Learn how to follow simple written instructions using an informal conversation as an example
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hi everyone! Welcome back to ItalianPod101.com! This is Lower Intermediate Season 3 Lesson 7, An Italian Kitchen Nightmare. Brandon here! |
| Ofelia: Ciao. I'm Ofelia. |
| Brandon: Ofelia, what are we going to learn in this lesson? |
| Ofelia: In this lesson you will learn about the difference between the modal verb ‘Potere’ and the verb ‘Riuscire.’ |
| Brandon: The conversation takes place in a kitchen. |
| Ofelia: The conversation is between Maria, Elia, and Lucia. |
| Brandon: The speakers are coworkers and friends; therefore, the speakers will be using informal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Elia: E' pronto? |
| Maria: Eh... quasi... |
| Elia: Cos'hai preparato? |
| Maria: Ho provato a cucinare le lasagne... ma la besciamella era troppo liquida ed è un disastro! Non riesco a fare le porzioni. |
| Elia: Ops! di solito la parte superiore è più solida. |
| Maria: Meglio mangiare fuori per oggi... |
| Elia: Possiamo usare i cucchiai per mangiarla! |
| Maria: No dai! Il cane dei vicini è sempre contento di mangiare i miei avanzi. |
| Lucia: Inoltre la pizzeria qui sotto è formidabile! |
| Brandon: Listen to the conversation with an English translation |
| Elia: E' pronto? |
| Elia: Is it ready? |
| Maria: Eh... quasi... |
| Maria: Ah... almost... |
| Elia: Cos'hai preparato? |
| Elia: What did you prepare? |
| Maria: Ho provato a cucinare le lasagne... ma la besciamella era troppo liquida ed è un disastro! Non riesco a fare le porzioni. |
| Maria: I tried to cook lasagne... but the white sauce is too runny and it’s a disaster! I can't cut it into portions. |
| Elia: Ops! di solito la parte superiore è più solida. |
| Elia: Oops! Usually the upper part is thicker. |
| Maria: Meglio mangiare fuori per oggi... |
| Maria: Better to eat out for today... |
| Elia: Possiamo usare i cucchiai per mangiarla! |
| Elia: We can use spoons to eat it! |
| Maria: No dai! Il cane dei vicini è sempre contento di mangiare i miei avanzi. |
| Maria: No, come on! The neighbors' dog is always happy to eat my leftovers. |
| Lucia: Inoltre la pizzeria qui sotto è formidabile! |
| Lucia: Plus, the pizzeria on this street (lit.here below) is incredible! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ofelia: Brandon, have you had white sauce or La besciamella before? |
| Brandon :I believe I had. It’s one of the fundamental components of lasagna, right? |
| Ofelia: Yes, that’s right. La Besciamella, or "white sauce," is one of the most important sauces in Italian and French cuisine and we use it when making lasagna. |
| Brandon: How is the sauce made? |
| Ofelia: It’s made of just milk, butter and seasoning. It has a long history. |
| Brandon: I heard that it was created in France in the seventeenth century to satisfy the Sun King‘s refined tastes. After that it became important in Italy too, is that right? It seems like many people still prepare it at home. |
| Ofelia: Right, but it takes time, so some people prefer to buy it at the supermarket in handy, ready-to-use packages. |
| Brandon: And what about you? |
| Ofelia: I personally love besciamella, it’s what makes lasagna delicious. I also should admit that, like the character in the dialogue, I'm not very good at preparing it. Even though it’s a very simple recipe, if you don’t have the right quantities of ingredients you’ll never get the right consistency. |
| Brandon: Good to know. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: Let’s take a look at some of the vocabulary used in this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Ofelia: besciamella [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: white sauce |
| Ofelia: besciamella [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: besciamella [natural native speed] |
| Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: liquido [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: fluid, runny |
| Ofelia: liquido [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: liquido [natural native speed] |
| Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: disastro [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: disaster, mess |
| Ofelia: disastro [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: disastro [natural native speed] |
| Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: porzione [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: portion |
| Ofelia: porzione [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: porzione [natural native speed] |
| Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: superiore [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: upper |
| Ofelia: superiore [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: superiore [natural native speed] |
| Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: solido [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: solid, thick |
| Ofelia: solido [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: solido [natural native speed] |
| Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: avanzo [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: leftover |
| Ofelia: avanzo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: avanzo [natural native speed] |
| And the last word is.. |
| Ofelia: formidabile [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: formidable |
| Ofelia: formidabile [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: formidabile [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Ofelia: avanzo |
| Brandon: which means "leftover." |
| Ofelia: This noun comes from the verb avanzare meaning "to exceed" or "to advance” When this word is used in the plural form, it usually refers to food leftovers. |
| Brandon: In general you can also use this word to refer to anything that is in excess. |
| Ofelia: That’s right. For example- Studio francese negli avanzi di tempo, |
| Brandon: meaning "I study French in my spare time." Also in this case the word is plural. |
| Ofelia: In math this noun, in the singular form avanzo, indicates the "remainder" in division or subtraction. |
| Brandon: Can you give us one more example? |
| Ofelia: Sure.Non mi piace buttare via gli avanzi. |
| Brandon: meaning "I don't like throwing away leftovers." Okay, what’s the next word? |
| Ofelia: Next we have.. formidabile |
| Brandon: meaning "formidable." This word is an adjective. This word is used to describe someone or something that is remarkable, so much that it frightens or is awe-inspiring. It is often used to describe something positive. |
| Ofelia: You can also use also magnifico to mean something similar, but this word doesn't imply overwhelming awe, just a strong sense of admiration. |
| Brandon: Can you give us an example? |
| Ofelia: La vista dall'ultimo piano è formidabile. |
| Brandon: meaning.. "The view from the top floor is incredible." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn the difference between two verbs.. |
| Ofelia: the modal verb potere meaning “to be able to” or “can,” and the Verb riuscire which means “to be able to” or “to succeed.” |
| Brandon: Let’s check the first verb. |
| Ofelia: Potere which means "to be able to" or "can" is a modal verb. |
| Brandon: A modal verb is used to give additional information about the main verb. |
| Ofelia: Potere means "to be able to" or "can" and indicates the possibility to do a determinate action. |
| Brandon: Other modal verbs are followed by an infinitive verb without any linking preposition and are irregular, is it like them? |
| Ofelia: Yes, that’s right. |
| Brandon: But there are some cases that we need to use the other verb, right? |
| Ofelia: Yes. Sometimes we can use the other verb, riuscire, which in English can be translated in the same way as potere when the verb is followed by the preposition a and an infinitive verb. |
| Brandon: It actually expresses a slightly different meaning, which is between the English verbs “to be able to” and “to succeed”. |
| Ofelia: Here’s the important note, listeners. While potere refers to a possibility that doesn’t always depend on the will of the subject, riuscire always implies the idea of will and struggle from the subject. |
| Brandon: All right. Let’s take a look at some examples and learn more about them. |
| Ofelia: First, we have Posso parlarti? |
| Brandon: Meaning "May I talk to you?" or “Can I talk to you?” |
| Ofelia: In this case, the action of speaking depends on the other person’s answer, not on the will of the subject. That’s why we used the verb potere. |
| Brandon: Okay. Do you have an example of using the other verb too? |
| Ofelia: Yes. Lo chiamo sempre, ma non riesco mai a parlargli |
| Brandon: It means "I always call him, but I never succeed in talking to him." |
| Ofelia: In this sentence, I used the verb riesco which is the conjugated form of the verb riuscire, because the will of the subject is implied. |
| Brandon: Listeners, check out the lesson notes to see how these irregular verbs get conjugated in the present indicative. |
| MARKETING PIECE |
| Ofelia: Listeners, ever have any Italian language or lesson-related questions? |
| Brandon: Or maybe you have some feedback for us... |
| Ofelia: Leave us a comment or ask a question on the lessons page! |
| Brandon: It's super simple. Go to ItalianPod101.com... |
| Ofelia: ...click on comments, |
| Brandon: ...enter your comment and name, |
| Ofelia: ...and that's it! |
| Brandon: Commenting is a great way to practice writing and reading in Italian. |
| Ofelia: It helps you learn faster. |
| Brandon: And it helps us get better through your feedback. |
| Ofelia: No excuses. |
| Brandon: Go to ItalianPod101.com, and comment now. |
| Ofelia: NOW! |
Outro |
| Brandon: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone. See you next time! |
| Ofelia: A presto. |
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