Learn about exchanging foreign currency
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Ciao! Hello and welcome back to Italian survival phrases brought to you by ItalianPod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Italy. You will be surprised at how far a little Italian will go. |
| Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by ItalianPod101.com and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
| Exchanging money in Italy is quite convenient. One can exchange money at airports, banks, 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 large withdrawal as you may be charged by both the local bank and your home one. So first things first, let's find a location that will exchange money. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Let's review some previous phrases and patterns we've already covered. |
| In Italian, “Is there an ATM near here?” is c’è un bancomat qui vicino? |
| c’è un bancomat qui vicino? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: c’è un bancomat qui vicino? |
| Now let's hear it once again: c’è un bancomat qui vicino? |
| 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 c’è una banca qui vicino? |
| c’è una banca qui vicino? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: c’è una banca qui vicino? |
| Now let's hear it once again: c’è una banca qui vicino? |
| The only thing that changes is the thing you are looking for. In this case, it’s banca, “bank." |
| Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: banca |
| Banca |
| Careful, because banca is a feminine noun so we have changed also the indefinite article un with una. So to recap, we have una banca and all together, c’è una banca qui vicino? |
| For times when there is neither a bank nor an ATM, you can ask, "Where can I exchange currency?" which in Italian is dove posso cambiare dei soldi? |
| dove posso cambiare dei soldi? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: dove posso cambiare dei soldi? |
| Now let's hear it once again: dove posso cambiare dei soldi? |
| The first word dove means "where". |
| Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: dove |
| Dove |
| This is followed by posso, which in English is “can I." |
| Posso |
| Posso |
| Then you have cambiare “to change-exchange." |
| Cambiare |
| Cambiare |
| So to recap here, we have dove posso cambiare, literally, this means “where can I change.” |
| Let's take a look at the next words, dei soldi which literally means "some money." |
| So all together, we have: dove posso cambiare dei soldi? Literally, this means “where can I change some money?” |
| Exchanging currency is pretty straightforward. One extremely useful phrase is, "Smaller denominations please." as it's usually beneficial to have smaller amounts of currency on you for paying for the bus fare, taxi fare, etc. |
| In Italian, “Smaller denominations please” is in piccolo taglio per favore. |
| In piccolo taglio per favore. |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: in piccolo taglio per favore. |
| Now let's hear it once again: in piccolo taglio per favore. |
| The first word is very easy, in and it means exactly the same “in." |
| Then you have piccolo “small." |
| Piccolo |
| piccolo |
| It is followed by taglio which means "denomination". |
| Taglio |
| taglio |
| Finally you have per favore “please." |
| per favore |
| So all together, we have: in piccolo taglio per favore, literally, this means “in small denomination please." |
| Finally, you can also use the phrase “Break this please” to indicate you would like smaller amounts of the currency. In Italian, “Break this please.” is mi può cambiare per favore? |
| mi può cambiare per favore? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: mi può cambiare per favore? |
| Now let's hear it once again: mi può cambiare per favore? |
| The first word, mi, means “me, “to me." |
| Let's hear it one more time: mi |
| This is followed by può, which in English is “can you” (formal level). |
| Può |
| Può |
| The we have cambiare which we have previously seen, “to change-exchange” and then finally per favore “please." |
| So all together, we have: mi può cambiare per favore? Literally, this means “can you change me please?” |
Outro |
| Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so buona fortuna, which means “good luck” in Italian. |
| “Is there an ATM near here?” - C’è un bancomat qui vicino? |
| C’è un bancomat qui vicino? |
| C’è un bancomat qui vicino? |
| “Where can I exchange currency?” - Dove posso cambiare dei soldi? |
| Dove posso cambiare dei soldi? |
| Dove posso cambiare dei soldi? |
| “Smaller denominations please.” - In piccolo taglio per favore. |
| In piccolo taglio per favore. |
| In piccolo taglio per favore. |
| “Break this please.” - Mi può cambiare per favore? |
| Mi può cambiare per favore? |
| Mi può cambiare per favore? |
| That’s going to do it for today. Remember to stop by ItalianPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. Ciao ciao! |
Comments
Hide