Learn about exchanging money
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 |
| Sakura: おはよう東京。サクラです。 |
| Peter: Peter here and we are back with another edition of survival phrases. Joining me in the studio is Sakura, two days in a row. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Where were you last week? |
| Sakura: Umm I was very busy. |
| Peter: Come on, that’s not going to cut it here. What busy, what do you mean busy, what were you doing? |
| Sakura: Work. Yes. |
| Peter: Okay. As always, these are the phrases that are going to get you through your trip, get you out of the jams and for those people new to Japan, help you find your way. You can find out more about this plus the accompanying PDF and kanji close up at japanesepod101.com, stop by and be sure to leave us a post. Okay Sakura, what are we going to talk about today? |
| Sakura: Today, we are going to talk about banks. |
| Peter: During your trip or those of you, new to Japan, the bank will play a crucial role. Now why is the bank so important, Sakura? |
| Sakura: Because you have to withdraw money or change travellers checks. |
| Peter: Yeah. Money exchange. |
| Sakura: Yes, money exchange. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: Now there are a few things we’d like to talk about first. So before we even get into that, what is today’s topic? Give us the Japanese Sakura? |
| Sakura: 銀行 |
| Peter: Break it down. |
| Sakura: ぎ・ん・こ・う、銀行 |
| Peter: And one time fast. |
| Sakura: 銀行 |
| Peter: Let’s give you an explanation of what’s going on with the banks in Japan. Okay Sakura? |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: お願いします。 |
| Sakura: Banks are open from 9 AM to 3 PM from Monday to Friday. |
| Peter: This is the same system that the US has. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: We are curious to know what’s going on with the banks in your country. So if you have time, leave us a post, okay. So when you get to Japan, I think it’s a very good idea to exchange some money at the airport. |
| Sakura: Right. |
| Peter: So the problem with this and the reason we are getting into banks today is, you are not going to know how much you need for the whole trip. |
| Sakura: Right. |
| Peter: You can use your credit card, you can do some other things but you know, you might overuse your credit card, get home and the bill will just knock you out, it would send you back a few months. So yeah, we are going to get into the bank today for this reason. Okay so now we want to exchange the money. How do we do this Sakura? What’s the word to exchange money? |
| Sakura: 両替 |
| Peter: もう一度お願いします。 |
| Sakura: 両替 |
| Peter: Break it down. |
| Sakura: りょ・う・が・え |
| Peter: And one time fast. |
| Sakura: 両替 |
| Peter: Now what do we do, how do we ask for this, what can we say, what phrase can we use? I go up with the money and what do I say? |
| Sakura: 円に両替お願いします。 |
| Peter: もう一度お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします |
| Sakura: えんに、りょうがえ、おねがいします。 |
| Peter: And what does this mean Sakura? |
| Sakura: Please exchange this to yen. |
| Peter: Yes. Okay now a few things we want to point out. What did you say first, Sakura? |
| Sakura: 円に |
| Peter: Break it down. |
| Sakura: え・ん・に |
| Peter: And one time fast. |
| Sakura: 円に |
| Peter: Japanese yen in Japanese is |
| Sakura: 円 |
| Peter: The Y gets dropped. So it’s just N. We say yen, they say |
| Sakura: えん |
| Peter: Okay. Now you have to put 2 which in Japanese is |
| Sakura: に |
| Peter: Two yen because if you don’t put this in the front and you just say |
| Sakura: 両替お願いします。 |
| Peter: They will think you want to get smaller bills. So if you walk in with a 10,000 yen bill which is equivalent to the 100 and you ask for |
| Sakura: 両替お願いします。 |
| Peter: They are going to give you maybe ten, 1000 bills. |
| Sakura: Right, right, right. |
| Peter: So this is very, very important. So Sakura, it’s funny I said that. Maybe some people are thinking, a 10,000 yen bill. What’s that? Why don’t we tell people about the different kinds of bills real quick? |
| Sakura: Okay. The biggest one is 10,000. |
| Peter: Everybody loves him. |
| Sakura: Next… |
| Peter: Sakura, can you show me what one looks like? |
| Sakura: I don’t have one, sorry. |
| Peter: You catch how quick. What’s the biggest bill you have, Sakura? |
| Sakura: 1000. |
| Peter: Ah I can see a 5000 in your wallet there. |
| Sakura: Okay. The next biggest one is 5000. |
| Peter: Yes 5000. |
| Sakura: Yes and the next one is 2000 which is hardly ever used. |
| Peter: Yes. This bill is quite new, just a few years ago right? |
| Sakura: Right but nobody uses it. |
| Peter: But it’s a really cool bill. |
| Sakura: Is it? |
| Peter: I think so. |
| Sakura: Umm okay. Next one is 1000. |
| Peter: Yes. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Next. |
| Sakura: Then coins. |
| Peter: Okay and what kind of coins do we have? |
| Sakura: The biggest one is 500. Next 100. |
| Peter: After that? |
| Sakura: 50 yen with the hole in it. |
| Peter: Aha |
| Sakura: 10 yen, brown one and 5 yen, with hole in it and then 1 yen. |
| Peter: Yep. There are so many coins in Japan, so many coins. I just don’t use them. I dump it in my bag and my bag gets heavier and heavier and then it’s to the point I can’t walk. Then I finally take out the coins. The 500 yen coin, you could kill somebody with that thing. |
| Sakura: 500 one is quite big right? |
| Peter: That thing is a weapon. |
| Sakura: It is not. |
| Peter: But yes very big. Okay, so the 10,000 yen bill is equivalent – kind of the equivalent to the US100. The 5000 is like the 50, 2000 is like the 20, the 1000 is like the 10. Then they have the 500 yen coin which is our $5 bill, the 100 yen coin which is our $1 and so on and so on. However the 1 yen coin, I hate that coin. No one knows what it is made out of. |
| Sakura: It is light, isn’t it and it’s 1 gram. |
| Peter: Really? |
| Sakura: Yes. One yen is one gram. That’s what I heard. |
| Peter: Yeah. It’s a very strange coin but anyway back to the subject. The topic – Okay… |
| Sakura: ええ？ I use 1 yen all the time. |
| Peter: Really? |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: I see why you don’t have a 10,000 yen bill. |
| Sakura: Right okay. |
| Peter: So sorry Sakura. |
| Sakura: No,no,no,no Okay. |
| Peter: Okay. So yes, when you want to exchange money from one currency to another, you have to use に whichever currency you want, whatever one you want, that’s the one that goes before にsomething, something に |
| Sakura: 両替お願いします。 |
| Peter: Okay. So in addition to money, we also have |
| Sakura: トラベラーチェック |
| Peter: Break it down. |
| Sakura: と・ら・べ・ら・あ・ちぇっ・く |
| Peter: And one time fast. |
| Sakura: トラベラーチェック |
| Peter: Okay. Now Sakura, can we use these at a lot of locations? |
| Sakura: Not really. |
| Peter: Yeah. You might want to make sure before you get travellers checks when coming to Japan. You might stun a lot of people if you are kind of outside the big city and you pull out a traveller’s check. So you’d want to kind of be a bit careful with these. Right Sakura? |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Okay. Now there are a few things that we want to explain to you about exchanging money, which is, Sakura? |
| Sakura: 両替 |
| Peter: So what’s first on our list? Why don’t we start out at the airport? You get off the plane, you got all this foreign money in your hands but now you need some yen. |
| Sakura: Right. |
| Peter: At the airport, you can exchange money. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: So we are going to go there and we are going to exchange money. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Now what’s the first thing we have to do? |
| Sakura: Umm… |
| Peter: Yes it’s not difficult for you Sakura because you are Japanese. You have all the money in the bank but for us foreigners, we have to fill out papers. Now don’t go straight to the window. You need to fill out some papers in order to exchange your money. You can either go to the bank or you can go to – they have the small exchange places around the airport. |
| Sakura: Ah right, right. |
| Peter: If you go to those, they will be on an island, a small little island, circular island and there you could find the information for converting your money. You have to write how much you want, how much you are changing and give a location where you are staying. Now if you go to the bank inside the airport, the best bet is to find the person dressed in a nice bank uniform. |
| Sakura: Yes, yes, yes. |
| Peter: And the first thing you want to say to them is |
| Sakura: 円に両替お願いします。 |
| Peter: Yes. Now in this one, we put the currency we want exchanged in front and then we mark it with |
| Sakura: を |
| Peter: And then we use |
| Sakura: 円にお願いします。 |
| Peter: Okay. So |
| Sakura: USドルを円にお願いします。 |
| Peter: US dollars to yen please. Now how about if we are coming from Canada? |
| Sakura: カナダドルを円にお願いします。 |
| Peter: もう一度お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします |
| Sakura: カナダドルを、えんに、おねがいします。 |
| Peter: Okay. Now can you break down the first part? |
| Sakura: カ・ナ・ダ・ド・ル |
| Peter: And one time fast. |
| Sakura: カナダドル |
| Peter: What’s this? |
| Sakura: Canadian dollar. |
| Peter: Okay. Notice the pattern here. What doesn’t change, Sakura? |
| Sakura: を円にお願いします。 |
| Peter: Okay so in front of |
| Sakura: を円にお願いします。 |
| Peter: We put in the currency. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: That’s all that changes. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: So what we are going to do is we are going to give you a few more currencies. How about the Australian dollar? |
| Sakura: オーストラリアドルを円にお願いします。 |
| Peter: English pound. |
| Sakura: ポンドを円にお願いします。 |
| Peter: What was that one? |
| Sakura: ポンド |
| Peter: Break it down. |
| Sakura: ポ・ン・ド |
| Peter: And one time fast. |
| Sakura: ポンド |
| Peter: Okay. Hong Kong dollar. |
| Sakura: 香港ドルを円にお願いします。 |
| Peter: How about the Euro? |
| Sakura: ユーロを円にお願いします。 |
| Peter: Break it down. |
| Sakura: ゆ・う・ろ |
| Peter: And one time fast. |
| Sakura: ユーロ |
| Peter: Okay. So you get the idea and notice, Sakura what was the word for dollar? |
| Sakura: ドル |
| Peter: Break it down. |
| Sakura: ど・る |
| Peter: One time fast. |
| Sakura: ドル |
| Peter: It was common in the US dollar, the Australian dollar, the Canadian dollar, Singapore dollar too, right? |
| Sakura: Uhhu. |
| Peter: Okay. So any dollar is? |
| Sakura: ドル |
| Peter: So you go into the bank, you approach the person who’s got the uniform on, you tell her this and she is going to take you to the paper where you write how much. |
| Sakura: Right. |
| Peter: They should have the English paper. It should be no problem. Then when you go up to the counter, you say |
| Sakura: 円に両替お願いします。 |
| Peter: Okay and that should do it. Then they will exchange your money and then you are on your way. Okay Sakura, now we got traveller's checks. How do we change those travellers' checks into yen? |
| Sakura: Okay トラベラーチェックを現金にお願いします。 |
| Peter: Can you give it to us one more time? |
| Sakura: トラベラーチェックを現金にお願いします。 |
| Peter: Now I got the トラベラーチェックを and I got the にお願いします。 What was that word in there? |
| Sakura: 現金 |
| Peter: What’s this? |
| Sakura: It’s cash. |
| Peter: Cash. Everybody loves this word. Break it down. |
| Sakura: げ・ん・き・ん |
| Peter: And one time fast. |
| Sakura: 現金 |
| Peter: Okay cash. Now let’s talk a little bit about the exchange rate. There is usually a big board. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: With all the exchange rates but just in case, there isn’t, how can we ask what the exchange rate is? |
| Sakura: 交換レートはいくらですか？ |
| Peter: もう一度お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします。 |
| Sakura: こうかんれーとは、いくらですか？ |
| Peter: And this is? |
| Sakura: What is the exchange rate? |
| Peter: Okay. |
| Sakura: Yes, yes, yes. |
| Peter: So, oh no Sakura, we ran out of time. And we barely got into the bank. |
| Sakura: Ah…Okay. |
| Peter: So what we are going to have to do is, we are going to have to break this into two. |
| Sakura: ごめんなさーい。 |
| Peter: We are so sorry. So for today, that’s going to do it but next week, we will be back with Bank 2. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: And at this rate, bank 3, 4, 5, 6… |
| Sakura: No, no, no…. |
Outro |
| Peter: Okay. That’s going to do it for today. |
| Sakura: また明日ね。 |
| Peter: See you tomorrow. |
Get complete breakdowns, review with quizzes and download printable practice sheets! Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide