Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
None (manual write in):
Cristina: Ciao!
Jason: Jason here! Welcome to ItalianPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner, Lesson 23 – Talking TV in Italian.
Cristina: In this lesson you will learn how to use the modal verb stare per.
Jason: In sentences such as…
Cristina: ente! Sta per finire questo telegiornale!”.
Jason: “Finally! This newscast is about to finish!”
Jason: This conversation takes place at home in the living room.
Cristina: Giulia e Luca parlano insieme. Sono sorella e fratello.
Jason: The conversation is between Giulia and her brother Luca.
The speakers are sister and brother, therefore they'll be speaking informal Italian.
Cristina: Ascoltiamo
Jason: Let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Luca: Oh finalmente! Sta per finire questo telegiornale; sempre le stesse notizie! Non vedo l'ora di godermi il film che inizia dopo il TG.
Giulia: Cosa hai detto Luca? Eh no! C'è un dibattito sul nucleare. Niente film questa sera.
Luca: Ma no Giulia! E' un film datato, ma interessante, "I Ragazzi dello zoo di Berlino."
Giulia: Già ieri sera ho sopportato la mamma che ha voluto vedere quel polpettone della "Principessa Sissi." Stavo per andare a letto per la disperazione!
Luca: Pensandoci bene, prima di cena stavo lavorando a un articolo che devo scrivere per lavoro. Facciamo così - registro il film e lo guardiamo un'altra sera.
Giulia: Davvero? Il dibattito dura solo 45 minuti. Perchè non lo guardiamo insieme e poi vai a lavorare? Magari ti piacerà.
Luca: Va bene, dai. Potrebbe essere interessante. Guardiamolo per un pochino.
Giulia: Luca, hai inserito il DVD nel lettore per registrare il film?
Luca: Oh no... mi son dimenticato!
English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Luca: Oh finalmente! Sta per finire questo telegiornale; sempre le stesse notizie! Non vedo l'ora di godermi il film che inizia dopo il TG.
Giulia: Cosa hai detto Luca? Eh no! C'è un dibattito sul nucleare. Niente film questa sera.
Luca: Ma no Giulia! E' un film datato, ma interessante, "I Ragazzi dello zoo di Berlino."
Giulia: Già ieri sera ho sopportato la mamma che ha voluto vedere quel polpettone della "Principessa Sissi." Stavo per andare a letto per la disperazione!
Luca: Pensandoci bene, prima di cena stavo lavorando a un articolo che devo scrivere per lavoro. Facciamo così - registro il film e lo guardiamo un'altra sera.
Giulia: Davvero? Il dibattito dura solo 45 minuti. Perchè non lo guardiamo insieme e poi vai a lavorare? Magari ti piacerà.
Luca: Va bene, dai. Potrebbe essere interessante. Guardiamolo per un pochino.
Giulia: Luca, hai inserito il DVD nel lettore per registrare il film?
Luca: Oh no... mi son dimenticato!
English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Luca: Oh finalmente! Sta per finire questo telegiornale; sempre le stesse notizie! Non vedo l'ora di godermi il film che inizia dopo il TG.
Jason: Finally! This newscast is about to finish; always the same news! I can't wait to watch the movie that starts after the news.
Giulia: Cosa hai detto Luca? Eh no! C'è un dibattito sul nucleare. Niente film questa sera.
Jason: What did you say, Luca? Oh no! Tonight there's a TV debate on nuclear energy. No movies tonight.
Luca: Ma no Giulia! E' un film datato, ma interessante, "I Ragazzi dello zoo di Berlino."
Jason: No, Giulia! I don't want to miss this movie. It's dated, but it is an interesting one, "We Children From Bahnhof Zoo."
Giulia: Già ieri sera ho sopportato la mamma che ha voluto vedere quel polpettone della "Principessa Sissi." Stavo per andare a letto per la disperazione!
Jason: Last night I had to put up with Mom, who wanted to watch that boring movie, "Princess Sissi." I was about to go to bed at nine o'clock out of desperation.
Luca: Pensandoci bene, prima di cena stavo lavorando a un articolo che devo scrivere per lavoro. Facciamo così - registro il film e lo guardiamo un'altra sera.
Jason: Well…thinking it over, before dinner, I was working on an article that I have to write for work. Let's do this…I'll record the movie and watch it another night.
Giulia: Davvero? Il dibattito dura solo 45 minuti. Perchè non lo guardiamo insieme e poi vai a lavorare? Magari ti piacerà.
Jason: Really? The debate only lasts forty-five minutes. Why don't we watch it together and then you finish work? You might like it.
Luca: Va bene, dai. Potrebbe essere interessante. Guardiamolo per un pochino.
Jason: Why not? It could be interesting. Let's watch it for a short while.
Giulia: Luca, hai inserito il DVD nel lettore per registrare il film?
Jason: Luca, have you inserted the disk in the DVD player to record the movie?
Luca: Oh no... mi son dimenticato!
Jason: Oh no...I forgot!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Jason: Yesterday I was reading an article on the Italian TV.
Cristina: What about?
Jason: It talked about the beginning of Italian TV.
Cristina: So when was Italian TV ‘born’?
Jason: The first TV program was officially broadcast in 1954 by the Rai Broadcast Center.
Cristina: In Turin.
Jason: Yes. The article explained that in the 1950s television was a luxury good and only some bars or restaurant as well as well-to-do families could afford it.
Cristina: Oh yes, my grandma used to tell me that.
Jason: So those who could spend the money on TV became community leaders and often invited the neighborhood to visit.
Cristina: So going to a bar or a café was like going to the cinema.
Jason: Probably so.
Cristina: What was the first program on TV?
Jason: Well it didn’t say but the article explained that the first set of programming for Rai 1 was almost completely educational with no advertising, except for the popular Carosello.
Cristina: No commercials?! Very nice!
Jason: Apparently some of the most popular shows were quiz and games.
Cristina: For example?
Jason: Il Musichiere presented by the actor Mario Riva. It was a quiz about songs and music.
Cristina: Did the article mention the show Lascia o Raddoppia?
Jason: Oh yes. It was very popular. It was something like the game show Deal or No Deal?
Cristina: And it was hosted by the legendary Mike Bongiorno. He was a great showman of Italian TV.
VOCAB LIST
Jason: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
The first word we shall see is:
Cristina: non veder l'ora [natural native speed]
Jason: can't wait
Cristina: non veder l'ora [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cristina: non veder l'ora [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cristina: TG (Telegiornale) [natural native speed]
Jason: newscast
Cristina: TG (Telegiornale) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cristina: TG (Telegiornale) [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cristina: dibattito [natural native speed]
Jason: debate
Cristina: dibattito [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cristina: dibattito [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cristina: nucleare [natural native speed]
Jason: nuclear
Cristina: nucleare [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cristina: nucleare [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cristina: datato [natural native speed]
Jason: dated
Cristina: datato [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cristina: datato [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cristina: sopportare [natural native speed]
Jason: to bear with, to put up with
Cristina: sopportare [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cristina: sopportare [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cristina: polpettone [natural native speed]
Jason: boring, heavy
Cristina: polpettone [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cristina: polpettone [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cristina: pensarci bene [natural native speed]
Jason: to think over well
Cristina: pensarci bene [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cristina: pensarci bene [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cristina: registrare [natural native speed]
Jason: to record
Cristina: registrare [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cristina: registrare [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cristina: lettore DVD [natural native speed]
Jason: DVD player
Cristina: lettore DVD [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cristina: lettore DVD [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Jason: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Cristina: non veder l’ora
Jason: can’t wait
Cristina: Here's a sample sentence. Non vedo l’ora che arrivino le vacanze di Natale!
Jason: I can’t wait for the Christmas holiday to come.
Cristina: The expression non vedo l’ora is always followed by a verb and cannot be followed by a noun like it is in English.
Jason: The preposition that introduces the verb is di, such as
Cristina: La nonna non vede l’ora di abbracciare i nipotini.
Jason: Grandma can’t wait to hug her grandchildren.
Cristina: Non veder l’ora means desiderare ardentemente.
Jason: What's the next one we'll look at?
Cristina: TG (telegiornale)
Jason: Newscast or news
Cristina: Here's a sample sentence
Jason: Finally! This newscast is about to finish.
Cristina: TG is the abbreviation of the word telegiornale and it is formed by the word tele or TV and giornale as newspaper.
Jason: But what does TG1 mean? What does one stand for?
Cristina: In Italy the number following the code Tg indicates the channel that broadcasts it. So TG1 is on Rai 1 or channel 1.
Jason: I see. Let's move on to the grammar!

Lesson focus

Jason: The focus of this lesson is the usage of the verb stare.
Cristina: Let’s first review the various meanings and usages of the verb stare.
Jason: First, Stare indicates a temporary physical condition and it is often followed by an adverb.
Cristina: It is often used as an answer to the question, “Come stai?”
Jason: More examples of this usage of stare are answers like sto bene, sto benissimo.
Cristina: Or negative answers like non sto molto bene and non sto bene per niente.
Jason: Let’s focus on another meaning.
Cristina: Stare can also be used to describe a physical position.
Jason: It often expresses stillness and in English is often translated with the verb to be rather than the verb to stay.
Cristina: Sto vicino all’entrata del negozio.
Jason: I’m near the entrance of the shop.
Cristina: Another sample sentence is the following
Jason: Tonight I will stay at home. I won’t go out.
Cristina: The same sentence can be expressed as
Jason: Tonight I will stay home. I won’t go out.
Cristina. The verb restare is a synonym of stare in this meaning.
Jason: Next, we’ll look at the usage of the verb stare when it expresses an action that is happening right now.
Cristina: Stare is used to form the presente progressivo and passato progressive (the present and past progressive)
Jason: How?
Cristina: In Italian stare plus gerundio forms the progressive tenses.
Jason: Cristina, help me remember the gerundio. I think I remember it is similar to the –ing form of English, but…
Cristina: No worries Jason. It’s very simple. The verbs in –are form the gerund substituting the ending –are with the suffix –ando.
Jason: So for example the gerundio of the verb – cantare is cantando.
Cristina: Esatto. Next, the verbs in –ere form the gerund substituting the ending –ere with the suffix –endo.
Jason: A verb like leggere makes the gerundio as leggendo.
Cristina: Corretto! Last, the verbs in –ire form the gerund as substituting the ending –ire with the suffix –endo.
Jason: Therefore the gerundio of the verb dormire is dormendo.
Cristina: Benissimo! Be careful
Jason: So Italian stare plus gerundio forms the progressive tenses. Can you give us some sample sentences?
Cristina: Sto andando al supermercato.
Jason: I’m going to the supermarket.
Cristina: This means you are going right now.
Jason: How about a sentence in the past progressive tense?
Cristina: Prima di cena stavo lavorando a un articolo che devo scrivere per lavoro.
Jason: Before dinner I was working on an article that I have to write for work.
Cristina: The past tense applies only to the verb stare, while the gerundio is invariable.
Jason: Ok, Now you‘ll learn about one last usage of the verb stare.
Cristina: When the verb stare is followed by the preposition per and an infinitive verb, it means 'to be about to do something.'
Jason: For example?
Cristina: Il treno sta per partire.
Jason: The train is about to depart.
Cristina: It can be used also in the past tense by changing the tense of the verb stare.
Jason: Stavo per andare a letto quando ho ricevuto una telefonata.
Cristina: I was about to go to bed when I received a phone call.

Outro

Jason: OK. That's all for this lesson. In the lesson notes, you can find more examples on this grammar point. So be sure to read them.
Cristina: A presto!
Jason: Bye-bye!

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