Learn about the most common Italian greetings
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Hello everyone! I'm Consuelo, and welcome to ItalianPOD101. |
| Marco: With us, you'll learn to speak Italian with fun and effective lessons. |
| Consuelo: We also provide you with cultural insights |
| Marco: and tips you won't find in a textbook... |
| Marco: In today's class, we will review Italian formal and informal forms of greetings. In addition, we will review three frequently used verbs, useful to explain our origin, the place we are presently living in, and our job activity. This conversation takes pla |
| Consuelo: The conversation is between Paolo and John. The speakers are friends; therefore, they will be speaking informally. |
| Marco: Now, before we listen to the conversation... |
| Consuelo: We want to ask... |
| Marco: Do you read the lesson notes, while you listen? |
| Consuelo: We received an e-mail about this study tip. |
| Marco: So we were wondering if you've tried it, and if so, |
| Consuelo: what do you think of it. |
| Marco: You can leave us feedback in the comment section of this lesson. Okay... |
| Marco: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| John: Ehi Paolo! Sei riuscito a pensare a qualcosa per la dichiarazione? |
| Paolo: Ho comprato questi. |
| John: Wow! Palloncini a forma di cuore, sarà una serata speciale. |
| Paolo: Sì, voglio riempire quella stanza, portarla lì e farle la dichiarazione. |
| John: Bellissima idea! Ah, Paolo, c'è la madre di Martina, presentati. |
| Paolo: (si avvicina) Piacere signora. Io sono Paolo, come sta? |
| Maria: Molto piacere Paolo. Da dove vieni? |
| Paolo: Io sono nato a Modena, ora vivo e lavoro a Bologna. |
| Maria: Divertitevi stasera, mi raccomando! |
| Paolo: Grazie signora, arrivederci. (si allontana, parla a John) Ehi, mi aiuti a gonfiarli? |
| John: Certo, ti aiuto io. |
| Paolo: Grazie, dai entriamo e mettiamoci al lavoro. |
| (dopo circa un'ora) |
| John: (ansimando) Uff! Paolo, ma quanti ne hai comprati? |
| Paolo: Circa duecento. Siamo quasi a metà. |
| John: Eh?? |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| John: Ehi Paolo! Sei riuscito a pensare a qualcosa per la dichiarazione? |
| Paolo: Ho comprato questi. |
| John: Wow! Palloncini a forma di cuore, sarà una serata speciale. |
| Paolo: Sì, voglio riempire quella stanza, portarla lì e farle la dichiarazione. |
| John: Bellissima idea! Ah, Paolo, c'è la madre di Martina, presentati. |
| Paolo: (si avvicina) Piacere signora. Io sono Paolo, come sta? |
| Maria: Molto piacere Paolo. Da dove vieni? |
| Paolo: Io sono nato a Modena, ora vivo e lavoro a Bologna. |
| Maria: Divertitevi stasera, mi raccomando! |
| Paolo: Grazie signora, arrivederci. (si allontana, parla a John) Ehi, mi aiuti a gonfiarli? |
| John: Certo, ti aiuto io. |
| Paolo: Grazie, dai entriamo e mettiamoci al lavoro. |
| (dopo circa un'ora) |
| John: (ansimando) Uff! Paolo, ma quanti ne hai comprati? |
| Paolo: Circa duecento. Siamo quasi a metà. |
| John: Eh?? |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| John: Ehi Paolo! Sei riuscito a pensare a qualcosa per la dichiarazione? |
| Marco: Hey Paolo! Did you manage to think about something for the declaration? |
| Paolo: Ho comprato questi. |
| Marco: I bought these. |
| John: Wow! Palloncini a forma di cuore, sarà una serata speciale. |
| Marco: Wow. Heart-shaped balloons, it will be a special night. |
| Paolo: Sì, voglio riempire quella stanza, portarla lì e farle la dichiarazione. |
| Marco: Yes, I want to fill that room, take her there, and then declare myself to her. |
| John: Bellissima idea! Ah, Paolo, c'è la madre di Martina, presentati. |
| Marco: Beautiful idea! Oh, Paolo, there's Martina's mother, introduce yourself to her. |
| Paolo: (si avvicina) Piacere signora. Io sono Paolo, come sta? |
| Marco: (gets closer) Nice to meet you. I'm Paolo, how do you do? |
| Maria: Molto piacere Paolo. Da dove vieni? |
| Marco: Nice to meet you, Paolo. Where are you from? |
| Paolo: Io sono nato a Modena, ora vivo e lavoro a Bologna. |
| Marco: I was born in Modena, now I live and work in Bologna. |
| Maria: Divertitevi stasera, mi raccomando! |
| Marco: Please have fun tonight! |
| Paolo: Grazie signora, arrivederci. (si allontana, parla a John) Ehi, mi aiuti a gonfiarli? |
| Marco: Thanks, goodbye. (moves away, talks to John) Hey. Will you help me blow them up? |
| John: Certo, ti aiuto io. |
| Marco: Sure, I'll help you. |
| Paolo: Grazie, dai entriamo e mettiamoci al lavoro. |
| Marco: Thanks! Come on, let's go inside and let's get to work. |
| (dopo circa un'ora) |
| Marco(about an hour later) |
| John: (ansimando) Uff! Paolo, ma quanti ne hai comprati? |
| Marco: (panting) Uff! Paolo, how many did you buy? |
| Paolo: Circa duecento. Siamo quasi a metà. |
| Marco: Around two hundred. We are almost halfway through. |
| John: Eh?? |
| Marco: Eh?? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Consuelo: Ahh, heart-shaped balloons, how romantic! |
| Cristiano: Eh eh. You know, Consuelo, in Italy, there is a famous TV program every Monday night called ""Stranamore."" |
| Consuelo: ""Strange...love,"" what is that about? |
| Cristiano: It's about love, of course. The crew of ""Stranamore"" helps whoever wants to declare herself or himself to somebody and find an original way to do it. |
| Consuelo: Interesting. Can you remember some of them? |
| Cristiano: I remember once I've seen a guy from Pisa decorating the whole tower with huge posters with big ""Marry me"" written on it for his girlfriend. |
| Consuelo: Wow, that's incredible! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: qualcosa [natural native speed] |
| Marco: something |
| Consuelo: qualcosa [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: qualcosa [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: riuscire [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to succeed, manage, be able |
| Consuelo: riuscire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: riuscire [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: serata [natural native speed] |
| Marco: evening |
| Consuelo: serata [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: serata [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: speciale [natural native speed] |
| Marco: special |
| Consuelo: speciale [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: speciale [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: palloncino [natural native speed] |
| Marco: balloon |
| Consuelo: palloncino [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: palloncino [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: cuore [natural native speed] |
| Marco: heart |
| Consuelo: cuore [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: cuore [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Marco: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| M: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases we learned in this lesson. The word we'll look at is.... |
| C: ""mettiamoci"" |
| M: ""let's get to,"" ""let's start to."" |
| C: Yes, Marco. We use the verb ""mettersi,"" literally ""to put oneself inside,"" as the English ""let's"" to make a proposal. |
| M: Some examples? |
| C: ""Mettiamoci a studiare,"" ""mettiamoci a mangiare,"" ""mettiamoci a dormire."" |
| Marco: ""Let's study,"" ""let's eat,"" and ""let's get to sleep."" |
| C: Yes. ""Mettiamoci."" The verb ""mettere"" has a lot of other meanings in Italian, so we will continue to analyze it in the next lesson. |
| Marco: Thanks, Cristiano! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| C: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| M: Italian forms of greetings may be divided into two different categories, according to the kind of speech we wish to employ. |
| C: In informal and colloquial Italian, ""ciao"" is the most common form used as both ""hi"" and ""goodbye."" |
| M: There are also other similar forms of greetings that may be used with acquaintances. |
| C: Oh, yes. In today's dialogue, John says ""Ehi Paolo…"" This implies a good degree of familiarity with the person he is speaking to. |
| M: And in Italian, the expressions ""ciao"" and ""ehi"" may also be used together. Here are some examples of informal greetings in a typical informal Italian conversation. |
| C: ""Ciao Mario, come stai?"" |
| M: ""Hi Mario, how are you doing?"" |
| C: ""Ehi Luca, è tanto tempo che non ti vedo!"" |
| M: ""Hey Luca, long time no see!"" |
| C: ""Ehi Antonio, ciao!"" |
| M: (literally) ""Hey Antonio, hi!"" |
| M: English speakers are lucky, as the forms of greetings in formal and standard Italian are virtually equal to their English counterparts. |
| C: The most frequently used are ""buongiorno"" |
| M: ""good morning"" |
| C: ""buonpomeriggio"" |
| M: ""good afternoon"" |
| C: and ""buonasera"" |
| M: ""good evening."" |
| M: When taking our leave, in formal Italian we use |
| C: ""arrivederci"" or ""arrivederla"" |
| M: both meaning ""farewell."" |
| C: We've seen Paolo using it with Martina's mother. |
| M: Please note that ""arrivederla"" is slightly more formal than ""arrivederci."" |
| M: Although as we said before, these forms of greetings translate literally in English, the way we use them is slightly different from their English equivalents. |
| C: ""Buongiorno"" is often used at any time of the day between dawn and dusk. |
| M: while ""buonasera"" is used during evening and nighttime. |
| C: And let's not forget that ""buonanotte"" |
| M: ""good night"" |
| C: is used exclusively before going to bed, |
| M: meaning ""have a good night's sleep."" |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Marco: Before we go, we want to tell you about a way to drastically improve your pronunciation. |
| Consuelo: The voice recording tool... |
| Marco: Yes, the voice recording tool in the premium learning center... |
| Consuelo: Record your voice with a click of a button, |
| Marco: and then play it back just as easily. |
| Consuelo: So you record your voice, and then listen to it. |
| Marco: Compare it to the native speakers... |
| Consuelo: And adjust your pronunciation! |
| Marco: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast! |
| Marco: Ciao |
| Consuelo: A presto! |
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