Currency and Prices (Novice)

Practice on Your Own

• Do you know what money looks like in the country/ies where the language is spoken? If not, look up pictures of bills and coins online.
• Practice reading prices out loud. Make prices up, or look for actual prices online. Maybe you can find price listings for hotels or restaurants in places where the language is spoken, or for goods that are sold online.
• Keep practicing throughout the week. Every time you buy something, think about how you would say the price in the language you are studying.

Practice in Conversation Session

• Warm‐up practice saying prices. Be prepared for a warm‐up activity in which you practice saying prices in similar ways to how you have been practicing on your own. Your conversation partner might ask you to read prices out loud, or have you count money using pictures of bills and coins.
• Practice comprehending prices. You have been practicing saying prices on your own. You may not have had much chance to practice comprehending prices when they are spoken to you, so this will be practiced in your conversation session.
  • Be prepared for your conversation partner or others in your conversation group to say random prices and have you write down the price you hear.
  • Your conversation partner may share cultural knowledge about typical prices for everyday goods and services (foods, clothing, soap, haircuts, etc.).
• Practice asking and giving prices. Be prepared to practice asking and answering questions about prices using complete sentences.
  • Have you learned different ways to ask about prices (different wording, formal vs. informal, etc.)? If so, make sure you practice each of them several times.
  • What else can you say about money? Can you say how much money you have, or ask someone else how much they have? Can you say whether something is cheap or expensive?
• Taking it further. Depending on what else you have learned, you may do some activities that combine money and prices with other material. If you have learned vocabulary for foods or other objects you might buy, perhaps you can role play making a simple purchase.