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Italian for travellers: Making friends. PODCAST
Addressingpeopleformallyandinformally,greetingsandintroductions.Listentothepodcast. ThePodcastisaboutmakingfriendsandstartingaconversation. “LEI”AND”TU” InItalian,wehavetwodifferentlevels ofcommunication:formalandinformal.Whenwewantto addresssomeoneinformally,weusethepronounTU(you).OntheotherhandtheformalpronounisLEI(she)usedforbothmenandwomen.ThefirstoneisequivalenttotheEnglishYOU,sothere’snoproblemhere.TheLEI isaformofrespectthat createsdistancebetweenspeakers.Forexample: Cometichiami(tu)? Comesichiama(lei)? Theybothmeanwhat’syourname,butthelatterismoreappropriateifyouspeaktoanadultyoudon’tknow,orneedtopayrespecttosomeone. Forexample,IknowmanypeopleusingtheLeiwiththeirparentsinlaw,theirbossesandcolleaguesatwork,theircustomers.Itdependsonthesituation. SometimestheLeiis notnecessarybecause thenature oftherelationshipisinformal.Italiansarefriendly,somostprobablytheLeiwillbe necessaryonlywhenyouintroduceyourself.YouwillsoonusetheinformalTu. Sinceyouareaforeigner,people willunderstandit’sdifficultforyoutousetheLei.Inanycase,it’srecommendedtoshowsomepolitenessandlearngreetingsandintroductionsusing Lei.Then,youcanasktoswitchtotheinformalTusaying: Diamocideltu. Possiamodarcideltu? Let’sproceedwithorder: TITLES ItaliansusetitlesmorethanEnglishspeakers.Thefollowingisthebasics: Signore-Sir Signora-Ma’am Signorina-Miss SignorRossi-Mr.Rossi SignoraBianchi-Mrs.Bianchi SignorinaFerrari-MissFerrari Ontopofit,people tendtogivealotofimportancetograduatedprofessionals.EveryItalianholdingauniversitydegreeisadottore ifmaleordottoressa if femaleandthetitleis usedinsteadofsignororsignorabeforethelastname,evenoutsidetheworkingenvironment.Themostcommonare: DottorRossi DottoressaBianchi AvvocatoMartini …
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La famiglia italiana – PODCAST
Learnthevocabularyrelatedtothe”famiglia”.Listentothepodcast. WhenIwasachild(unbambino)myfamily,(lamiafamiglia)usuallymetinspecialoccasions,mainlyreligiousevents,likeweddings(matrimoni),communions(comunioni),baptisms(battesimi)andsoon.Wecouldn’tmeetatsomebody’shouse,weweretoomany(eravamotroppi).So,weusedtogoatbigrestaurantsinthecountryside(incampagna)andcelebratetogether.Mygrandpa(miononno),theheadofthefamily,usedtositcapotavola,guestofhonor. Listenadrepeataftertheaudiofiles-hitthespacebartopausethetrack ilpadre=father lamadre=mother ilpapà=dad lamamma=mom ilnonno=grandpa lanonna=grandma lozio=uncle lazia=aunt ilfiglio=son lafiglia=daughter ilfratello=brother lasorella=sister ilnipote=nephew lanipote=niece inonni=grandparents igenitori=parents iparenti=relatives glizii=uncles ifigli=offspring ifratelli=brothers …
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Italian for beginners: “C’è” – “Ci sono”- PODCAST
Theverbessereisusedintheexpressionsc’èandcisono(thereis-thereare) followedbya singularorpluralnoun.Podcast. C’èandcisono correspondtotheEnglishthereisandthereare. Asimplepostforbeginners There’snoperfectmatchbetweenEnglishandItalian.Sometimesessereandesserci(tobeandtobethere)areinterchangeable. Thenegativeformsare nonc’èand noncisono. Afewnotes.Money(soldi)initalianisplural,people(gente)inItalianissingular,so”thereis”and”thereare”areobviouslyinverted.Theorderofthewordsinthesentencedoesn’tchangeinquestions.InItalian,whenyoudon’tneedinterrogativeadverbs(come,dove,quando,perchéetc…)we justaddaquestionmark.Soicanask: Mariononc’è? Nonc’ètempo? Finally, fromalogicalpointofview,therearesomeverycommonItaliansentences(doublenegatives)thatinEnglishdon’tmakesense,butarecorrectinItalian.Forexample: Nonc’ènessuno -lit.Thereisn’tnobody Nonc’èniente-lit.Thereisn’tnothing ThereareplentyoforedoublenegativesinItalian(withmai,nessuno,niente).Learn themastheyare. Thanksforreading.VisitourhomepageandwinanItalianSkypeclasswithanativeteacher. photocredit
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Hollywood stars who speak awesome Italian – Video
A list of Hollywood stars who speak awesome Italian or are such great actors that managed to speak it very well on stage. Some …
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“Piacere” and other tricky Italian verbs: Quiz
What is the subject in a sentence like “Mi piace Firenze”? How about “Mi interessa Firenze”? Read this post and solve the quiz at …
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Imperfetto in conversational Italian
The “conversational” use of the imperfetto in Italian is very common and helps to simplify the language. Is it right to learn it the wrong way? …
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Imperativo e pronomi: Italian imperative and pronouns: QUIZ
We can combine the imperativo with pronouns in a single word. Learn the most common scenarios and solve the quiz at the bottom of this post. …
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Italian adjectives for absolute beginners
Italian adjectives, also known as “aggettivi qualificativi,” generally agree in gender and number with the nouns they refer to. In Italian, all nouns have …
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