I teach a group of ladies about a new place every 8 weeks. I work in a prison setting. I try to teach about art, music, and culture of that place and try to touch on how it influences us in America. We are "visiting" Italy this 8 weeks. Anything I should share with these ladies to help "open their minds" would be greatly appreciated! :-)
Thanks to all!

wow what an interesting job, you know I would recommend them to read "A room with a view" or " where angels fear to tread" they are both by E.M. Forster and they are partly in Italy partly in England, one would just read them and fall in love with both the writer and Italy
what other countries have you "visited"? and what are the most interesting things about them?

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"you can't please all people, but you can please yourself" the great philosopher NOURAN

If you can get your hands on it from your local library try Lidia's Italy it is a cookbook but it has so much more than just recipes. There is a wealth of information in each chapter dealing with the culture of the different regions of Italy and how it influences life and cuisine. I can't put the book down. For example, in the chapter about Rome, she talks all about the local town square called "campo dei fiori" and how people shop there each day for their food. She describes the square in great detail and even gives a little history about it.

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Dimmi con chi vai e ti dirò chi sei.

Short fun facts about Italy you can share with them:

At 300 000 sq km (116 000 sq miles) Italy is only marginally bigger than New Zealand.

Population of Italy is 60+ million. However there are some 70 million people of Italian origin living out of Italy.

There are many dialects of the Italian language spoken throughout Italy. The official Italian language spoken today originates from the Tuscan dialect (of Latin).

Italian is a Romance language and is related to the other Latin languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese and Romanian.

Italy manufacture most of the world's top sports cars, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Maserati and Alfa Romeo being some of the most popular.

Don't try to outrun the police in Lazio (Rome's province) some of the officers drive a Lamborghini.

The upbeat Italian National Anthem (often played at the Formula 1 and Moto GP due to the past victories of Michael Schumacher, Ferrari and Valentino Rossi) is called "Inno di Mameli" or "Canto degli Italiani" and was written by Goffredo Mameli.

The "Promessi Sposi" is Italy's literature equivalent of Rome and Juliet.

Many of Shakespeare's plays were set in Italy, including Romeo and Juliet from Verona.

Opera is an Italian creation.

Around 85% of Italians are registered Catholics however less than a third of that are practicing members.

There are many "Mafia" organizations in Italy. The Mafia (known as "Cosa Nostra") is only one of them and is based in Sicily. Camorra and Ndrangheta are the other bigger organizations.

Democratic Italy is governed by a President who appoints the Prime Minister (largely a figure-head).

SPQR stands for "Senatus Populusque Romanus" and means "The senate and the people of Rome". You still see the symbol all over Rome today (especially on drain covers) as it's used by the Rome Municipality.

The Romans mastered plumbing. They used copper piping and valves - the patents of some are still in use today.

Rome is known as the "Eternal city" and also "Caput Mundi", coming from Latin and meaning capital of the world.

Rome is the Capital, the largest city and has a population of roughly 3 million.

According to legend the brothers Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome) were raised by a she-wolf in a cave on Palatine Hill.

Rome's emblem is the she-wolf suckling the two brothers Romulus and Remus.

Pompeii is the city that was buried after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Many parts of ancient life were eerily preserved. By pouring wax into the cavities in the ash (which once held various furniture and artifacts) scientists have been able to get perfect replicas of ancient Roman furniture.

Italy has the Guinness record for the country with the most lifts.

Italy has the lowest birthrate in Europe - a contradiction to the large Italian family culture.

Italians live very long, the percentage of the retired population is 20% which is a cause for concern as there aren't enough young people to work and contribute to the state pension.

Italians on average eat around 30 kg (66 pounds) of pasta and drink 60 liters of wine per year .

1. Teach them some basic Italian phrases.
You could put them on flash cards.
Start out with Ti amo. Tee AH-moh. I love you.

Buon giorno
bwon zhor-no
Hello / Good morning/afternoon
Buona sera
bwoh-nah seh-rah
Good evening Buona notte
bwoh-nah noht-teh
Good night
Ciao
chow
Hi / Hello / Bye (informal) Arrivederci
ah-ree-vuh-dehr-chee
Goodbye ArrivederLa
ah-ree-vuh-dehr-lah
Goodbye (formal)
A più tardi
ah pyoo tar-dee
See you later A presto
ah press-toh
See you soon A domani
ah doh-mahn-ee
See you tomorrow
Per favore / Per piacere
pehr fah-voh-reh / pehr pee-ah-cheh-reh
Please Grazie (mille)
graht-zee-eh (mee-leh)
Thank you (very much) Prego
preh-goh
You're Welcome
Mi dispiace
mee dee-spyah-cheh
Sorry Scusi / Scusa
skoo-zee / skoo-zah
Excuse me (formal / informal) Andiamo!
on-dee-ah-mo
Let's go!
Come sta? / Come stai?
koh-meh stah / koh-meh sty
How are you? (formal / informal) Sto bene.
stoh beh-neh
I am fine / well. Non c'è male.
nohn cheh mah-leh
Not bad.
Abbastanza bene.
ah-bah-stahn-tsah beh-neh
Pretty good. Così così.
koh-zee koh-zee
So so. Sì / No
see / noh
Yes / No
Come si chiama?
koh-meh see kee-ah-mah
What's your name? (formal) Come ti chiami?
koh-meh tee kee-ah-mee
What's your name? (informal) Mi chiamo...
mee kee-ah-mo
My name is...
Piacere / Molto lieto.
pee-ah-cheh-reh / mohl-toh lee-eh-toh
Pleased / Nice to meet you. Signore, Signora, Signorina
seen-yoh-reh, seen-yoh-rah, seen-yoh-reen-ah
Mister, Misses, Miss
Di dov'è?
dee doh-veh
Where are you from? (formal) Di dove sei?
dee doh-veh seh-ee
Where are you from? (informal) Sono di...
soh-noh dee
I am from...
Quanti anni ha?
kwahn-tee ahn-nee ah
How old are you? (formal) Quanti anni hai?
kwahn-tee ahn-nee ah-ee
How old are you? (informal) Ho ______ anni.
oh ______ ahn-nee
I am _____ years old.
Parla italiano?
par-lah ee-tahl-ee-ah-no
Do you speak Italian? (formal) Parli inglese?
par-lee een-gleh-zeh
Do you speak English? (informal) [Non] parlo...
[non] par-lo
I [don't] speak...
Capisce? / Capisci?
kah-pee-sheh / kah-pee-shee
Do you understand? (formal / informal) [Non] capisco.
[non] kah-pees-koh
I [don't] understand. Non so. / Lo so.
non soh / low soh
I don't know. / I know.
Può aiutarmi? / Puoi aiutarmi?
pwoh ah-yoo-tar-mee / pwoh-ee ah-yoo-tar-mee
Can you help me? (formal / informal) Certamente / D'accordo.
cher-tah-mehn-teh / dah-kohr-doh
Sure / OK. Come?
koh-meh?
What? / Pardon me?
Desidera? / Desideri?
deh-zee-deh-rah / deh-zee-deh-ree
May I help you? (formal / informal) Come si dice ____ in italiano?
koh-meh see dee-cheh ____ een ee-tah-lee-ah-noh
How do you say ____ in Italian?
Dov'è / Dove sono...?
doh-veh / doh-veh soh-noh
Where is / Where are... ? Ecco...
eh-koh
Here is / Here are... C'è / Ci sono...
cheh / chee soh-noh
There is / There are...
Cosa c'è?
koh-zah cheh
What's the matter? / What's wrong? Non importa. / Di niente.
nohn eem-por-tah / dee nee-ehn-teh
It doesn't matter. Non m'importa.
nohn meem-por-tah
I don't care.
Non ti preoccupare.
nohn tee preh-ohk-koo-pah-reh
Don't worry. (informal) Ho dimenticato.
oh dee-men-tee-kah-toh
I forgot. Devo andare adesso.
deh-voh ahn-dah-reh ah-des-soh
I have to go now.
Ho fame. / Ho sete.
oh fah-meh / oh seh-teh
I'm hungry. / I'm thirsty. Ho freddo. / Ho caldo.
oh freh-doh / oh kal-doh
I'm cold. / I'm hot. Mi annoio.
mee ahn-noh-ee-oh
I'm bored.
Salute!
sah-loo-teh
Bless you! Congratulazioni!
kohn-grah-tsoo-lah-tsee-oh-nee
Congratulations! Benvenuti!
behn-veh-noo-tee
Welcome!
Buona fortuna!
bwoh-nah for-too-nah
Good luck! Tocca a me! / Tocca a te!
tohk-kah ah meh / tohk-kah ah teh
It's my turn! / It's your turn! (informal) Ti amo.
tee ah-moh
I love you. (informal)
È pazzo! / Sei pazzo!
eh pats-soh / seh-ee pats-soh
You're crazy! (formal / informal) Sta zitto! / Stai zitto!
stah tseet-toh / sty tseet-toh
Be quiet / Shut up! (formal / informal) Va bene!
vah beh-neh
OK!


Notice that Italian has informal and formal ways of saying things. This is because there is more than one meaning to "you" in Italian (as well as in many other languages.) The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.) There is also a plural you, used when speaking to more than one person.

Also, the words pazzo and zitto refer to men. If you are talking to a woman, use pazza and zitta. If you are talking to more than one person (all men, or a group of men and women), use pazzi and zitti. If you are talking to more than one person (all women), use pazze and zitte.

amazing info villa
you know the arabic and italian languages are similar when it comes to those last grammar rules

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"you can't please all people, but you can please yourself" the great philosopher NOURAN

Molto interessante Nouran. The Arabs were in Sicily and southern Italy for some 250 years. And even after they were taken over they were allowed to stay unlike in Spain when they were forced to convert or leave in 1492.

Now the question is how many and what words are used today in Italian and or Sicilian from Arabic and what culture aspects come from the Arab culture to the Italian culture. Many Italians and Sicilians can pass for Arabs or Hispanics.
At any rate Spanish for esempio has somewhere around 2000 words that come from Arabic.

A proposito they think the Estuscans(people that blended into the Romans) came from what is now the country of Iraq. Isn't that ironic? Just look at a map of Italy and you can see it's near all those Middle Eastern and northern African countries.
So ironically Nouran, you probably have the same DNA as most Italians.

yes and that is why many Spanish words also have an arabic root to them...especially ones that start with "al" --- almuerzo, algadon, alhambra, etc.

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Dimmi con chi vai e ti dirò chi sei.