Italy is all about good food and enjoying a delicious meal with family and friends. If you visit Italy you'll likely spend quite a bit of time in restaurants or eating. We've put together some helpful phrases to make your meal time a breeze.
After you are seated, the first thing you will be asked is if you want something to drink.
Ora vorrebbe ordinare da bere? = Would you like to order a drink now?
Posso avere un bicchiere d'acqua? = Can I have a glass of water?
Acqua naturale o gassata? = Still or mineral water?
L'acqua naturale va bene = Still water will be fine
Italiano: 1 gennaio 2011 gg/mm/aa (d/m/y - North Americans generally place the month first)
° day wrote in Western numbers
° month expressed with letters or with numbers
° year, wrote in full length
For example: 4.6.80 = 4 giugno 1980 = June 4th,1980
il 1 febbraio 1981 = February 1,1981
4.XI.72 = November 4, 1972
Italian requires the article, related to the word GIORNO ("day"). Another difference between English and Italian is that Italian date numbers are cardinal and in English they are ordinal. For example:
Don't panic, I don't want teach you arithmetic! Instead, I'd like to help you learn how to talk about some of the easy arithmetical operations that apply in our daily life. The arithmetic is the oldest and simplest branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone. It is practiced daily by all for purposes as simple as counting objects to more advanced business and scientific calculations.
For your time in Italy it would be helpful to learn how to do some simple operations in Italian. Such as:
Quanto fa sei più uno? = How much/What is six plus one? 6+1 = 7
Sei più uno fa/è uguale a sette = Six plus one is seven
Quanto fa sette meno uno? = How much/What is seven minus one? 7-1 = 6
In today's lesson you'll learn useful phrases for dealing with phone so you can gain confidence with it.
Public telephones are available throughout Italy and you can use phonecards which can purchased at bar, post offices or tobacconists, even if the most part of the people use own mobil phone.
Calling Italy from the USA as follows : 011+ area code ( drop the 0) + 02 ( for example Milan) + phone number
Ei. If I call from New York City to Milan: 011+39+2+7129.....
Calling USA from Italy : 001+ area code + phone number
By the way you have always to remember the time difference ( fuso orario).
Calling a cellular phone :ei. 349( Vodafone) + phone number of the cellular
"Quanto costa?" The most important sentence to learn in any language before going shopping. Just remember that, according to Italian law, all prices are supposed to be displayed on merchandise.
Discount?
"Sconto" is the word to obtain a great bargain and to negotiate a better price. It is common to do so in smaller stores rather than larger chains.
Do you take credit cards?
"Accettate Carte di Credito?" In most cases when a store accepts credit cards they'll have a sticker displaying the logos of the cards they accept on the window or by the register. In case you don't see one you can always ask.
If you're beginning to speak Italian then it's important to learn the names and words associated with the days of the week, months of the year and the ever-changing seasons. Not only will these words help when telling time and planning ahead with newfound friends, but they'll also help you to describe the weather.
The Days of the Week
Monday = lunedì
Tuesday = martedì
Wednesday = mercoledì
Thursday = giovedì
Friday = venerdì
Saturday = sabato
Sunday = domenica
Take note that in Italian "dì" makes a "dee" sound. So, for example, lunedi is roughly pronounced as loon-eh-dee.
In today's lesson you'll learn to talk about the weather in Italian. If you're planning on visiting Italy it's probably best to learn some key words so you can understand basic discussions about the weather to help you decide what you should wear or if it makes more sense to take a stroll or stay inside. Knowing how to speak about the weather is especially important in Italy because it can vary so much for region to region and depending on the time of year. So while you may find dry and sunny days in Catania in July the same time of year in Padova is muggy and humid.
In Italy and forgot your watch back at the hotel? Need to know if you're on track to make it to the store or gallery before it closes? Here are some easy tips and phrases to make asking about the time easy during your stay in Italy.
My = il mio/la mia/i miei /le mie Your (talking to one person) = il tuo/la tua/i tuoi/le tue His = il suo/la sua/i suoi/le sue Her = il suo/la sua/i suoi/le sue Our = il nosotro/la nostra/i nostri/le nostre Your (talking to more than one person) = il vostro/la vostra/i vostri/le vostre Their = il loro/la loro/i loro/le loro
Good news is that most Americans already know how to pronounce Italian sounds as there are many Italian words that are used in English language. Italian vowels contrary to English vovels are ALWAYS pronounced in the same way regardless their positions in the words.
There are five written vowels in Italian language; they are a, e, i , o , u. Among these sounds there is no Italian sound that does not have an identical or fairly close English sound. Italian language does not use y, j and w instead it replaces them with i and u unless it is a word borrowed from English.
Enclosed below are examples of words that can be used to master pronunciation of certain vowels:
Italian spelling is highly phonetic; this is, letters and combinations of letters almost always represent the same sounds, as contrasted with English, where a single letter or combination of letters may represent three, four, or more sounds. For the student of Italian the phonetic character of Italian spelling means that he/she need merely familiarise him/herself with the basic sounds which the spellings stand for. From there he/she can proceed to pronounce almost any Italian word correctly.
Italian Vowels ( Vocali Italiane )
Vowels in Italian are pronounced fully and distinctly, and are never slurred.(Italian and Spanish vowels have virtually the same sound)
