Free Spanish Lesson 45 – Money, Money, Money!

Vocabulario semanal – Weekly Vocabulary

en muchos países – in many countries

es tan alta/o – it is so high

permítanme darles – permit (let) me give you

se llamaba el Inti – was called the Inti

de repente – suddenly

en un fin de semana – in one weekend

valía más o menos – was worth about (more or less)

como resultado – as a result

cuando salí del Perú – when I left from Perú

he hablado con – I have talked with (to)

una película – a movie

la cola – the line

lo que pueden aprender – what you (plural) can learn

todo su dinero – all your money

algún fin de semana – some weekend

de repente vale – suddenly is worth

poco a poco – a little at a time / little by little

asegúrense de que – make sure (plural) that

antes de ir a vivir en – before going to live in

una o dos semanas a la vez – one or two weeks at a time

de cada semana – of each week

no hay muchos – there aren’t many

ayer – yesterday

personas – people

alrededor de – around

sin embargo – however

países – countries

reglas de gramática – grammar rules

oraciones – sentences

y conversar – and to converse

In many countries in Latin America, the inflation rate is very high. It is so high that some countries have to change currencies every few years because their bills run out of room for all the zeros. Let me give you an example.

When I lived in Peru in South America, their currency was called the “Inti.” When I first arrived, a $10,000 Inti bill was worth about 14 cents in US money.

It took 70,000 Inti’s to make a dollar. Then, all of a sudden, in one weekend, the value of their money devalued from 70,000 Inti’s to about 320,000 Inti’s to equal a dollar. That’s inflation of about 450% in one weekend.

To give you an idea of how it compares, the US has inflation of about 4% per year. A few months before I left Peru, the largest Inti bill was worth about $5 in US money. They couldn’t make any larger bills because all the zeros wouldn’t fit on the money.

As a result, they had to change currency from the “Inti” to the “Nuevo Sol” to get rid of all the zeros. When I left Peru, one ” Neuvo Sol” was worth $1 in US money — and the inflation cycle was ready to start all over again.

I have talked to many people about this issue and some have said that in Bolivia, when you get in line to see a movie, it costs a certain price. Then, when you finally get to the front of the line, the price has already gone up!

Here’s what you can learn from this culture lesson. If you are going to live in Latin America for an extended period of time, don’t exchange all of your money for the local currency. If you do, some weekend you may wake up to find out that $100 is suddenly worth only $5.

What I recommend is to keep your money in a US or foreign bank and withdraw and exchange it a little at a time. Usually in Latin America, there are very few places that accept credit cards and there aren’t many ATM’s, but you can have money wired to a bank.

If you have money wired to a bank, make sure it is reputable and only have about two to four weeks worth sent at a time so it doesn’t devalue. Some countries are more stable than others so you might want to do a little research before going to live in Latin America.

For you travelers only staying one or two weeks at a time, take the cash you need, put it is a safe place and either pay with dollars or exchange your money at the first of each week. Remember, there aren’t many ATM’s in Latin America.

Side Note: In the Standard Examiner newspaper yesterday (local paper where I live), it talked about how 1 out of every 7 people in the U.S. now is from Latin America or Spain.

There are now around 40 million native Spanish speakers in the U.S. Many of them learn English, which is great, however, the need to learn Spanish is bigger than ever. Our Level I Visual Link Spanish™ course has been taught at major corporations, Weber State University, 66 countries and all 50 US states and many schools. It really works! Instead of learning grammar rules and vocabulary, you learn to build sentences, speak and converse.

[custom_script adID=97]

Written by David S. Clark President/Director, U.S. Institute of Languages. Copyright © 1999-2010 US Institute of Languages All rights reserved.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.