Learn about exchanging foreign currency in France
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Exchanging money in France is quite convenient! One can exchange money at airports or banks, or you can withdraw money from an ATM. Rates applied when withdrawing money from an ATM are likely to be the best; 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 |
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| First, let's review some previous phrases and patterns we've already covered. |
| In French, "Is there an ATM near here?" is Est-ce qu'il y a un distributeur près d'ici ? |
| Est-ce qu'il y a un distributeur près d'ici ? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: Est-ce qu'il y a un distributeur près d'ici ? |
| Now let's hear it once again: Est-ce qu'il y a un distributeur près d'ici ? |
| The first words, est-ce qu'il y a, mean "is there." This is followed by un, which in English is "a." So to recap here, we have est-ce qu'il y a un. Literally, this means "Is it that there is." |
| This is followed by distributeur, which means "ATM." |
| The next word, près, means "near." Lastly, we have d'ici, which means "to here." |
| So all together, we have Est-ce qu'il y a un distributeur près d'ici ? |
| Literally, this means "Is it that there is an ATM near of here?" |
| 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 Est-ce qu'il y a une banque près d'ici ? |
| Est-ce qu'il y a une banque près d'ici ? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable and hear it one more time: Est-ce qu'il y a une banque près d'ici ? |
| Est-ce qu'il y a une banque près d'ici ? |
| The only thing that changes is the thing you are looking for. In this case, it's banque. |
| For times when there is neither a bank nor an ATM, you can ask, "Do you know where I can exchange currency?" |
| In French, this is Vous savez où je peux changer de l'argent ? |
| Vous savez où je peux changer de l'argent ? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: Vous savez où je peux changer de l'argent ? |
| Now let's hear it once again: Vous savez où je peux changer de l'argent ? |
| The first words, vous savez, mean "do you know." Then où means "where." |
| So to recap here, we have Vous savez où, literally, this means "Do you know where." |
| The next word, je, means "I" in English. This is followed by peux, which in English means "can." This is followed by changer, which in English means "exchange." |
| Lastly, we have de l'argent, which is French for "some money." |
| Let’s break it down: de l'argent |
| And, de l'argent. |
| So all together, we have Vous savez où je peux changer de l'argent ? Literally, this means "Do you know where I can exchange money?" |
| Now, exchanging currency is pretty straightforward. You need to fill out some forms and then present the amount you want exchanged. One extremely useful phrase is "Smaller denominations, please," as it is usually beneficial to have smaller amounts of currency on you for paying for the bus fare, taxi fare, etc. |
| In French, "Smaller denominations, please" is En petites coupures. |
| En petites coupures. |
| Ok. Let’s break it down by syllable: En petites coupures. |
| En petites coupures. |
| The first word, en, means "in." Then petites, and that means "small." Finally, coupures means "denominations." |
| So to recap here, we have En petites coupures. |
| En petites coupures. |
| Literally, this means "in small denominations." |
| These phrases will certainly be enough to get you where you need for your money needs. However, if you would like more simplified versions, here are a couple. |
| As we learned, "Is there an ATM near here" is Est-ce qu'il y a un distributeur près d'ici ? |
| We can also say "I'm looking for an ATM," which is Je cherche un distributeur. |
| Je cherche un distributeur. |
| When we are looking for something, all we need to say is Je cherche ____ and then say the thing. If we are looking for "an exchange office," we say Je cherche un bureau de change. |
| Je cherche un bureau de change. |
| "A bank?" Je cherche une banque. |
| Je cherche une banque. |
| But remember, say bonjour or excusez-moi before you ask questions to strangers, especially French people. |
| Alright, that’s it for today. Thank you for listening, bye-bye! |
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 bonne chance, that means “good luck” in French. |
| "Is there an ATM near here" - Est-ce qu'il y a un distributeur près d'ici ? |
| Est-ce qu'il y a un distributeur près d'ici ? |
| Est-ce qu'il y a un distributeur près d'ici ? |
| “Do you know where I can exchange currency?” - Vous savez où je peux changer de l'argent ? |
| Vous savez où je peux changer de l'argent ? |
| Vous savez où je peux changer de l'argent ? |
| "Smaller denominations." - En petites coupures. |
| En petites coupures. |
| En petites coupures. |
| Alright, that’s going to do it for today. |
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