Learn how to talk about events in the past using an informal conversation between friends as an example
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 3, Lesson 22 - Did Your Italian Holiday Meet Your Expectations? Becky here. |
| Ofelia: Ciao. I'm Ofelia. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn words that are useful for connecting sentences in a conversation. The dialogue takes place in a coffee shop. |
| Ofelia: It's between Maria and Lucia. |
| Becky: The speakers are coworkers and friends, so they’ll be using informal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Lucia: Com'è andato il weekend in Umbria? |
| Maria: E' stato splendido. Prima di tutto il tempo era magnifico. Secondo, Spello, che volevo visitare da tanto, non ha deluso le mie aspettative. |
| Lucia: Come ci siete andati? |
| Maria: Abbiamo preso l'aereo da Milano per Perugia. |
| Lucia: Comodissimo! Cosa avete fatto? |
| Maria: Oltre a visitare i maggiori monumenti, ci siamo rilassati e inoltre abbiamo assaporato le specialità del luogo. |
| Lucia: Bello, cosa ti è piaciuto di più? |
| Maria: Forse il cibo, ma purtroppo alla fine non mi sentivo molto bene e non ho potuto mangiare tutto quello che volevo. Tutto sommato, però è stata un ottimo diversivo. |
| Lucia: Infatti sembri più rilassata. |
| Becky: Now listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Lucia: How was the weekend in Umbria? |
| Maria: It was wonderful. First of all, the weather was magnificent. Second, Spello, which I wanted to visit for a long time, didn't fall short of my expectations. |
| Lucia: How did you get there? |
| Maria: We took the plane from Milan to Perugia. |
| Lucia: Really convenient! What did you do? |
| Maria: Besides visiting the more important monuments, we relaxed and also enjoyed the local specialties. |
| Lucia: Beautiful, what did you like most? |
| Maria: Maybe the food, but unfortunately at the end, I didn't feel very well and I couldn't eat all I wanted. All things considered though, it was a great distraction. |
| Lucia: Actually, you look more relaxed. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Ofelia, how do Italians spend their long weekends? |
| Ofelia: Usually, Italian people love to spend their long weekends, or ponte, outside of the cities. |
| Becky: What are the main destinations? |
| Ofelia: Well, most people prefer to leave the big cities and go to the wonderful mountains and beaches, and they also like to plan their holidays in advance. |
| Becky: And what do they do if they don’t travel? |
| Ofelia: Many people also love to spend their spare time with their families, talking and eating together. |
| Becky: Is there a useful expression we should know about travel? |
| Ofelia: Hmm, one is passare il ponte. |
| Becky: Which means "to spend the long weekend." Okay, now on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Ofelia: Umbria [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Umbria |
| Ofelia: Umbria [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: Umbria [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: deludere [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to let down, to fail someone |
| Ofelia: deludere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: deludere [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next... |
| Ofelia: aspettativa [natural native speed] |
| Becky: expectation |
| Ofelia: aspettativa [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: aspettativa [natural native speed] |
| Becky: The next word is... |
| Ofelia: rilassarsi [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to relax, to rest, to loosen up |
| Ofelia: rilassarsi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: rilassarsi [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: assaporare [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to savor,to taste |
| Ofelia: assaporare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: assaporare [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next... |
| Ofelia: specialità [natural native speed] |
| Becky: specialty |
| Ofelia: specialità [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: specialità [natural native speed] |
| Becky: The next one is... |
| Ofelia: tutto sommato [natural native speed] |
| Becky: all in all |
| Ofelia: tutto sommato [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: tutto sommato [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And the final word is... |
| Ofelia: diversivo [natural native speed] |
| Becky: distraction |
| Ofelia: diversivo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: diversivo [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Ofelia: ...aspettativa. |
| Becky: Meaning "expectation." |
| Ofelia: As in English, this noun refers to something we expect to happen. |
| Becky: Which phrases can we find it in? |
| Ofelia: We usually use this word to talk about “high expectations,” which in Italian is aspettative alte, or “great expectations,” grandi aspettative. This term is also used in economic studies. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say, I genitori hanno spesso grandi aspettative per i figli. |
| Becky: Meaning, "Parents often have great expectations for their children." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Ofelia: Diversivo. |
| Becky: Meaning "distraction." |
| Ofelia: Diversivo refers to something that can divert someone's attention from something to something else. |
| Becky: How is it used? |
| Ofelia: In Italian, the noun diversivo goes with the verb creare, meaning “to create,” or trovare, “to find.” This term is often used to refer to something that breaks the routine. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say, Andare al cinema è un buon diversivo. |
| Becky: This means, "Going to the movies is a good distraction." Okay, now on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson you’ll learn how to use connecting words. We can describe a sequence of events, relating anecdotes, events, or stories using these specific words. |
| Ofelia: Yes, for example, we can introduce facts by enumerating them. |
| Becky: This was the case in the main dialogue, where they used... |
| Ofelia: ...prima di tutto and secondo. |
| Becky: Respectively meaning “first of all” and “second.” What are other similar words? |
| Ofelia: Well, to start talking about something you can use innanzitutto. |
| Becky: "First of all." |
| Ofelia: Primo. |
| Becky: “First.” |
| Ofelia: And to continue enumerating, secondariamente. |
| Becky: "Secondly." |
| Ofelia: Or the more common dopo and poi. |
| Becky: Meaning “after” and “then.” |
| Ofelia: To finish up the story, you can use in ultimo. |
| Becky: "Lastly." |
| Ofelia: Per concludere. |
| Becky: "To finalize." How do you say “finally?” |
| Ofelia: Infine. |
| Becky: What are the most common words to add one fact to another without enumerating them? |
| Ofelia: We often use allora and quindi. |
| Becky: Both mean "then" or "so." |
| Ofelia: You can use these in speech in informal or formal situations, and they can be used as a filler while formulating your sentence. They’re also useful for changing the topic. For example Quindi, non so cosa dirti. |
| Becky: "So, I don't know what to tell you." Let’s hear some less common words. |
| Ofelia: Sure, dunque. |
| Becky: "Therefore." |
| Ofelia: Infatti. |
| Becky: "In fact." |
| Ofelia: In più and inoltre. |
| Becky: "Moreover" or "furthermore." What if we want to introduce an opposing idea? |
| Ofelia: To introduce an opposite idea, the conjunction ma, or "but,” is the most common connecting word. Other words and phrases can be al contrario meaning "on the contrary" or eppure, sebbene, tuttavia. |
| Becky: Meaning "yet," "even though," or "however." And when we want to conclude, what words can we use? |
| Ofelia: Alla fine, infine, and in ultimo. |
| Becky: Meaning "finally," "lastly," and "ultimately." For a complete list, listeners, don’t forget to check the lesson notes! Let’s now hear some sample sentences. |
| Ofelia: Alla fine siete venuti tutti. |
| Becky:"Finally you all arrived." |
| Ofelia: Sono stanca e in più devo ancora lavorare. |
| Becky: "I’m tired, and moreover I have to work." |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Ofelia: A presto. |
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