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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Betsey: Hi everyone! Welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Lower beginner Season 1 Lesson 10 - Describing People in Italian. I'm Betsey.
Ofelia: Ciao! Ofelia here. In this lesson you'll learn how to use adjectives with plural nouns. Such as…'Sara ha gli occhi azzurri. Luisa e Carla hanno due giacche azzurre.'
Betsey: Which means "Sara has blue eyes. Luisa and Carla have two blue jackets."
Ofelia: The conversation takes place at school. Mieke and Jack parlano insieme.
Betsey: The conversation is between Mieke and Jack. The speakers are schoolmates, so they'll be using informal language.
Ofelia: Ascoltiamo.
DIALOGUE
Jack: E che carattere ha Silvia?
Mieke: È molto simpatica. Al lavoro è molto gentile e paziente con me. Quando sono in difficoltà mi aiuta sempre. Ha anche una sorella gemella, Serena. Hanno un carattere molto simile- sono molto socievoli ed espansive. I loro fratelli invece sono molto timidi.
Jack: Sì, mi ricordo.
Mieke: Veramente? li hai visti solo una volta, più di due anni fa. Hai una memoria da elefante!
Betsey: Let's hear the conversation one time slowly.
Jack: E che carattere ha Silvia?
Mieke: È molto simpatica. Al lavoro è molto gentile e paziente con me. Quando sono in difficoltà mi aiuta sempre. Ha anche una sorella gemella, Serena. Hanno un carattere molto simile- sono molto socievoli ed espansive. I loro fratelli invece sono molto timidi.
Jack: Sì, mi ricordo.
Mieke: Veramente? li hai visti solo una volta, più di due anni fa. Hai una memoria da elefante!
Betsey: Now let's hear it with the English translation.
Jack: E che carattere ha Silvia?
Jack: And what personality does she have?
Mieke: È molto simpatica. Al lavoro è molto gentile e paziente con me. Quando sono in difficoltà mi aiuta sempre. Ha anche una sorella gemella, Serena. Hanno un carattere molto simile- sono molto socievoli ed espansive. I loro fratelli invece sono molto timidi.
Mieke: She is very nice. At work, she is very kind and patient with me. When I'm in trouble, she always helps me. She also has a twin sister, Serena. They have similar personalities…they are very friendly and outgoing. Their brothers, on the other hand, are very shy.
Jack: Sì, mi ricordo.
Jack: Yes, I remember!
Mieke: Veramente? li hai visti solo una volta, più di due anni fa. Hai una memoria da elefante!
Mieke: Really? You met them only once, more than two years ago. You have a memory like an elephant!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Ofelia: Now let's learn some new expressions.
Betsey: What kind of expressions?
Ofelia: In Italian, there are some expressions used to describe personality traits that compare people to animals.
Betsey: Oh, like in Aesop's fables, where animals are used to describe people's personality traits?
Ofelia: Esatto!
Betsey: For example, Mieke said...
Ofelia: Hai la memoria di un elefante.
Betsey: Which is, "You have a memory like an elephant." Why do Italians say this?
Ofelia: I suppose it's because elephants are intelligent animals, and live for a long time. Another common expression is Furbo come una volpe.
Betsey: Which is "Cunning like a fox." It's similar to the English.
Ofelia: There is also 'Testardo come un mulo.'
Betsey: Which is "Stubborn as a mule."
Ofelia: Maybe this next one is less known - ‘Mite come il bue.'
Betsey: I see…"Good-natured like an ox."
Ofelia: And what do you think is the adjective for "snail"?
Betsey: I'm guessing it's slow. How do you say 'slow' in Italian?
Ofelia: 'Lento.' And the expression is ‘Lento come una lumaca.'
Betsey: "Slow as a snail."
Ofelia: Right! How would you describe yourself, Betsey:?
Betsey: (laughs) how about...clever!
Ofelia: (laughs) Well, you could say 'Sono intelligente come un'aquila!'
Betsey: "I am clever as an eagle..." but this phrase doesn't sound very clever!
Ofelia: In reality, in most cases it is said ironically! (laughs)
Betsey: (laughs) Okay, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
VOCAB LIST
Betsey: The first word we shall see is...
Ofelia: carattere [natural native speed]
Betsey: personality
Ofelia: carattere [slowly - broken down by syllable] carattere [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: simpatico [natural native speed]
Betsey: nice, funny, likable
Ofelia: simpatico [slowly - broken down by syllable] simpatico [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: gentile [natural native speed]
Betsey: kind, nice, polite
Ofelia: gentile [slowly - broken down by syllable] gentile [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: paziente [natural native speed]
Betsey: patient
Ofelia: paziente [slowly - broken down by syllable] paziente [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: gemello [natural native speed]
Betsey: twin
Ofelia: gemello [slowly - broken down by syllable] gemello [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: simile [natural native speed]
Betsey: similar, alike
Ofelia: simile [slowly - broken down by syllable] simile [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
#REF!
Betsey: sociable, social, genial
#REF!
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: socievole [natural native speed]
Betsey: outgoing
Ofelia: socievole [slowly - broken down by syllable] socievole [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: fratello [natural native speed]
Betsey: brother
Ofelia: fratello [slowly - broken down by syllable] fratello [natural native speed]
Betsey: And last...
Ofelia: timido [natural native speed]
Betsey: shy
Ofelia: timido [slowly - broken down by syllable] timido [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Betsey: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Ofelia: The first word is CARATTERE.
Betsey: Which means "PERSONALITY."
Ofelia: This noun is used to translate the English word 'character'. As in English, we can also say PERSONALITA', 'personality'.
Betsey: Wait, in English "personality" can also indicate a famous person or VIP...
Ofelia: And it's the same in Italian. For example, "Stephen Spielberg è una personalità del cinema,"
Betsey: "Stephen Spielberg is a personality in the motion picture industry." Ok, and what about 'character'?
Ofelia: "Giulia ha un carattere estroverso" or "Guilia ha una personalità estroversa,"
Betsey: Both sentences means "Giulia has a friendly character," The second one we'll look at is...
Ofelia: PAZIENTE
Betsey: PATIENT
Ofelia: Another way you can describe a patient person is by using the noun pazienza, avere pazienza.
Betsey: Which means "To have patience." Is there any difference between these two expressions?
Ofelia: Not at all!
Betsey: Ok, now let's move on to the next word. What is it?
Ofelia: FRATELLO
Betsey: Which means "BROTHER"
Ofelia: For "sister." we should say SORELLA.
Betsey: I see. So, in Italian, to say that you have a great relationship with a friend of yours, you can say...
Ofelia: "essere come fratelli." or "essere come sorelle,"
Betsey: "To be like brothers" or "To be like sisters"
Betsey: Can you give us an example, Ofelia?
Ofelia: 'Io e Betsey: siamo come sorelle.'
Betsey: Which is "Betsey: and I are like sisters."
Ofelia: Since we're on the topic of families, next up is 'cugino'
Betsey: This means "cousin," Ofelia, what's an example using this?
Ofelia: 'Giovanni gioca spesso con i suoi cugini'
Betsey: "John often plays with his cousins." Okay, now let's move onto the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Betsey: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use descriptive adjectives when they are together with plural nouns.
Ofelia: For example in the sentence I loro fratelli invece sono molto timidi.
Betsey: Their brothers, on the other hand, are very shy.
Ofelia: The adjective timido goes with the plural noun 'fratelli'.
Betsey: As we saw in the previous lesson, adjectives always agree in gender and number.
Ofelia: Right. Remember that adjectives are divided in two groups, the ones ending in –o and the ones ending in –e.
Betsey: For example...
Ofelia: 'Buono' (good, tasty) or 'azzurro' (light blue).
Betsey: These all belong to the first group.
Ofelia: While grande (big) or felice (happy) belong to the second group.
Betsey: When the first group adjectives go with a plural masculine noun…
Ofelia: The -o changes into –i
Betsey: For example...
Ofelia: Azzurro-azzurri. (LITTLE PAUSE) Sara ha gli occhi azzurri.
Betsey: Sara has blue eyes.
Ofelia: Also for the second group, the plural ends in –i.
Betsey: For example?
Ofelia: Felice-felici. (LITTLE PAUSE) Giovanni ha tre cani felici.
Betsey: Giovanni has three happy dogs.
Betsey: Now when adjectives go with a plural feminine noun…
Ofelia: The first group ending in -a, will change into –e
Betsey: For example?
Ofelia: Azzurra-azzurre. Luisa e Carla hanno due giacche azzurre.
Betsey: Luisa and Carla have two blue jackets.
Ofelia: And the second group ending in -e will change into –i, like in the masculine.
Betsey: For example?
Ofelia: Grande-grandi. Queste case sono grandi.
Betsey: These houses are big.
Ofelia: Now don't forget that the endings of the nouns do not always match.
Betsey: If the adjective and the noun belong to different groups, then the ending will not match.
Ofelia: Yes, for example, Giovanna e Daria sono due ragazze felici.
Betsey: Which is "Giovanna and Daria are two happy girls."
Ofelia: Here, "Ragazze" and "felici" have different endings.
Betsey: Ok. Now listeners, remember to check the lesson notes to reinforce what you've learned in this lesson.

Outro

Betsey: OK. That's all for this lesson.
Ofelia: Thank you all for listening! A presto!
Betsey: See you next time!

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