This is the first part of the lesson. The rest, the exercises and the reviews are in the app.
Everyday transactions: bank, post office, repairs
A newcomer’s life is a string of small errands at a counter: opening an account, changing money, sending a parcel, paying bills, topping up a phone, a haircut, a repair, a queue. Here are the phrases for each place. The anchor words: šalter, račun, provizija, paket, majstor, red.
At the bank (banka) you are served at a counter window, the šalter. The key words: otvoriti račun “to open an account”, tekući račun “current account”, kartica “card”, bankomat “cash machine, ATM”, podići novac “to withdraw money”, uplatiti “to pay in, to transfer”, provizija “fee, commission”. You know kartica and gotovina “cash” from the lesson “Shopping & money”: the same money words, seen from the bank's side. At the bank, račun is the account, not the receipt.
For your account: stanje na računu “account balance”, provera stanja “balance check”, štednja “savings”, kredit “(bank) loan”. And if the machine keeps your card: Bankomat mi je progutao karticu. “The cash machine has swallowed my card.”
To change money you go to a menjačnica “exchange office”. The exchange rate is kurs, and it has two sides: kupovni kurs “the buying rate” and prodajni kurs “the selling rate”. The window often says bez provizije “no commission”. There is usually no separate fee: the office earns on the gap between the kupovni and the prodajni kurs, so compare the rates themselves.
Cheat sheet
The cheat sheet — everything essential from the lesson on one page. In the app it opens at any time.
Everyday transactions: bank, post office, repairs
Everywhere you meet a šalter “counter window” and a red “queue”.
Hours vary; Saturday is often shorter, Sunday mostly closed. Ask: Do koliko radite?Until what time are you open?Radite li subotom?Are you open on Saturdays?