Learn about some very common Italian expressions that will come in handy when you're visiting Italy
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Hello everyone! I'm Consuelo, and welcome to ItalianPOD101. |
| Marco: With us, you'll learn to speak Italian with fun and effective lessons. |
| Consuelo: We also provide you with cultural insights |
| Marco: and tips you won't find in a textbook... |
| Marco: In today's class, we will illustrate the usage and meaning of the expressions presented in the dialogue. This conversation takes place at Martina's place. |
| Consuelo: The conversation is between Paolo, John, and Martina. The speakers are friends; therefore, they will be speaking informally. |
| Marco: |
| Consuelo: |
| Marco: Now, before we listen to the conversation... |
| Consuelo: We want to ask... |
| Marco: Do you read the lesson notes, while you listen? |
| Consuelo: We received an e-mail about this study tip. |
| Marco: So we were wondering if you've tried it, and if so, |
| Consuelo: what do you think of it. |
| Marco: You can leave us feedback in the comment section of this lesson. Okay... |
| Marco: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Paolo: Ehi John, grazie per prima. |
| John: Di nulla. Sono contento sia andato tutto a buon fine. |
| Paolo: Ti devo un favore. |
| John: Non ti preoccupare. Ehi Martina, sembra sia nata una nuova coppia, eh? |
| Martina: Eh eh, grazie. |
| John: Vi unite a noi per la settimana bianca domani? |
| Paolo: Partite per la montagna? |
| John: Sì, questa settimana c'è il ponte. Se non avete da lavorare unitevi a noi! |
| Martina: Beh, io credo di poter venire. |
| Paolo: Io dovrei sentire il capo, perché dovrei partire per lavoro. |
| Martina: Come, non stiamo insieme? |
| Paolo: Ehm, non lo so ancora, dovrei sentirlo. |
| Martina: Iniziamo bene! |
| Paolo: Lo chiamo subito, vediamo se riesco a posticipare! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Paolo: Ehi John, grazie per prima. |
| John: Di nulla. Sono contento sia andato tutto a buon fine. |
| Paolo: Ti devo un favore. |
| John: Non ti preoccupare. Ehi Martina, sembra sia nata una nuova coppia, eh? |
| Martina: Eh eh, grazie. |
| John: Vi unite a noi per la settimana bianca domani? |
| Paolo: Partite per la montagna? |
| John: Sì, questa settimana c'è il ponte. Se non avete da lavorare unitevi a noi! |
| Martina: Beh, io credo di poter venire. |
| Paolo: Io dovrei sentire il capo, perché dovrei partire per lavoro. |
| Martina: Come, non stiamo insieme? |
| Paolo: Ehm, non lo so ancora, dovrei sentirlo. |
| Martina: Iniziamo bene! |
| Paolo: Lo chiamo subito, vediamo se riesco a posticipare! |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Paolo: Ehi John, grazie per prima. |
| Marco: Hey, John. Thanks for before. |
| John: Di nulla. Sono contento sia andato tutto a buon fine. |
| Marco: You're welcome. I'm happy everything went fine. |
| Paolo: Ti devo un favore. |
| Marco: I owe you a favor. |
| John: Non ti preoccupare. Ehi Martina, sembra sia nata una nuova coppia, eh? |
| Marco: Don't worry. Hey, Martina, it looks like a new couple is born, huh? |
| Martina: Eh eh, grazie. |
| Marco: Hey, thanks. |
| John: Vi unite a noi per la settimana bianca domani? |
| Marco: Will you join us for the ski holiday tomorrow? |
| Paolo: Partite per la montagna? |
| Marco: Are you leaving for the mountains? |
| John: Sì, questa settimana c'è il ponte. Se non avete da lavorare unitevi a noi! |
| Marco: Yes, this weekend is a long one. If you don't have to work, join us! |
| Martina: Beh, io credo di poter venire. |
| Marco: Well, I think I could join you. |
| Paolo: Io dovrei sentire il capo, perché dovrei partire per lavoro. |
| Marco: I should call the boss, because I have to leave for work. |
| Martina: Come, non stiamo insieme? |
| Marco: What, we won't be together? |
| Paolo: Ehm, non lo so ancora, dovrei sentirlo. |
| Marco: Ehm, I don't know yet, I should call him. |
| Martina: Iniziamo bene! |
| Marco: That's a good start! |
| Paolo: Lo chiamo subito, vediamo se riesco a posticipare! |
| Marco: I will call him right away; let's see if I can postpone it. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Hey Cristiano, what will we talk about today? |
| Cristiano: Today, we'll talk about holidays and colors. |
| Marco: Holidays and…colors? What's that? |
| Cristiano: There are ways to call holidays in Italian, and some of them have colors. Like ""settimana bianca"" |
| Marco: the ""white week?"" |
| Cris: Actually, it means ""ski holiday,"" which people usually spend skiing or snowboarding in some famous spot. And there's a ""settimana verde"" as well. |
| Marco: A ""week in the woods?"" |
| Cris: Eh eh, no. You know, lately Italy has become famous for farm holidays, usually spent at a hotel in the mountains, in summertime. |
| Marco: Oh, I see. Is there a blue version for the sea as well? |
| Cris: Sadly, no. We use to call that ""settimana al mare"" |
| Marco: ""a week by the sea."" Got it. Thanks, Cristiano! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: prima [natural native speed] |
| Marco: before, earlier |
| Consuelo: prima [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: prima [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristiano: contento [natural native speed] |
| Marco: happy, content |
| Cristiano: contento [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristiano: contento [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: favore [natural native speed] |
| Marco: favor |
| Consuelo: favore [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: favore [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristiano: unire [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to join, unite |
| Cristiano: unire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristiano: unire [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: lavorare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to work |
| Consuelo: lavorare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: lavorare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristiano: sentire [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to hear, listen to |
| Cristiano: sentire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristiano: sentire [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Marco: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Marco: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases we learned in this lesson. The word we'll look at is... |
| Cris: ""unire,"" ""unirsi"" |
| Marco: ""to join."" |
| Cris: In English, when we want to invite somebody, we always say ""Join us!"" right? |
| Marco: Yes! What about in Italian? |
| Cris: In Italian, the sentence goes like ""unisciti a noi!"" or ""unitevi a voi!"" according to the person. |
| Marco: Oh, yes. So it's not ""Uniteci!"" |
| Cris: No, that's a mistake. |
| Marco: Is there another way to invite people? |
| Cris: Yes, our listeners could just say ""vieni anche tu"" or ""venite anche voi"" and it will work just fine. |
| Marco: Okay, thanks, Cristiano! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Cristiano: Let's take a look at today's lesson. |
| Marco: The focus of this lesson is on the expressions presented in the dialogue. |
| Marco: In the dialogue above, John replies to Paolo's ""thanks"" by saying |
| Cris: ""di nulla."" |
| Marco: Both the expressions |
| Cris: ""di nulla"" |
| Marco: and |
| Cris: ""prego,"" |
| which do not translate literally into English, mean ""You are welcome."" |
| Marco: ""Di nulla"" may be used in both formal and informal Italian and, contrary to its English equivalent, does not require either a subject or a verb. Please note that the literal translation of ""You are welcome"" |
| Cris: ""sei il benvenuto"" |
| Marco: is used in Italian to welcome people to specific places. For instance… |
| Cris: ""Sei il benvenuto a casa mia ogni volta che vuoi venire."" |
| Marco: ""You are welcome to my house whenever you wish to come."" |
| Marco: On the contrary, Paolo's statement |
| Cris: ""ti devo un favore"" |
| Marco: translates literally into English as ""I owe you a favor."" In this case, the verb ""dovere"" is not an auxiliary verb, but a standard transitive verb, which requires both a direct object (in this case, ""un favore"") as well as an indirect object (""ti"" = ""a te,"" ""to you""). |
| Cris: ""La settimana bianca"" |
| Marco: literally, ""the white week,"" is a well-established Italian tradition. It consists of a weeklong vacation (the exact duration may change, but it usually lasts between a few days and two weeks) during the Christmas holiday. |
| Cris: Italians pack up their ski gear and go skiing on the ""Alpi"" (""Alps"") or the ""Appennini"" mountain ranges, the most popular resorts being ""Cortina d'Ampezzo"" and ""Madonna di Campiglio."" |
| Marco: When explaining why he'll be going on vacation for the ""settimana bianca,"" John says that this week |
| Cris: ""c'è il ponte"" |
| Marco: literally, ""there is the bridge."" This expression, which may be translated into English as ""long weekend,"" is used whenever public holidays take place on Fridays, the last working day of the week for the majority of people in Italy. |
| Cris: In case of a longer weekend, in Italian we may specify the number of days, although this procedure is not normally necessary. For example… |
| Cris: ""C'è un ponte di quattro giorni."" |
| Marco: ""We'll have a four-day weekend."" |
| Marco: Finally, let's take a look at the expressions |
| Cris: ""settimana corta"" |
| Marco: ""short week"" and |
| Cris: ""settimana lunga"" |
| Marco: ""long week,"" which were originally used by landlords to mean, respectively, a renting period of five days per week as opposed to the full week. |
| The former is also used to indicate weeks whose working days are fewer than five (usually four), whereas the latter means weeks whose working days are greater than five. |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Consuelo: Ready to test what you just learned? |
| Marco: Make this lesson's vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flashcards in the learning center. |
| Consuelo: There is a reason everyone uses flashcards... |
| Marco: They work... |
| Consuelo: They really do help memorization. |
| Marco: You can get the flashcards for this lesson at |
| Consuelo: ItalianPod101.com. |
| Marco: Okay.... |
| Cristiano: |
| Marco: Ciao |
| Consuelo: A presto!" |
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