Introduction: Hello, hello and welcome to Fundamentos. This is our new 30-day English course that will help you be more comfortable and more confident in day to day situations in English. Isso aí, seja bem vindo ao Fundamentos. É o nosso novo curso que vai te ensinar como dominar as situações essenciais do dia a dia. We are super excited that you are participating and we're confident that you're going to learn a lot. Então vamos começar!

Foster: Hey Alexia.

Alexia: Hey Foster. How are you?

Foster: To be honest, I am extremely tired. How are you?

Alexia: I am tired as well. 

Foster: Yes. Because our little puppy, Buddy, who's not so little anymore is...he has been a little sick, so we're not sleeping very much.

Alexia: Yes, everything for Buddy boy. 

Foster: Yes. But today Alexia, we are going to talk about a very important topic in English. Maybe not the most fun topic in the world for some people, maybe a very interesting topic for others. So today we are going to talk about banks and about money more generally. 

Alexia: Yeah, I mean, it can be very boring or it can be very interesting, but for sure it's necessary.

Foster: Yeah. I think the reason why it can be quite boring for some people is because this is always a complicated, difficult and bureaucratic process, when you're opening a bank account or going to a bank in a foreign country.

Alexia: Yes. And sometimes you won't be able to go to a bank because you don't need it, anything now is digital. But maybe you have to talk to someone about it. Maybe before you travel, you need to understand how the American banks work there, so you can be safe. 

Foster: Yeah. So just one quick correction Alexia, when you say, "Anything now is digital," I think the most natural way to say this...

Alexia: Everything.

Foster: "Everything now is digital."

Alexia: Yeah. 

Foster: But yes, you are absolutely correct. It does not matter if you have a physical bank account, a digital bank account. It's very important to know how to talk about money confidently. Because it does not matter if you like money, if you don't like money, it's a very important thing that we all have to talk about. 

Alexia: Yeah. And the first thing that I think that we should talk about is, how do I say, "I wanna pay em dinheiro"?

Foster: In cash. 

Alexia: In cash.

Foster: Yeah. So you can say, "I'm going to pay in cash," so that is the action, 'in cash.' And you can also simply say just 'cash.' Like, "I have a lot of cash right now. I have a lot of money."

Alexia: Okay. And to have this cash, of course that you have to go to an ATM, right? 

Foster: Yes. 

Alexia: Que é caixa eletrônico.

Foster: Uh-huh. An ATM.

Alexia: ATM. At the moment money…. What is an ATM? Automatic…

Foster: Yeah. I was just thinking about this. And to be honest, I have no idea. I think I would say 'Automatic Transfer of Monetary something'?**

Alexia: Yeah, I don't know either, but... So you go to an ATM, and then you take some money from it. How do you call that? 

Foster: Yes. So first, in this case you want to use the phrasal verb 'to take out' money. Tirar dinheiro, né?

Alexia: Isso.

Foster: So you can say, "I'm taking money out" or "Taking money out of the ATM."

Alexia: Okay.

Foster: Yes. And when we do that, the more formal way to say that is 'to withdraw money.'

Alexia: Withdraw.

Foster: Yeah. So probably the most correct way to say everything in this situation is, "I'm going to the ATM to withdraw money."

Alexia: Okay, perfect.

Foster: Cool. Any other questions about ATMs, taking out money, withdrawing money?

Alexia: Yes. Usually in Brazil, at least in Rio, when you go to a bank, an actual bank, you have a lot of ATMs inside and you can do everything there, like to talk to a manager, or just withdraw money, or just pay bills and etc. In the United States, I feel that it's a little bit different the banks there. 

Foster: Yes. Also the ATMs are quite different. I remember the first time that I was in Brazil, and I was trying to withdraw money from an ATM. And the person in front of me, in the line, was taking so much time. And I was thinking, "Oh my goodness, what are they doing?" 

Alexia: Paying bills.

Foster: And then I recognized, you can do a lot of things at the ATMs in Brazil. In general in the U.S., all we do is withdraw money.

Alexia: Okay, okay. So if you need to talk to someone about your account, it's with a manager, right? Inside the bank. 

Foster: Yeah, so I think we'd say 'manager,' or perhaps more specifically, an 'account manager.'

Alexia: And he's the one who takes care of everything of your account.

Foster: Yeah. In general. Okay, so in the U.S., it's a very different experience compared to Brazil. In general, in the U.S., you enter in the bank and then you go up to the counter and you have a first person to talk to. Do you know how we call that person? 

Alexia: No.

Foster: A bank teller.

Alexia: Bank teller?

Foster: Uh-huh. Yeah. You didn't know that?

Alexia: No.

Foster: Cool. So a bank teller can do a lot of simple things. If you just need to give them a check or maybe deposit some money or something like that. But if you want to do something a little bit more complicated like open a bank account, probably they will let you talk to an account manager. 

Alexia: Gotcha.**

Foster: Cool. So Alexia, can I ask you, have you been to a bank in the U.S. before?

Alexia: Yes, with you. And I was extremely impressed because it was so clean, no crowded at all. It was like going to that bank in Hogwarts, the…

Foster: Gringotts?

Alexia: Yes. 

Foster: Okay. So just a few small corrections. First, I believe you want to say, "It was so clean." Yes?

Alexia: Yeah.

Foster: Okay. So 'clean,' this is /EE/ 'clean.'

Alexia: Clean.

Foster: Perfect. Secondly, you said, "No crowded."

Alexia: It wasn't crowded at all.

Foster: Yes. So you could say, "It was not crowded" or "It wasn't crowded."

Alexia: Okay.

Foster: And finally, Gringotts, that's the bank that the Globins are the managers of in Harry Potter.

Alexia: It was beautiful. And for a person who is used to like, Itaú, Santander... a million of times going there and having to argue to someone to take care of you. It was a whole new experience. **

I am used to the routine I follow at work.
Eu estou acostumado com a rotina que eu sigo no trabalho.

The baker is used to waking up early.
O padeiro está acostumado a acordar cedo.

Foster: Yeah. In general we argue with someone in English. 

Alexia: Okay.

Foster: Cool. But you have never opened a bank account in the U.S., is that correct?

Alexia: No, no.

Foster: Okay. 

Alexia: I couldn't as well. I don't have a Social Security number.**

Foster: I don't know, to be honest, if you could or not, it would be quite complicated, I imagine. But let's imagine Alexia, you have opened bank accounts in Brazil and in Portugal, so you understand more or less how the process works. 

Alexia: Yes.

Foster: Okay. So imagine that you are entering in the bank. What do you do? 

Alexia: I talk to someone and let the person know what I need to be done. So for example, "Hi. I'd like to open a bank account."

Foster: Perfect. Yeah. So probably you'll enter the bank, maybe you'll wait in line, you talk to the person at the desk, at the counter. And the name of the person is...

Alexia: Bank teller.

Foster: You talk to the bank teller and say, "Hello, I'd like to open a bank account." Then what happens? 

Alexia: Then the person will start asking me questions. 

Foster: For example?

Alexia: Which type of bank account would I like?

Foster: Okay. Do you know what are different types of bank accounts?

Alexia: No. 

Foster: Okay. Some very common ones are a checking account, which normally you have just a debit card and you put money in an account and then you can use a debit card to withdraw money from that account. 

Alexia: Okay.

Foster: That's like your everyday normal checking account.

Alexia: Okay.

Foster: You also have savings account, which I believe they give you slightly better rates. So the idea with the savings account is, you put money into an account and you just leave it, so that money increases over time. 

Alexia: Okay

Foster: Cool. Those are kind of your two main, two types of personal bank accounts

Alexia: And then if I need to ask for dinheiro emprestado, it's a loan, right? 

Foster: Yes. A loan. 

Alexia: A loan. 

Foster: Uh-huh. So just like, "Oh, I feel alone." 'Loan.'

Alexia: A loan.

Foster: Exactly. Yes, a loan is when you borrow money from the bank and then you have to pay them back more money.**

I want to borrow a book from the library.
Eu quero pegar um livro emprestado da biblioteca.

He lent me money without interest.
Ele me emprestou dinheiro sem pedir juros.

I need to return the book my friend lent me.
Preciso devolver o livro que meu amigo me emprestou.

Alexia: Yeah. Anywhere in the world. 

Foster: Yes. And do you know what we call the extra money that you have to pay the bank back in return?

Alexia: Interest. 

Foster: Interest. And how do you say that in Portuguese?

Alexia: Juros.

Foster: Juros. Isn't that strange? In English, why is that word interest? It's not interesting.

Alexia: Because it was interest to loan money from the bank.

Foster: To take out a loan.

Alexia: Yeah.

Foster: Yeah, I guess so, maybe. So people take out loans, normally we say to 'get a loan,' or 'to take out a loan.'

Alexia: Uh-huh.

Foster: For many many different reasons, this is very common in the U.S. But the most common is probably to buy a house.

Alexia: And the student's right?

Foster: Yeah. Student loans. Which we could record an entire challenge talking about student loans. But do you know how we call when you take out a loan for a house, and you're paying for a house?

Alexia: A mortgage. 

Foster: A mortgage, excellent. And that's another word in English that the way we write does not really make sense. There is a T in the word 'mortgage,' but we do not say 'mortgage,' we say 'mortgage.' 

Alexia: Yeah.

Foster: Cool. Okay Alexia, you've talked to an account manager, you've told them that you want to open a checking account. What other questions or information do you think they might have for you? 

Alexia: I think that they're gonna ask my full name, date of birth. They're gonna ask for some ID, and maybe how can I prove that I live there. 

Foster: Okay, excellent. 

Alexia: Proof of residency.

Foster: Proof of residency. Let's take each one of these individually. Full name.

Alexia: Full name.

Foster: Okay. A lot of times Alexia, when you start speaking a little fast, you say, "Fu, fu name."

Alexia: Full name.

Foster: Full name, which means your complete name. So in my case, my full name is William Foster Hodge.

Alexia: Uh-huh. 

Foster: Okay. The next thing, date of birth. 

Alexia: Date of birth.

Foster: Your birthday. 

Alexia: Ah, you want me to say, November 16th, 1989.

Foster: November 16th, 1989. But do you know how… What is the more common way to say that in English?

Alexia: 11/16/1989.

Foster: Almost perfect. So for example, my birthday is October 23th, 1889, but in these types of situations, I always say, 10/23/89.

Alexia: Yeah, which I don't know why you guys continue doing month, date and year. I have no idea. 

Foster: It does not make sense. 

Alexia: No it doesn't.

Foster: But that is a good thing...

Alexia: And it doesn't make you guys special at all. 

Foster: Yes. I also do not understand why we do that, but that's a good thing to memorize and to really understand if you're traveling in the U.S., to know that number. So in my case, 10/23/89. In your case…

Alexia: 11/16/89.

Foster: Exactly. 

Alexia: But again, I would prefer just to say the month like, out loud, so I can ask the other person as well, "Okay, did you say September 9th?" for example, and then...

Foster: Yeah, yeah. Just to be very clear.

Alexia: Yeah. 

Foster: Okay, we have: full name, date of birth, you said ID.

Alexia: Yes. Identification number?

Foster: Perfect. So identification, normally we just say ID. And we have a lot of different forms of identification in the U.S. The most common is probably your driver's license.

Alexia: Just like in Brazil.

Foster: Yeah. I mean, you can have your passport or other things, but driver's license is probably the most common. And what else?

Alexia: And probably some money to prove that you can open the bank account.

Foster: Right.

Alexia: So you have to make a deposit, so you can open that. It's your money, it will stay in your bank account but you have to like, "Hey, there you go, 500 dollars." And then you can open your bank account. 

Foster: Yeah. That's kind of the point of having a bank account, is you're going to put money in that account, so banks force you to prove that you can put money in the account and that is called a deposit. Do you know how to say that in Portuguese?

Alexia: Depósito.

Foster: Very good. Cool, so I think that's pretty much it. Obviously there is a lot more vocabulary and different situations in the world of finance and money and banks, but I think that gives you a good start. Do you have any questions, Alexia?

Alexia: No, I'm fine. 

Foster: Excellent. So I will talk to you tomorrow. And as always, keep up the good fight...

Alexia: And lose well. Bye!

puppy - filhote de cachorro

bank account - conta bancária

foreign country - país estrangeiro

anything - qualquer coisa

it does not matter - não importa

withdraw - retirar, sacar

recognized - reconheci, reconhecido

manager - gerente

counter - balcão

impressed - impressionado

crowded - lotado

wait in line - esperar na fila

borrow - pedir emprestado

mortgage - hipoteca

almost - quase

(say) out loud - (dizer) em voz alta

driver's license - carteira de motorista