2010年ESL之日常生活 22 Wiring Money to Another Country

22 Wiring Money to Another Country

GLOSSARY

emergency – an unexpected situation that requires immediate action or animmediate response because it is dangerous or will have other seriousconsequences or results

* If you have a medical emergency, call 9-1-1.

cash – paper or metal money; not checks or credit cards

* Do you have enough cash to pay for the taxi ride?

to wire – to send something electronically, usually when talking about money ortelegraph messages, and usually over a large distance

* Once you sign here and wire the money to our bank, the new house will beyours.

to process – to do the paperwork for something; to respond officially to anapplication or request

* How long does it take the Department of Motor Vehicles to process a request torenew a driver’s license?

Western Union – a company that lets customers send money electronicallyalmost anywhere in the world

* Don’t forget to go to the local Western Union office to pick up the money thatyour sister sent you.

blank – empty; without anything written on a page or in a particular space

* If you don’t know the answer to a question on the test, just leave it blank.

to fill (something) out – to write or type information where it is requested on aform* To create an account, please fill out the form on our website.

money transfer – money sent electronically from one person or bank account toanother, usually over a large distance

* Each semester, his parents send him a money transfer so that he can pay theuniversity’s tuitionrecipient

– a person who receives something; the person who gets somethingfrom another person

* Have you decided who will be the recipient of your money and other things afteryou die?

sender – a person who sends something; the person who arranges for anotherperson to get something that he or she has

* Usually the sender’s address is written in the upper left-hand corner of theenvelope.

local currency – the type of money used in a particular country, such as dollars,euros, yen, or rubles

* When there was a lot of inflation in the country, people preferred to use U.S.

dollars instead of the local currency.

to calculate – to use math to find the answer to something, especially to find outhow much something will cost or how much of something there will be

* Do you know how to calculate a 15% tip on the restaurant bill?

exchange rate – the amount of one currency that can be used to buy one unit ofanother currency

* As the exchange rate increased, people were able to afford more importedproducts.

fee – an amount of money charged by a government, organization, or businessfor a particular purpose

* If you don’t pay your rent by the fifth of each month, you’ll have to pay a $25late fee.

business day – one of the days when most businesses are open; Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday; not Saturday or Sunday

* We try to respond to all emails within one business day.

control number – a number assigned to a specific transaction so that it can beobserved or monitored

* When you go to the bank, take the control number so that they can look up yourtransaction in case there are any problems.

lifesaver – a person who makes a situation much easier or more pleasant; aperson who helps someone out of a difficult or dangerous situation

* If you can work my shift on Saturday, you’d be a lifesaver!

a matter of life and death – something that is very important and serious

* For many sick patients, getting a kidney donation is a matter of life and death.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What should the recipient of a money transfer bring to the office?

a) A wire.

b) A blank form.

c) A control number.

2. Why does Mahmoud say, “it’s a matter of life and death?”

a) Because his brother will die if he doesn’t get the money.

b) Because seeing the baseball game is extremely important.

c) Because he is a doctor who works with people who are dying.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

wireThe verb “to wire,” in this podcast, means to send something electronically,usually when talking about money or telegraph messages, and usually over alarge distance: “Whenever you wire money into our bank account, the bankcharges us $35.” A “wire” is normally a thin piece of metal, often used to conductelectricity: “They hung their wet clothes on a wire in the backyard to dry.” Thephrase “down to the wire” means with very little time left to finish something:

“We’re really down to the wire with this report. It has to be finished by the end ofthe day!” Finally, the phrase “to get (one’s) wires crossed” means for there to beconfusion in communication because two people are talking about two differentthings: “We must have gotten our wires crossed, because I thought you weretalking about this Thursday – not next Thursday.”

blankIn this podcast, the word “blank” means empty, or without anything written on apage or in a particular space: “All of a sudden, the computer screen went blankand we couldn’t get it to work at all.” The phrase “a blank face” is used todescribe an expressionless face, or a face that doesn’t show any emotion orinterest: “The professor was disappointed to see his students’ blank faces.” Ifsomeone’s “mind goes blank,” it means that he or she suddenly cannotremember something and does not know what to say: “Shelby is really nervousabout speaking in public because she’s afraid her mind will go blank once shegoes on stage.” Finally, the phrase “point-blank” means very directly: “Janefinally asked her boyfriend point-blank: ‘Are we going to get married soon?’”

CULTURE NOTE

When traveling “overseas” (to another country), travelers want to get the bestpossible exchange rate to “make their money go as far as possible” (get the bestvalue for their money). “Fluctuations” (changes) in the exchange rate are usually“beyond the traveler’s control” (something that the traveler cannot influence), buttravelers can do certain things to get the best possible exchange rate.

Airport currency exchange “booths” (small stores or tables) are “notorious”

(famous in a bad way) for having very high exchange rates. Travelers who flyinto a country without the local currency need to exchange money quickly, andthese businesses “take advantage of” (use for their benefit) the situation tocharge “exorbitant” (extremely high and expensive) exchange rates.

Travelers don’t need to exchange their money at the airport if they arrive in their“destination country” (the country they are traveling to) with a small amount of thelocal currency. “Savvy” (smart; clever) travelers are also aware of the currentexchange rates so that no one can “scam” (trick) them into paying a higherexchange rate.

Travelers can also use “ATMs” (automated teller machines; machines that letpeople take cash out of their bank account) or debit or credit cards to get goodexchange rates. However, the benefits of the lower exchange rate might be“canceled out” (made unimportant) by high fees. Many ATMs charge fees foreach transaction, and some banks charge “foreign transaction fees” for any“transactions” (sales or withdrawals) in another country. It is important to knowwhat these fees will be “ahead of time” (before one conducts the transaction) sothat there aren’t any surprises on the monthly “statement” (a report of all thetransactions in one’s bank account).

______________Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – b

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 626: Wiring Moneyto Another Country.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 626. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com. Go there to download a Learning Guide for thisepisode that will help you improve your English even faster than just listening.

This episode is called “Wiring Money (or sending money electronically) toAnother Country.” It’s dialogue between Mahmoud and Sharon using a lot ofvocabulary you would need to know in sending wires. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Mahmoud: My brother emailed about an emergency situation. He needs $300by tomorrow, but how can I get cash to him within 24 hours if I’m here in MexicoCity and he’s in New York?

Sharon: That’s easy. You can wire him the money from here and he can pick itup immediately there.

Mahmoud: You mean wire him money through the bank? I already checked withmy bank and it’ll take at least five days for them to process the wire.

Sharon: You can just use a private wire service like Western Union and themoney will be available to him immediately. I wire money all the time usingWestern Union. Here is a blank form. I can help you fill it out if you want me to.

Mahmoud: That would be great. Hey, this form is for a money transfer. Is thatthe same thing as a wire?

Sharon: Yes, it’s the same thing. Fill out the receiver or recipient informationhere and the sender information there.

Mahmoud: Can I pay in local currency? I don’t have that much cash in U.S.

dollars.

Sharon: Sure. When you go to the Western Union office, they’ll calculate howmuch you’ll have to pay according to the current exchange rate.

Mahmoud: Is there a fee?

Sharon: Yeah, there is, and it’s a little higher if you want the money to beavailable immediately. If you have more time, you could save a little by using theslower service that makes the money available in three business days. All done?

Mahmoud: Yeah, I think so. Now what?

Sharon: Now you take this to the nearest Western Union office. They’ll give youa copy of this form with a control number. Your brother can use that controlnumber to pick up the money from any Western Union office in New York.

Mahmoud: Sharon, you’re a lifesaver.

Sharon: So, what’s the emergency?

Mahmoud: Tickets go on sale tomorrow for my favorite baseball team. Mybrother and I have to get tickets.

Sharon: That’s the emergency?!

Mahmoud: For us, it’s a matter of life and death.

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Mahmoud saying, “My brother emailed about anemergency situation.” “Emergencies” are unexpected situations or events, thingsthat require that you have an immediate response; you have to take care of themright away because they are very serious or dangerous. Mahmoud says that hisbrother needs 300 dollars “by tomorrow,” meaning before the end of tomorrow.

He asks, “how can I get cash to him within 24 hours if I’m here in Mexico City andhe’s in New York?” So our dialogue today is in Mexico City. “Cash” is moneythat you put in your wallet or your purse. It usually consists of either “coins,”

round metal objects, or piece of paper we call “bills” (bills). The term is usedmore generally to mean money.

Mahmoud is wondering how he can get this money to his brother in one day ifthey are in different cities. Sharon says, “That’s easy. You can wire him the money from here and he can pick it up immediately there.” “To wire” as a verbmeans to send something, usually money, electronically; it could also meansending someone a message. In the old days, we had telegraph messages thatwere sent electronically. With the Internet and better phone service we don’t dothat very much. I don’t think they do it all anymore; I might be wrong about that.

But nowadays the word is used to refer to sending money electronically eitherthrough a bank directly or through another private company such as WesternUnion, which we’ll talk about in a minute. The word “wire” has several meaningsin English, and those can be found in, of course, our Learning Guide.

So Sharon says that Mahmoud can wire his brother money. Mahmoud says,“You mean wire him money through the bank? I already checked with my bankand it’ll take at least five days for them to process the wire.” “To process” is ageneral verb meaning to do all the necessary actions, often things that requirewhat we would call “paperwork” – forms to fill out, permissions to get. Toprocess, for example, an application means that you look at it, you give it to theappropriate people, they review it, they give it back to you, and so forth. So,taking care of the necessary steps is what this verb is meant to convey – ismeant to communicate to you.

Mahmoud says that it will take at least five days to wire money through his bank.

That, by the way, is generally true internationally; it takes a longer time to useyour bank to wire money, a longer time than a private service and that’s whatSharon recommends. She says, “You can just use a private wire service likeWestern Union and the money will be available to him immediately.” “WesternUnion” is the name of a company that lets you send money electronically almostanywhere in the world, and the person you are sending it can pick it up usuallywithin a day, sometimes less. Sharon says, “I wire money all the time usingWestern Union. Here is a blank form.” Boy, Sharon is pretty amazing; sheactually has the form for wiring money to Western Union with her! I guess shecarries those around. Anyway, she gives him a blank form. A “blank form” wouldbe an empty form, one that doesn’t have anything written on it yet. So the placewhere you put your name is empty – it’s blank; in general “blank” means empty.

“Blank” has a couple of other meanings however, and those are also in ourLearning Guide for this episode.

Sharon says, “Here’s a blank form. I can help you fill it out if you want me to.”

“To fill (something) out,” or “to fill out (something)” is a two-word phrasal verbmeaning to write or type information where it is requested on a form. So, whenyou come to the United States you have to fill out a form for a visitor: you need toput your name, the country where you live, where you are going in the U.S., how long you will be there, and so forth. That’s to fill out something or to fillsomething out – to put the information onto the document, paper, or form.

Mahmoud says, “That would be great. Hey, this form is for a money transfer. Isthat the same thing as a wire?” “Yes” is the answer. A “money transfer” ismoney sent electronically from one person to another; it is the same as a wire.

Sharon says, “Yes, it’s the same thing. Fill out the receiver or recipientinformation here and the sender information there.” She’s obviously pointing orindicating on the form where Mahmoud should put this information. There aretwo kinds of information: the first is for the recipient. A “recipient” (recipient) issomeone who receives something, someone who gets something from someoneelse. If you give someone a gift, the person you give the gift to is the recipient.

Or you could win, for example, a prize; we would talk about the recipients of theNobel Peace Prize. Those are the people who have received prize. Therecipient of the money is Mahmoud’s brother. Mahmoud is the person sendingthe money, and so we call him the “sender.” Remember in English wesometimes add an “er” at the end of a verb to make it the person who does thatthing. “To play” becomes “player” when we talk about the person who plays, andso forth, and that’s what is going on here.

Mahmoud says, “Can I pay in a local currency?” “Currency” is the type of moneythat you use in a particular country. In the United States we use the dollar, inmost of Europe – Western Europe they use the euro, in Japan they use the yen,and so forth. “Local currency,” then, is the currency of the place where you aresending your money. Mahmoud wants to know if he can pay in local currency,meaning can he pay in Mexican pesos even though the person is going to pickup the money in dollars, and the answer, of course, is yes. Sharon says, “Sure(meaning yes). When you go to the Western Union office, they’ll calculate howmuch you’ll have to pay according to the current exchange rate.” “To calculate”

means to add, subtract, multiply, or divide; that is, to use mathematics, or math,to find the answer to something. The “exchange rate” is the price of onecurrency in another currency. It’s what, for example, if you come to the UnitedStates with a euro – one euro, and you go to a place – a bank where theyexchange money (they give you the local currency of that country), they wouldgive you say $1.20 or $1.30 – 1 dollar and 30 cents. That’s the exchange rate –that’s the price of a dollar in euros or the price of a euro in dollars.

Mahmoud says, “Is there a fee (fee)?” A “fee” is the amount of money that youpay a business, an organization, or the government for a particular purpose. Ifyou want to, for example, play golf at a public golf course – a government-ownedgolf course in Los Angeles – you have to pay a fee. That’s money that you pay for that particular thing. This is somewhat different than taxes; “taxes” areusually a percentage of some other amount of money that you either make orspend. A fee is a particular price of doing something that only that one personwould pay.

Sharon says, “Yes, there is (a fee), and it’s a little higher if you want the money tobe available immediately.” If you are sending money by Western Union and youwant the person to be able to pick up the money today instead of tomorrow or theday after tomorrow, they charge you more money; they charge you a higher fee.

Notice we use “high” and “low” in talking about fees because they representmoney, which is represented or counted by numbers which can be high or low.

“If you had more time,” Sharon said, “you could save a little by using the slowerservice that makes the money available in three business days.” A “businessday” is typically Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Theweekends, Saturday and Sunday, are not considered business days since manybusinesses are closed. So if someone says, “We will send that to you in five toseven business days,” and today is Wednesday, they mean that they will send itto you not by Sunday, which is five normal or calendar days, but five businessdays, which would be next Wednesday, or possibly even Friday if it is sevendays.

Sharon says to Mahmoud, “All done?” meaning all finished – are you finished?

Mahmoud says, “Yeah, I think so. Now what (now what do I do)?” Sharon says,“Now you take this to the nearest Western Union office. They’ll give you a copyof this form with a control number.” When you send a wire with Western Unionthey give it an official number that they use to keep track of – to put it into theircomputer, and that control number is what you give the other person, therecipient. They put that control number – it’s called a “money transfer controlnumber” – on the form that they fill out, and that’s how they can find it easily inthe computer. So that’s a control number specifically for a wire “via,” or using,Western Union. Sharon says, “Your brother can use that control number to pickup the money from any Western Union office in New York.” Western Union willalso ask you for your name and your address and your phone number, but thecontrol number is the most important piece of information.

Mahmoud says, “Sharon, you’re a lifesaver.” When we say someone’s a“lifesaver” we mean that person has helped us a great deal. They’ve saved ourlife – they prevented us from dying. Of course, that’s not literally true – it’s notactually true, but we say that when someone has helped us a great deal: “You’rea lifesaver.”

Sharon said, “So, what’s the emergency?” Why do you need to send this moneyto your brother? Mahmoud says, “Tickets go on sale for my favorite baseballteam.” They go on sale, meaning they will start selling them, tomorrow.

Mahmoud says, “My brother and I have to get tickets.” Sharon says, “That’s theemergency?!” She cannot believe that the emergency is the fact that Mahmoud’sbrother has to buy some baseball tickets. Mahmoud says, “For us (meaning formy brother and me), it’s a matter of life and death.” When you say something is“a matter of life and death” you mean it is very important, it is very serious.

Sometimes you mean that literally – you mean the person could die if somethingdoesn’t happen. Often however, just like the term “lifesaver,” we use it as anexaggeration really, to say it’s very important, it’s very serious.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Mahmoud: My brother emailed about an emergency situation. He needs $300by tomorrow, but how can I get cash to him within 24 hours if I’m here in MexicoCity and he’s in New York?

Sharon: That’s easy. You can wire him the money from here and he can pick itup immediately there.

Mahmoud: You mean wire him money through the bank? I already checked withmy bank and it’ll take at least five days for them to process the wire.

Sharon: You can just use a private wire service like Western Union and themoney will be available to him immediately. I wire money all the time usingWestern Union. Here is a blank form. I can help you fill it out if you want me to.

Mahmoud: That would be great. Hey, this form is for a money transfer. Is thatthe same thing as a wire?

Sharon: Yes, it’s the same thing. Fill out the receiver or recipient informationhere and the sender information there.

Mahmoud: Can I pay in local currency? I don’t have that much cash in U.S.

dollars.

Sharon: Sure. When you go to the Western Union office, they’ll calculate howmuch you’ll have to pay according to the current exchange rate.

Mahmoud: Is there a fee?

Sharon: Yeah, there is, and it’s a little higher if you want the money to beavailable immediately. If you had more time, you could save a little by using theslower service that makes the money available in three business days. All done?

Mahmoud: Yeah, I think so. Now what?

Sharon: Now you take this to the nearest Western Union office. They’ll give youa copy of this form with a control number. Your brother can use that controlnumber to pick up the money from any Western Union office in New York.

Mahmoud: Sharon, you’re a lifesaver.

Sharon: So, what’s the emergency?

Mahmoud: Tickets go on sale tomorrow for my favorite baseball team. Mybrother and I have to get tickets.

Sharon: That’s the emergency?!

Mahmoud: For us, it’s a matter of life and death.

[end of dialogue]

Our scriptwriter is a real lifesaver for us here at ESL Podcast. We could not dowhat we do without her, so thank you Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Comeback and listen to us again on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2010 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.