Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Betsey: Hi everyone! Welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 7 - Which Food Do You Mis the Most in Italy? I'm Betsey.
Ofelia: Ciao! I'm Ofelia. In this lesson, you're going to learn how to use the verb piacere to say what you like.
Betsey: This conversation takes place at the university, just before lunch break. It's between Jack and Mieke.
Ofelia: The speakers are friends, so they'll be using informal language.
Betsey: Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Mieke: Che sorpresa! Oggi non mangi in mensa? Allora mangi un panino con me?
Jack: Volentieri! Non vedo l'ora di mangiare. Oggi ho un pasto speciale: corn beef hash. Mi piace tantissimo.
Mieke: Che cos'è?
Jack: Un misto di patate e carne di manzo in scatola. È da parte di mia mamma. A volte ho nostalgia di questo cibo! Vuoi assaggiare?
Mieke: Hai nostalgia di questo cibo? Davvero?! No grazie.. non mi piace il cibo in scatola...
Betsey: Let's hear the conversation one time slowly.
Mieke: Che sorpresa! Oggi non mangi in mensa? Allora mangi un panino con me?
Jack: Volentieri! Non vedo l'ora di mangiare. Oggi ho un pasto speciale: corn beef hash. Mi piace tantissimo.
Mieke: Che cos'è?
Jack: Un misto di patate e carne di manzo in scatola. È da parte di mia mamma. A volte ho nostalgia di questo cibo! Vuoi assaggiare?
Mieke: Hai nostalgia di questo cibo? Davvero?! No grazie.. non mi piace il cibo in scatola...
Betsey: Now let's hear it with the English translation.
Mieke: Che sorpresa! Oggi non mangi in mensa? Allora mangi un panino con me?
Mieke: What a surprise! Today you don't eat at the canteen? Would you like a sandwich with me?
Jack: Volentieri! Non vedo l'ora di mangiare. Oggi ho un pasto speciale: corn beef hash. Mi piace tantissimo.
Jack: I can't wait to eat. Today I have a special meal...corn beef hash. I really like it.
Mieke: Che cos'è?
Mieke: What is it?
Jack: Un misto di patate e carne di manzo in scatola. È da parte di mia mamma. A volte ho nostalgia di questo cibo! Vuoi assaggiare?
Jack: A mixture of potato and beef in a can. It's from my mom. I sometimes miss this food. Do you want to try it?
Mieke: Hai nostalgia di questo cibo? Davvero?! No grazie.. non mi piace il cibo in scatola...
Mieke: You miss this food? Really? No thank you...I don't like canned food...
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Betsey: Are Italian people big food lovers? I thought that was just a stereotype.
Ofelia: Actually, it seems like Italian people do love food, and are also very proud of their varied cuisine. People might just think pizza and pasta when they think about Italian food, but you can actually find different varieties of regional foods in Italy.
Betsey: Right. You may be surprised by how varied and different regional cooking traditions in Italy can be. For example, Sicilian cuisine has many Arab influences.
Ofelia: That's right. Since Italy is in Europe and sits close to many different countries and cultures, you can find different types of foods based on different backgrounds too. For example, you can find more German influences in the north of Italy.
Betsey: That's right. By the way, in the dialogue, they were talking about canned foods or ready-made foods that you can simply buy from the markets. Are those popular in Italy?
Ofelia: Not really. Of course, you can find many of these kinds of foods in supermarkets, but compared to fresh food, they are not very competitive price-wise, and not very good taste-wise, I think!
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: sorpresa [natural native speed]
Betsey: surprise
Ofelia: sorpresa [slowly - broken down by syllable] sorpresa [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: mensa [natural native speed]
Betsey: canteen, refectory, lunchroom
Ofelia: mensa [slowly - broken down by syllable] mensa [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: non vedere l'ora di [natural native speed]
Betsey: cannot wait to
Ofelia: non vedere l'ora di [slowly - broken down by syllable] non vedere l'ora di [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: pasto [natural native speed]
Betsey: meal
Ofelia: pasto [slowly - broken down by syllable] pasto [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: speciale [natural native speed]
Betsey: special
Ofelia: speciale [slowly - broken down by syllable] speciale [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: lattina [natural native speed]
Betsey: can
Ofelia: lattina [slowly - broken down by syllable] lattina [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: a volte [natural native speed]
Betsey: sometimes
Ofelia: a volte [slowly - broken down by syllable] a volte [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: cibo [natural native speed]
Betsey: food
Ofelia: cibo [slowly - broken down by syllable] cibo [natural native speed]
Betsey: Next
Ofelia: assaggiare [natural native speed]
Betsey: to taste, to sample, to nibble
Ofelia: assaggiare [slowly - broken down by syllable] assaggiare [natural native speed]
Betsey: And last...
Ofelia: davvero [natural native speed]
Betsey: really, truly, indeed
Ofelia: davvero [slowly - broken down by syllable] davvero [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. The first word is..
Ofelia: PASTO
Betsey: MEAL.
Ofelia: In daily conversation, you'll be hearing this phrase quite often fare un pasto.
Betsey: to have a meal.
Ofelia: Here, you can find the verb 'fare' meaning "to do" or "to make"
Betsey: But it also can be used to mean "to have a meal."
Ofelia: That's right. The verb is very useful.
Betsey: Then, let's go over some vocabulary related to meals. How do you say "Lunch" in Italian?
Ofelia: 'PRANZO'. And "Dinner" is 'CENA'.
Betsey: Ok, and what about "to have lunch"? Should I use the same verb?
Ofelia: You don't have to use the verb 'fare'. Instead, you can simply use the verb 'PRANZARE', meaning "to have lunch" or 'CENARE' meaning "to have dinner."
Betsey: Would you give us an example?
Ofelia: Sure. 'A che ora pranzi di solito?'
Betsey: What time do you usually have lunch? Okay, Ofelia, what's the next word?
Ofelia: A VOLTE
Betsey: "SOMETIMES." It seems like it's similar to the word meaning "time" right?
Ofelia: That's right. 'VOLTA' is the word meaning 'Time.'
Betsey: I see. Then, how do you say "I sometimes eat Pizza for dinner." in Italian?
Ofelia: You can say. 'A volte mangio la pizza per cena.' Here, you need to put the word 'A' meaning "at" in English.
Betsey: Great. Should that always come before verbs?
Ofelia: No. Actually, the position of these expressions in the sentence is not fixed, but people usually put them at the beginning of the sentence or near the verb.
Betsey: Okay, what's the next one?
Ofelia: DAVVERO
Betsey: REALLY.
Ofelia: This is a very useful word. It can also be used instead of 'MOLTO'. meaning "Very."
Betsey: Could you give us an example?
Ofelia: Sei davvero gentile.
Betsey: You are very kind.
Ofelia: Broken down, it means "You are really kind" but you can also translate it as "very," and you will see this about as much as 'MOLTO'.
Betsey: In English, you can say "Really" to express surprise. Is it the same in Italian?
Ofelia: Yes, that's another usage of the word 'DAVVERO.' When you're surprised to hear something, you can use this word to show your surprise. For example, you can say.. 'Sei davvero vegetariano?'
Betsey: Are you really vegetarian?
Ofelia: You can also say 'Davvero' on its own to show your real surprise. For example, if someone says..
Betsey: "I'm getting married"...
Ofelia: And you don't think that's true, you can say.. 'DAVVERO?'
Betsey: Okay, now onto the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Ofelia: In this lesson, you're going to learn how to use the verb piacere to say what you like.
Betsey: Okay, let's take some examples first.
Ofelia: MI piace la torta al cioccolato
Betsey: I like chocolate cake.
Ofelia: The verb 'piace' appears in this sentence.
Betsey: Then, how do you conjugate this? Could you give us the list?
Ofelia: Actually, it doesn't change at all. Basically, the subject of the verb 'piacere' is not the person who likes something, but the object being liked.
Betsey: So it means that you can keep the verb as it is, right?
Ofelia: That's right. So you can say 'TI piace la torta al cioccolato' to mean "You like chocolate cake." Here, it is the same verb 'piace' being used, even though the subject of the sentence has been changed.
Betsey: Great. Okay, now let's see the negative form. How would you say "I don't like canned food"?
Ofelia: Non MI piace il cibo in scatola.
Betsey: How about "He doesn't like canned food."
Ofelia: Non GLI piace il cibo in scatola.
Betsey: The verb is the same here too. But there is the pronoun change, isn't there?
Ofelia: You're right! 'MI' means "to me," 'GLI' means "to him," For example ‘MI piace la pasta.'
Betsey: A literal translation would be "Pasta likes to me," Ah I see, that's why the verb was not changed.
Ofelia: Listeners, please also remember that if the sentence is negative, the pronoun is placed between NON and the verb. Now let's take a look at this sentence - 'Non ci piace la pasta'
Betsey: It literally means "Pasta doesn't like to us."
Ofelia: But you can translate it as "we don't like pasta,"
Betsey: Okay, now let's have a quiz to help our listeners understand the roles correctly.
Ofelia: Listeners, How would you say "He likes football."
[3 seconds]
Betsey: What's the answer?
Ofelia: It's 'GLI piace il calcio.'
Betsey: "He likes football." or literally "Football likes to him."
Ofelia: Let's try this one. I'll give you an Italian sentence. 'Non LE piace il calcio.'
[three seconds]
Betsey: It means "She doesn't like football," I have a question, Ofelia. What if I want to put someone's name here. How would I change it?
Ofelia: It's simple. You can put the preposition 'A' before the name of the person. For example, you can say 'A Betsey piace il calcio'
Betsey: So it means "Betsey likes football."
Ofelia: Ok listeners, don't forget to practice until you get used to using this verb correctly.

Outro

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

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