Speaking the Lingo

 

A little goes a long way ... Unlike the French, who consider anyone who has not perfectly mastered their language to be nothing less than ignorant ;o), the Italians will appreciate even the most rudimentary efforts to communicate in their language. If you can't find the right words, hand gestures will generally do the trick - many people don't know that body language is actually the second national language in Italy, enabling Italians from North and South, with their vastly different dialects, to understand each other with ease ...

 

A few tips for you to help you get by ...

Numbers   Restaurant   Travelling   Hotel   Writing Home   Wedding Talk

Please Per favore [pr. pear favoray]
Thank you Grazie [pr. gratsiay]
Yes Si
No No
Hello Buon giorno (daytime), buona sera (evening), ciao (informal)
Goodbye Arriverderci (polite), ciao (informal)
Pleased to meet you Piacere [pr. piach-air-ay]
How much is ...? Quanto costa ...?
Where is ...? Dove si trova ...?

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Numbers - I Numeri

1 uno 6 sei
2 due 7 sette
3 tre 8 otto
4 quattro 9 nove
5 cinque [pr. chinkway] 10 dieci [pr. diechee]

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In a Restaurant - Nel Ristorante

The menu Il menų
The bill Il conto
A bottle of wine (red, white) Una bottiglia di vino (rosso, bianco)
A glass of ... Un bicchiere di ...
Beer Una birra
A pint of lager, please Una bionda media, per favore (literally a medium blonde)
Half a pint of lager Una piccola bionda (a little blonde)
Water (still, sparkling) Acqua (naturale, frizzante [Pr. fritsantay])
A tip Una mancia  [pr. mancha]
Bread Pane
Butter Burro
Salt Sale
Pepper Pepe
Olive oil Olio
Fish Pesce
Meat Carne
Chicken Pollo
Beef Manzo
Lamb Agnello [Pr. anyello]
Pork Maiale
Other If it's not one of these, don't eat it!
Ham (raw eg parma, cooked) Prosciutto [pr. proshutto] (crudo, cotto)
Cheese Formaggio [pr. formajo]
Tomato Pomodoro
(Not) Spicy (Non) Piccante
Pepperoni Salamino
Potatoes Patate
Chips Patatine
Mayonnaise Maionese
Tomato ketchup Don't you dare !
Mustard Mostarda
Ice cream Gelato
With Con
Without Senza
A lot Molto
A little Un po' di
More Ancora
No more, thanks Basta cosė, grazie

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Travelling - Viaggiare

A ticket to ... Un biglietto [pr. bill-yetto] per ...
A book of 10 tickets Un tesserino da dieci
Train station La stazione dei treni
Bus Autobus
How do I get to ...? Come si arriva a ...?
Right destra
Left sinistra
Straight on diritto
Traffic lights Semaforo
Crossroads Bivio

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In the Hotel - Nell'Albergo

A room (single, double, triple) Una camera (singola, doppia, tripla)
Swimming pool La piscina [pr. pisheena]
Telephone Telefono
TV Tivų

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Writing home

Postcard Una cartolina
Stamp Un francobollo
Envelope Una busta
Letter Una lettera

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Wedding Talk

The Wedding Il Matrimonio
The Church La Chiesa [Pr. Kieza]
The Bride La Sposa
The Groom Lo Sposo
The Bridesmaids Le Damigelle
Flowers I fiori
I do Actually, I'm not sure on that one!

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