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Italia ~~ Italian Life

Lezione 4 and Answers with Ignazio!

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Teach Italy.jpg final one ~Jana smaller

Buongiorno, clase!
Jana lesson

Gianluca is sorry for making the last lesson so hard – he thought it was pretty easy!  You did not like the word search?  And no one guessed the secret phrase?  Ok, answers to the word search are below:
For your second extra credit, I have also hidden a word or two from the titles of the songs from the Sanremo CD. See if you can find the 7 extra words. For your third extra credit, the remaining letters that are not used in the word search, spell out a phrase. See if you can guess it.   Happy Hunting!

Ignazio Piero Gianluca Win Eurovision!  ♥  Did no one get this??

_ _ _ _ _ _ _    _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Your clue:   “a great prophecy…”

V E E R I R E F E R P E O
E N O Z N A C C I A O R P
S A P A R L A R E S W E E
T M E M E E A N S T O D N
I O G O I V R Z T A R U S
R R U R S I I A U R O I A
E C R E D E R E D E M H R
R A P N B A M B I N A C E
A M F R N O E R A D N A R
R B E A I V N U R O T R I
I I R A R I I I E R I O T
P A I I R E G V C M C C N
S R P O R T I R E I A N E
E E A G R A N D E R L A S
R I C O R D A R E E E A O
Extra   Words:
Ciao Ancora
Bambina Canzone
Grande Romantica
Romane

HOMEWORK:  I hope you at least enjoyed Houseboat!  With our lovely Sophia…

Ok, let’s take a little coffee break!  There is a little Italian caffè down the street, let’s stop in for a cappuccino and some biscotti…

I would like a vente ounce cappuccino and a chocolate biscotti, please.

Vorrei un cappuccino vente oncia e biscotti al cioccolato, per favore.

Ignazio will have a grande espresso with cream and a cannoli, please.

Ignazio avrà un espresso grande con panna e un cannoli , per favore.
You will notice that the words in color, are both the same in English as in Italiano!?
See, you have been speaking Italian and didn’t even know it!  Many caffè houses, like Starbucks, have these words in their menus and I’m sure no one even thought twice about it!  Here are some more Italian/American words that you will find in your local or little Italian caffè house!
  • caffè (espresso)—a small cup of very strong coffee, i.e., espresso
  • caffè Americano—American-style coffee, but stronger; weaker than espresso and served in a large cup
  • caffè corretto—coffee “corrected” with a shot of grappa, cognac, or other spirit
  • caffè doppio—double espresso
  • caffè freddo—iced coffee  (remember when Piero and Ignazio said they were freddo in Russia?)
  • caffè Hag—decaffeinated coffee (ironically, this is the same in German!)
  • caffè latte—hot milk mixed with coffee and served in a glass for breakfast
  • caffè macchiato—espresso “stained” with a drop of steamed milk: small version of a cappuccino
  • caffè marocchino—espresso with a dash of hot milk and cacao powder
  • caffè stretto—espresso with less water; rocket fuel!
  • cappuccino—espresso infused with steamed milk and drunk in the morning, but never after lunch or dinner
  • granita di caffè con panna—frozen, iced beverage (similar to a slush, but ice shavings make it authentic) and topped with whipped cream

Also, to help you a little more with your pronunciations and a few extra phrases, (since we cannot be there in person to help you!), I have found a few YouTube videos.  There are literally thousands out there, but I thought these were good.  The one girl sounds a lot like a female Piero, they must be from the same area of Italy!

http://dreamdiscoveritalia.com/2014/10/15/italian-101-how-to-say-please-thank-you-and-youre-welcome-in-italian/

http://www.transparent.com/learn-italian/phrases.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNyA8A2EB-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o7vs0wUQ_4

I hope you enjoy your lezione oggi!

Ciao –
Ignazio!

i - decem

 
Italia ~~ Italian Life

Lezione 3 Part 2 Accents and Irregular Verbs – continued, with Gianluca!

19 Comments

Teach Italy.jpg final one ~Jana smaller

Ciao, clase!

Mi dispiace (I am sorry) it has been a few extra days, but the jet lag got to me more than usual! Madrid was bella, but it is always nice to be back in Italy. I also g - tired feb.penso (think) you may have needed a few extra days from the last lezione, as there was a lot to cover…

Today I will introduce some irregular verbs, as well as the accent! And I don’t mean my Italian to English accent, either! Ha, ha!

Let’s start with the accent! Here are some words that have some very different meanings if you don’t add the accent:

a – at, to                                                                                               à – has

da – from                                                                                             dà– gives

di – of                                                                                                   dì– day

do – a musical note (where have we heard this before? Lol!)        dò– I give

e – and                                                                                                  è– is

la – the (fem.)                                                                                       là– there

li – them                                                                                                lì– there

se – if                                                                                                     sì– oneself

si – reflexive pronoun                                                                         sÌ– yes

Now, a little review on the verb endings for –are, -ere, and –ire verbs:

Verbs ending in –are: -o, -i, –a, -iamo, -ate, –ano

Verbs ending in –ere: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, –ono

Verbs ending in –ire:   -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, –ono

Notice how close the endings are for all of the verbs, just in the he/she & they ending of the –are verbs and the you plural form are they different! To make a verb considered irregular, it means to have an ending different than what is considered the normal or expected ending, or if the main part of the “word of the verb” changes, (which is what is before the –are/ire/ere endings). Remember when Piero was going over the verb STARE and we noticed that the “they” form had (2) two “ns” in it? Just that one form ending change, makes a verb considered irregular. If you recall, STARE means “to be.” It also means “to stay.”

Fortuna for us, Italian only has 4 irregular –are verbs, one being stare. Most of the endings are the same for the irregular verbs as they are for the regular verbs, but notice how some add accents to them as well. Like in the words above do’ and da’ from the verb DARE – to give. Also note that all of the “loro” endings add the (2) ns in that form.

andare – to go

io vado                                      noi andiamo (yes, like the Michigan restaurant, who knew?)

tu vai                                          voi andate

lio/lei va                                     loro vanno

fare – to do, or to make

io facco                                     noi facciamo

tu fai                                          voi fate

lue/lei fa                                    loro fanno

dare – to give

io do’                                         noi diamo

tu dai                                         voi date

lui/lei da’                                    loro danno
stare – to be, or to stay (you will note that it is the same conjugation, but want to reiterate it again)

io sto                                          noi stiamo

tu stai                                         voi state

lui/lei sta                                    loro stanno

I have created this word search with 20 of the verbs you have learned so far. I know, doesn’t seem like that many!? I will list them below. For your first extra credit – define all of the verbs. For your second extra credit, I have also hidden a word or two from the titles of the songs from the Sanremo CD. See if you can find the 7 extra words. For your third extra credit, the remaining letters that are not used in the word search, spell out a phrase. See if you can guess it.   Happy Hunting!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _    _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Your clue:   “a great prophecy…”

V E E R I R E F E R P E O
E N O Z N A C C I A O R P
S A P A R L A R E S W E E
T M E M E E A N S T O D N
I O G O I V R Z T A R U S
R R U R S I I A U R O I A
E C R E D E R E D E M H R
R A P N B A M B I N A C E
A M F R N O E R A D N A R
R B E A I V N U R O T R I
I I R A R I I I E R I O T
P A I I R E G V C M C C N
S R P O R T I R E I A N E
E E A G R A N D E R L A S
R I C O R D A R E E E A O
amore credere pensare sentire
andare dare portire stare
cambiare dormire preferire studiare
capire fare respirare vestire
chiudere parlare ricordare vivere

HOMEWORK: For your homework, you are to watch “Houseboat” with Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. You can find it on Netflix if you have it. If you don’t, you can get a free month’s trial. See how many Italian words you can pick up from Sophia!

Buonanotte,

Gianluca!s - gian

Italia ~~ Italian Life

Greetings, Good Things, and Goodbyes with Gianluca!

10 Comments

Teach Italy.jpg final one ~Jana smaller

Lezione 3, Part 1

Buongiorno clase!   Il Volo had a great time this past week. It’s always great to come back to New York! We loved our helicopter ride, but were a little scared when they told us Ignazio was flying! As Piero promised, I will introduce the –ire ending verbs.Gian for Jana's ost

One type follows the pattern of sentire (to hear) and the other follows the pattern of finire (to finish). The present tense endings are the same for both. However, the difference is that the verbs that follow the pattern of finire add –isc in all forms except for noi & voi (we/you plural).

The endings for present tense regular –ire verbs are as follows:

-o                -iamo

-i                  -ite

-e                 -ono

Today’s (oggi) verbs!

(I am going to put them all in caps, but they aren’t necessarily captilized…) Also, many verbs can have more than one meaning. You need to pay close attention to the context of the sentences…

 

SENTIRE – to hear, to listen, to feel

io sento – I feel                     noi sentiamo – we feel

tu senti – you feel                  voi sentite – all of you feel

lui/lei sente – he/she feels    loro sentono – they feel

APRIRE – to open

apro/apri/apre/apriamo/aprite/aprono

DORMIRE – to sleep (Ignazio likes to dorme!)

dormo/dormi/dorme/dormiamo/dormite/dormono

PARTIRE – to depart, to leave

parto/parti/parte/partiamo/partite/partono

SEGUIRE – to follow (you will often see this on Instagram and Twitter “sigue mi” – follow me!)

seguo/segui/sigue/seguiamo/seguite/seguono

VESTIRE – to dress

vesto/vesti/veste/vestiamo/vestite/vestono

Now for the –ire verbs using –isc. Remember it is used in ALL except noi/voi. It’s a little tricky, as the regular endings for –ire verbs are: o, i, e, iamo, ite, ono. For the –isc verbs they are:

-isco             -iamo

-isci               -ite

-isce             -iscono

NB (note bene – note well!): Remember in your pronunciation of these verbs with the added “sce” endings – The letters “sc” before e or i (also a) – sound like English “sh” sound – as in Nasce (from Grande Amore)

FINIRE – to finish

finisco/finisci/finisce/finiamo/finite/finiscono

CAPIRE – to understand (I think we’ve all heard the “capisce!? – you understand!?” in many movies, etc.)

capisco/capisci/capisce/capiamo/capite/capiscono

PREFIRIRE – to prefir

Prefirisco/prefirisci/prefirisce/prefiriamo/prefirite/prefiriscono

There are a few other –isc verbs, but we will not touch on them right now.

As bella as our songs are, we cannot walk around speaking in canzone all day! So here are some molto importante parole!

molto – very

bene – well, good

buon/buona – good

importante – important

parole – words (Grande Amore)

canzone – song (Canzone per Te)

Greetings/Goodbyes:

ciao – hello/goodbye (Ciao, Ciao Bambina)

arrivederci – goodbye (Vacanze Romane)

buongiorno – good morning/good afternoon

buonanotte – goodnight

salve – hello/goodbye

buon pomeriggio – good afternoon

mi chiamo Gianluca – my name is Gianluca

a domani – until tomorrow

a preso – see you soon

grazie – thank you

prego – you’re welcome

ragazza/ragazzi – girl/boy              ragazzi – boys/guys (“uncle Bruno” says this a lot to our guys…)

bello/bella – beautiful (ending will change depending on whether noun is masculine or feminine)

casa – house

lingua – language

mamma – mother

padre – father

nonna/nonno – grandma/grandpa

fiore – flower (Canzone per Te)

classe – class

lezione – lesson

difficile – difficult

mare – sea

notte – night

amica/amico – female/male friend (not to be confused with “girlfriend/boyfriend”) (Romantica)

amici – “all” friends

sì – yes                 è – is

no – no                   me/mi – me

parlare – to speak

studiare – to study

Some phrases using “buon” –

che buono – this is nice

buon compleanno – happy birthday (although they “sing” tanti aguri…which is more like best wishes)

buon divertimento – have a nice time

buona fortuna – good luck

buon viaggio – have a good trip

Now a few important sentences!

L’Italiano è una lingua bella ma difficile.    Italian is a beautiful language but difficult.

Studio l’Italiano.                                    I study Italian.

Parlo l’Italiano.                                      I speak Italian.

NB: The Italian language has a “backwards” accent on their words.  The reason some words have accents over certain letters is that it means that the word means something different without the accent. We will go over that next time in Part 2.

Other Notes:  you will notice that many of the verbs are very similar to English verbs, so they should be easy to remember.  I have also skipped a little grammar here and there.  Ignazio will lead you in more grammar on Lezione 4.  As well as a little review!  We will go over some irregular verbs in Part 2.

Ciao, clase!

GianlucaDSCN0302 - cropped marie2