We'll also give you a crash course in pronunciation when we learn all the vowel sounds in the Italian language.

Transcription

1 1.6 Survival Phrases and Pronunciation Language & Culture Lessons In this part, you'll get to more closely examine the components of the dialogue you heard in Lesson 1.1, where we learned how to exchange basic introductions in Italian. You'll also get an overview of the Italian alphabet and a gentle introduction to Italian pronunciation. Your cultural notes will give you new insight into some prevailing stereotypes of Italian people. Language Lesson Survival Phrases and Pronunciation Ciao a tutti! E bentornati a Rocket Italiano! Hello and Welcome back to the Rocket Italian Language & Culture Series!! This is the second lesson in your Rocket Italian Language & Culture Series. Today we will be looking more closely at the survival phrases you heard in the previous audio lesson, where we learned how to ask someone's name and where they are from. We'll also give you a crash course in pronunciation when we learn all the vowel sounds in the Italian language. Now let's dig our hands into some basics of the Italian language In the conversation that you heard in the second Audio Lesson (1.1), Alex and I introduce ourselves, and then find out where the other is from: Ciao! Ciao! Mi chiamo Alessandro, e tu? Mi chiamo Maria. Tu di dove sei? Io sono di New York, e tu? Sono di qui, di Roma. Piacere! Piacere! This conversation is full of questions that you're sure to encounter if you do any traveling to an Italian-speaking place. Here is the conversation in its English translation: Hello. Hello. What's your name? My name is Alex, and you? I'm Maria. Where are you from? I'm from New York. And you? I'm from here, from Rome. Pleased to meet you! Pleased to meet you too. After Hello... If you're going to memorize one word to use during introductions, piacere is a good one. It's fast, easy, and is another singular word that says so much more than it's literal translation, "pleasure." Used after meeting someone, piacere can express: "It is a pleasure to meet you." Piacere Pleasure

2 Grammatically speaking, piacere is both a noun that means "pleasure," and a verb that translates as "to please," or "to like." And as we mentioned before, Italians take the notion of pleasure quite seriously, so you'll be sure to hear this word a lot in the near future! You can also round out introductions with another longer phrase that includes the same word: Piacere di conoscerti. This means, "Pleasure to meet you." What's your name? There are several ways to ask someone's name in Italian. The simplest is... What's your name? Many beginning students make the mistake of thinking that this is a direct translation of the question in English. It's not! This question actually means: How do you call yourself? This sort of thing happens in Italian a lot. To convey the English meaning of a question, you'll have to express it in a way that will seem unnatural at first. But don't worry with practice, the Italian way of saying something will soon become so natural that you won't be able to remember a time when it seemed strange. Do you remember the explanation in the second lesson about formal and informal modes of address, such as Come stai? versus Come sta? Well, the same distinction applies to the question for asking someone's name. Come si chiama? What is your name? (Informal) What is your name? (Formal) To answer this question, you will say, Mi chiamo My name is (more literally: I call myself) Looking back at the conversation you learned earlier, here's what it will look like. Mi chiamo Alessandro. Where are you from? Remember how I said that in Italian, words have to be juggled around a bit? The question, "Where are you from?" is one of those cases. In Italian, you'll actually ask:

3 Di dove sei? From where are you? - or, if you want to add the optional pronoun for "you" - Tu, di dove sei? You, from where are you? The word di means "from," and dove means where. If you can memorize this question, you'll also be able to ask two other enormously useful questions. Dove? Di dove? Where? From where? For example, someone may tell you, "Look at that UFO!" You can respond, Dove? Where? There is also a short expression that builds on the word dove, and that's "Where IS " To ask where something is, you use the word dove, drop the final E, and add the verb "IS," which is a simple è, a form of the common "to be" verb, essere. The result is: For example: Where is the bathroom? = Dov'è il bagno? Dov'è + [whatever you want to locate] Notice the accent mark over the E. In Italian, accent marks tell you to stress a certain syllable or vowel sound. For example, the short one letter words E and È are pronounced differently, and are totally different words: E means "and"... È means "it is" Remember to include accent marks when you're writing Italian. The question, "Where are you from?" can be asked in two different ways: one formal, one informal. Tu di dove sei? Lei di dov'è? Where are you from? (Informal) Where are you from? (Formal) Your response to the question, ""Where are you from?" will start with Sono di... I am from... If someone closer to home is asking you the question, they probably want to know what city or state you're from. You can say something like... Sono di New York. Sono di Parigi. Sono di Londra. I'm from New York. I'm from Paris. I'm from London.

4 If you want to say what country you're from, it gets more complicated. In Italian, you have to say "I COME from" - using the verb venire, for "to come." But not only that, you have to use a different preposition to say FROM. You'll quickly learn that in Italian the same prepositions can have several meanings, and that the same Italian prepositions can be used in different ways. It can all be easy of course! Here, you need to know that DA is the preposition you use to mean "from." So... your answer would look something like this: Vengo dagli Stati Uniti. Vengo dalla Francia. Vengo dall'inghilterra. I come from the United States. I come from France. I come from England. See that vengo means "I come." And you'll notice that the word for "from" - da - is joined with the Italian article for "the" in each example. Alphabet and Vowels In the Italian alphabet there are only 21 letters - there's no J K W X Y. That does not mean that you don't have these sounds. You simply combine the existing consonants in order to make them. For example, anche (pronounced like "AHN-KAY") is spelled with the letter H after the consonant C, which in Italian allows us to make the "K" sound. Italian pronunciation is not difficult. The most important pronunciations are those of the five vowels. As long as you can distinguish the five vowels clearly, you'll be fine! All other syllables consist of consonants and these vowels. Listen to the vowel sounds: A E I O U They are quite straightforward. Here are some guidelines that compare pronunciation sounds to American English pronunciation (keeping in mind that there are plenty of variations in the way people sound from place to place!). a e i o u sounds like "ah" as in the English word "stop" or "cot" sounds like the English "E" as in "met," and also the English "A" as in "okay." sounds like "ea" as in "easy" or "scream" sounds like "o" as in "blow," and also a shorter version of the same sound, like a sharp "No." sounds like "oo" as in "pool" Notice that the vowel "E" has two sounds: an open sound as in: caffè and a more closed sound as in mercato. The vowel "O" also has a more open sounds as in donna, and a closed one as in the ending of Sono...

5 caffè mercato donna Sono coffee market woman I am Some consonants also have two sounds. With the Italian "C," there is a "hard"one as in the English word "cat," and a softer one, similar to the English word "chat." For example: casa centro house (pronounced "KA-zah") center (pronounced "CHen-tro") With the Italian "G," there is a "hard" sound as in the English word "got," and a "softer" one as in "girate" or the word "jingle." For example: grazie gita thank you (pronounced with a hard "G") trip (pronounced with the soft "G") Here are a few more sounds that are made by combining consonants and vowels that are fairly common in the Italian language and rather unique to it! The "GN" sound, similar to the "NI" sound in companion. Signora Madam The "GLI" sound, similar to the "L-L-I" part in "million." famiglia family Culture II. Cultura Stereotypes and Tradition What comes to your mind when you think of a typical Italian man or woman? Chances are it would be closer to a stereotypical Italian. In reality, the typical characteristics of Italian men and women differ wildly depending on the region of Italy. Remember, after all, that the nation of Italy itself was formally unified only in So regional pride still runs strong, evident in the phrase campanilismo: literally, a "strong attachment to a local bell tower."

6 Traditionally, lighter hair and lighter eyes are associated with men and women from the North, whereas dark-haired and dark-eyed Italians predominate in the South. And traditionally, the wealthier cities are found in the North as well. In more recent years, these distinctions are breaking down to some extent. But above all, it is safe to say that Italians know how to eat, drink, and look good. Oh... there is one more thing you might want to know if your idea of an Italian man is a rugged, unshaven Casanova. According to recent statistics, young Italian men are considerably more likely to live with their parents than are their European and American counterparts. In fact 85 percent of Italian men aged 18 to 33 live with their parents. By contrast, only 35 percent of American men of the same age live with their parents! (from Manacorda, Marco and Moretti, Enrico. "Intergenerational Transfers and Household Structure: Why Do Most Italian Youths Live With Their Parents?" June 2002). And I can tell you that, even after boys leave home, many of them visit their mamma almost every day. Judging by these numbers, you may want to revise your mental image from ladies' men to mommas' boys... although it's probably best not to say that to anyone out loud! *** Well, I think that I must have satisfied whatever appetite you may have had for grammar for one day... At least that's enough grammar and explanations for me, and we hope we whet your appetite for Italian culture too! Next time we'll hear a conversation where I ask Alex about his experience studying Italian. You'll learn how to slow things down if the conversation is moving too fast, and also how to recognize - and accept! - a great compliment about your own Italian language skills. A dopo (See you later), Maria DiLorenzi Rocket Italian Libros Media Ltd. - Copyright USA: Page Avenue, PO Box 1261, Fairfax, VA 22038, USA Phone: Asia/Pacific: Ferry Road, Woolston, Christchurch 8023, New Zealand Phone: