Learn about exchanging foreign currency in Finland
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| Jessi: Hello, and welcome to Finnish Survival Phrases, brought to you by FinnishPod101.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 Finland. You'll be surprised at how far a little Finnish will go. Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by FinnishPod101.com and there you'll find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment! |
| Finnish Survival Phrases lesson 41 - A Guide to Foreign Exchange in Finland |
| Reeta: Exchanging money in Finland is quite convenient. You can exchange money at airports, special money exchange kiosks and banks, or withdraw money from an ATM. Rates applied when withdrawing money from an ATM are likely to be higher. As a general rule, try to find one of the countless exchange offices. So first things first, let's find a location that will exchange money. |
| First, let's review some previous phrases and patterns we've already covered. |
| In Finnish, "Is there an ATM near here?" is |
| Onko täällä lähellä pankkiautomaattia? |
| We covered this sentence in lesson 30. |
| Now, to ask for a bank, we can just replace the word for ATM with the word for bank and the phrase works just fine. "Is there a bank near here?" is |
| Onko täällä lähellä pankkia? |
| It's not very different from the ATM sentence, and lucky for us, "bank" in Finnish is pankki. |
| Let's ask for an exchange office now. It is very similar, insert the word rahanvaihto in the previous sentence. |
| Onko täällä lähellä rahanvaihtoa? |
| For times when there is neither a bank nor an ATM, you can ask, "Where can I exchange currency?" In Finnish, this is |
| Missä voin vaihtaa rahaa? Let’s break it down, Missä voin vaihtaa rahaa. Once more, Missä voin vaihtaa rahaa. |
| The first word, missä, means "where." |
| Then we have voin, which in English is "I can", |
| Then there's vaihtaa, "to exchange." |
| Finally we have the word rahaa ("money") in the partitive case. |
| All together, we have Missä voin vaihtaa rahaa? |
| Literally, this means "Where can I exchange money?" |
| 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." It's usually beneficial to have smaller amounts of currency on you for paying for the bus fare, taxi fare, and so on. |
| In Finnish, "Smaller denominations please" is |
| Saisinko pientä rahaa? Let’s break it down, Saisinko pientä rahaa. Once more, Saisinko pientä rahaa. |
| The first word, saisinko, means "Could I get?" |
| Next we have pientä, which means "small," in the partitive case. |
| Then, you have rahaa, "money," in the accusative case. |
| All together, we have Saisinko pientä rahaa? |
| In English, this means, "Could I get small change, please?" |
| Finally, you can also use the phrase "Break this, please" to indicate you would like smaller units of the currency. In Finnish, "Break this, please" is Voisitko rikkoa tämän? Let’s break it down, Voisitko rikkoa tämän. Once more, Voisitko rikkoa tämän. |
| The first word means "Could you?" |
| Then we have rikkoa, which means “to break” (literally and figuratively). |
| Finally we have tämän, which you'll recognize as tämä in the accusative form. |
| Here's the question again, Voisitko rikkoa tämän? |
| Ask this when you have a big bill that you want to break. |
| Ok, to close out today's lessons, we’d like you to practice what you have just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so Onnea! which means “Good luck!” in Finnish. |
| “Is there an ATM near here?” - Onko täällä lähellä pankkiautomaattia? |
| “Is there a bank near here?” - Onko täällä lähellä pankkia? |
| “Is there an exchange office near here?” - Onko täällä lähellä rahanvaihtoa? |
| “Where can I exchange currency?” - Missä voin vaihtaa rahaa? |
| “Smaller denominations, please.” - Saisinko pientä rahaa? |
| “Break this, please.” - Voisitko rikkoa tämän? |
| Jessi: Alright! That's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by FinnishPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment! |
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