So you want to speak Italian? (Così vuoi parlare italiano?)

[AmeliaPotter]

Mi dispiace per non aver scritto prima, avevo tanti compiti da fare!

Originally Posted by Cox

It's very accurate! Actually, you could say "avvelenamento" that means poisoning but, if you say "intossicazione" that means exactly a poisoning related to food (intossicazione alimentare).
Say this to your teacher

Okay, cool, I'm glad my dictionary ddn't lie to me, since I could be relying on it a bit in my exam!

Streghe. Ok, you used to watch everything I dislike.

Haha yeah, it's an extremely corny show, but very good for practising my listening, since I'd say it's probably my weakest point (they talk so fast on the tapes ).

[Cox]

Originally Posted by pottercomics

Io so perché uno lo direbbe (infatti, lo dico spesso ) ma . . . odio il suo accento settentrionale! LOL. Mi fa pensare agli hick.

yeh, man.



Who are the hicks? Does this mean something like rednecks?

Originally Posted by AmeliaPotter

Haha yeah, it's an extremely corny show, but very good for practising my listening, since I'd say it's probably my weakest point (they talk so fast on the tapes ).

Corny , I immediately thought "pop corn? what?", ok now I know a new word thanks
About the tapes, I used to listen english, french and spanish tapes at school, and honestly I don't think they are so useful...I could understand a tape and think that I'm good, then I turn on my TV and watch BBC (the only english channel that I can see on my tv for free), and I can realize that I'm not so good as I thought.
I mean...the tape is not real, it doesn't sound like the real thing.

But I found this for you

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=3pWt5TAQ7nY
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rr79Kp4u6Q
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=zjtqvV7qKhc
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=qISomdfVifs
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=f-cORTRCjsA

THAT is really useful, and the pronounciation is perfect except fot the Z, that should be pronounced like a TS sound while she pronounce it like a S (as in the accent of Emilia-Romagna).
Moreover, you can hear the correct intonation that we use in the phrases

[AmeliaPotter]

Originally Posted by Cox

Corny , I immediately thought "pop corn? what?", ok now I know a new word thanks

And if you're looking for a synonym for corny, you can also use 'cheesy' or 'cliche' (accent on the 'e').

About the tapes, I used to listen english, french and spanish tapes at school, and honestly I don't think they are so useful...I could understand a tape and think that I'm good, then I turn on my TV and watch BBC (the only english channel that I can see on my tv for free), and I can realize that I'm not so good as I thought.
I mean...the tape is not real, it doesn't sound like the real thing.

Yeah, I definitely understand that. It was a real shock going overseas and finding out how fast they actually talk, especially since the tapes we listened to in Year 10 were snail-paced.

But I found this for you

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=3pWt5TAQ7nY
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rr79Kp4u6Q
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=zjtqvV7qKhc
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=qISomdfVifs
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=f-cORTRCjsA

THAT is really useful, and the pronounciation is perfect except fot the Z, that should be pronounced like a TS sound while she pronounce it like a S (as in the accent of Emilia-Romagna).
Moreover, you can hear the correct intonation that we use in the phrases

Ooh, thanks, I'll definitely check it out, especially since my exam is just over a month away!

[pottercomics]

Ieri sera, quand'ero in una pizzeria in città con delle amiche, ho conosciuto una famiglia da Sardegna! Ero nervoso di parlargli, ma quando partivamo ho trovato la grinta per farlo. Erano molto simpatici. Mi hanno detto, "Tu parli molto bene".

[AmeliaPotter]

Hey guys, I was wondering if you could jelp me with something. In a couple of months I'll be finished my final exams and I wanted to write my Italian teacher a little thank you letter. I decided that it would be cool if I could write it in Italian, but a couple of things don't completely make sense and I was wondering if I could get some help makinh sure it's perfect? Here it is:

Che dire? Lontano di ammutolito (I was trying to say 'far from beign speechless'), non so dove cominciare! Ho tante cose di dire dei lezioni d'italiano. Prima di tutto, posso dire con onesta` che non ho mai pensato, 'Che schifo, adesso ho l'italiano' (how awful, I have Italian now). Non ho visto (tried to say 'I couldn't wait') l'ora che avrei l'italiano, perche` sapevo che con i miei ventiquattro compagni di classe [*cough cough*] (the 'cough cough' is there because there are only four of us in the class, we had to pretend there was more to keep the course running), troveremmo (we would find?) qualcosa per farmi (is this correct? Or is it fammi?) ridere. Ho imparato tanto, e era bello di averti come professoressa (e anche amica!). Nel futuro, ripensaro` agli (I will look back on the) lezioni d'italiano come il migliore divertimento (the best fun?) della mia carriera scolastica. Posso continuare per sempre, ma non voglio annoiarti, quindi mi piacerebbe ringraziarti per tutti i bei momenti!

Un abbraccio,
Amelia

There we are. Does that make sense? I hope it's not too terrible...

[Cox]

Originally Posted by pottercomics

Ieri sera, quand'ero in una pizzeria in città con delle amiche, ho conosciuto una famiglia da Sardegna! Ero nervoso di parlargli, ma quando partivamo ho trovato la grinta per farlo. Erano molto simpatici. Mi hanno detto, "Tu parli molto bene".

Well, actually it's true
I met many girls form the US this summer, but we didn't speak really much
One tip, we say 'partire' to say 'to leave', usually referred to holidays or some working trip, i.e. "devo partire per londra stasera, è una questione di lavoro" (<--- we all know that he's lying to his wife and he's going to Amsterdam with his friend)
Instead I think you meant 'iniziare'
- 'quando iniziavamo' or 'una volta iniziato', once we started

Originally Posted by AmeliaPotter

Hey guys, I was wondering if you could jelp me with something. In a couple of months I'll be finished my final exams and I wanted to write my Italian teacher a little thank you letter. I decided that it would be cool if I could write it in Italian, but a couple of things don't completely make sense and I was wondering if I could get some help makinh sure it's perfect? Here it is:

Che dire? Lontano di ammutolito (I was trying to say 'far from beign speechless'), non so dove cominciare! Ho tante cose di dire dei lezioni d'italiano. Prima di tutto, posso dire con onesta` che non ho mai pensato, 'Che schifo, adesso ho l'italiano' (how awful, I have Italian now). Non ho visto (tried to say 'I couldn't wait') l'ora che avrei l'italiano, perche` sapevo che con i miei ventiquattro compagni di classe [*cough cough*] (the 'cough cough' is there because there are only four of us in the class, we had to pretend there was more to keep the course running), troveremmo (we would find?) qualcosa per farmi (is this correct? Or is it fammi?) ridere. Ho imparato tanto, e era bello di averti come professoressa (e anche amica!). Nel futuro, ripensaro` agli (I will look back on the) lezioni d'italiano come il migliore divertimento (the best fun?) della mia carriera scolastica. Posso continuare per sempre, ma non voglio annoiarti, quindi mi piacerebbe ringraziarti per tutti i bei momenti!

Un abbraccio,
Amelia

There we are. Does that make sense? I hope it's not too terrible...

Umm. I looked for 'far from being speechless' but I couldn't find nothing to understand what it means...could you explain it?

Anyway, I'll correct EVERYTHING just to be accurate so don't get scared, it made sense

I would write:

Che dire? Lontano di ammutolito (I was trying to say 'far from beign speechless'), non so da dove cominciare!
Ho tante cose da dire delle (sulle) lezioni d'italiano. Prima di tutto, posso dire con onesta`che non ho mai pensato, 'Che schifo, adesso ho l'italiano' (how awful, I have Italian now) (we don't say 'to have something' so you can say 'che schifo, ora dovrò fare italiano' or still better 'che schifo, ora mi tocca fare italiano' ['mi tocca fare' it's a colloquialism that means 'I'm forced to, I have to' i.e. 'mi tocca studiare/lavorare/pagare']).
Non ho visto (tried to say 'I couldn't wait' = non vedevo l'ora) l'ora che avrei l'italiano (di iniziare, or di fare), perche`(accented letters for everybody, éèòàìù) sapevo che con i miei ventiquattro compagni di classe [*cough cough*] (the 'cough cough' is there because there are only four of us in the class, we had to pretend there was more to keep the course running), troveremmo (we would find?) (avremmo trovato) qualcosa per farmi (is this correct? Or is it fammi?) ridere. (It is 'farmi' if you're referring just to yourself; if you're talking about all the 24 people you say 'farci ridere', or simply 'per divertirci'.)
Ho imparato tanto, ed (e + consonant / ed + vowel) era bello di averti (solo 'averti'=informal or 'averla'=formal, senza 'di') come professoressa (e anche amica!). Nel futuro ('In futuro' is better, 'nel futuro' sounds like you're planning a voyage into the future) ripensero` alle (I will look back on the) lezioni d'italiano come al migliore divertimento (the best fun?) della mia carriera scolastica. Posso (potrei) continuare per sempre (o 'all'infinito'), ma non voglio annoiarti, quindi mi piacerebbe ringraziarti per tutti i bei momenti!

Un abbraccio,
Amelia

[pottercomics]

Ohh, Amelia, che lettera carina. Ho voluto scriverne una anche alla mia professoressa di giapponese, ma non l'ho mai vista dopo l'esame finale.

[AmeliaPotter]

Originally Posted by Cox

Umm. I looked for 'far from being speechless' but I couldn't find nothing to understand what it means...could you explain it?

Being speechless is where you have no idea what to say, so 'far from speechless' means the opposite, i.e. you have a lot to say. There's another one similar, i.e. 'it's far from over' but it's not very common.

Anyway, I'll correct EVERYTHING just to be accurate so don't get scared, it made sense

I would write:

Che dire? Lontano di ammutolito (I was trying to say 'far from beign speechless'), non so da dove cominciare!
Ho tante cose da dire delle (sulle) lezioni d'italiano. Prima di tutto, posso dire con onesta`che non ho mai pensato, 'Che schifo, adesso ho l'italiano' (how awful, I have Italian now) (we don't say 'to have something' so you can say 'che schifo, ora dovrò fare italiano' or still better 'che schifo, ora mi tocca fare italiano' ['mi tocca fare' it's a colloquialism that means 'I'm forced to, I have to' i.e. 'mi tocca studiare/lavorare/pagare']).
Non ho visto (tried to say 'I couldn't wait' = non vedevo l'ora) l'ora che avrei l'italiano (di iniziare, or di fare), perche`(accented letters for everybody, éèòàìù) sapevo che con i miei ventiquattro compagni di classe [*cough cough*] (the 'cough cough' is there because there are only four of us in the class, we had to pretend there was more to keep the course running), troveremmo (we would find?) (avremmo trovato) qualcosa per farmi (is this correct? Or is it fammi?) ridere. (It is 'farmi' if you're referring just to yourself; if you're talking about all the 24 people you say 'farci ridere', or simply 'per divertirci'.)
Ho imparato tanto, ed (e + consonant / ed + vowel) era bello di averti (solo 'averti'=informal or 'averla'=formal, senza 'di') come professoressa (e anche amica!). Nel futuro ('In futuro' is better, 'nel futuro' sounds like you're planning a voyage into the future) ripensero` alle (I will look back on the) lezioni d'italiano come al migliore divertimento (the best fun?) della mia carriera scolastica. Posso (potrei) continuare per sempre (o 'all'infinito'), ma non voglio annoiarti, quindi mi piacerebbe ringraziarti per tutti i bei momenti!

Un abbraccio,
Amelia

I'm glad it made sense at least! Thanks so much for the corrections, I didn't want to have to hand it to her with heaps of mistakes in it (as that might be more of an insult than a compliment!). It's very much appreciated And thankyou for the accented letters, I have no idea how to get them on my computer!

Ohh, Amelia, che lettera carina. Ho voluto scriverne una anche alla mia professoressa di giapponese, ma non l'ho mai vista dopo l'esame finale.

Grazie! Che triste che non hai avuto l'occasione di dare la tua lettera... io, però, avrò un giorno di 'BBQ' a scuola dopo gli esami, quindi posso dare delle lettere a tutti i miei insegnanti.

[Cox]

Pottercomics speaks also japanese? And I was thinking that italian was the difficult one...

Amelia ok I got you! We usually say "Ho un sacco di cose da dire, ma non so da dove cominciare", to say "lontana dall'essere ammutolita" is correct but doesn't sound natural, definitely.
Ammutolito/a it's a literary term, the most used is "senza parole" i.e. sono senza parole, è rimasta senza parole. Actually it's what speechless means .
To get the accented letters you can try this with the numeric keypad

À Alt + 0192
È Alt + 0200
Ì Alt + 0204
Ò Alt + 0210
Ù Alt + 0217

à Alt + 0224
è Alt + 0232
ì Alt + 0236
ò Alt + 0242
ù Alt + 0249

Á Alt + 0193
É Alt + 0201
Í Alt + 0205
Ó Alt + 0211
Ú Alt + 0218
Ý Alt + 0221

á Alt + 0225
é Alt + 0233
í Alt + 0237
ó Alt + 0243
ú Alt + 0250
ý Alt + 0253

[pottercomics]

io, però, avrò un giorno di 'BBQ' a scuola dopo gli esami, quindi posso dare delle lettere a tutti i miei insegnanti.

I took the course at a local community college (I was only in 11th grade when I did so; now that I'm in 12th, I can't find a class. I'll have to wait till I get to college next YEAR eghh so much time). I wish we had one of those BBQs at my school, LOL. Di tanto in tanto, li facciamo prima d'un partito di football (americano).

Originally Posted by Cox

Pottercomics speaks also japanese? And I was thinking that italian was the difficult one...

Ahhh, l'italiano è la lingua più facile di tutta! Ecco perché lo amo così tanto LOL. Grammaticamente, il giapponese non è molto difficile. Ma i sistemi numerici e i kanji sono piuttosto impossibile da ricordare gahhh. Non sono bravo in mate, e l'unica cosa con le altre lingue che mi confunde mai sono i numeri.

[Cox]

Originally Posted by pottercomics

Di tanto in tanto, li facciamo prima d'un partito di football (americano).

Ahhh, l'italiano è la lingua più facile di tutte!

una partita, un partito è un political party! Anche noi diciamo football per dire football americano, il soccer invece è il calcio
comunque sei il primo non italiano che dice così

[pottercomics]

Ahh, faccio sempre quello sbaglio! Quel post fa vedere il mio spagnolo: Non riesco mai a ricordare che "match" e' femminile in italiano. Questo sara' perche' nello spagnolo si dice "el partido", e nello spagnolo bisogna specificare "futbol americano" (football) da "futbol" (calcio). Detesto quando confundo la grammatica spagnolo con l'italiano! L'italiano si deserve meglio.

[eaglestreasure]

Originally Posted by chica2k8

yeah i know! it's because Latin was historically spoken in Ancient Rome.
Which is now, Rome, Italy. Italian stayed the most true to Latin because its pretty much in the same exact area. While French, Spanish, Romanian, and Portuguese are more distant (location wise) from Rome.

But that would be why Italian and Sardinian are considered to be the most conservative of Latin...because they're in *** same area.

I find the Romance languages soo fascinating. And i love how if you speak one, you can pretty musch comprehend the rest of them. I speak Spanish, and i love how i can comprehend Italian and Portugese. French is a little harder because of the huge pronunciation difference though... =/


Sorry, i'm a history major...heh =]

So what does that mean in terms of spelling? Is there any relation?

[Cox]

Originally Posted by pottercomics

sara' perche' nello spagnolo si dice "el partido", e nello spagnolo bisogna specificare "futbol americano" (football) da "futbol" (calcio).

Actually, if you say 'football' here in Italy, nobody misunderstood it, I mean, we don't have an italian word for it 'cause it simply doesn't exist here!
I think it's very popular in the US right?
In italian I should say "penso che sia", so I think that I ought to write "I think it was" but honestly it doesn't sound so right to me. Am I wrong?

What did you mean with 'l'italiano si deserve meglio'?
To deserve is 'meritare' but I don't think you meant that...

Originally Posted by eaglestreasure

So what does that mean in terms of spelling? Is there any relation?

Do you mean if Latin sounds like Italian? No I don't think so.
But maybe it could sound similar to you, I don't know.
Well, actually, I can read it without thinking about the pronunciation, if you meant that.

It's too late, I'm no more able to think in english

[AmeliaPotter]

Originally Posted by pottercomics

I took the course at a local community college (I was only in 11th grade when I did so; now that I'm in 12th, I can't find a class. I'll have to wait till I get to college next YEAR eghh so much time).

Oh, okay. At my school, if there's not a large enough class you do the class by distance education or 'correspondence', but for subjects such as languages it's very difficult - our Italian class is actually very lucky to still be running, because there are only four of us.

I wish we had one of those BBQs at my school, LOL. Di tanto in tanto, li facciamo prima d'un partito di football (americano).

Haha, well we don't have them often, only about a couple of times really - year 7 orientation, when raising money for the school/charity or for year 12 after they've done exams. Definitely not before sports matches; I get the feeling that high school sport is much more important in America than it is here, lol (and of course, there's the fact that we don't play American football - I think we call it gridiron here).

[pottercomics]

Originally Posted by Cox

Actually, if you say 'football' here in Italy, nobody misunderstood it, I mean, we don't have an italian word for it 'cause it simply doesn't exist here!
I think it's very popular in the US right?

I knew that was how you say it in Italian, I actually wrote it that way by accident, though. Il football è ora piu' popolare del baseball (il passatempo nazionale). Però non mi piace, preferisco il baseball.

In italian I should say "penso che sia", so I think that I ought to write "I think it was" but honestly it doesn't sound so right to me. Am I wrong?

You're right in thinking that you're wrong. "I think it's" is correct. We don't really use the subjunctive in the present tense anymore. The only time we do are in sentences with irregular syntax, things like: "Be it black or blue, I'm gonna buy it" (La comprerò se sia blu o se sia nera.) And, usually, most people wouldn't say something like that. They'd just say "I'm buying it even if it's blue."

"I think it was" would actually be "Penso che sia stato".
The conditional past subjunctive in English would be like "fosse" and "vincesse" and "disse". For example:

If you were to win the lottery, [OR] If you won the lottery, what would you do with the jackpot?
Se vincessi la lotteria, cosa faresti con il montepremio?

What did you mean with 'l'italiano si deserve meglio'?
To deserve is 'meritare' but I don't think you meant that...

I meant "Italian deserves better (than to be confused with Spanish)" ma non avevo voglia di cercare il modo giusto di dire questo quindi I made it up.

Originally Posted by AmeliaPotter

Oh, okay. At my school, if there's not a large enough class you do the class by distance education or 'correspondence', but for subjects such as languages it's very difficult - our Italian class is actually very lucky to still be running, because there are only four of us.

Yeah, they had to cancel German at my school because there wasn't enough interest. Spanish is the biggest language (80% of the school); Italian is the second biggest now, and then Latin, French, and (Ancient) Greek trail it.

Haha, well we don't have them often, only about a couple of times really - year 7 orientation, when raising money for the school/charity or for year 12 after they've done exams. Definitely not before sports matches; I get the feeling that high school sport is much more important in America than it is here, lol (and of course, there's the fact that we don't play American football - I think we call it gridiron here).

High school sports are too popular here. It's kind of annoying. I've only ever really heard sports buffs (patiti dello sport) use the word "gridiron," and it usually is meant to signify the field. (Like that movie with the Rock, it was called "Gridiron Gang.")

[AmeliaPotter]

Originally Posted by pottercomics

Yeah, they had to cancel German at my school because there wasn't enough interest. Spanish is the biggest language (80% of the school); Italian is the second biggest now, and then Latin, French, and (Ancient) Greek trail it.

Your school certainly has a bigger variety than mine, since languages aren't that popular. We only have three language teachers at our school, so our school can only do French, Italian, German and Korean. But in year 12 there's a German Begginers class and an Italian Continuers class, because there weren't enough people for French.

High school sports are too popular here. It's kind of annoying. I've only ever really heard sports buffs (patiti dello sport) use the word "gridiron," and it usually is meant to signify the field. (Like that movie with the Rock, it was called "Gridiron Gang.")

Haha, so it's complete opposites. Oh, really? I would usually call it American football, too, so I suppose that it's rare to call it that. I'm afraid I've never heard of that film, though...

[eaglestreasure]

Hey, all. Sorry to interrupt, but...

I was just wondering: I've heard from people that Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese are all sister languages, and that once you learn two the last one comes effortlessly. Is this true? If so, how true is it, and which two would best help you learn the last?

Thanks a ton,
- eagls

[Cox]

Originally Posted by pottercomics

Subjunctive Lesson

Phew! Ok I got it, thank you

Originally Posted by pottercomics

I meant "Italian deserves better (than to be confused with Spanish)" ma non avevo voglia di cercare il modo giusto di dire questo quindi I made it up.

Aaah ok, a kind of "l'Italiano si merita di più", yeah I think the same thing.
To made it up it's "fare confusione" o "fare casino", the 2nd is more informal.

Originally Posted by eaglestreasure

I've heard from people that Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese are all sister languages, and that once you learn two the last one comes effortlessly. Is this true? If so, how true is it, and which two would best help you learn the last?

Thanks a ton,
- eagls

Uhm, I think that Spanish and Portuguese are sisters, maybe Italian could be a 'cousin' language hahaha...anyway for an Italian speaker it's simpler to learn Spanish, because the pronunciation is almost the same, moreover there are a bit of words that are very similar...
About Portuguese, everytime I listen to somebody speaking portuguese it seems like an old italian trying to speak without his false teeth I mean, it's weird but quite understandable.
So to answer your question, since you are an English speaker - I guess - I think that knowing both Italian and Spanish would make your learning of Portuguese very simple.
Anyway, like this it could be a big mess, like a big italspaniportuguese jam .

[pottercomics]

I think if you learned Italian and Portuguese first, Spanish would come to you extremely easily. I'm studying Italian and Spanish right now, and I can understand Portuguese OK, not amazingly, but I can pick up the gist of conversations and texts.

Casion = whorehouse? S_hit-hole? ("Merda"-hole)