Italian For Dummies E-Book

Francesca Romana Onofri

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fremdsprachen
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Seitenzahl: 253

Beschreibung

The fun and easy way to take your Italian language skills to the next level The tips, techniques, and information presented here give students, travelers, and businesspeople a primer on how to speak Italian. Complete with updates, a bonus CD, and the traditional For Dummies user-friendly format, this new edition of Italian For Dummies gives you reliable lessons, practice, and language learning techniques for speaking Italian with ease and confidence. Featuring a revamped, user-friendly organization that builds on your knowledge and ability, Italian For Dummies offers expanded coverage of the necessary grammar, major verb tenses, and conjugations that beginners need to know. Plus, you'll get a fully updated and expanded audio CD that includes real-life conversations; a refreshed and expanded mini-dictionary; more useful exercises and practice opportunities; and more. * Builds on your skills and ability as you learn * Covers the grammar, verb tenses, and conjugations you need to know * Includes a mini-dictionary * Audio CD includes real-life conversations If you're looking to reach a comfort level in conversational Italian, Italian For Dummies gets you comfortably speaking this Romantic language like a native.

Leseprobe

Italian For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

by Teresa Picarazzi, Francesca Romana Onofri, and Karen Möller

Italian For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Published byJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011932102

ISBN: 978-1-118-00465-4

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Authors

Teresa Picarazzi graduated with a BA from Skidmore College and an MA/PhD in Italian Literature from Rutgers University. For many years she taught Italian language, literature, and culture at several universities, including The University of Arizona, Wesleyan University, and Dartmouth College. She also directed the Italian language and study abroad programs at some of these. For the past six years, she has taught Italian at The Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut.

In her spare time, Teresa likes to cook and read. She lives in Fairfield, Connecticut, with her daughter, her husband, Toby the dog, and Mittens and Governor the cats. The family spends every summer in Ravenna, Italy.

After her university studies in linguistics and Spanish and English language and literature, Francesca Romana Onofri lived several years abroad to better her understanding of the cultures and languages of different countries. In Spain and Ireland she worked as an Italian and Spanish teacher, as well as a translator and interpreter at cultural events. In Germany she was responsible for communication and special events in a museum of modern art, but even then she never gave up on her passion for languages: She was an Italian coach and teacher at the Opera Studio of the Cologne Opera House, and did translations — especially in the art field. Back in Italy, Francesca has edited several Berlitz Italian books and is working as a translator of art books, as well as a cultural events organizer and educator.

Karen Möller is currently studying Italian and English linguistics, literature, and culture. Before entering academia, Karen worked in the field of public relations and wrote articles for all kinds of fashion magazines and newspapers. Recently she has had occasion to work with Berlitz Publishing on German-Italian projects, including verb, vocabulary, and grammar handbooks, and Italian exercise books.

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my parents, Mary and Domenico.

—Teresa Picarazzi

Author’s Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my husband Giancarlo and daughter Emilia for their patience and support while I was working on this book, and my students, present and past, for their curiosity and love for all things Italian. I would also like to thank the people at Wiley for making this book come true: acquisitions editor Michael Lewis for contacting me; project editor Susan Hobbs for carefully guiding me step by step through the process, and technical editors Alicia Vitti and Christiana Thielmann for making me look at some aspects of Italian language and culture through a different lens.

—Teresa Picarazzi

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Vertical Websites

Project Editor: Susan Hobbs

Acquisitions Editor: Michael Lewis

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Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

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Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Italian For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/Italian to view this book's cheat sheet.

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: Getting Started

Part II: Italian in Action

Part III: Italian on the Go

Part IV: The Part of Tens

Part V: Appendixes

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Getting Started

Chapter 1: Saying It Like It Is

You Already Know Some Italian!

Cognates

Popular expressions

Mouthing Off: Basic Pronunciation

The Alphabet

Vowels

Consonants

Stressing Words Properly

Using Gestures

Chapter 2: Jumping Into the Basics of Italian

Setting Up Simple Sentences

Coping with Gendered Words (Articles, Nouns, and Adjectives)

Nouns and gender

The indefinite articles

Definite articles

Adjectives

Talking about Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Saying “you”: Formal and informal

Verbs

Introducing regular and irregular verbs

Idiomatic uses of avere

Having to, wanting to, being able to

Presenting the Simple Tenses: Past, Present, and Future

Chapter 3: Buongiorno! Salutations!

Looking at Common Greetings and Good-byes

Deciding between formal or friendly

Replying to a greeting

Specifying your reuniting

Making Introductions

Introducing yourself

Introducing other people

Getting Acquainted

Finding out whether someone speaks Italian

Talking about where you come from

Extending and responding to invitations

Chapter 4 : Getting Your Numbers and Time Straight

Counting Numbers

Times of Day and Days of the Week

Using the Calendar and Making Dates

Making dates

Telling time

Chatting about the Weather

Familiarizing Yourself with the Metric System

Length and Distance

Weight

Part II: Italian in Action

Chapter 5: Casa dolce casa (Home Sweet Home)

Ordering Ordinals

Inhabiting Your Home

Hunting for an apartment

Sprucing up your apartment

Furnishing your new pad

Housekeeping in style

Cooking and cleaning

Doing household chores

Chapter 6: Where Is the Colosseum? Asking Directions

Finding Your Way: Asking for Specific Places

Mapping the quarters and following directions

Verbs on the Move

Locations You May Be Looking For

Chapter 7: Food Glorious Food — and Don’t Forget the Drink

Eating, Italian Style

Drinking, Italian Style

Expressing your love for espresso

Beverages with even more of a kick

The Start and End of Dining Out

Making reservations

Paying for your meal

Having Breakfast

Eating Lunch

Enjoying Dinner

Shopping for Food

Al macellaio (ahl mah-chehl-lahy-oh) (at the butcher’s)

Pesce (fish) (peh-sheh)

At the panetteria (breadshop)

Chapter 8: Shopping, Italian Style

Clothing Yourself

Deciding between department stores and boutiques

Sizing up Italian sizes

Talking definitely and indefinitely

Coloring your words

Accessorizing

Stepping out in style

Chapter 9: Having Fun Out on the Town

Acquiring Culture

Going to the movies

Going to the theater

Going to a museum

Going to a local festival

Going to a concert

Inviting Fun

Chapter 10: Taking Care of Business and Telecommunicating

Phoning Made Simple

Connecting via cellphones, texts, and Skype

Calling for business or pleasure

Making Arrangements over the Phone

Asking for People and Getting the Message

What Did You Do Last Weekend? — Talking about the Past

Discussing Your Job

The human element

Office equipment

Chapter 11: Recreation and the Outdoors

Taking a Tour

Speaking Reflexively

Playing Sports

Talking about Hobbies and Interests

Part III: Italian on the Go

Chapter 12: Planning a Trip

Deciding When and Where to Go

Taking a Tour

Booking a Trip/Traveling to Foreign Lands

Arriving and Leaving: The Verbs “Arrivare” and “Partire”

Going to the Beach and Spa

Using the Simple Future Tense

Chapter 13: Money, Money, Money

Going to the Bank

Changing Money

Using Credit Cards

Looking at Various Currencies

Chapter 14: Getting Around: Planes, Trains, Taxis, and Buses

Getting through the Airport

Checking in

Dealing with excess baggage

Waiting to board the plane

Coping after landing

Going through Customs

Losing Luggage

Renting a Car

Navigating Public Transportation

Calling a taxi

Moving by train

Going by bus or tram

Reading maps and schedules

Being Early or Late

Chapter 15: Finding a Place to Stay

Choosing a Place to Stay

Reserving a Room

Checking In

Personalizing pronouns

This or these: Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns

Yours, mine, and ours: Possessive pronouns

Bending Others to Your Will: Imperatives

Chapter 16: Handling Emergencies

Talking to Doctors

Describing what ails you

Understanding professional medical vocabulary

Getting what you need at the pharmacy

Braving the dentist

Reporting an Accident to the Police

I’ve Been Robbed! Knowing What to Do and Say When the Police Arrive

Dealing with Car Trouble

When You Need a Lawyer: Protecting Your Rights

Reporting a Lost or Stolen Passport

Chapter 17: Small Talk, Wrapping Things Up

Discovering Interrogative Pronouns

Asking simple questions

Taking care of basic needs

Talking About Yourself and Your Family — Possessives Part 2

Speaking Reflexively

Talking shop

Discussing your job

Part IV: The Part of Tens

Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Pick Up Italian Quickly

Read Italian Food Labels

Ask for Food in Italian

Listen to Italian Songs

Read Italian Publications

Watch Italian Movies

Tune In to Italian Radio and TV Programs

Listen to Italian Language Tapes

Share Your Interest

Surf the Net

Cook!

Chapter 19: Ten Things Never to Say in Italian

Ciao-ing Down

Don’t Be Literal

Five Fickle “False Friends”

Food Faux Pas

The Problem with “Play”

Being Careful of “False Friends”

Chapter 20: Ten Favorite Italian Expressions

Mamma mia!

Che bello!

Uffa!

Che ne so!/Boh!

Magari!

Ti sta bene!

Non te la prendere!

Che macello!

Non mi va!

Mi raccomando!

Chapter 21: Ten Phrases to Say So That People Think You’re Italian

In bocca al lupo!

Acqua in bocca!

Salute!

Macché!

Neanche per sogno!

Peggio per te!

Piantala!

Vacci piano!

Eccome!

Lascia perdere!

Part V: Appendixes

Appendix A: Verb Tables

Appendix B: Mini Dictionary

Appendix C: About the CD

Appendix D: Answer Keys

Cheat Sheet

Download CD/DVD Content

Introduction

As society becomes more global, knowing how to say at least a few words in other languages opens doors to communication. Carrying on a brief conversation in an immersion situation can enrich your experience. You may be planning a trip to Italy for business or pleasure. You may have friends and neighbors who speak other languages, or you may want to get in touch with your heritage by learning a little bit of the language that is spoken today in the place your ancestors came from.

Whatever your reason for wanting to learn some Italian, Italian For Dummies can help. Two experts at helping readers develop knowledge — Berlitz, experts in teaching foreign languages; and John Wiley & Sons, Inc., publishers of the best-selling For Dummies series — have teamed up to produce a book that gives you basic Italian language skills. We’re not promising fluency here, but basic communicative competency that will allow you to be understood. If you need to greet someone, purchase a ticket, or order off a menu in Italian, you need look no further than Italian For Dummies.

About This Book

This is not a class that you have to drag yourself to twice a week for a specified period of time. You can use Italian For Dummies however you want to, whether your goal is to learn some words and phrases to help you get around when you visit Italy, or you just want to be able to say “Hello, how are you?” to your Italian-speaking neighbor. Go through this book at your own pace, reading as much or as little at a time as you like. You don’t have to trudge through the chapters in order, either; just read the sections that interest you.

Note: If you’ve never taken Italian before, you may want to read the chapters in Part I before you tackle the later chapters.

Conventions Used in This Book

To make this book easy for you to navigate, we’ve set up a few conventions:

Italian terms are set in boldface to make them stand out.

Pronunciations are set in normal type with stressed syllables in italics. English translations are also set in italics.

Verb conjugations (lists that show you the forms of a verb) are given in tables in this order of six persons: “I,” “you” (singular, informal), “he/she/it/you” (formal), “we,” “you” (plural/informal), and “they/you” (plural, formal) form. Pronunciations follow in the second column. Following is an example using parlare (pahr-lah-reh) (to speak). The translations in the third column have all three forms, but for the sake of space, I only give you the first:

Language learning is a peculiar beast, so this book includes a few elements that other For Dummies books do not. Following are the new elements you’ll find:

Talkin’ the Talk dialogues: The best way to learn a language is to see and hear how it’s used in conversation, so we include dialogues throughout the book under the heading “Talkin’ the Talk.” Listen to and repeat these dialogues as often as you like. In both the CD and the text, they will help you approximate authentic pronunciation.

Words to Know blackboards: Identifying key words and phrases is also important in language learning, so we collect the important words in a chapter (or section within a chapter) in a chalkboard, with the heading “Words to Know.”

Fun & Games activities: You can use the Fun & Games activities to reinforce some chapter concepts you’ve learned. These word games are fun ways to gauge your progress.

Also note that because each language has its own ways of expressing ideas, the English translations that we provide for the Italian terms may not be exactly literal. We want you to know the gist of what’s being said. For example, the phrase Mi dica(mee dee-kah)can be translated literally as the formal imperative “Tell me,” but the phrase really means “(How) Can I help you?”

Foolish Assumptions

To write this book, we had to make some assumptions about who you are and what you want from a book called Italian For Dummies. These are the assumptions we made:

You know no Italian — or if you took it back in school, you don’t remember much.

You’re not looking for a book that will make you fluent in Italian; you just want to know some words, phrases, and sentence constructions so that you can communicate basic information in Italian.

You don’t want to have to memorize long lists of vocabulary words or a bunch of boring grammar rules.

You want to have fun and learn a little bit of Italian at the same time.

If these statements apply to you, you’ve found the right book!

How This Book Is Organized

This book is divided by topic into parts, and then into chapters. The following sections tell you what types of information you can find in each part.

Part I: Getting Started

This part lets you get your feet wet by giving you some Italian basics: how to pronounce your ABCs, numbers, words, and so on. We even boost your confidence by reintroducing you to some Italian words that you probably already know. Finally, we outline the basics of Italian grammar that you may need to know when you work through later chapters in the book.

Part II: Italian in Action

In this part, you begin learning and using Italian. Instead of focusing on grammar points as many language textbooks do, this part focuses on everyday situations, such as shopping, dining, going out, asking for directions, and being home.

Part III: Italian on the Go

This part gives you the tools you need to take your Italian on the road, whether it’s planning a trip or excursion, navigating public transportation, finding a room, or handling an emergency.

Part IV: The Part of Tens

If you’re looking for small, easily digestible pieces of information about Italian, this part is for you. Here, you can find ten ways to learn Italian quickly, ten useful Italian expressions to know, ten things never to say in Italian, and more.

Part V: Appendixes

This part of the book includes important information that you can use for reference. We include verb tables, which show you how to conjugate regular and irregular verbs. We also provide a listing of the tracks that appear on the audio CD that comes with this book so that you can find out where in the book those dialogues are and follow along. We give you a mini-dictionary in both Italian-to-English and English-to-Italian formats. If you encounter an Italian word that you don’t understand, or you need to say something in Italian, you can look it up here. You can also find the answers to the Fun and Games sections here.

Icons Used in This Book

You may be looking for particular information while reading this book. To make certain types of information easier for you to find, we’ve placed the following icons in the left-hand margins throughout the book:

This icon highlights tips that can make learning Italian easier.

To ensure that you don’t forget important information, this icon serves as a reminder, like a string tied around your finger.

Languages are full of quirks that may trip you up if you’re not prepared for them. This icon points to discussions of these weird grammar rules.

If you’re looking for information and advice about culture and travel, look for these icons.

The audio CD that comes with this book gives you the opportunity to listen to real Italian speakers so that you can get a better understanding of what Italian sounds like. This icon marks the Talkin’ the Talk dialogues that you can find on the CD. This is a great way to practice your own speaking.

Where to Go from Here

Learning a language is all about jumping in and giving it a try (no matter how bad your pronunciation is at first). So make the leap! Start at the beginning, pick a chapter that interests you, or pop the CD into your stereo or computer and listen to a few dialogues. Skip over the parts that distract you and take you away from Italian (such as the pronunciation spellings and translations after you’ve been through them once): The more you think in Italian, the more natural it will come to you. Before long, you’ll be able to respond, “Sì!” when people ask, “Parla italiano?”

Part I

Getting Started

In this part . . .

Ciao! See? You already understand some Italian, although you may think we’re saying good-bye before we even say hello. The truth is that ciao mean both “hello” and “goodbye.”

These first four chapters introduce you to the basics of the Italian language: Chapter 1 gets you going with pronunciation, Chapter 2 helps you with basic Italian grammar. You learn how to say “hello” and “goodbye” as well as how to introduce yourself and others in Chapter 3. And you learn how to tell time, put dates in your calendar, and ask for phone numbers in Chapter 4. So Andiamo! (ah-de-ah-moh) (Let’s go!)

Chapter 1

Saying It Like It Is

In This Chapter

Taking note of the little Italian you know

Looking at popular expressions and cognates

Learning basic Italian pronunciation