ITALIAN

LEARNING ITALIAN

Anyone who tells you that everyone in Italy, at least in the big cities, speaks English has been staying close to the railway station or in a hotel.

In major cities English is spoken in stores and restaurants to the extent necessary to explain wares and menus. That's it.

In most hotel dining rooms one or more of the waiters will speak English, as will the folks at the front desk.

In restaurants in smaller towns and villages, English speakers are rare.

In most stores in all but the major tourist cities, English speakers are very, very rare.

In small towns and villages only a local teacher may speak some English. He or she will not be in the store or gas station when you need help.

If you stop in a gas station, at an autostrada toll booth, or alongside the road to ask directions, be prepared to ask, and be answered, in Italian.

What follows is Italian you must know if you're going to do the right thing -- that is, venture out into the countryside and along small roads to find the pleasant, kind, friendly Italian people. (See The Italians page.) We give some of it to you in Italian, but stuff like numbers you need to get out of the book you'd better buy.

We don't guarantee that this is perfect, but it got us by okay.

THIS DOES NOT TAKE THE PLACE OF A PHRASE BOOK.

Plan ahead. Get some tapes or cd's and play them in your car. Learn enough to enjoy yourself. www.babel (see below) gave me "My wife will have the squid" and "Where are the girls from the convent?" Both very handy. Learn stuff. Don't be stuck ordering the same meals over and over or shouting at people to be understood or avoiding interesting places because you can't ask directions.

And don't stop learning. One of you at least isn't driving. Review. Look up words you didn't know at lunch, or in the garage, or at the toll booth. When you find English-speaking folks as fellow guests or a cute young waiter anxious to try his English, tell them of a problem you had and ask what you should have said, or what the person said to you.

Be aware, however, that if you're trying to find out what was said by a horse-and carriage driver you turned down, it might better be left untranslated.

EXCITING NOTE: One of the world's great websites is http://babel.altavista.com . You type in sentences and in seconds, for free, you get good translations into any of seven languages, including Italian. When we wanted to send pictures and felicitations to our waiter Antonio at La Braja (see Places to Eat), we used the site, then asked a fluent Italian speaker to correct it. She made two very minor alterations. It's great.

Once you've examined the phrases and words below, if you want to print them out, click here.

AND THANKS TO JOSE DE LA ROSA FOR CORRECTING SOME OF OUR EGREGIOUS ERRORS.

MOST IMPORTANT TWO WORDS IN ITALIAN:
Parla Inglese?

DAILY

I don't speak Italian Non parlo Italiano

Numbers (Look 'em up in your book, memorize them, test each
other, go over them again.)

Colors (Ditto, but if you're a man, you can skip faun, auberge,
puce, and eggplant.)

Recognizing numbers in speech is CRITICAL.

Days of the week (Not as important as:

Today Oggi

Tomorrow Domani

Yesterday Ieri

How much? Quanto costa?

There La

No, thank you. Grazie, no.

Excuse me. Scusi

Go away! Vada via! (Save for children pestering for money in Florence.)

Bathroom Bagno, Gabinetto

Man Signore (when addressing one), il signore when describing

Men i signori

Woman Signora, la signora

Women le signore OR le donne (restroom doors)

Young or unmarried woman la signorina

Police Carbinieri, Polizia

Breakfast la colazione

Lunch il pranzo

Dinner la cena

The bill, please. Il conto, per favore.

KAYE INSISTS THE FOLLOWING IS ALL THE ITALIAN YOU REALLY NEED IN A RESTAURANT:

Prego posso avere una bottiglia di vino bianco? (May I please have a bottle of white wine?)

And

Prego posso avere altra bottiglia di vino bianco? (May I please have another bottle of white wine?

Desidera una bottiglia di vino bianco? (You're getting the hang of Kaye's cuisine emphasis here.)

There are a number of ways to form this question, then you point at anything on the menu, since your primary need has been addressed.

DRIVING:

Please fill it up: Per favore, lo riempa su OR Pieno, per favore.

Please check the oil. Per favore, controlli il petrolio.

Oil Petrolio

Gasoline Benzina (not Petrol)

Open Aperto

Closed Chiuso

Stop Alt

Go Avanti (can also mean "Come in.")

Entrance Entratta

Beware Attenzione

Pedestrians Pedoni

Danger Pericolo

Parking Parcheggio

No Parking Divieto di sosta, Sosta vietata

Detour Deviazione

Slow down Rallentare

One way Senso Unico

Don't enter Senso Vietato

DIRECTIONS:

How far is it to _____________? Come sta lontano a _______?

How do I get to _____________? Como arriva a ________?

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

23 kilometers. venti-tre kilometri

3 blocks tre blocchi

2 streets due strade

In the next village. Nel prossimo villaggio.

Go straight to the signal light, then turn right about three hundred meters. When you get to the middle of town you'll see it.

Vada DIRITTO alle semaforo, poi giri a DESETRA e vada tre cento metri. Quando Lei arriva ad al medio di citta Lei lo vedra.

NOW YOU CAN SEE WHY YOU NEED TO LEARN THE FOLLOWING:

Right la destra

Left la sinistra

Straight ahead sempre diritto

AUTOSTRADA:

Exit Uscita

Beginning of Autostrada Inizio Autostrada

End of Autostrada Fine Autostrada

Entrance to Autostrada Ingresso Autostrada

Customs Dogana

Tickets Biglietti

Tolls Pedaggio

Take your ticket. (Autostrade must - see Driving page)
Prendo il Suo biglietto.

Where is your ticket? Dove e il Suo biglietto?

I lost my ticket. Io persi il mio biglietto.

SEND US YOUR FAVORITE USEFUL PHRASES. phrases@coopmead.com

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