184: How to Talk About Different Currencies in Mandarin Chinese

Money makes the world go around is a popular saying, as everyone needs money to live on or save up for something special, or maybe even travel. And when it’s time to travel you might need some foreign currency; so, how do you go about exchanging RMB for, say, USD or GBP? And finding out the exchange rates?

In this Podcast, you will learn:

(i) How to ask about the exchange rate for RMB to USD

(ii) To tell the person in the bank how many USD you need

Dialogue:

A person wants to change some money in the bank

（在银行）

(zài yín háng)

(at the bank)

A:您好，我想换点美元，今天的汇率是多少？

Nín hǎo, wǒ xiǎng huàn diǎn měi yuán, jīn tiān de huì lǜ shì duō shǎo?

Hello, I want to exchange some RMB for some US dollars. What’s the exchange rate today?

B:今天美元兑人民币的汇率是1比6.63.

Jīn tiān měi yuán duì rén mín bì de huì lǜ shì yī bǐ liù diǎn liù sān.

Today the exchange rate between US dollar and RMB is 1 to 6.63.

A:哦，美元稍微升值了一点儿。

Òu, měi yuán shāo wēi shēng zhí le yī diǎn er.

Oh, the US dollar has appreciated a little.

B:您想换多少美元？

Nín xiǎng huàn duō shǎo měi yuán?

How many US dollars do you want to exchange?

A:我想换200美元。谢谢。

Wǒ xiǎng huàn èr bǎi měi yuán, xiè xiè.

I want to exchange 200 dollars, thanks.

Chinese words and phrases mentioned in this Podcast:

银行：bank

换钱：exchange

汇率：exchange rate

美元：US dollar

比：to

点：point

人民币：RMB, Chinese Yuan

日元：Japanese Yen

欧元：Euro

英镑：British Pound

港币：Hong Kong Dollar

稍微：slightly

升值：appreciate

贬值：depreciate

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