Learn how to exchange money in Germany
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Judith: Hello [ich heiße Judith] Judith. |
| Chuck: Hi I’m Chuck. |
| Judith: [Sie hören GermanPod101.com] |
| Chuck: You’re listening to GermanPod101.com. This is the new beginner series lesson 6. |
| Judith: [Willkommen zurück] |
| Chuck: Welcome Back. |
| Judith: It’s great to have you back for another beginner lesson. |
| Chuck: Hope you like the series so far. It’s very important to us that you our listeners are happy with the podcasts. |
| Judith: If you have any suggestions for how we can improve, Please post them in the forum, that’s also a way that you can discuss German, and Germany with your fellow listeners, and request lessons on particular topics. |
| Chuck: Just click on the forum button underneath the big GermanPod101 logo, and you don’t need to create a user account, just login with your regular GermanPod101 username and password. |
| Judith: I’d love to see you there. |
| Chuck: Me too. All right, so what’re we going to learn today? |
| Judith: Today we will learn how to exchange money. If you’re coming to Germany from outside Europe, or even from the united kingdom, then you will need to get some Euros. |
| Chuck: Even if you’re coming from Denmark. All right, let’s listen. |
| DIALOGUE |
| P: Guten Tag! Kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| A: Ja. Ich möchte Geld wechseln. |
| P: Wie viel? |
| A: Ich habe hier 200 Dollar und ich brauche deutsche Mark… |
| P: Mark? Da hätten Sie vor ein paar Jahren kommen sollen. Es gibt keine DMark mehr. |
| A: Nicht? Womit bezahlen die Leute dann hier? |
| P: Natürlich mit Euros. |
| A: Ach ja. Also möchte ich 200 Dollar in Euro umtauschen. |
| P: Das sind 154 Euro und 82 Cent, minus 4 Euro Umtauschgebühr. |
| A: Hmm, das ist nicht genug, ich brauche mehr. Nehmen Sie auch diesen Reisescheck an? |
| P: Ja. Bitte unterschreiben Sie hier. |
| A: Bitte. |
| P: So, dann kriegen Sie insgesamt 420 EUR. |
| A: Vielen Dank. Auf Wiedersehen! |
| Judith: Now slowly |
| P: Guten Tag! Kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| A: Ja. Ich möchte Geld wechseln. |
| P: Wie viel? |
| A: Ich habe hier 200 Dollar und ich brauche deutsche Mark… |
| P: Mark? Da hätten Sie vor ein paar Jahren kommen sollen. Es gibt keine DMark mehr. |
| A: Nicht? Womit bezahlen die Leute dann hier? |
| P: Natürlich mit Euros. |
| A: Ach ja. Also möchte ich 200 Dollar in Euro umtauschen. |
| P: Das sind 154 Euro und 82 Cent, minus 4 Euro Umtauschgebühr. |
| A: Hmm, das ist nicht genug, ich brauche mehr. Nehmen Sie auch diesen Reisescheck an? |
| P: Ja. Bitte unterschreiben Sie hier. |
| A: Bitte. |
| P: So, dann kriegen Sie insgesamt 420 EUR. |
| A: Vielen Dank. Auf Wiedersehen! |
| Judith: Now with the translation. Guten Tag! Kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| Chuck: Good day, can I help you? |
| Judith: Ja. Ich möchte Geld wechseln. |
| Chuck: Yes, I’d like to change money. |
| Judith: Wie viel? |
| Chuck: How much? |
| Judith: Ich habe hier 200 Dollar und ich brauche deutsche Mark… |
| Chuck: I have 200$ here and I need German Marks. |
| Judith: Mark? Da hätten Sie vor ein paar Jahren kommen sollen. |
| Chuck: Marks, then you should have come a few years ago. |
| Judith: Es gibt keine DMark mehr. |
| Chuck: There aren’t any German Marks anymore. |
| Judith: Nicht? Womit bezahlen die Leute dann hier? |
| Chuck: No, How do the people pay here? |
| Judith: Natürlich mit Euros. |
| Chuck: Of course with Euros. |
| Judith: Ach ja. Also möchte ich 200 Dollar in Euro umtauschen. |
| Chuck: Oh yeah, then I’d like to change 200$ into Euros. |
| Judith: Das sind 154 Euro und 82 Cent, minus 4 Euro Umtauschgebühr. |
| Chuck: That’s 154 Euros and 82 cents minus 4 Euros change fee. |
| Judith: Hmm, das ist nicht genug, ich brauche mehr. |
| Chuck: That’s not enough I need more. |
| Judith: Nehmen Sie auch diesen Reisescheck an? |
| Chuck: Could you also take this traveller’s check? |
| Judith: Ja. Bitte unterschreiben Sie hier. |
| Chuck: Yes, please sign here. |
| Judith: Bitte. |
| Chuck: Here you go. |
| Judith: So, dann kriegen Sie insgesamt 420 EUR. |
| Chuck: Okay, so you get in total 420 Euros. |
| Judith: Vielen Dank. Auf Wiedersehen! |
| Chuck: Thank you very much, goodbye. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Chuck: Well, so what was that about Marks? |
| Judith: Well, as you may remember Germany used to have Mark and [Pfennige] as a currency. |
| Chuck: What’s a [Pfennige]? |
| Judith: [Pfennige] is 1/100 of a Mark. So 100 are one Mark, however now we have Euros and cents. 100 cents are one Euro. The switch was made on January 1st 2002. Everybody was first able to get some Euros cash, before that only the banks were calculating in Euros. And so, people had a two month period for everything to change. A lot of people were worried about the introduction of the Euro because the Mark was a very strong and stable currency, and other European currencies like the Italian Lira were not. |
| Chuck: Yeah, that actually was pretty funny in 2002 since the Euro was loosely based on the value of the dollar, the Americans could immediately see the value of the Euro, whereas Europeans always had to change for their native money. |
| Judith: Yes, well, for Germans it was quite easy because the relation between Mark and Euro was approximately 2 to 1. I think it was exactly 1.95 and something, but the thing is that salespeople switch very quickly, they just replaced the Mark symbol with the Euro symbol on the price tags, so they’re making a very nice profit with the people who are not calculating. Or maybe they would make prices that are just a little less than what they would normally be in Marks and make them in Euros, and this way they get a lot of customers who think, oh this is cheap. The symbol of the Euro looks kind of like a capital E but with two lines across it. |
| Chuck: Yeah, I’m sure you’ve seen it somewhere. |
| Judith: Yeah, probably. And actually despite all the misgivings about the Euro being introduced most people wanted to hold some Euros in their hands as soon as may be. So, and the new year’s eve parties is in 2001 a lot of them offered to change your money into Euros, or at least a part of it. So that you can hold some Euro bills immediately after midnight. Everybody wanted to have the Euros. And finally, well, the Euro did go down, quite a bit in the first few months, but now it’s a lot stronger than it used to be. It’s definitely working out very well for us. |
| Chuck: So, what happens if I find old Marks somewhere? |
| Judith: Like things that you stored in the sock or something for somewhere on the attic, well you can--. |
| Chuck: Yeah, I found my mum stored some in a-- |
| Judith: Yeah, I like that. |
| Chuck: --true box and, wow there they are, 3000 Marks. |
| Judith: Well, of course they are not worthless, you can’t go shipping with them anymore. Shops will not accept them. But you can go to any national bank and the bank will exchange them for Euro still. And I believe they will do so indefinitely, so you don’t need to go clean up the attic now. So let’s have some vocabulary related to money and money exchanging. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: The first and most important word of course is [Geld] |
| Chuck: Money. |
| Judith: [Geld] |
| Chuck: Money. |
| Judith: This is neuter [Das Geld] next [Wechseln] |
| Chuck: To switch or exchange. |
| Judith: [Wechseln] |
| Chuck: To switch or exchange. |
| Judith: Next [Wieviel] |
| Chuck: How much. |
| Judith: [Wieviel] |
| Chuck: How much. Could this also be how many? |
| Judith: No, that would be [Wie viele] |
| Chuck: Ah, okay. |
| Judith: Next [Paar] |
| Chuck: A couple. |
| Judith: [Paar] |
| Chuck: A couple, or a pair. |
| Judith: This can be an adjective or a noun, but we will get to that in vocabulary usage section. Next [Vor] |
| Chuck: Before or in front of. |
| Judith: [Vor] |
| Chuck: Before or in front of. |
| Judith: So this can be used for time or for location, even in the meaning of ago, like five minutes ago. [Vor 5 minuten]. Next [Sollen] |
| Chuck: Shall, or be supposed to. |
| Judith: [Sollen] |
| Chuck: Shall or be supposed to. |
| Judith: You may have seen [Sollte] which is more common, it means should [Should] |
| Chuck: Should |
| Judith: Next [Womit] |
| Chuck: With what? |
| Judith: [Womit] |
| Chuck: With what? |
| Judith: Next [Bezahlen] |
| Chuck: To pay. |
| Judith: [Bezahlen] |
| Chuck: To pay. |
| Judith: Next, a really, really common word, [Leute] |
| Chuck: People. |
| Judith: [Leute] |
| Chuck: People. |
| Judith: This is always plural. Next [Umtauschen] |
| Chuck: To exchange. |
| Judith: [Umtauschen, umtauschen] |
| Chuck: To exchange. |
| Judith: Next [Gebühr] |
| Chuck: Fee. |
| Judith: [Gebühr] |
| Chuck: Fee. It’s also used in [Studiengebühren] right? |
| Judith: Yes, it’s literally study fee. |
| Chuck: Which means tuition. Okay. |
| Judith: This word is feminine [Die Gebühr] and the plural is [Gebühren] |
| Chuck: Fees. |
| Judith: Next [Genug] |
| Chuck: Enough. |
| Judith: [Genug, genug] |
| Chuck: Enough. |
| Judith: Next [Annehmen] |
| Chuck: To accept. |
| Judith: [Annehmen, annehmen] |
| Chuck: To accept. |
| Judith: The un part splits off as usual [Ich nehme an, du nimmst an] and so on. Next [Kriegen] |
| Chuck: To receive. |
| Judith: [Kriegen, kriegen] |
| Chuck: To receive. |
| Judith: Next [Insgesamt]. |
| Chuck: In total. |
| Judith: [Insgesamt] |
| Chuck: In total. |
| Judith: And last word for today, [Reisecheck] |
| Chuck: Traveller’s check. |
| Judith: [Reise] journey, [Check] |
| Chuck: Traveller’s check. |
| Judith: This word is masculine, [Der Check] and plural [Reisechecks]. Chuck, [Würdest du Reisechecks nach Deutschland mitnehmen?] would you take traveller’s check to Germany? |
| Chuck: I think it’s a rather old fashioned concept these days, I mean you can always use your credit card to get money out of machines. |
| Judith: Isn’t it very expensive? |
| Chuck: Not as expensive as you think. I mean I feel that they would be more likely to rip you off if you’re actually changing real money from what I’ve seen. |
| Judith: Really, well, depends on the fees of course. |
| Chuck: Yeah, like I’ve seen that the airport will often [rip you] off here. |
| Judith: Yeah, well, at the airport, of course. But in the cities, yeah it’s-- It’s become harder to find change offices in the cities because they’re not so many countries that will need to change money, like France doesn’t need to, Italy doesn’t need to, Greece doesn’t need to. So you’d have to go to a bank to change your money and I don’t know what the rates are. I just hope they don’t rip you too bad, not more than the credit card companies will for getting money off with your credit card. I don’t know. Just keep in mind that you can’t pay with credit card in many places so you should have some cash in Euros on hand. Which way you get it it’s not that important. |
| Chuck: Yeah. I’d also say if you’re really interested in the money in Germany you should visit the Money Museum in Frankfurt if you’re there. It’s a really an amazing exhibition of all the Euros and the Marks. |
| Judith: Huh, thank you for the tip. |
| Chuck: I did that in my first trip here. Pretty cool. That was even before the Euro was out, yeah. They are showcasing everything then. It’s all brand new. Actually you know what I’m thinking of that vocabulary we had, we had [Wechseln, umtauschen] and I still don’t understand the difference between those. |
| Judith: Well, they can both mean to Exchange, but [Wechseln] also means to switch, for example [Ich wechsele den Stromanbieter.] is the electricity provider, the one that’s supplying your house with electricity. So [Ich wechsle den Stromanbieter]. |
| Chuck: I change the energy company, or electricity company. Literally the electricity offeror, right? |
| Judith: Yes, but provider is a better translation for [Anbieter]. |
| Chuck: Okay, that’s true. |
| Judith: And [Umtauschen] is just plain exchange like give away one thing and take another, also when you’re not happy with wares for example, you could say, [Ich möchte dieses Hemd umtauschen.] |
| Chuck: I would like to change this shirt. |
| Judith: Yes, I assume. If you’re not happy with it, exchange it. |
| Chuck: Yeah, take it back to department store, get another one. |
| Judith: That’s the meaning of [Umtauschen], but it can also mean to convert, as in currency. Any other words that you’re not sure of? |
| Chuck: No. |
| Judith: Or that our listeners might not be sure of? |
| Chuck: Maybe [Paar] |
| Judith: Ah, yes. [Paar] is interesting because it can be an adjective and a noun. As an adjective, we could say [Ich hätte gern ein paar Bananen.] |
| Chuck: I’d like a few bananas, or a couple of bananas. |
| Judith: Yes, or used as a noun [Thomas und Julia sind jetzt ein Paar.] |
| Chuck: Thomas and Julia are now a pair. |
| Judith: Or would you say a couple? |
| Chuck: That works too. |
| Judith: They’re together. |
| Chuck: That works too, they both work. We just hope they’re happy. And we hope our listeners are happy too, and they ‘re not saying [Ist das genug?] |
| Judith: You want me to say something with [Genug.] |
| Chuck: Yeah. |
| Judith: For example, if you’re staying with a German family then the mother might just tell you [Du isst nicht genug.] |
| Chuck: I don’t think she will tell me that. You’re not eating enough. |
| Judith: [Du isst nicht genug.] or simply you might hear [Genug] as an exclamation. [Genug] enough already. |
| Chuck: It’s more like what they would tell me when I’m eating with them. |
| Judith: I don’t think so, that would be rude. |
| Chuck: So, I think we can all agree that [Diese Lektion war lang genug.] |
| Judith: Do you think so? |
| Chuck: At least I can agree with myself about it. This is my last lesson to record for the day. Yeah, I mean, Oh, too bad. |
| Judith: Okay, just a dialogue one more time and we can go. |
| Chuck: We have to? |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: All right. |
| P: Guten Tag! Kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| A: Ja. Ich möchte Geld wechseln. |
| P: Wie viel? |
| A: Ich habe hier 200 Dollar und ich brauche deutsche Mark… |
| P: Mark? Da hätten Sie vor ein paar Jahren kommen sollen. Es gibt keine DMark mehr. |
| A: Nicht? Womit bezahlen die Leute dann hier? |
| P: Natürlich mit Euros. |
| A: Ach ja. Also möchte ich 200 Dollar in Euro umtauschen. |
| P: Das sind 154 Euro und 82 Cent, minus 4 Euro Umtauschgebühr. |
| A: Hmm, das ist nicht genug, ich brauche mehr. Nehmen Sie auch diesen Reisescheck an? |
| P: Ja. Bitte unterschreiben Sie hier. |
| A: Bitte. |
| P: So, dann kriegen Sie insgesamt 420 EUR. |
| A: Vielen Dank. Auf Wiedersehen! |
Outro |
|---|
| Judith: Well, I hope you understood the whole dialogue now. |
| Chuck: Well, I know I do, but let’s know in the lessons comments on GermanPod101.com what you thought. |
| Judith: Yes, and thank you for listening. |
| Chuck: Hope to see you again next time. |
| Judith: [Bis bald!] |
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