Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Cinzia: Ciao a tutti.
Marco: Marco here. Lower intermediate series, season 2, Lesson 1. Italian Comparisons: He’s in Less Trouble Than I Am? Hello and welcome to the lower intermediate series, season 2 at italianpod101.com where we study modern Italian in a fun, educational format.
Cinzia: So brush up on the Italian that you started learning long ago or start learning today.
Marco: Thanks for being here with us for this lesson. Cinzia, what are we looking at in this lesson?
Cinzia: In this lesson, we will study the comparativo di minoranza, comparative of minority.
Marco: This conversation takes place in a grocery store.
Cinzia: And it’s between Giulia and Manuel.
Marco: They are friends. Therefore they will be speaking informal Italian. Now before we listen to the conversation
Cinzia: We want to ask
Marco: Do you read the lesson notes while you listen?
Cinzia: We received an email about the study tip.
Marco: So we were wondering if you’ve tried it and if so
Cinzia: What do you think of it?
Marco: You can leave us feedback in the comments section for this lesson. Okay let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Manuel: Ora prendiamo un po’ di carne.
Giulia: OK. Cosa ti piace?
Manuel: Mi piace il maiale. Cosa ne dici di queste fette?
Giulia: No, prendi queste, sono meno grasse.
Manuel: Ora vorrei del pollo. Questo com’è?
Giulia: Questo petto di pollo mi sembra meno fresco di quello.
Manuel: Allora prendo quello.
Giulia: Bravo.
Manuel: Tutto merito della mia insegnante.
Giulia: Grazie.
Marco: Let’s here it slowly now.
Manuel: Ora prendiamo un po’ di carne.
Giulia: OK. Cosa ti piace?
Manuel: Mi piace il maiale. Cosa ne dici di queste fette?
Giulia: No, prendi queste, sono meno grasse.
Manuel: Ora vorrei del pollo. Questo com’è?
Giulia: Questo petto di pollo mi sembra meno fresco di quello.
Manuel: Allora prendo quello.
Giulia: Bravo.
Manuel: Tutto merito della mia insegnante.
Giulia: Grazie.
Marco: And now, with the translation.
Manuel: Ora prendiamo un po’ di carne.
Manuel: Now, let’s get some meat.
Giulia: OK. Cosa ti piace?
Giulia: Okay, what do you like?
Manuel: Mi piace il maiale. Cosa ne dici di queste fette?
Manuel: I like pork. What do you think about these slices?
Giulia: No, prendi queste, sono meno grasse.
Giulia: No, take these. They have less fat.
Manuel: Ora vorrei del pollo. Questo com’è?
Manuel: Now, I’d like some chicken. How’s this?
Giulia: Questo petto di pollo mi sembra meno fresco di quello.
Giulia: This chicken breast looks less fresh than that one.
Manuel: Allora prendo quello.
Manuel: Then I’ll get that one.
Giulia: Bravo.
Giulia: Good.
Manuel: Tutto merito della mia insegnante.
Manuel: It’s all thanks to my teacher.
Giulia: Grazie.
Giulia: Thank you.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Marco: Whenever I think about Italian meat, I think of Firenze and Toscana.
Cinzia: Well I can understand why. It is after all very famous for its meat cuts.
Marco: Yes, especially the bistecca alla fiorentina, the fiorentina steak, a thick succulent porterhouse cut.
Cinzia: Do you remember the Mad Cow disease scare in the 90s?
Marco: Oh, sure I do!
Cinzia: Well from 1996 to 2001, fiorentina steak was outlawed in Italy.
Marco: Oh yeah but now we and all our listeners can eat it again.
Cinzia: So if you go to Firenze, try it out!
Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
VOCAB LIST
Marco: The first word we shall take a look at is
Cinzia: Carne.
Marco: Meat, flesh.
Cinzia: Carne. Carne.
Marco: Next word is
Cinzia: Maiale.
Marco: Pig, pork.
Cinzia: Maiale. Maiale
Marco: And the next word is
Cinzia: Fetta.
Marco: Slice, cut, piece.
Cinzia: Fetta. Fetta
Marco: The next word is
Cinzia: Pollo.
Marco: Chicken.
Cinzia: Pollo. Pollo.
Marco: And the next word is
Cinzia: Petto.
Marco: Chest, breast, bosom.
Cinzia: Petto. Petto.
Marco: And today’s last word is
Cinzia: Insegnante.
Marco: Teacher.
Cinzia: Insegnante. Insegnante
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Marco: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Cinzia: The first word we will look at is carne.
Marco: And the sample sentence is
Cinzia: I vegetariani non mangiano la carne.
Marco: Vegetarians don’t eat meat.
Cinzia: The next word we will look at is maiale.
Marco: And the sample is
Cinzia: I maiali sono animali intelligenti.
Marco: Pigs are intelligent animals.
Cinzia: Next we have fetta.
Marco: And the sample sentence is
Cinzia: Mangio una fetta di torta.
Marco: I eat a slice of cake.
Cinzia: The next word we will look at is pollo.
Marco: And the sample sentence is
Cinzia: Mi piace il pollo fritto.
Marco: I like fried chicken.
Cinzia: Next we have petto.
Marco: And the sample is
Cinzia: Compro dei petti di pollo.
Marco: I buy some chicken breasts.
Cinzia: And today’s last word is insegnante.
Marco: So the last sample sentence is
Cinzia: La mia insegnante è giovane.
Marco: My teacher is young.

Lesson focus
Marco: Let’s take a look at today’s grammar point.
Cinzia: Similarly to the comparativo di maggioranza, the comparativo di minoranza
Marco: Comparative of minority
Cinzia: Is realized by inserting the adverb “meno” before the adjective or adverb and the preposition Di or Che right after it.
Marco: There can be more than one adjective or adverb. Let’s see some examples.
Cinzia: La tua bicicletta è meno costosa della mia.
Marco: Your bicycle is less expensive than mine. Please note that Della is made up of Di plus La.
Cinzia: Le strade moderne sono meno sicure di quelle antiche.
Marco: Modern roads are less safe than the old ones.
Cinzia: Lucia e Camilla sono meno gentili e disponibili di Maria e Antonietta.
Marco: Lucia and Camilla are less kind and helpful than Maria and Antonietta. Here is a learning tip. Although we could theoretically use the comparativo di minoranza when comparing adverbs, it sounds a bit odd.
Cinzia: Italians tend to use the comparativo di maggioranza instead, switching the two terms of comparison.
Marco: For instance
Cinzia: Carlo parla meno velocemente di me.
Marco: Carlo speaks less fast than me.
Cinzia: That means: io parlo più velocemente di Carlo.
Marco: I speak faster than Carlo. The rules regarding the usage of Che instead of Di explained in previous lessons fully apply to the comparativo di minoranza.
Cinzia: For example, sono meno legato al lavoro che alla famiglia.
Marco: Literally I am less fond of work than family. The second term of comparison is a noun preceded by a preposition.
Cinzia: Penso che sia meno utile spendere che risparmiare.
Marco: I think that spending is less useful than saving. Comparison of two verbs.
Cinzia: Tu reagisci più lentamente che correttamente.
Marco: Literally you react more slowly than correctly. The second term of comparison is an adverb.

Outro
Marco: That just about does it for today. Before we go, we want to tell you about the way to drastically improve your pronunciation.
Cinzia: The voice recording tool.
Marco: Yes the voice recording tool in the premium learning center.
Cinzia: Record your voice with a click of a button
Marco: And then play it back just as easily.
Cinzia: So you record your voice and then listen to it.
Marco: Compare it to the native speakers
Cinzia: And adjust your pronunciation.
Marco: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast. Ciao a tutti.
Cinzia: Ciao.

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