Learn currency-related vocabulary
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com. I’m David. |
| Nicole: 大家好, 我係 (daai6 gaa1 hou2, ngo5 hai6) Nicole. |
| David: And we’re here with Absolute Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 23. |
| Nicole: “Changing Money in Hong Kong”. |
| David: Right. This is something you’re going to have to do. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: It’s something that you probably have already done actually, but maybe you needed to do it in English. Today we’re going to cover how to do this in Cantonese. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: So we’ve got a dialogue here that’s between a money changer and someone who wants to change money. |
| Nicole: And it happens in a bank? |
| David: Right. Or maybe at one of the exchange stalls down Nathan street. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: So they’re going to be speaking casual Cantonese as always. And we’re going to get you to the dialogue, before we do we want to remind you. If you have any questions, if you have any suggestions or comments. |
| Nicole: Visit CantoneseClass101.com and leave us a post. |
| David: Right. Or you can just contact us by email by sending a note to conactus@CantoneseClass101.com |
| Nicole: Right. I’ll be answering the emails. |
| David: Right. And with that, let’s go to our dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 我想換港紙。(ngo5 soeng2 wun6 gong2 zi2.) |
| B: 好。(hou2.) |
| A: 美元匯率幾多？(mei5 jyun4 wui6 leot2 gei2 do1?) |
| B: 一比七。(jat1 bei2 cat1.) |
| David: Once more, a bit slower. |
| A: 我 想 換 港 紙。(ngo5 soeng2 wun6 gong2 zi2.) |
| B: 好。(hou2.) |
| A: 美 元 匯 率 幾 多？(mei5 jyun4 wui6 leot2 gei2 do1?) |
| B: 一 比 七。(jat1 bei2 cat1.) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| Nicole: 我想換港紙。(ngo5 soeng2 wun6 gong2 zi2.) |
| David: “I want to change to Hong Kong dollars.” |
| Nicole: 好。(hou2.) |
| David: “Okay.” |
| Nicole: 美元匯率幾多？(mei5 jyun4 wui6 leot2 gei2 do1?) |
| David: “What's the U.S exchange rate?” |
| Nicole: 一比七。(jat1 bei2 cat1.) |
| David: “One to seven.” |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: That’s not a very good exchange rate. |
| Nicole: No. |
| David: No, you can usually do a bit above that. |
| Nicole: Really? |
| David: Last time I was there I think it was 8. |
| Nicole: Oh! |
| David: So make sure you’re not cheated. And actually, the best way to do it is to shop around. |
| Nicole: Yeah, true. |
| David: Or transfer your money into a big bank. That being said though, our vocab here, again, is about money and changing money. So let’s get to that now. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Nicole: 換 (wun6) [natural native speed] |
| David: to exchange |
| Nicole: 換 (wun6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] 換 (wun6) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole: 匯率 (wui6 leot2) [natural native speed] |
| David: exchange rate |
| Nicole: 匯率 (wui6 leot2) [slowly - broken down by syllable] 匯率 (wui6 leot2) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole: 比 (bei2) [natural native speed] |
| David: to |
| Nicole: 比 (bei2) [slowly - broken down by syllable] 比 (bei2) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole: 對 (deoi) [natural native speed] |
| David: versus |
| Nicole: 對 (deoi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] 對 (deoi) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole: 美元 (mei5 jyun4) [natural native speed] |
| David: US dollars |
| Nicole: 美元 (mei5 jyun4) [slowly - broken down by syllable] 美元 (mei5 jyun4) [natural native speed] |
| Nicole: 港紙 (gong2 zi2) [natural native speed] |
| David: Hong Kong dollars |
| Nicole: 港紙 (gong2 zi2) [slowly - broken down by syllable] 港紙 (gong2 zi2) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Okay, we’ve got a lot of great vocab in this lesson. To start, we’ve got a brief review material here with the names of currencies. In the previous lesson, we taught you that the American dollar was. |
| Nicole: 美金。(mei5 gam1.) |
| David: “U.S dollar”. |
| Nicole: 美金。(mei5 gam1.) |
| David: In this lesson, we’re saying something different. |
| Nicole: 美元。(mei5 jyun4.) |
| David: “U.S dollar”. |
| Nicole: 美元。(mei5 jyun4.) |
| David: Both of these are okay. In this lesson, we also have the “Hong Kong dollar”. |
| Nicole: 港紙。(gong2 zi2.) |
| David: “Hong Kong dollar”. |
| Nicole: 港紙。(gong2 zi2.) |
| David: You’ll also hear people say. |
| Nicole: 港幣。(gong2 bai6.) |
| David: “Hong Kong dollar”. |
| Nicole: 港幣. (gong2 bai6.) The difference is 港紙 (gong2 zi2) is more colloquial while 港幣 (gong2 bai6) is more formal. |
| David: Right. And that’s why we use |
| Nicole: 港紙。(gong2 zi2.) |
| David: In our dialogues. In the case of the U.S dollar though, it really depends on personal preference. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: The next keyword we want to highlight is the word “to exchange”. |
| Nicole: 換。(wun6.) |
| David: Normally, you exchange money. |
| Nicole: 換錢。(wun6 cin2.) |
| David: But realistically, you’re going to need to say what you want to exchange. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: The structure for this is “currency A to exchange currency B”. |
| Nicole: 美元換港紙。(mei5 jyun4 wun6 gong2 zi2.) |
| David: “U.S dollars changing to Hong Kong dollars”. |
| Nicole: 美元換港紙。(mei5 jyun4 wun6 gong2 zi2.) |
| David: “U.S dollars changing to Hong Kong dollars”. Although you can swap in any currency. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: You could say “Japanese Yen to Hong Kong dollars”. |
| Nicole: 日元換港紙。(jat6 jyun4 wun6 gong2 zi2.) |
| David: “Chinese RMB to Hong Kong dollars”. |
| Nicole: 人民幣換港紙。(jan4 man4 bai6 wun6 gong2 zi2.) |
| David: Right. |
| Nicole: And this 換 (wun6) not only means “exchange currency” can also mean “change”, like “I want to change clothes”. |
| David: Yes. |
| Nicole: 換衫。(wun6 saam1.) |
| David: “To change clothes”. |
| Nicole: 換衫。(wun6 saam1.) |
| David: Now, if you’re changing money, you’re going to want to worry about the exchange rate. |
| Nicole: 匯率。(wui6 leot2.) |
| David: “Exchange rate”. |
| Nicole: 匯率。(wui6 leot2.) |
| David: The common way people talk about the exchange rate is talking in comparisons. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: “One dollar gets you how many Hong Kong dollars?” |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: The word we use for this is …. |
| Nicole: 比 (bei2). |
| David: Which means “to”. |
| Nicole: 比 (bei2). |
| David: Or “really compare to”. |
| Nicole: 比 (bei2). |
| David: Because we’re comparing two things for instance, so the exchange rate is talked about in terms of comparisons. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: “One to seven”. |
| Nicole: 一比七。(jat1 bei2 cat1.) |
| David: “One to eight”. |
| Nicole: 一比八。(jat1 bei2 baat3.) |
| David: You’re going to be able to pick this up when you actually go to change money. We’re going to practice this again on the grammar section. Before we do, we want to point out the difference between. |
| Nicole: 比。(bei2.) |
| David: And? |
| Nicole: 對。(deoi3.) |
| David: We don’t hear. |
| Nicole: 對。(deoi3.) |
| David: In this dialogue, but it’s easy to get it confused with. |
| Nicole: 比。(bei2.) |
| David: The difference is this. |
| Nicole: 對。(deoi3.) |
| David: Means “to” in the sense of “towards”. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: You’re facing someone. Whereas. |
| Nicole: 比。(bei2.) |
| David: Is much more abstract, used in a comparative sense. |
| Nicole: Exactly. |
| David: The more Cantonese you learn, the clearer this is going to become. For now though, let’s go to our grammar section where we’re going to practice changing money. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: It’s grammar time! In our grammar section today, we’re going to take a break from grammar. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: So Nicole, you’ve been getting a lot of letters and emails. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: And some people would say “Oh! I love the podcast but I wish we could have a week off from the grammar!” So, that’s what we’re giving you today. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: We’re not going to do any new grammar, but we’re going to practice how to change money. So, picture yourself walking up Nathan Street in Hong Kong and you find a small currency exchange shop and you want to change U.S dollars or maybe Chinese dollars into the local currency. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: The first thing you’re going to ask is. “Can I change currency?” |
| Nicole: 可唔可以換錢？(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 wun6 cin2?) |
| David: “Can I change currency?” |
| Nicole: 可唔可以換錢？(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 wun6 cin2?) |
| David: Or maybe you’re just going to get directly to the point. “Can I change U.S dollars into Hong Kong dollars?” |
| Nicole: 可唔可以美元換港紙？(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 mei5 jyun4 wun6 gong2 zi2?) |
| David: And you can leave off that “can”. You can just say “U.S dollars to Hong Kong dollars.” |
| Nicole: 美元換港紙。 (mei5 jyun4 wun6 gong2 zi2.) |
| David: Or “Chinese RMB into Hong Kong dollars”. |
| Nicole: 人民幣換港紙。(jan4 man4 bai6 wun6 gong2 zi2.) |
| David: Now, most places will be able to do this. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: So your next question is going to be asking them “What’s the exchange rate?” |
| Nicole: 匯率幾多？(wui6 leot2 gei2 do1?) |
| David: “What’s the exchange rate?” |
| Nicole: 匯率幾多？(wui6 leot2 gei2 do1?) |
| David: And that’s literally “exchange rate”, “to give how much”. |
| Nicole: Right. 匯率幾多？(wui6 leot2 gei2 do1?) |
| David: At this point, they’re going to give you a comparison. |
| Nicole: 一比八。(jat1 bei2 baat3.) |
| David: “One to eight”. |
| Nicole: 一比八。(jat1 bei2 baat3.) |
| David: “One to eight” or maybe “one to eight point one.” |
| Nicole: 一比八點 一。(jat1 bei2 baat3 dim2 jat1.) |
| David: “One to seven point eight”. |
| Nicole: 一比七點八。(jat1 bei2 cat1 dim2 baat3.) |
| David: If you’re not sure what they’re saying, get them to write it down. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: The best way to get a good rate is to visit a couple of these places. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: And don’t forget, you don’t need to take the rate that they offer. It’s a starting offer. Try to increase it a bit and then offer to change the money at that rate. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: Okay. |
| Nicole: Bargain. |
| David: Yes. Also, if you’re changing a lot of money, go to a bank. They’re going to charge you a flat fee because you’re going to get a better rate. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| David: So there we have it. In today’s lesson we’ve taught you how to change money. For instance “U.S dollars to Hong Kong dollars”. |
| Nicole: 美元換港紙。(mei5 jyun4 wun6 gong2 zi2.) |
| David: We’ve taught you how to ask about the exchange rate. |
| Nicole: 匯率幾多？(wui6 leot2 gei2 do1?) |
| David: How much is the exchange rate? And we’ve also given you some tips so you’re going to save a bit of money. And with that, we’ve done our lesson for today. |
| Nicole: But before we go, we want to tell you about a way to improve your pronunciation drastically. |
| David: Right. Our voice recording tool. |
| Nicole: Yes. The voice recording tool. |
| David: You can record your voice with the click of a button. |
| Nicole: Then play it back just as easily. |
| David: Record and listen and compare yourself to native speakers. |
| Nicole: And adjust your pronunciation. |
Outro |
| David: Right. This is going to help you improve quickly. So check that out in the CantoneseClass101.com premium learning center. That being said though, we are done for the day. I’m David. |
| Nicole: 我係 (ngo5 hai6) Nicole. |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening and we’ll see you on the site. |
| Nicole: See you! |
| David: Bye-bye. |
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