Learn how to discuss simple plans using verbs and phrases using an informal conversation as an example
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hi everyone! Welcome to ItalianPod101.com! This is Lower Intermediate Season 3 Lesson 2, Making Dinner Plans in Italian! I’m Brandon! |
| Ofelia: Ciao. I'm Ofelia. |
| Brandon: Ofelia, what are we going to learn in this lesson? |
| Ofelia: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to discuss with a friend where to go to eat something together after work. |
| Brandon: The conversation takes place in the company break room. |
| Ofelia: And it’s between Maria and her colleague, Elia. |
| Brandon: Since the speakers are colleagues and know each other well, they’ll be speaking informal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Elia: Ehi, Maria! Hai da fare stasera? |
| Maria: No, niente in particolare, perchè? |
| Elia: Volevamo andare a prendere un boccone con gli altri, dopo il lavoro. Vieni anche tu! |
| Maria: Sì, grazie! Dove andate? |
| Elia: Non abbiamo ancora deciso, hai qualche idea? |
| Maria: Mmmh... che ne dite di quel posto vicino alla cattedrale? |
| Elia: Vicino alla cattedrale? Non è un po' caro? |
| Maria: No! Lo hanno appena aperto, non costa troppo e si mangia bene! |
| Elia: Ok! Sembra una buona idea. Lo dico anche agli altri. Ci vediamo alle sei e mezza davanti all'entrata. |
| Brandon: Now, let’s listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Elia: Ehi, Maria! Hai da fare stasera? |
| Elia: Hey, Maria! Do you have anything to do tonight? |
| Maria: No, niente in particolare, perchè? |
| Maria: No, nothing in particular, why? |
| Elia: Volevamo andare a prendere un boccone con gli altri, dopo il lavoro. Vieni anche tu! |
| Elia: We wanted to go grab a bite to eat with the others after work. Come along! |
| Maria: Sì, grazie! Dove andate? |
| Maria: Yes, thank you! Where are you going? |
| Elia: Non abbiamo ancora deciso, hai qualche idea? |
| Elia: We haven't decided yet. Do you have any ideas? |
| Maria: Mmmh... che ne dite di quel posto vicino alla cattedrale? |
| Maria: Hmm... what about that place near the cathedral? |
| Elia: Vicino alla cattedrale? Non è un po' caro? |
| Elia: Near the cathedral? Isn't it a little expensive? |
| Maria: No! Lo hanno appena aperto, non costa troppo e si mangia bene! |
| Maria: No! They’ve just opened it; it doesn't cost too much, and the food is good. |
| Elia: Ok! Sembra una buona idea. Lo dico anche agli altri. Ci vediamo alle sei e mezza davanti all'entrata. |
| Elia: Okay! It seems like a good idea. I'll tell the others too. We’ll meet at six-thirty at the entrance. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: I bet there are tons of good restaurants in Italy. |
| Ofelia: Of course! Italian food is the best! |
| Brandon: Where can we find good restaurants in Italy? |
| Ofelia: In general, you’ll find tourist-friendly restaurants and expensive restaurants near the most famous monuments. If you’re sightseeing, you can usually find a good meal nearby. |
| Brandon: But it’ll be expensive, right? |
| Ofelia: Not always. In Italy, an expensive meal isn’t always a good one. Sometimes you’ll find a fantastic meal by surprise, and it’ll be quite cheap! |
| Brandon: Do you have any tips for finding a restaurant? |
| Ofelia: When I visit a new place in Italy and want to find a good, convenient restaurant, I usually get away from the main tourist routes. I also try to check if the customers are locals. If they are, the food will certainly be superb. Anyway the best way to find a good place is asking your friends. If any of them live there or know the place, they can give you good recommendations! |
| Brandon: That’s good to keep in mind. Listeners, when traveling to Italy, you can follow these suggestions to find a satisfying, yet inexpensive meal! Okay, now on to the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: We’re going to review all of the vocabulary for this lesson. First we have... |
| Ofelia: ...avere da fare. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “To have something to do.” |
| Ofelia: Avere da fare. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Avere da fare. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: ...niente in particolare. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “Nothing in particular.” |
| Ofelia: Niente in particolare. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Niente in particolare. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Our next word is... |
| Ofelia: ...boccone. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “Bite, mouthful, or morsel.” |
| Ofelia: Boccone. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Boccone. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next... |
| Ofelia: ...decidere. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “To decide” or “to settle.” |
| Ofelia: Decidere. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Decidere. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: ...idea. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “Idea” or “thought.” |
| Ofelia: Idea. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Idea. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: The next one is... |
| Ofelia: ...che ne dici di... [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: A phrase meaning, “What about ...?” |
| Ofelia: Che ne dici di... [slowly - broken down by syllable] Che ne dici di... [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next... |
| Ofelia: ...vicino a. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “Near to.” |
| Ofelia: Vicino a. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Vicino a. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Our final vocabulary is... |
| Ofelia: Non... troppo. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “it doesn’t... too much. / not too much” |
| Ofelia: Non... troppo. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Non...troppo. [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is... |
| Ofelia: ...avere da fare. |
| Brandon: Meaning "to have something to do." |
| Ofelia: The first word in this phrase is the verb avere meaning “to have,” then the preposition da, followed by fare, a verb meaning “to do” that’s always in the infinitive. Although this phrase means “to have something to do,” there isn’t any word in the phrase that directly corresponds to the English word “something.” |
| Brandon: Ok, when can we use this phrase? |
| Ofelia: You can use this phrase when talking about tasks in general, for example, when you don't want to be too specific about your own plans or too intrusive in a question towards another person. This phrase is useful when you want to invite someone to join you but must first ask about his or her plans. |
| Brandon: Then, when can we not use this expression? |
| Ofelia: This phrase can not be used when you are talking about your plans with someone to whom you must respect. In this case, being more specific is more polite. For example, you shouldn’t tell your boss, non posso venire alla riunione, perché ho da fare. |
| Brandon: Meaning, "I can't go to the meeting because I have something to do." I’m sure your boss won’t like that! Ofelia, can you give us a proper example? |
| Ofelia: Sure! Ines aveva da fare e non è venuta. |
| Brandon: Meaning, "Ines had something to do and didn't come." Okay, next we have... |
| Ofelia: ...che ne dici di... |
| Brandon: Meaning "what about…?” Or literally, "What do you say of…?” |
| Ofelia: This phrase is a combination of the pronominal phrase che ne, meaning "what of that;" the verb dici, meaning “to say” in the second person singular; with di, a preposition meaning “of.” |
| Brandon: Now that we have all of the parts, can you say the phrase again? |
| Ofelia: Che ne dici di… |
| Brandon: How’s this phrase used? |
| Ofelia: Usually it’s followed by an infinitive verb or a noun. When speaking formally, you should use the third person conjugation of the verb dire, so that the phrase becomes che ne dice di. And if you’re talking to more than one person, use the plural version, che ne dite di, like in the dialogue. |
| Brandon: Got it! Can you give us an example with this phrase? |
| Ofelia: Sure! Che ne dici di andare al cinema sabato prossimo? |
| Brandon: Meaning, "What about going to the cinema next Saturday?" |
| Ofelia: Listeners, this is a really useful expression, and if you use it, your Italian will sound really natural. |
| Brandon: Okay, now on to the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Brandon: In this lesson, you'll learn some verbs and phrases that you can use to discuss your plans with a friend. |
| Ofelia: In the dialogue, Elia said, ehi, Maria! Hai da fare stasera? |
| Brandon: Meaning, “Hey, Maria! Do you have anything to do tonight?” This is a pretty basic question that you can ask your friends. |
| Ofelia: Yes, it’s quite useful, so let’s go over it. Listeners, when talking about near future plans, schedules, programs, or dates, we can use the simple present tense, called presente indicativo. Here are some examples from the dialogue. Hai da fare stasera? |
| Brandon: Meaning “Do you have any plans tonight?” |
| Ofelia: Dove andate? |
| Brandon: “Where are you going?” |
| Ofelia: Ci vediamo alle sei e mezza davanti all'entrata. |
| Brandon: “I’ll see you at six-thirty in front of the entrance.” |
| Ofelia: Here are some other general examples. Inizio il corso di cinese la prossima settimana. |
| Brandon: "I start the Chinese course next week." |
| Ofelia: L'aereo non arriva alle nove, arriva alle dieci. |
| Brandon: "The plane doesn't arrive at nine; it arrives at ten." |
| Ofelia: And our last example: il treno parte di pomeriggio. |
| Brandon: "The train leaves in the afternoon." You can see from all of these examples that we’re discussing plans for the near future using the present tense. |
| Ofelia: That’s right. Listeners, you can use these sentences when making plans with your friends. Be sure to check out the lesson notes for more examples. |
| MARKETING PIECE |
| Brandon: Listeners, can you understand Italian TV shows, movies, or songs? |
| Ofelia: How about friends and loved ones’ conversations in Italian? |
| Brandon: If you want to know what’s going on, we have a tool to help. |
| Ofelia: Line-by-line audio. |
| Brandon: Listen to the lesson conversations line-by-line, and learn to understand natural Italian fast! |
| Ofelia: It’s simple really. |
| Brandon: With the click of a button, listen to each line of the conversation. |
| Ofelia: Listen again and again, and tune your ear to natural Italian. |
| Brandon: Rapidly understand natural Italian with this powerful tool. |
| Ofelia: Find this feature on the lesson page in the Lesson Materials section at ItalianPod101.com. |
Outro |
| Brandon: Thank you for listening, everyone. See you next time! |
| Ofelia: A presto. |
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