M: Hello everyone! Welcome back to another great lesson here with us at EnglishPod! My 
name is Marco. 
E: And I’m Erica. 
M: And today we’re gonna be getting money. 
E: That’s right. We’re going to have a lesson about the ATM. 
M: The ATM or… 
E: Automatic Teller Machine. 
M: Okay, that’s what it stands for, ATM. 
E: Uhu. 
M: So, we’re gonna be looking at the language that you’ll probably find in an ATM maybe in 
the United States or in an English speaking country. 
E: That’s right. Um, but before we begin, why don’t we look at some vocabulary that we’ll 
hear in the dialogue? 
Voice: Vocabulary preview. 
M: As we mentioned, the ATM or automatic teller machine is the machine where you get 
your money, right? 
E: Exactly. 
M: And also, well, some people or in different places they may call it the bank machine. 
E: Yeah, or maybe the cash machine. 
M: Uhu. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Or just a money machine or something. Alright… 
E: So, ATM. 
M: ATM. And now, let’s take a look at our next word. 
E: Local authorities. 
M: The local authorities. 
E: The local authorities. 
M: So, what are the local authorities? 
E: Well, basically, it’s the police. 
M: The police. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Why do you say local authorities? 
E: Okay, well, authority is, uh, the person in charge, right? 
M: Uhu. 
E: The boss. 
M: Uhu. 
E: So, the local authorities are basically people who are the boss of this place. 
M: In that area. 
E: Yeah, so… 
M: Okay. 
E: The police. 
M: The local authorities. 
E: Uhu. 
M: So, why don’t we start now with our dialogue? Why are we talking about local authorities 
and ATM machines? 
E: I don’t know. We gotta listen to find out. 
A: Stupid girl, making me spend so much money,
now I have to get it from the ATM...
B: Hello, welcome to Universal Bank. Please insert
your card into the slot.
A: I know where to put my card! Stupid machine,
talking to me like I’m an idiot...
B: Please input your 6 digit PIN code followed by the
pound key. Thank you. Please select an option.
Thank you. You have selected withdrawal.
A: Yeah, yeah, I know what I selected. Just gimme
my money!
B: Please type the amount you would like to with-
draw. Thank you, you want to transfer 10000 USD
to the World Wildlife Foundation. If this is correct
please press 1.
A: No, no! Stupid machine, what are you doing! No!
B: Confirmed. Thank you for using our bank! Please
remove your card from the slot. Goodbye!
C: Danger, danger! The exits have been sealed and
the doors will remain locked in until the local au-
thorities arrive. Thank you for using our bank.
Have a nice day.
A: No!
 
M: Alright, so, it’s not his day today. I think he was very, uh, unlucky and I… maybe he’s 
gonna be in trouble. 
E: I know and he was on a date. This is probably one of the worst things that can happen to 
a guy when he’s on a date. 
M: Alright, yeah, so, well, we saw some of, ah, language that was related to an ATM, money 
and banking. 
E: Uhu. 
M: So, why don’t we take a look at that now in “language takeaway”? 
Voice: Language takeaway. 
E: Alright, so, the guy had to insert his card into the slot. 
M: Okay, so, slot. 
E: Slot. 
M: Alright, slot. And that is an opening, right? Or a type of hole, maybe. 
E: Yeah, it’s a hole that is usually long. 
M: Long and… it’s like a rectangular hole. 
E: Yeah, it.. a slot is never a circle. 
M: Okay, so, for example, when you get mail… 
E: Uhu. 
M: The mailman will put into your mailbox through the slot. 
E: That’s right. 
M: Okay. Now, well… and now that he put his card into the slot, he had to input a six-digit 
PIN code. 
E: Wanna just do both together? Digit and PIN code. 
M: Yeah. 
E: Okay, so, a six-digit PIN code. 
M: Alright, now, we have two words here that are new. Digit. 
E: Digit is basically a number between zero and nine. 
M: Okay, so, any number between zero and nine is considered a digit. 
E: Yes, so, one hundred (100) is made up of three digits. 
M: Three digits, okay. 
E: Uhu. 
M: And what about PIN code? [NOTE: PIN is the acronym that stands for a personal 
identification number] 
E: A PIN code is your secret number that you use to take money out.  
M: Now, why wouldn’t we say password? 
E: Password is usually letters. 
M: Okay, and PIN code is numbers. 
E: Exactly. 
M: Alright. He had to input his six-digit PIN code and then, after that, he had to press the 
pound key. 
E: Pound key. 
M: Now, this is strange, a pound key, what is that? 
E: Well, you know on a phone… 
M: Uhu. 
E: On the bottom right… 
M: Aha. 
E: There’s a key, um, th… or a button that looks like a number sign.  
M: Number sign, so, kind of like two vertical lines and two horizontal lines. 
E: Yeah, two lines going up and down, two lines going across. 
M: Okay, so, that’s called the pound key. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Alright, what about the other one? 
E: It’s called the star. 
M: The star. 
E: Star key. 
M: The star key, alright. So, after the PIN code, after the pound key, now he’s ready to 
withdraw money. 
E: Uhu. So, we heard withdrawal. 
M: Okay, so, withdrawal is… 
E: Is a noun; it’s the action of taking money out. 
M: Okay a withdrawal. 
E: A withdrawal. 
M: Okay, and to withdraw. 
E: To withdraw is just the verb. 
M: To take out money, right? 
E: Exactly. 
M: So, we have the noun and the verb. The only difference is an –al at the end.  
E: Yes, so withdrawal – noun, and withdraw – verb. 
M: Okay, and, well, he wanted to withdraw money, but something happened with the ATM 
and it turned out that he was gonna transfer money. [NOTE: we have here the future in 
the past; please check this link and listen to this lesson for more information about this 
grammar topic] 
E: Oh-oh. 
M: Hehe. So, transfer. 
E: Transfer. 
M: Transfer. 
E: When you transfer money, you take it from one place and put it in another. 
M: Okay, and usually in banking when you transfer money, you don’t really see it, right? 
E: Exactly. 
M: It’s all electronic… 
E: Uhu. 
M: So, you just put it from one bank account to another, but you never actually see this 
money. 
E: Exactly, so, transfer money. 
M: Transfer. 
E: And now, this one also has a verb and a noun, right? 
M: Right, a transfer. 
E: And to transfer. 
M: Same word. 
E: Uh, yep. 
M: Easy. Alright, so, why don’t we listen to our dialogue for the second time? It’s gonna be 
slowed down a little bit and then we’ll come back and look at some phrases. 
A: Stupid girl, making me spend so much money,
now I have to get it from the ATM...
B: Hello, welcome to Universal Bank. Please insert
your card into the slot.
A: I know where to put my card! Stupid machine,
talking to me like I’m an idiot...
B: Please input your 6 digit PIN code followed by the
pound key. Thank you. Please select an option.
Thank you. You have selected withdrawal.
A: Yeah, yeah, I know what I selected. Just gimme
my money!
B: Please type the amount you would like to with-
draw. Thank you, you want to transfer 10000 USD
to the World Wildlife Foundation. If this is correct
please press 1.
A: No, no! Stupid machine, what are you doing! No!
B: Confirmed. Thank you for using our bank! Please
remove your card from the slot. Goodbye!
C: Danger, danger! The exits have been sealed and
the doors will remain locked in until the local au-
thorities arrive. Thank you for using our bank.
Have a nice day.
A: No!
 
E: Okay, so, that was a little easier to understand, um… 
M: Uhu. 
E: But, Marco, there’re some interesting phrases here, some instructions that you 
commonly, um, read or hear when you’re using a bank machine. 
M: So, why don’t we take a look at these phrases in “fluency builder”? 
Voice: Fluency builder. 
E: Well, the bank machine told this guy to insert your card. 
M: Insert your card. 
E: Insert your card. 
M: So, this verb - to insert. 
E: Uhu. 
M: To place inside. 
E: Exactly, so, what else can we insert? 
M: Well, for example, commonly you insert a disc. 
E: Yeah, in your computer. 
M: In your computer, right? 
E: Yeah, or maybe insert a CD into your CD-player. 
M: Or DVD into your DVD-player. 
E: Yep. 
M: Alright, so, to insert something - to put inside. 
E: Yes. 
M: So, he had to insert his card into the slot. 
E: And then the bank machine asked him to select an option. 
M: Select an option. 
E: Select an option. 
M: Now, this is a very common, ah, phrase that you will… not only see in ATMs, but 
basically everywhere, right? 
E: Like in… computers or the Internet or many… many things where you’re dealing with 
machines. 
M: Uhu. So, it’s a… it’s an order that says “well, select one of these choices that you have”. 
E: Make a choice. 
M: Make a choice. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Select an option. Alright, so… two simple phrases, but very useful and also very high 
frequency, right? 
E: Yeah, and you know what? When you use phrases like these two, it sounds quite 
professional, doesn’t it? 
M: Yeah, a… a little bit formal. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Okay. So, why don’t we listen to our dialogue for the last time and then we’ll come back 
and talk a little bit more. 
A: Stupid girl, making me spend so much money,
now I have to get it from the ATM...
B: Hello, welcome to Universal Bank. Please insert
your card into the slot.
A: I know where to put my card! Stupid machine,
talking to me like I’m an idiot...
B: Please input your 6 digit PIN code followed by the
pound key. Thank you. Please select an option.
Thank you. You have selected withdrawal.
A: Yeah, yeah, I know what I selected. Just gimme
my money!
B: Please type the amount you would like to with-
draw. Thank you, you want to transfer 10000 USD
to the World Wildlife Foundation. If this is correct
please press 1.
A: No, no! Stupid machine, what are you doing! No!
B: Confirmed. Thank you for using our bank! Please
remove your card from the slot. Goodbye!
C: Danger, danger! The exits have been sealed and
the doors will remain locked in until the local au-
thorities arrive. Thank you for using our bank.
Have a nice day.
A: No!
 
M: Alright, Erica, so, what about you? Have you ever had any problems with the ATM? 
E: I’ve had more problems than I can count. 
M: Hehe. What happened? 
E: Well, I think in the last two years I’ve probably lost about seven bank cards in an ATM. 
M: Really? 
E: Yeah. 
M: You forget it… 
E: Yes. 
M: In the slot. 
E: Yeah, I leave it in the slot and then walk away from the bank machine and… no bank 
cards. 
M: Well, I think now the ATMs, because this is the common problem… 
E: Yeah. 
M: Um, now they have like a little alarm that when you take out your money and 
everything, it just starts beeping and beeping until you take out your card.  
E: Yes and I like the bank machines that actually give you your card first… 
M: Uhu. 
E: And then give you your money. 
M: Ah. 
E: Cause if they give me my money first, that’s all I want, right? 
M: Hehe. 
E: So, I run away with my money and leave my card in the bank machine. 
M: Hehe. Right, I think that’s a good idea. I’ve… I’ve never seen that before, though. 
E: In Switzerland they have them like that. 
M: In Switzerland. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Or what about the ATMs that you only have to swipe your card? [NOTE: in this context 
swipe means to pass your card through a special machine/device that “reads” the 
information encoded in a magnetic strip of the card] 
E: Oh, yeah, I’ve done that as well and also ruined a bank card with that. 
M: Hehe.  
E: I swiped it too many times, put in a wrong PIN code and… 
M: It blocked your card. 
E: Yeah, terrible. 
M: Hehe. Well, what about you guys? I su… I’m sure everyone has some experience or 
some inconvenience with ATM machines. So, why don’t you come to our website and tell us 
all about it? 
E: You can also find lots more resources on our website, uh, to help your learn English, so 
check it out and until next time… 
M: Good bye! 
E: Bye!