There are many nations in the world where the majority of native people are bilingual in English. This is not the case in some locations in Italy.
It really depends on the location. If it is a popular tourist destination, then you can expect for sufficient English communication. However, if you
travel even just a little outside the major cities and into villages, chances are that you will need to speak Italian to communicate.

For me this is a positive not a negative thing.

That's one of the reasons I want to learn Italian, it's much convenient if you can speak Italian when you are in Italy :)

MAKE FLASH CARDS WITH THESE WORDS!!!!!!!!!

There are several classes of adverbs in Italian:

Adverbs of quality or manner:

bene- well, (BAY-nay)
meglio- better,(MEL-yo)
peggio- worse (PEG-gee-oh)
male- badly, (MAH-lay_
anche- also (ON-kay
cosi- as, like (coe-SEE)
pure- also, too, (POO-ray)
insieme- together (in-see-EH-may)
come- as, like
invano- vain


Adverbs of time:

Cuando?- When?
sempre- always,
mai- never, (my)
oggi- today,
domani- tomorrow,
ieri- yesterday, (YEER-ree)
adesso- now, ora-now,
allora- then, poi-then, (owl-OH-rah)
dopo- after,
prima(di)- before,
ancora- still,yet, non ancora-not yet (an-CORE-rah)
spesso(frequentemente)- often,
stasera- tonight,
presto- early,soon,
tardi- late,
a tempo- on time,
gia- already,
subito & immediatamente- immediately, (SUE-be-toe)
di quando in quando- from time to time,
di solito- usually,
fa-ago, tre giorni fa- 3 days ago,
fino a- until,
frattanto- meanwhile,
raramente- rarely,seldom,
recentemente- recently, (ray-chin-tay-MINT-tay)
ultimo- last,
una volta- once,

Adverbs of Place:

Dove?-Where?,
lontano-far,
vicino-near, (vee-CHEE-no)
dietro-behind, (dee-EH-tro)
davanti-in front of,
avanti-forward, (ah-VAHN-tee)
indietro-backward,
dentro-inside,
fuori-outside,
qua,qui-here,
li,la-there
giu-down (jew)
laggiu-down there (lah-jew)
lassu-up there (lah-sue)
accanto a - beside
sopra-above
sotto-below
tra,fra-between
via-away (vada via!-get out of here!)
attraverso- through
intorno,attorno - around
da nessuna parte - nowhere
da qualche parte - somewhere
dappertutto- everywhere
a destra - to the right
a sinistra to the left

Adverbs of quantity:

Quanto?- How much?
molto-much
troppo-too much
poco-little
tanto-so much
abbastanza-enough
quasi-almost
piu-more
meno-less
circa-nearly, about
soltanto, solo, solamente-only
assai-much
piuttosto- rather Piuttosto caro. - Rather expensive.
probabilmente- probably
piu o meno- more or less
veramente- indeed, really
purtroppo- unfortunately

Le Domande - Questions

Come?- How
Quanto? How much
Quanti? Quante? How many?
Come mai?- How come?
Che? What?
Che cosa? What?
Quale? Which?
Chi?(key) Who?
Perche? Why?
Perche -because
Che tipo di...? What kind of...?
Dove? Where
Dove ci vediamo? Where shall we meet?

Aggettivi importante

buono- good
buffo- funny
caldo- hot
fredo- cold
caro- costly
cattivo- bad
celibe (CHAY-lee-bay) single male
aperto- open
chniuso- closed
corto- short
debole- weak
forte- strong
difficile- difficult
facile- easy
gentile- nice
giovane- young
grande- big
piccolo- little
grasso- fat
magro- skinny
innocente
lento- slow
libero- free, availiable
malato- sick
meschio- mean
morbido- soft
nubile- single female
nuovo- new
occupato- busy
pesante- heavy
piacevole- pleasant
piccante- spicy hot
pieno- full
pigro- lazy
primo - first
profondo- deep
sbagliato- mistaken
scuro- dark
secco- dry
sordo- deaf
sporco- dirty
pulito- clean
umido- humid
vecchio- old
vivace- active
vuoto- empty
zitto- quiet

Prepositions - Don't forget to make flash cards!!!

a- to, at
da- from, by, sometimes at
di- of sometimes from, about
in- in into sometimes by, on
su- on sometimes upon
con- with
per- for, through sometimes in order to + verb

Ho... I am... (literally have)
fame- hungry
freddo- cold
caldo- hot
paura- afraid
sete- thirst
sonno- sleepy
vergogna- ashamed

Il Nome - Nouns

il gatto- cat
il cane- dog
la carne- meat
il pane- bread
il topo- rat
il libro- book
la porta- door
la casa- house
la montangna- mountain
il albero- tree
la finestra- window
il finestrino- car or train window
il genitore- parent
la parente- relative (f.)
il parente- relative (m.)
la valigia- suitcase
la pioggia- rain
il sindaco- mayor
la spiaggia- beach
il denaro, il soldi- money
la lingua- language, tongue
il paese- country, small town
il postino- mailman
la posta- mail
la camera- room or bedroom also la camera di letto

It helps a lot you gave the pronunciation, haha.
Thank you!

There you are again Villa..being helpful as usual!
I really need to make cards from these words..I have all the emails you sent with helpful words and phrases.

It helps a lot you gave the pronunciation, haha.
Thank you!

A E I O U
ah eh ee oh oo
ma-mah me-meh mi-me mo-moh mu-moo
magro mela minuto motivo museo
(MAH-grow) (MEH-lah) (me-NEW-toe) (moh-TEE-voe)(moo-SAY-oh)
thin(skinny) apple minute motive museum

Villa, i think i'll hire you as my italian tutor

Villa, i think i'll hire you as my italian tutor

Learn the following by memory. (a memoria)
Repeat this often in your car, at work, in bed and anywhere else you might be. It will help you pronounce the Italian vowels.

Adoro la politica italiana perche e
il sistema politico piu democratico del mondo.

Tutti prima o poi fanno il
presidente, per quindici minuti.

a-DOH-roh lah poh-LEE-tee-kah ee-tah-lee-AH-nah pair-KAY eh
ill sees-TAY-mah pew day-moe-CRAH-tee-coe dell MOH-doe.

TOO-tee PREE-mah oh POH-ee FAH-no ill
pray-see-DIN-tay,pair quin-DEE-chee me-NEW-tee.

(I love Italian politics because the Italian political system is the world's most democratic.)

(Sooner or later everyone gets to be president for 15 minutes.)

Here's another to learn a memoria:

La practica vale piu della grammatica.

Lah PRACH-tee-kah VAH-lay pew DELL-lah grahm-MAH-tee-kah.

Practice is worth more than grammar.

bene- well, (BAY-nay)
meglio- better,(MEL-yo)
peggio- worse (PEG-gee-oh)
male- badly, (MAH-lay_
anche- also (ON-kay
cosi- as, like (coe-SEE)
pure- also, too, (POO-ray)
insieme- together (in-see-EH-may)
come- as, like
invano- vain


AY, THERE'S THE RUB !!! Dear Villa... if you put Y at the end of 'E' you produce the typical American accent (the one we call "Lawrel & Hardy's accent") that is very funny to us.
Actually we say:

BENE ('BE' like 'bear' - 'NE' like 'Netherlands', 'Never', etc.)
MALE ('MA' like 'Mum' - 'LE' like 'Leather')
ANCHE ('AN' like 'Unknown', 'Untold', etc. - 'CHE' like 'Ketchup', 'Kerry', etc.)

bene - Beh-neh - MAH-leh - in-see-EH-meh - How's that, Max?

There never is an exact English phonetic translation for Italian.
You just have to give one as close as possible. English speakers
will naturally speak Italian with an English accent. Poco a poco
you can acquire an Italian accent. You need to listen to a lot
of Italian CDs, musica, Italian books on CD, and watch a lot of
Italian TV, movies and soap operas such as...

One of the things that helped me with my Italian accent was the simple advice that Italian(and Spanish)are spoken in the front of the mouth while English is spoken in the back of the mouth, quindi the Laurel and Hardy accent.

With the Italian "T" and "D" per esempio, you place your tongue right behind your teeth in Italian where in English you put your tongue on the roof of your mouth.

Try this:

Place and feel your tongue right behind your front teeth.

Now say these syllables and then the words:

ta te ti to tu
tah teh tee toh too

tavola - tema - titolo - topo - tuttavia
TAH-voh-lah - TEH-mah - TEE-toh-loh - toot-tah-VEE-ah

da de di do du
dah deh dee doh doo

dama - debole - dire - dopo - il duce
DAH-mah - DEH-boh-leh - DEE-reh - DOH-poh - ill DOO-cheh

YouTube - Johnny Stecchino - teatro
Johnny Stecchino - teatro. ... Loading... Want to flag a ...
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0kIzQvfcvE


YouTube - Johnny Stecchino - È buona la totta?
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3 min 19 sec -






www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgUXZpI6KtE


"Johnny Stecchino: il suo caso è un pò singolare" - AOL VideoJohnny Stecchino: il suo caso è un pò singolare Video on AOL Video. ... More From YouTube. Big Brother 10 ... Channel:YouTube: 33:16 ...
video.aol.com/video-detail/johnny-stecchino-il-suo-caso-e-un-po-singolare/353867585 - 66k - Cached - Similar pages

YouTube - JOHNNY STECCHINO
Assistente con stecchino... ... This video has been removed ...
44 sec -






uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gyRk22CEPWQ

You know, I was just thinking the other day about how Italians (and many other Europeans) have difficulty pronouncing "th". In fact, the way to do it is to place your tongue right behind your upper front teeth and expel breath as you say it.
This is similar to what you describe here,Villa.
I was always told to pronounce "d" and "t" in Spanish as though they were somewhere in between the two - the sound is much softer than what we use in English.

T and d or pronounced the same in Italian and Spanish, a proposito.

Spanish speakers have an easy time with Italian phonectics.

People who live anywhere in the U.S. where Spanish is spoken
should not fail to learn Spanish. If you know Spanish then
Italian or anyother of the Latin based languages are more easy to learn.

Io per esempio ho imparato l'italiano prima e dopo lo spagnolo.

Don't miss the boat!!!

Here's where i am at.

I am great at pronunciation and OK at the grammar.

I am just horrible with memorizing the vocabulary, or at least I don't know where to begin.

"I am just horrible with memorizing the vocabulary, or at least I don't know where to begin."

MAKE FLASH CARDS WITH THESE WORDS!!!!!!!!!

There are several classes of adverbs in Italian:

Adverbs of quality or manner:

bene- well, (BAY-nay)
meglio- better,(MEL-yo)
peggio- worse (PEG-gee-oh)
male- badly, (MAH-lay_
anche- also (ON-kay
cosi- as, like (coe-SEE)
pure- also, too, (POO-ray)
insieme- together (in-see-EH-may)
come- as, like
invano- vain


Adverbs of time:

Cuando?- When?
sempre- always,
mai- never, (my)
oggi- today,
domani- tomorrow,
ieri- yesterday, (YEER-ree)
adesso- now, ora-now,
allora- then, poi-then, (owl-OH-rah)
dopo- after,
prima(di)- before,
ancora- still,yet, non ancora-not yet (an-CORE-rah)
spesso(frequentemente)- often,
stasera- tonight,
presto- early,soon,
tardi- late,
a tempo- on time,
gia- already,
subito & immediatamente- immediately, (SUE-be-toe)
di quando in quando- from time to time,
di solito- usually,
fa-ago, tre giorni fa- 3 days ago,
fino a- until,
frattanto- meanwhile,
raramente- rarely,seldom,
recentemente- recently, (ray-chin-tay-MINT-tay)
ultimo- last,
una volta- once,

Adverbs of Place:

Dove?-Where?,
lontano-far,
vicino-near, (vee-CHEE-no)
dietro-behind, (dee-EH-tro)
davanti-in front of,
avanti-forward, (ah-VAHN-tee)
indietro-backward,
dentro-inside,
fuori-outside,
qua,qui-here,
li,la-there
giu-down (jew)
laggiu-down there (lah-jew)
lassu-up there (lah-sue)
accanto a - beside
sopra-above
sotto-below
tra,fra-between
via-away (vada via!-get out of here!)
attraverso- through
intorno,attorno - around
da nessuna parte - nowhere
da qualche parte - somewhere
dappertutto- everywhere
a destra - to the right
a sinistra to the left

Adverbs of quantity:

Quanto?- How much?
molto-much
troppo-too much
poco-little
tanto-so much
abbastanza-enough
quasi-almost
piu-more
meno-less
circa-nearly, about
soltanto, solo, solamente-only
assai-much
piuttosto- rather Piuttosto caro. - Rather expensive.
probabilmente- probably
piu o meno- more or less
veramente- indeed, really
purtroppo- unfortunately

Le Domande - Questions

Come?- How
Quanto? How much
Quanti? Quante? How many?
Come mai?- How come?
Che? What?
Che cosa? What?
Quale? Which?
Chi?(key) Who?
Perche? Why?
Perche -because
Che tipo di...? What kind of...?
Dove? Where
Dove ci vediamo? Where shall we meet?

Aggettivi importante

buono- good
buffo- funny
caldo- hot
fredo- cold
caro- costly
cattivo- bad
celibe (CHAY-lee-bay) single male
aperto- open
chniuso- closed
corto- short
debole- weak
forte- strong
difficile- difficult
facile- easy
gentile- nice
giovane- young
grande- big
piccolo- little
grasso- fat
magro- skinny
innocente
lento- slow
libero- free, availiable
malato- sick
meschio- mean
morbido- soft
nubile- single female
nuovo- new
occupato- busy
pesante- heavy
piacevole- pleasant
piccante- spicy hot
pieno- full
pigro- lazy
primo - first
profondo- deep
sbagliato- mistaken
scuro- dark
secco- dry
sordo- deaf
sporco- dirty
pulito- clean
umido- humid
vecchio- old
vivace- active
vuoto- empty
zitto- quiet

Prepositions - Don't forget to make flash cards!!!

a- to, at
da- from, by, sometimes at
di- of sometimes from, about
in- in into sometimes by, on
su- on sometimes upon
con- with
per- for, through sometimes in order to + verb

Ho... I am... (literally have)
fame- hungry
freddo- cold
caldo- hot
paura- afraid
sete- thirst
sonno- sleepy
vergogna- ashamed

Il Nome - Nouns

il gatto- cat
il cane- dog
la carne- meat
il pane- bread
il topo- rat
il libro- book
la porta- door
la casa- house
la montangna- mountain
il albero- tree
la finestra- window
il finestrino- car or train window
il genitore- parent
la parente- relative (f.)
il parente- relative (m.)
la valigia- suitcase
la pioggia- rain
il sindaco- mayor
la spiaggia- beach
il denaro, il soldi- money
la lingua- language, tongue
il paese- country, small town
il postino- mailman
la posta- mail
la camera- room or bedroom also la camera di letto

JoeItalia, another suggestion about vocabulary, though confirming that Villa's suggestion is great:
Try to read a lot, simple stuff at the beginning, and write down interesting/important words. Then take pen and paper and try to put words you just learned into use.

One of the things that helped me with my Italian accent was the simple advice that Italian(and Spanish)are spoken in the front of the mouth while English is spoken in the back of the mouth, quindi the Laurel and Hardy accent.[/B][/SIZE]

That's right. I think that for us Italians the biggest difficulty in English is the sound of R and TH, just for the position of the tongue. The Laurel and Hardy accent (that we call 'Accento alla Stanlio e Ollio') is produced da many factors: T & D, 'Beh-ney' instead of 'Beh-neh', and also all the vowels that for us are very short.

The thing that has helped me the most with the Italian accent is listening to Andrea Bocelli non-stop in my car for the last nine months. I noticed right away that the ending vowels were soft. JoeItalia, I have the same situation as you do. I have no trouble with the accent - the thing that is hardest for me is understanding spoken Italian. It just goes by so fast and my brain has a hard time catching up! LOL I sometimes speak to Italians on the phone at my work. They all tell me my accent is great, but I do have a hard time understanding them if they speak in Italian to me. I think the phone is the most difficult because I cannot even see facial expressions or body language.

I have no trouble with the accent - the thing that is hardest for me is understanding spoken Italian. It just goes by so fast and my brain has a hard time catching up!

I have the same difficulties, Jeaniegina. Some American actors are completely ununderstandable and also some singers. Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Robert De Niro, Glenn Close, Uma Thurman, etc are understandable. Others like Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Colin Farrell are not. Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera are easy to understand too... many others are not. Alanis Morrisette, Prince, Tracy Chapman are not.
David Letterman, for example, is totally ununderstandable while Oprah Winphrey is.
British actors are rather easy to understand.

At the phone is funny because we are accostumed to say 'mhm... okay... right... I see...' all the time when the other speaks (somehow we send out signals of good listening). In conversations with Anglo-American we often have the impression that the phone-call failed... and we say: 'Are you still there ?" :D

British actors are rather easy to understand.

At the phone is funny because we are accostumed to say 'mhm... okay... right... I see...' all the time when the other speaks (somehow we send out signals of good listening). In conversations with Anglo-American we often have the impression that the phone-call failed... and we say: 'Are you still there ?" :D

I actually have a hard time understanding some British actors. LOL
As far as the phone goes, I guess we don't want to interrupt when someone is talking although we will usually say something if the speaker pauses for a moment.

Alright i will start with villa's advice.

Zidanie5, do you have any suggestions on things i can read that would be simple enough? I tried reading the Italian Newspaper, but i think that was too advanced.

jeaniegina ; I have never done the speaking thing, other than with my family, but thats just more listening and watching the hand signals. What i do a lot of is talking to my friend from Italy on MSN. Only problem is that he always wants to practice his English!

Joe this book is where to start for your easy Italian reading.
Easy Italian Reader by Riccardo Saggese a 3-part text for beginning students of Italian.

Due Amici

Antonio e Christine sono amici. Antonio e un ragazzo italiano: e di Roma. Il suo cognome e Ciampi.
Christine e una ragazza americana: e di Lancaster, una piccola citta della Pennsylvania. E in
Italia con la sua famiglia. Il suo cognome e Smith.

Antonio e gentile e simpatico. Christine e carina e allegra. A scuola di Antonio ci sono molti
studenti. Alcuni sono italiani, altri di diverse nazionalita: marocchini, albanesi e polacchi.
La scuola di Antonio e nuova, bella e grande. La scuola di Christine e piccola. Ci sono solo
studenti americani.

(cognome=last name) (simpatico=nice not sympathetic) (carina=cute, pretty) (allegra=cheerful)
(altri=others) (diverse=different)

Now read the above story out loud. When you do oral reading or reading out loud you're speaking Italian.

If you don't speak Italian forse this is the best way to learn to speak.

Dopo la lettura

A. Rispondi alle domande con frasi complete.(Reply to the questions in complete sentences.)

1. Di che nazionalita e Antonio?
2. Di dov'e Christine?
3. Ciampi e il cognome di Antonio o di Christine?
4. Christine e in Italia da sola?
5. Com'e Christine?
6. Nella scuola di Antonio ci sono solamente studenti italiani?
7. E grande la scuola di Christine?

B. Completa ogni frase con le informzioni fornite dal testo.(Complete each sentence with information from the text.)

1. Antonio non e americano, e __________________________________.

2. Il cognome di Christine non e Ciampi, e _______________________.

3. La scuola di Antonio non e piccola, e _________________________.

4. Gli studenti della scuola di Christine non sono italiani, sono _______________________________.

Amazon.com: Easy Italian Reader (Book & CD-ROM): Riccarda Saggese ...Amazon.com: Easy Italian Reader
(Book & CD-ROM): Riccarda Saggese: Books.www.amazon.com/Easy-Italian-Reader-Book-CD-ROM/dp/0071603344
- 222k - Cached - Similar pages

Try Champs-d'Elysse language audio tapes as they come with handy booklets with the transcription and difficult words translated too. The Italian series is called Acquarello.
Also, I am Series Editor for the Linguality Italian Book Club, too. The books are easy to read, interesting and you will grow more familiar with the language and culture.
Sorry for the plug, but they truly are eccezionale! :p

where to get this materials tuscansun?

and what's linguality italian book club? is it based in rome?

villa - thank you so much for that list of vocabulary words!

i was wondering if there are any educational children's programs that we could watch online if we are trying to learn italian?? something like sesame street aimed at toddlers where they use really simple language.. i've tried listening to RAI online but i just get frustrated because i can't understand a word!