your bank, it’s usually free. |
| Judith: And there is also the possibility of wire drawing. I mean, an alternative to wire transfers where you allow businesses to just draw the money from your account and for this they only need to know your bank account number and bank number but to prevent abuse, not everyone can draw money like that. Smaller businesses probably won’t be able to offer that. For large online businesses, it’s essential. |
| Chuck: Then, there’s credit cards but credit cards are a lot less common here than in the States but some people have them for the purpose of buying from North American sellers, when they go abroad. A lot of people use them to buy gas too at gas stations. |
| Judith: Or a debit card. Everyone has one or several debit cards. They come with your bank account and they are used much like credit cards are used in the States for example to pay your purchase at the store or also to get money anywhere in Europe of course. |
| Chuck: Yes when I was recently in Netherlands I just pulled out my debit card and got money out, it was no problem. |
| Judith: And of course cash. Cash is still the most common way to pay and everyone has to accept it. Germans typically carry around maybe 100 to 200 Euros worth of cash in their wallet. It’s particularly important to have cash for some restaurants or cafes that don’t accept debit cards and also for smaller purchases. A lot of places do not allow debit card payments for purchase of less than 10 Euros to avoid fees. |
| Chuck: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word is? |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: [überweisen] |
| Chuck: To transfer or refer. |
| Judith: [überweisen] |
| Chuck: Next? |
| Judith: [Automat] |
| Chuck: Automate or machine. |
| Judith: [Automat, der] and the plural is [Automaten] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Strom] |
| Chuck: Electricity or stream. |
| Judith: [Strom, der] and the plural is [Ströme] but only in meaning of streams. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [abstellen] |
| Chuck: To put down or to shut down. |
| Judith: [abstellen] and the [ab] splits off. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [schriftlich] |
| Chuck: Written or in writing. |
| Judith: [schriftlich] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Träger] |
| Chuck: Carrier or porter. |
| Judith: [Träger, der] and the plural is the same. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Empfänger] |
| Chuck: Recipient or receiver. |
| Judith: [Empfänger, der] and the plural is the same. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Bankleitzahl] |
| Chuck: Bank code or bank number. |
| Judith: [Bankleitzahl, die] and the plural is [Bankleitzahlen]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Kreditinstitut] |
| Chuck: Financial institution. |
| Judith: [Kreditinstitut, das] and the plural is [Kreditinstitute]. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: [Betrag] |
| Chuck: Figure or sum. |
| Judith: [Betrag, der] and the plural is [Betrage] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Komma] |
| Chuck: Comma. |
| Judith: [Komma, neutral] is a Greek plural [Kommata]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Verwendung]. |
| Chuck: Usage. |
| Judith: [Verwendung, die] and the plural is [Zweck]. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: [Zweck, der] |
| Chuck: Purpose. |
| Judith: [Zweck, der] and the plural is [Zwecke]. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: [ausführen]. |
| Chuck: To execute or do. |
| Judith: [ausführen] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Chuck: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Judith: The first word is [die Überweisung], it’s of course the noun based on [überweisen] can mean transfer and is used in the sense of to wire money here. And [die Überweisung] is one wire transfer. Also we can look at [der Träger], can be any personal thing that carries something and is used in very different context. For example a person offering to carry your luggage is of course a [Träger] but there is also a carrying beam that holds up the ceiling which is called a [Träger] or a foundation offering to carry the cost of construction is called a [Träger] or as we have here, a piece of paper that carries the information on this wire transfer. |
| Chuck: Think I also saw something about that in a clothing store too. No? |
| Judith: Oh yes, [Träger] is a…what do you call it? These things that hold up your cloths. |
| Chuck: Straps? |
| Judith: Yes. Like a [Spaghetti Träger] is spaghetti straps. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: Oh yes. The focus of this lesson is sub-clauses. This lesson is mostly review lesson but I also want to draw your attention to the causal sub clauses in today’s dialogue. |
| Judith: Here we’ve seen three different ways of introducing a reason. The words [da, weil] and [denn] |
| Chuck: These three German words are almost synonymous. They are all used to introduce a reason. |
| Judith: Yes, let’s talk about them one by one. [weil] is the most common. It’s like because and is usually found in the middle of a sentence. It’s not so often used at the beginning. |
| Chuck: [da] is what you’ll find at the beginning of a sentence but not exclusively there. |
| Judith: Yes and then there is [denn] is less common and mostly used for inherently logical arguments. Something you don’t want to use yourself probably. |
Outro |
| Chuck: So if you are starting a sentence use [da] and otherwise use [weil]. Any questions? Leave us a comment. Well that just about does it for today. |
| Judith: Ready to test what you just learned? |
| Chuck: No I meant for them, if they have questions to put on the comments. Okay, make this lesson’s vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flash cards. |
| Judith: There is a reason everyone uses flash cards. |
| Chuck: They work. |
| Judith: They really do help memorization. |
| Chuck: You’ll get flashcards for this lesson at |
| Judith: germanpod101.com. |
| Chuck: Alright, see you next week. |
| Judith: [Also bis nächste Woche]. |
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