www.italymag.co.uk Produced by Italy Magazine Copyright Italy Magazine 2012 Introduction2 Lesson 1: Amazing Food3 Lesson 2: Stunning Landscape5 Lesson 3: Romantic language7 Lesson 4: Friendly People8 Dual Language: Il Circolo 10 Crosswords: Test your Vocabulary 13 Practise and Sing 15 www.italymag.co.uk1 Introduction Dear Italy Magazine readers, we know many of you are in love with Italian, one of those languages you want to learn simply because you fall in love with its melodic, musical sound. Our language lessons and dual language articles are usually very popular, so we decided to prepare an ebook to help you get your Italiano ready for your next trip to Italy. The e-book includes four lessons by Italian language teacher Alesha Keene, an Oxford graduate of Italian who lived in Rome for five years. Her love for this beautiful language led her to develop some interesting ways for teaching it. We share four of her lessons developed around different topics: Amazing Food, Stunning Landscape, Romantic Language and Friendly People. To test your language skills, you can then work on our dual language arti- cle which actually suggests ways to set up a circolo (club) to get people who want to learn Italian together and, set up language classes and special events. See how we circled around (pun intended) on the topic! As we imagine you reading your ebook while relaxing on a hot summer day on the beach, enjoying a glass of Italian wine in your garden or sitting on a plane on your way to Italy, we added a crossword to let you test your newfound skills and have some fun at the same time. Finally, we included the lyrics of Andrea Bocelli's famous song Con Te Partir`o. What a better way to practice this musical language if not singing a wonderful song.Buon divertimento! www.italymag.co.uk2 Lesson 1: Amazing Food We all know famous Italian dishes such as Spaghetti, Lasagne, Pizza Margheri- ta, but what about some tasty Roman food treats? Suppl`ı: balls of rice in a little tomato sauce filled with mozzarella and deep fried Filetti di baccal`a: battered cod fillets Fiori di zucca: Courgette flowers which are deep fried and filled with mozzarella and anchovies. All of the above are called fritti (fried food) and are often eaten as an an- tipasto (starter) at the pizzeria. Roman pizze have a thinner and crispier base than Neapolitan style pizze. But what about some tasty Roman food treats? Suppl`ı: balls of rice in a little tomato sauce filled with mozzarella and deep fried. Filetti di baccal`a: battered cod fillets. Fiori di zucca: Courgette flowers which are deep fried and filled with moz- zarella and anchovies. All of the above are called fritti (fried food) and are often eaten as an an- tipasto (starter) at the pizzeria. Roman pizze have a thinner and crispier base than Neapolitan style pizze. Some Roman piatti (dishes) include: Pasta alla gricia: pasta with pancetta-like guanciale, pecorino cheese and pepper. Bucatini all'amatriciana: long pasta like spaghetti with a hole through the middle, the sauce is tomato based, with the ingredients used in gricia. Pasta cacio e pepe: pasta in a creamy pecorino cheese and black pepper sauce. Porchetta: roasted pork with herbs, garlic and black pepper, typical from www.italymag.co.uk3 the roman countryside. If we wanted to order food in a restaurant in Italy, we could use the follow- ing sentences: Prendo un suppl`ı: I'll have a rice ball. Prendo la pasta alla gricia: I'll have the pasta with guanciale and pecorino. To order drinks, we could say to the waiter: Posso avere una bottiglia di vino?: Can I have a bottle of wine? Posso avere dell'acqua?: Can I have some water? And if we like our food, we could express our pleasure with the following easy- to-remember adjectives: E` buono/a: It's nice (depending on whether the noun is masculine or fem- inine). E` buonissimo/a: It's really nice (depending on whether the noun is mas- culine or feminine). That's all for now, buon appetito (enjoy your meal)! www.italymag.co.uk4 Lesson 2: Stunning Landscape We explore the beautiful Italian landscape of Italy which varies from the nord (north) to the sud (south) of the peninsula and out to the isole (islands). Each regione (region) is different, and the the landscapes include: Citt`a: Cities Campagna: Countryside Paesi: Villages Montagne: Mountains Mare: Sea Colline: Hills Campi: Fields Vigneti: Vineyards Fiumi: Rivers Boschi: Woods Scogliere: Cliffs Vulcani: Volcanos Laghi: Lakes Canali: Canals Piste da sci: Ski slopes Spiagge: Beaches To ask for directions to these places in Italian, we would say: Dov' `ela spiaggia?: Where is the beach? Dove sono le montagne?: Where are the mountains? Il lago `equi vicino?: Is the lake near here? Quanto tempo ci vuole per arrivare sulle piste?: How long does it take to get to the slopes? E` lontana la citt`a?: Is the city far away? Come faccio ad arrivare in campagna?: How do I get to the countryside? To describe the landscape we can see, we can use adjectives like: Bello/a: Beautiful www.italymag.co.uk5 Stupendo/a: Wonderful Favoloso/a: Fabulous Fantastico/a: Fantastic Impressionante: Impressive Straordinario/a: Extraordinary Mozzafiato: Breathtaking Pittoresco/a: Picturesque Animato/a: Bustling, busy Some example sentences using the vocabulary above are: Il bosco `ebello: The wood is beautiful La vista `emozzafiato: The view is breathtaking I canali sono straordinari: The canals are extraordinary Il paese `eanimato: The town is bustling Quel vulcano `eimpressionante: That volcano is impressive Quest'isola `estupenda: This island is wonderful That's all for now, buon viaggio (enjoy your trip)! www.italymag.co.uk6 Lesson 3: Romantic language The romantic nature of Italy is instantly obvious when visiting places such as fairy-tale Venezia (Venice) and beautiful Verona where people flock to La casa di Giulietta (Juliet's house), made famous from Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. And at the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi fountain) in Roma, legend has it that if you throw one coin it means you'll return to Rome; throw two coins, you'll return to Rome and fall in love with an Italian; throw three coins, you'll return, find love, and marry an Italian! It has become popular for i giovani innamorati (young lovers) of Rome to hang i lucchetti (padlocks) on bridges to represent their everlasting amore (love). This tradition came about following a well-known romantic book writ- ten by Federico Moccia, which tells of a love story set in Rome. In fact, there are many books and films and songs about love in Italian, and here's an intro- duction to the vocabulary so you can understand or even experiment yourself when visiting romantic Italy. Frasi d'amore: Love phrases Ti voglio bene: (TVB): I love you (used with family and friends, express- es affection you feel for them, like `I wish all the best for you') Ti amo: I love you (in a romantic way) Ti adoro: I adore you Amore mio: My love Sono innamorato/a: I am in love (masculine / feminine) Sei la mia anima gemella: You are my soul mate Baciami: Kiss me Mi manchi: I miss you That's all for now, good luck with your storia d'amore (love story)! www.italymag.co.uk7 Lesson 4: Friendly People I've met many friendly people in Italy over the years, and below we look at the ways to express the different facets of friendship and universal personality traits in the Italian language. Amico/a: friend Migliore amico/a: best friend Amicizia: friendship Ti voglio bene (TVB): I love you (used with family and friends, expresses affection you feel for them, like `I wish all the best for you') Bacio: kiss Abbraccio: hug Carattere: character Personalit`a: personality Ottimista: optimist Pessimista: pessimist Socievole: sociable Estroverso: extrovert, outgoing Divertente: fun Buffo/a: funny Affidabile: trustworthy Diligente: hard-working Testardo/a: stubborn Geloso/a: jealous Egoista: selfish Orgoglioso/a: proud See below some proverbi sull'amicizia (proverbs on friendship): Chi trova un amico trova un tesoro: He who finds a friend, finds a treasure. Nel bisogno si conosce l'amico: A friend in need is a friend indeed. L'amico non `econosciuto finch´enon `eperduto: You don't truly know a friend until you lose him. www.italymag.co.uk8 Meglio soli che mal accompagnati: It's better to be alone rather than with bad company. Cuor sincero, amico vero: A sincere heart, a true friend. E` meglio il morso di un amico che il bacio di un nemico: A bite from a friend is better than a kiss from an enemy. L'amico certo si conosce nell'incerto: In times of difficulty, you'll know your true friends. L'amico di tutti non `eamico di nessuno: A friend of everyone is a friend of no one. Se trovi un amico nuovo non obliar l'antico: If you find a new friend don't forget your old one. That's all for now, un bacio a tutti i miei amici (a kiss to all my friends)! **** Alesha Keene is an Oxford graduate of Italian who is now back in London after years spent living and working in Rome as a language teacher and PR consultant. Alesha is CEO and Italian teacher at Alesha's Italian Masterclass, which runs Italian immersion courses at authentic Italian caf´e'in Borough Market (Lon- don Bridge). You can contact her at mailto:[email protected] or through Facebook or Twitter.