Learn how to talk about your preferences 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 3, What's Your Favorite Italian Movie? 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 talk about your preferences with friends while sharing a meal. |
| Brandon: The conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Ofelia: And it’s between Maria, Elia, and Lucia. |
| Brandon: The speakers are coworkers and friends, so they’ll be speaking informal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Elia: Salute! |
| Lucia: Mi piace molto questo posto! |
| Elia: Stanno proiettando anche un film... |
| Lucia: Sì, ma non lo conosco. Lo conosci? |
| Elia: No, sembra cinema d'essai. Non sono molto esperto. A te piace andare al cinema, Maria? |
| Maria: Sì, ma non vado spesso. Guardo molti DVD, per studiare italiano. |
| Lucia: Che film guardi? |
| Maria: Vari. Per esempio mi piace molto Sorrentino, ma non capisco niente senza sottotitoli! E voi? |
| Elia: Io sono appassionato dei film western all'italiana! |
| Lucia: Io guardo vari tipi di film, ma di solito preferisco il cinema straniero. Ultimamente quello italiano non è un granché. |
| Brandon: Now, let’s listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Elia: Salute! |
| Elia: Cheers! |
| Lucia: Mi piace molto questo posto! |
| Lucia: I really like this place! |
| Elia: Stanno proiettando anche un film... |
| Elia: They’re also showing a movie... |
| Lucia: Sì, ma non lo conosco. Lo conosci? |
| Lucia: Yeah, but I don't know it. Do you know that movie? |
| Elia: No, sembra cinema d'essai. Non sono molto esperto. A te piace andare al cinema, Maria? |
| Elia: No, it seems like an independent movie. I'm not well acquainted. Do you like going to the movies, Maria? |
| Maria: Sì, ma non vado spesso. Guardo molti DVD, per studiare italiano. |
| Maria: Yes, but I don't go often. I watch many DVDs to study Italian. |
| Lucia: Che film guardi? |
| Lucia: What kind of movies do you watch? |
| Maria: Vari. Per esempio mi piace molto Sorrentino, ma non capisco niente senza sottotitoli! E voi? |
| Maria: Various. For instance, I really like Sorrentino, but I can't understand anything without subtitles! And you? |
| Elia: Io sono appassionato dei film western all'italiana! |
| Elia: I am fond of the spaghetti western movies. |
| Lucia: Io guardo vari tipi di film, ma di solito preferisco il cinema straniero. Ultimamente quello italiano non è un granché. |
| Lucia: I watch many kinds of movies, but I usually prefer foreign movies. Lately, the Italian ones aren’t that good. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Ofelia, did I just hear that Elia likes to watch “spaghetti western movies?” Could you tell us more about this genre? |
| Ofelia: Well, Italians love Westerns, and spaghetti western movies are usually called film western all'italiana. This genre was born in the 1960s, and these are Westerns in an Italian style. |
| Brandon: Would I know any of these films? |
| Ofelia: Perhaps. Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci were the most famous Italian directors. One of the most famous actors was Clint Eastwood. |
| Brandon: Him, I know! He starred in A Fistful of Dollars and one of my favorite films, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He’s really famous. |
| Ofelia: Yeah, I grew up watching all of these films. I’ve seen them several times on Italian TV. |
| Brandon: What’s the best time to catch them? |
| Ofelia: Well, the most famous ones are usually shown during the evening, after the main news programs. Less famous ones are usually part of the morning TV schedule. I remember my grandparents often enjoying a spaghetti western in the morning while drinking their coffee. |
| Brandon: That’s a nice way to start your day! Okay, now on to the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: We’re going to review all of the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word is… |
| Ofelia: ...esperto. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “Expert.” |
| Ofelia: Esperto. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Esperto. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: ...cinema d'essai. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “Indie cinematography” or “independent movie.” |
| Ofelia: Cinema d'essai. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Cinema d'essai. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Our next phrase is... |
| Ofelia: ...per esempio. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “For instance.” |
| Ofelia: Per esempio. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Per esempio. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next... |
| Ofelia: …essere appassionato di. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “To be fond of.” |
| Ofelia: Essere appassionato di. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Essere appassionato di. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: ...all'italiana. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “Italian” or “typically Italian.” |
| Ofelia: All'italiana. [slowly - broken down by syllable] All'italiana. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Our next word is... |
| Ofelia: ...granché. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “That much” or “that good.” |
| Ofelia: Granché. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Granché. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next... |
| Ofelia: ...preferire. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “To prefer.” |
| Ofelia: Preferire. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Preferire. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Our final word is... |
| Ofelia: ...ultimamente. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: “Lately” or “of late.” |
| Ofelia: Ultimamente. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Ultimamente. [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: ...cinema d'essai. |
| Brandon: Meaning "indie cinematography" or “independent films.” |
| Ofelia: This phrase is formed by the noun cinema, which in this context means "cinematography," and the phrase d'essai, which is a phrase of French origin. Essai in French means “test." |
| Brandon: When can we use this phrase? |
| Ofelia: This phrase is used in reference to the movie industry which doesn't produce blockbusters, but instead produces films with high cultural and artistic value. A movie produced this way will usually employ unknown actors and simple effects. |
| Brandon: Then, when should we not use this expression? |
| Ofelia: This phrase shouldn’t be used to refer to a specific movie; it refers only to the genre. If you want to speak about a specific movie, it’s better to use the phrase film d'essai. |
| Brandon: Can you give us an example with our key phrase? |
| Ofelia: Sure! Questo articolo è sul cinema d'essai degli anni Ottanta. |
| Brandon: "This article is about the Eighties' indie cinematography." |
| Ofelia: Listeners, this phrase has another meaning too. It can be used to describe the movie theater where these types of independent films are shown. |
| Brandon: It seems that France and Italy greatly value this type of film. They give it great importance in film festivals, such as the ones held in Cannes and in Venice. |
| Ofelia: That’s right. |
| Brandon: Okay, next we have… |
| Ofelia: ...all'italiana. |
| Brandon: Meaning "in the Italian style.” |
| Ofelia: This phrase is abbreviated and implies the word maniera, meaning "way, style, or manner." In its complete form, the phrase would be alla maniera italiana, which means "in the Italian style." Alla is made of two components: the preposition a and the feminine singular definitive article la. Italiana is originally an adjective. |
| Brandon: What should we know about this phrase? |
| Ofelia: Well, you can not use this phrase in an ironic way when you’re talking to someone who you respect. For example, if you’re talking to your client, you can not say, lei arriva sempre all'italiana, meaning, "You always arrive in the Italian way." |
| Brandon: Meaning that he or she always arrives late. Yeah, I think that might sound a little rude toward your client. Can you give us an example of the correct way to use it? |
| Ofelia: Sure! Vorrei fare colazione all'italiana. |
| Brandon: "I’d like to have a typical Italian breakfast.” This literally means, “I’d like to have breakfast in the Italian style." |
| Ofelia: Similar phrases can be used when talking about other nationalities. For example, all'inglese and alla giapponese. |
| Brandon: Meaning “typically English” and "typically Japanese." Okay, next we have... |
| Ofelia: ...non...un granché. |
| Brandon: Meaning "not that much” or “not that good." When can we use this phrase? |
| Ofelia: We use this phrase in colloquial Italian when we want to talk in general about the quality and quantity of something. But we don’t use it in formal written Italian. |
| Brandon: What if we’re writing a letter to a friend? |
| Ofelia: Well, you can use it then because that’s informal. But be careful when you’re using formal written or spoken Italian. If you’re talking to someone, you can use it only if the person listening to you is not directly involved in what you are judging. |
| Brandon: Can you give us a sentence as an example? |
| Ofelia: Sure! Questi biscotti integrali non sono un granché. |
| Brandon: "These whole wheat cookies are not that good." |
| Ofelia: Non un granché is considered very negative feedback. It’s almost always preceded by a negative statement to highlight a bad trend or situation. It also has an ironic note. |
| Brandon: I see, Okay, to the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Brandon: In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about your preferences. |
| Ofelia: In the dialogue, Lucia said, io guardo vari tipi di film, ma di solito preferisco il cinema straniero. Ultimamente quello italiano non è un granché. |
| Brandon: Meaning, “I watch many kinds of movies, but I usually prefer foreign movies. Lately, the Italian ones aren’t that good.” In this sentence, Lucia used the word “prefer” to talk about what she likes. Ofelia, can you explain how to use this in Italian? |
| Ofelia: Of course. In addition to piacere, meaning "to like," we often use the verb preferire, meaning "to prefer" to talk about what we like and our preferences. This verb belongs to the -ire group, but its conjugation is different from most of the verbs ending in -ire. |
| Brandon: How so? |
| Ofelia: To conjugate the verb, add the suffix -isc or i s c between the root and the declination of the first-, second-, and third-person singular and to the third-person plural. Here’s the full conjugation of preferire. Follow along with the lesson notes. Io preferisco, tu preferisci, lui or lei preferisce, noi preferiamo, voi preferite, loro preferiscono. |
| Brandon: Do we use this conjugation pattern only with this verb? |
| Ofelia: No, there are other verbs belonging to the -ire group that have similar conjugation to preferire. When you see a new verb in -ire, if you’re not sure, check the dictionary in order to know whether its conjugation is similar to the verb dormire or the verb preferire. |
| Brandon: What else should we know about this verb? |
| Ofelia: Preferire can be followed by a verb in the infinitive form, and no preposition is needed between preferire and the verb. For example, preferisco bere il tè. |
| Brandon: Meaning "I prefer drinking tea." |
| Ofelia: Preferire can also be followed by a noun, and we can use it to compare two things. When comparing something, we need to use the preposition a. |
| Brandon: Can you give us an example? |
| Ofelia: preferisce i film americani ai film italiani. |
| Brandon: Meaning, "He prefers American movies to Italian movies." |
| Ofelia: Another useful expression to talk about what you like is essere appassionato di followed by a noun. |
| Brandon: This means "to be fond of" and it’s typically used to talk about one's biggest passion. |
| Ofelia: That’s right. And appassionato should vary according to the number and the gender of the subject. For example, mia sorella è appassionata di arte contemporanea. |
| Brandon: "My sister is fond of contemporary art." So the subject is singular and feminine, right? |
| Ofelia: Right. And here’s another one. I bambini sono appassionati di libri di fatascienza. |
| Brandon: "The children are fond of science fiction books." And in this case the subject is plural and masculine. |
| Ofelia: Finally, another tip is to add per esempio, meaning “for instance," before you express your likes or dislikes. This will make your assertion less strong and also indicates that you have other preferences too. |
| Brandon: That seems pretty simple. So, how would l say, “For instance, I really like Chinese cuisine?” |
| Ofelia: Per esempio mi piace molto la cucina cinese. In this case, it’s clear that you also like other kinds of food. |
| Brandon: We saw this phrase used in the dialogue too, when Maria said, “For instance, I really like Sorrentino.” |
| Ofelia: Correct! Per esempio mi piace molto Sorrentino. This doesn’t mean that she only likes Sorrentino, but that he’s one of her favorites. |
| Brandon: Be sure to check out the lesson notes for more details and examples on expressing your likes and dislikes. |
| MARKETING PIECE |
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Outro |
| Brandon: Thank you for listening, everyone. See you next time! |
| Ofelia: A presto. |
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