Learn how to profess your love in Italian to friends and lovers of both genders
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Marco:Hello, and welcome to the Newbie Series S2 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. |
| Marco:In this lesson we will see differences in expressing fondness and love in Italian! This conversation takes place on the streets of Italy |
| Cinzia:And it's between John and Laura They are friends therefore they will be speaking informally |
| Marco: |
| Cinzia: |
| Marco:Now, if you're listening on an iPod... |
| Cinzia:or an iTouch or iPhone... |
| Marco:click the center button of the iPod or tap the screen on an iTouch or iPhone, to see the notes for this lesson while you listen! |
| Cinzia:Read along, while you listen. |
| Marco:This technique will help you remember faster! Okay... |
| Marco:Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| John:Tra poco è il giorno di San Valentino. |
| Laura:Quindi? |
| John:Come festeggiate questa occasione in Italia? |
| Laura:Di solito le coppie si scambiano regali. |
| John:E cosa scrivono sui biglietti? |
| Laura:Di solito scrivono “Ti amo”. |
| John:Allora è come in America. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| John:Tra poco è il giorno di San Valentino. |
| Laura:Quindi? |
| John:Come festeggiate questa occasione in Italia? |
| Laura:Di solito le coppie si scambiano regali. |
| John:E cosa scrivono sui biglietti? |
| Laura:Di solito scrivono “Ti amo”. |
| John:Allora è come in America. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| John:Tra poco è il giorno di San Valentino. |
| Marco:It’s going to be Saint Valentine’s Day soon. |
| Laura:Quindi? |
| Marco:So? |
| John:Come festeggiate questa occasione in Italia? |
| Marco:How do you celebrate this occasion in Italy? |
| Laura:Di solito le coppie si scambiano regali. |
| Marco:Couples usually exchange gifts. |
| John:E cosa scrivono sui biglietti? |
| Marco:And what do they write on the cards? |
| Laura:Di solito scrivono “Ti amo”. |
| Marco:They usually write, “I love you.” |
| John:Allora è come in America. |
| Marco:Then it’s as it is in America. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cinzia:Thinking of us recording a dialogue with the word ti amo makes me remember the famous TV commercial by the old Italian phone company named SIP. |
| Cinzia:You mean the one where the girl is talking for a long time on the phone and the mother is worried about the bill? |
| Cinzia:Exactly! It went something like |
| Marco:And then the mother barges in the room and says “Mi costi Ma quanto mi costi?” |
| Cinzia:Any Italian would know this commercial. |
| Marco:Maybe not the Italians who are in their teens now. |
| Cinzia:We’ll post a link to the video in the comments under the lesson! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco:Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| :The first word we shall see is: |
| Cinzia:tra poco [natural native speed] |
| Marco:soon, shortly, in a little while |
| Cinzia:tra poco [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia:tra poco [natural native speed] |
| :Next: |
| Cinzia:San Valentino [natural native speed] |
| Marco:Saint Valentine |
| Cinzia:San Valentino [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia:San Valentino [natural native speed] |
| :Next: |
| Cinzia:coppia [natural native speed] |
| Marco:couple, pair |
| Cinzia:coppia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia:coppia [natural native speed] |
| :Next: |
| Cinzia:scambiare [natural native speed] |
| Marco:to exchange, swap, barter, trade |
| Cinzia:scambiare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia:scambiare [natural native speed] |
| :Next: |
| Cinzia:biglietto [natural native speed] |
| Marco:ticket, note, card, banknote |
| Cinzia:biglietto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia:biglietto [natural native speed] |
| :Next: |
| Cinzia:amare [natural native speed] |
| Marco:to love |
| Cinzia:amare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia:amare [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. |
| Cinzia:The first word we will look at is |
| tra poco |
| Marco:And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia:Tra poco finisco. |
| Marco:I’ll finish soon. |
| Cinzia:The next word/expression we will look at is |
| San Valentino |
| Marco:And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia:Ho ricevuto delle rose per San Valentino. |
| Marco:I received some roses for Saint Valentine’s day. |
| Cinzia:The next word/expression we will look at is |
| coppia |
| Marco:And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia:Sono una bella coppia. |
| Marco:They are a nice couple. |
| Cinzia:The next word/expression we will look at is |
| scambiare |
| Marco:And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia:Vuoi scambiare figurine? |
| Marco:Do you want to trade picture cards? |
| Cinzia:The next word/expression we will look at is |
| biglietto |
| Marco:And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia:Ho un biglietto per te. |
| Marco:I have a card for you. |
| Cinzia:Today's last word/expression is |
| amare |
| Marco:And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia:Amo viaggiare. |
| Marco:I love travelling. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Marco:When it comes to love-related issues, Italian language shows its richness in expressing different degrees of fondness. |
| Cinzia:True friends often use the intransitive verb "volere bene (a)". |
| Marco:For example |
| Cinzia:Io voglio bene a mio fratello. |
| Marco:I love my brother. |
| Cinzia:Ti voglio bene. |
| Marco:I love you. |
| Marco:The translation provided above, however, does not give justice to the true meaning of the verb volere bene in Italian, which is something in between "to love somebody" and "to be fond of somebody". |
| Cinzia:The verb amare (to love), on the other hand, is used almost exclusively to convey the emotion we feel for our partner, whether it is a girlfriend/boyfriend of fiancée/fiancé. |
| Marco:Italian males would never use it to express their affection to other men, not even to their best friends. |
| Cinzia:Females, on the other hand, occasionally use it, but only with their best girlfriend. |
| Marco:When Italians, both men and women, want to mark the difference between acquaintance and close friends they sometimes employ |
| Cinzia:mio caro/mia cara |
| Marco:my dear) |
| Cinzia:or simply caro |
| Marco:dear |
| For example |
| Cinzia:Ciao caro, cosa fai? |
| Marco:Hi dear, what are you up to? |
| Cinzia:Sai, mia cara, ieri ho visto John. |
| Marco:You know, my dear, yesterday I saw John. |
| Cinzia:Carissimo, è da tanto che non ci vediamo! |
| Marco:My dearest, long time no see! |
Outro |
| Marco:That just about does it for today. |
| Cinzia:Ready to test what you just learned? |
| Marco:Make this lesson's vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flashcards in the learning center. |
| Cinzia:There is a reason everyone uses flashcards... |
| Marco:They work... |
| Cinzia:They really do help memorization. |
| Marco:You can get the flashcards for this lesson at |
| Cinzia:ItalianPod101.com. |
| Marco:Okay.... |
| Marco:A presto! |
| Cinzia:Ciao a tutti! |
5 Comments
HideHere is the link to a very famous Italian commercial. http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCZBjV6L1EQ
Hey Chuck,
"figurine" are stickers, trading cards. I'm sure you have them too in America. In Italy we buy them at the "edicola". First you have to buy the album where to stick them. There are "figurine" about everything. Soccer, animals, TV shows.
When I was a child I had a album of "figurine" for the American TV show "Beverly Hills 90210":roll:, ah ah ah!!
Ciao, a presto!
Consuelo
Can you tell me more about figurine? I don't know if that's something we have in America.
Dear Totti,
Thank you for your kind words.
If I may suggest a better way. Try Buon San Valentino.
"contento" means happy as referred to a persons state of mind.
So if I said.
Sono contento.
It means I am happy.
While if you want to wish someone a Happy... then you can say Buon...
For example
Happy holidays.
Buone vacanze.
Just remember to change the ending of "buono" to match the gender and number of the word it is attached to!
Ciao
Marco
Contento Valentine’s Day!