Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Cinzia: Buon giorno a tutti! Mi chiamo Cinzia.
Marco: Marco here.Newbie Series season 1, lesson #22 - How Many Ways Can You Say 'I'm Sorry'? Buon giorno a tutti! My name is Marco and I'm joined here by Cinzia! Come stai Cinzia!
Cinzia: Bene grazie, e tu?
Marco: Molto bene.
Cinzia: Hello everyone and welcome to the 22nd lesson of the Newbie Series!
Marco: Here we take a broad approach to the language, emphasizing listening comprehension...
Cinzia: speech and grammar...
Marco: vocabulary and usage.
Cinzia: So join us for this lesson of Italianpod101.com.
Marco: In this lesson we will continue to take a look at frequency adverbs,
Cinzia: This conversation takes place at Laura and Martina's apartment.
Marco: And it is between John and Martina.
Cinzia: They are friends, so they will be speaking informal Italian.
Marco: Be sure to check out the vocabulary list in the pdf for this lesson!
DIALOGUE
John: Ciao Martina, c'è Laura?
Martina: No, mi dispiace non c'è.
John: Sai dov'è?
Martina: Ogni tanto va al parco a fare jogging, forse è là.
John: Jogging? Ah... Io non faccio mai jogging.
Marco: Let’s hear it slowly now.
John: Ciao Martina, c'è Laura?
Martina: No, mi dispiace non c'è.
John: Sai dov'è?
Martina: Ogni tanto va al parco a fare jogging, forse è là.
John: Jogging? Ah... Io non faccio mai jogging.
Marco: And now, with the translation.
John: Ciao Martina, c'è Laura?
Marco: Hi Martina, is Laura there?
Martina: No, mi dispiace non c'è.
Marco: No, sorry, she's not here.
John: Sai dov'è?
Marco: Do you know where she is?
Martina: Ogni tanto va al parco a fare jogging, forse è là.
Marco: Sometimes she goes jogging at the park; maybe she's there.
John: Jogging? Ah... Io non faccio mai jogging.
Marco: Jogging? Ah...I never go jogging.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Marco: Cinzia, what about jogging in Italy? Is jogging, let's say, a popular sport in Italy?
Cinzia: Oh yes! Many people love jogging in Italy!
Marco: So where do you usually find people jogging in Italy?
Cinzia: Where? In many parks for example, on the seaside...
Marco: Yes, I used to go jogging on the seaside in Sanremo!
Cinzia: Oh really? How was it?
Marco: It was fun! Even though sometimes, especially during summer, so many people are going to the sea, that it's actually difficult to do jogging there, too many cars.
Cinzia: Yes, you're right Marco, but maybe that's why you should go jogging very early in the morning.
Marco: Early in the morning?
Cinzia: Yes, like five or six, no people bothering you...
Marco: Very good idea, so if any of our listeners comes to Italy, they want to go jogging, they should go in the early morning right?
Cinzia: Yes, so wake up early if you gonna go jogging.
Marco: Or also, let's say, just before supper, you can find many people jogging near the seaside or in parks, right?
Cinzia: Yes! And also you can find many people taking their dogs for a walk.
Marco: Yes, true, so be careful.
VOCAB LIST
Marco: Ok then, let’s go on with the vocabulary.
Marco: First word
Cinzia: c'è [natural native speed]
Marco: there is
Cinzia: c'è [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: c'è [natural native speed]
Marco: Next word
Cinzia: mi dispiace [natural native speed]
Marco: I am sorry, sorry
Cinzia: mi dispiace [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: mi dispiace [natural native speed]
Marco: Next word
Cinzia: sapere [natural native speed]
Marco: to know
Cinzia: sapere [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: sapere [natural native speed]
Marco: Next word
Cinzia: ogni tanto [natural native speed]
Marco: sometimes
Cinzia: ogni tanto [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: ogni tanto [natural native speed]
Marco: Next word
Cinzia: parco [natural native speed]
Marco: park
Cinzia: parco [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: parco [natural native speed]
Marco: Next word
Cinzia: fare jogging [natural native speed]
Marco: to go jogging
Cinzia: fare jogging [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: fare jogging [natural native speed]
Marco: Next word
Cinzia: forse [natural native speed]
Marco: maybe
Cinzia: forse [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: forse [natural native speed]
Marco: And last word
Cinzia: mai [natural native speed]
Marco: never
Cinzia: mai [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: mai [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Cinzia: And now let’s have a look at the usage for some of the words and expressions. The first word we will look at is mi dispiace.
Marco: And the first example is?
Cinzia: Mi dispiace, ho fatto tardi.
Marco: Sorry, I'm late. So very useful expression, right?
Cinzia: Oh yes, and actually often used also!
Marco: Yes because in Italy what happens is that traffic usually gets in the way of your appointment, right?
Cinzia: Yes!
Marco: Or trains strikes!
Cinzia: Right, Marco. Actually in Italy sometimes it doesn't depend on you, because even if you're on time, you can be late.
Marco: We don't manage time, sorry about that. Time manages us.
Cinzia: Yes, but it's true. So learn how to say
Marco: That is
Cinzia: sapere
Marco: And the sample sentence is?
Cinzia: Sai dove andare?
Marco: Do you know where to go?
Cinzia: ogni tanto
Marco: And the sample sentence is?
Cinzia: Ogni tanto mangio la verdura.
Marco: Sometimes I eat vegetables.
Cinzia: Which is actually true.
Marco: Yes, I guess it's common with any country, but young people, well that's if we are still young Cinzia, you are... am I?
Cinzia: Of course I am, I don't know about you, but I am!
Marco: Ok, well anyway also in Italy young people don't really like to eat that much vegetable.
Cinzia: Actually I don't really like all the kinds of vegetables.
Marco: But really, if you come to Italy, try our Italian vegetables and especially fruit.
Cinzia: parco
Marco: And the sample sentence is?
Cinzia: Parco Sempione è a Milano.
Marco: Sempione Park is in Milan.
Cinzia: Have you ever been there Marco?
Marco: Never, but it's actually big isn't it?
Cinzia: Yes it's big and it's very very nice, you can go jogging there, you can cycle, you can take your dog for a walk.
Cinzia: forse
Marco: And the sample sentence is?
Cinzia: Forse domani vado al mare.
Marco: Maybe tomorrow I will go to the beach.
Cinzia: Yes, if the weather is fine.
Marco: And dear listeners, please notice that mare means...
Cinzia: Sea...
Marco: But beach in Italian would be spiaggia, so we Italians like to say
Cinzia: vado al mare
Marco: meaning go to the beach.
Cinzia: Yes. We don't really say vado a spiaggia.
Marco: We do, but it's more common maybe to say, vado al mare.
Cinzia: Yes, andare al mare has a general meaning.
Marco: It means to go the sea, but in English it’s more “let's go to the beach”. Maybe because we swim more? I mean we're a peninsula, so maybe it comes from our tradition of sailors.
Cinzia: Yes, maybe it's true, Marco, I love swimming and actually I prefer swimming rather than sunbathing.
Marco: Do you know any Italian friend who doesn't know how to swim?
Cinzia: No...
Marco: I don't either. Really, so maybe it's also one of the reasons.
Cinzia: Ok, let's move on, and the last word we will look at is mai.
Marco: And the last example sentence is?
Cinzia: Mai dire mai.
Marco: “Never say never”. So very simple phrase but really catchy, right?
Cinzia: Yes.
Marco: So one more time.
Cinzia: Mai dire mai.
Marco: “Never say never”.

Lesson focus

Marco: In the previous lesson, we saw something called frequency adverbs, right?
Cinzia: Oh, yes! Avverbi di frequenza.
Marco: We saw some also today, right?
Cinzia: We saw ogni tanto.
Marco: That means “sometimes”. Then?
Cinzia: We also saw mai.
Marco: “Never”.
Cinzia: We didn’t see di solito, did we?
Marco: No, but di solito means “usually”.
Cinzia: Yes.
Marco: So remember, just as we’ve said in the last lesson, frequency adverbs convey the frequency of an action in relative terms, that means NOT absolute time measure, such as...
Cinzia: “twice a week”?
Marco: Exactly. Now let’s take a look at the usage of ogni tanto.
Cinzia: Which is normally positioned before the verb in simple tenses.
Marco: For example...
Cinzia: ogni tanto vado in palestra.
Marco: “I sometimes go to the gym”.
Cinzia: And in the compound ones it's normally positioned at the beginning or at the end of the phrase.
Marco: For example, sono andato a ballare ogni tanto, or ogni tanto sono andato a ballare.
Cinzia: “Sometimes I went dancing”.
Marco: So we can have, in this case, ogni tanto at the beginning, or at the end.
Cinzia: Right. But please remember that ogni tanto cannot be broken up.
Marco: Exactly, they’re two separate words, but they have to be kept together.
Cinzia: Yes. And now, Marco, would you like to tell us about mai?
Marco: First of all, mai means “never”. And it’s nearly always matched with non. I mean nearly always, because you might find it in a short answer, just as mai, meaning “never”.
Cinzia: But usually the English "never" is translated in Italian with non and then mai, so non is positioned before the verb in simple tenses, and mai right after it.
Marco: For example, non guardo mai la TV.
Cinzia: “I never watch TV.”
Marco: Instead, in compound tenses, non is before the auxiliary verb and mai is between the auxiliary and the past participle of the main verb. For example…
Cinzia: Non ho mai visto questo film.
Marco: "I've never seen this movie."
Cinzia: Right, and then, what else we have?
Maco: We also have di solito, that means "usually".
Cinzia: Yes, but that is very easy, isn’t it?
Marco: Yes, yes, very easy.
Cinzia: So, give us an example, Marco.
Marco: La mattina di solito esco alle otto.
Cinzia: "In the morning I usually go out at 8".
Marco: Very simple. So between ogni tanto, mai, and di solito, the most difficult is mai, because it is connected to non, but non is actually separate from mai.

Outro

Cinzia: That just about does it for today's lesson.
Marco: Make sure you check out the Grammar Point in this lesson's PDF, which you can pick up at Italianpod101.com.
Cinzia: There's a wealth of student resources there, just waiting for you.
Marco: Have a nice day!
Cinzia: Buona giornata a tutti! Ciao!

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