Learn about exchanging foreign currency in Bulgaria
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Здравейте (zdraveyte). Hello and welcome to BulgarianPod101.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 Bulgaria. You will be surprised at how far a little Bulgarian will go. Now before we jump in, remember to stop by BulgarianPod101.com. And there, you’ll find the accompanying PDF, additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
Lesson focus |
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| Exchanging money in Bulgaria is quite convenient. You can exchange money at airports 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 Bulgarian, "Is there an ATM near here?" is Ima li nablizo bankomat? Let's break it down by syllable. I-ma li na-bli-zo ban-ko-mat? We've already covered in 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 Ima li nablizo banka? Let's break it down by syllable. I-ma li na-bli-zo-ban-ka? Ima li nablizo banka? It's not very different from the ATM sentence, and, lucky for us, "bank" in Bulgarian is banka. |
| Let's ask for an exchange office now. It is very similar: insert the word obmenno biuro in the previous sentence. Ima li nablizo obmenno biuro? If you can, make this your first choice. |
| For times when there is neither a bank nor an ATM, you can ask, "Where can I exchange currency?" In Bulgarian, this is Kyde moga da obmenya valuta? Let's break it down by syllable. Ky-de mo-ga da ob-me-nya va-lu-ta? The first word, kyde, means "where." Let's break down this word. Ky-de. Then we have moga, which in English is "I can." Then you have the word da obmenya ("exchange"). Finally, we have valuta ("currency" or "money"). All together, we have Kyde moga da obmenya valuta? Literally, this means "Where can I change 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 Bulgarian, "Smaller denominations, please" is Moje li da mi dadete po-drebni banknoti? Let's break it down by syllable. Mo-je li da mi da-de-te po- dre-bni ban-kno-ti? The first word, moje li, means "Could you?" Next, we have da mi dadete, or "to give me." Then you have po-drebni, which means "smaller." Note the way we make the comparative form of the adjective in Bulgarian: with po, and the hyphen, po-, and then we add the adjective. Finally, banknoti ("notes" or "denominations"). All together, we have Moje li da mi dadete po-drebni banknoti? In English, this means, "Could you give me smaller denominations, please." |
| Finally, you can also use the phrase "Break this, please" to indicate you would like smaller amounts of the currency. In Bulgarian, "Break this please" is Moje li da mi razvalite? Let's break it down by syllable. Mo-je li da mi raz-va-li-te? Let's break it into components. The first word is moje, which means "can," and the next is the particle used in questions, li. Then the last words in the sentence form one construction, "exchange" or literally "to break them for me." The whole sentence again is Moje li da mi razvalite? Use this when you have a note in your hand. |
Outro |
| Okay, to close out this lesson, we’d like for you to practice what you just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase, and you’re responsible for saying it out loud. You’ll have few seconds before I give you the answer. So, Успех! (Uspeh!) that means "Good luck!" in Bulgarian. Ok, here we go! |
| "Is there an ATM near here?" - Ima li nablizo bankomat? |
| Ima li nablizo bankomat? |
| Ima li nablizo bankomat? |
| "Is there a bank near here?" - Ima li nablizo banka? |
| Ima li nablizo banka? |
| Ima li nablizo banka? |
| "Is there an exchange office near here?" - Ima li nablizo obmenno biuro? |
| Ima li nablizo obmenno biuro? |
| Ima li nablizo obmenno biuro? |
| "Where can I exchange currency?" - Kyde moga da obmenya valuta? |
| Kyde moga da obmenya valuta? |
| Kyde moga da obmenya valuta? |
| "Smaller denominations please." - Moje li da mi dadete po-drebni banknoti? |
| Moje li da mi dadete po-drebni banknoti? |
| Moje li da mi dadete po-drebni banknoti? |
| "Break this please." - Moje li da mi razvalite? |
| Moje li da mi razvalite? |
| Moje li da mi razvalite? |
| All right. That’s going to do it for today. Remember to stop by BulgarianPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, make sure to leave a comment. Довиждане (dovizhdane)! |
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