Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Ciao! Hello and welcome back to Italian survival phrases brought to you by ItalianPod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Italy. You will be surprised at how far a little Italian will go.
Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by ItalianPod101.com and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.
In the previous lessons, we introduced you to some phrases you can use when in Italy and this is the last lesson of the series we dedicated to learning from people around.
Today we are going to cover “How do you read this?”

Lesson focus

In Italian, “How do you read this?” is Come si legge questo?
Come si legge questo?
Let’s break it down by syllable: Come si legge questo?
Now let's hear it once again: Come si legge questo?
The first word come means “how."
Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: come
And, come.
This is followed by si legge, which in English literally means “it’s read” and here it’s translated “do you read.”
Si legge is another impersonal form, in this case of the verb leggere “to read."
This is followed by the demonstrative adjective questo which in English is “this."
And all together we have Come si legge questo?
Literally this means “How is this read?”
If you are pointing at something, probably on a book, on a newspaper, or simply a street sign you might also like to ask: “How do you pronounce this?”
In Italian, “How do you pronounce this?” is Come si pronuncia questo?
Come si pronuncia questo?
Let’s break it down by syllable: Come si pronuncia questo?
Now let's hear it once again: Come si pronuncia questo?
The first word is come, which you have just seen and means “how," then you have si pronuncia which literally means “it’s pronounced."
So to recap, we have Come si pronuncia questo? which literally means “How is this pronounced?”
After you have learned the reading and the pronounciation you will probably want to know about the meaning. So why don’t you try and ask: Che significa? “What does it mean?”
Let’s break it down by syllable: Che significa?
Now let's hear it once again: Che significa?
The first word che means “what," this is followed by significa which in English means “it means." So all together we have Che significa?
Literally this means “What does it mean?."
The pronounciation of Italian vowels is very straightforward, in fact these five vowels have to be pronounced exactly as they are read.
They are A E I O U.
For example, the pronounciation of the vowel A is the same in all the words like:
Gatto – “cat”
Casa – “house”
Mamma – “mum”
Barca – “ship”

Outro

Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so buona fortuna, which means “good luck” in Italian.
“How do you read this?” - Come si legge questo?
Come si legge questo?
Come si legge questo?
“How do you pronounce this?” - Come si pronuncia questo?
Come si pronuncia questo?
Come si pronuncia questo?
“What does it mean?” - Che significa?
Che significa?
Che significa?
That’s going to do it for today. Remember to stop by ItalianPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. Ciao ciao!

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