You wouldn’t travel abroad without checking exchange rates and having some local currency at the ready, would you? Money is as important to foreign travel as it is in everyday life at home. You need it from the second you set foot off the plane, for a drink at the airport, or a cab for your forward journey.
Currency is an integral part of language learning, too. It goes hand to hand to learn about the currency used in the mother country of the language you’re learning.
Coin Week from 17th – 23rd April every year is a timely reminder to brush up on your currency knowledge if you’re due to travel abroad. The more comfortable you are with a currency, the less chance of any money muddles causing a genuinely misinformed purchase, or, worse still, getting you duped as a gullible foreigner.
But currencies are more than transactional. They’re chock-full of historical references that add colour and flavour to your language learning journey.
What Do Coins Tell Us About Countries?
There are stories in coins that bring language learning to life. Think about landmark coins for starters. They’re interwoven with cultural significance that ignites language lessons, like –
- Peace dollar after World War II
- Olympic coins issued by host countries
- Limited edition coins to commemorate important national events, e.g, the Queen’s platinum jubilee in June 2022. (The Royal Mint issued a special 50p coin in February 2022 to mark the occasion.)
In addition, taking a look at the 10 most commonly used currencies on the planet is super useful. After all, you’ll want to be forewarned and forearmed if you’re going to be tackling a different language and a different currency when you reach your destination –
1 United States dollar – 88.3%
2 Euro – 32.3%
3 Japanese yen – 16.8%
4 Pound sterling – 12.8%
5 Australian dollar – 6.8%
6 Canadian dollar – 5%
7 Swiss franc – 5%
8 Chinese yuan renminbi – 4.3%
9 Hong Kong dollar – 3.5%
10 New Zealand dollar – 2.1%
At La Academia, we’ve got a proud track record for language learning that’s hands-on and enriching, not just text book based. Whichever language you choose to learn with us, you can rest assured of being currency savvy by the time you finish.
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