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You’re going to find…

Italian Alphabet - Pronunciation (Italian alphabet - pronunciation)

Pronunciation Tips (Tips on a pronunciation)

Combinations of letters (letters Combinations)

Maybe you didn’t know that…

Vocabulary: Numbers (0-20) and Hello&Goodbye

A short dialogue

First useful and basic sentences

Something about Italy and a little tip!

Exercises and Key at the end of the lesson in order to define how much you’ve learnt

Let’s begin!/Iniziamo!

ITALIAN ALPHABET PRONUNCIATION A /a/ B /b/ C* /tʃ/ (“ciao”, hello) or /k/ (“casa”, house) D /d/ E* /e/ or /ɛ/ (“effetto”, effect) F /f/ G* /g/ (“gatto”, cat) or /dʒ/ (“gioco”, game) H* – I* /i/ (“influenza”, influence) L /l/ M /m/ N /n/ O /o/ or /ɔ/ P /p/ Q /k/ R /r/ S* /s/ (“sale”, salt) or /z/ (“sbaglio”, mistake) T /t/ U* /u/ or /w/ (“uva”, grape) V* /v/ (“vaso”, jar) Z* /ts/ o /dz/ (“calza”, sock) or (“zaino”, schoolbag)

*These letters are the most difficult ones to pronounce for the native English speakers who are learning Italian.

PRONUNCIATION TIPS

C can be pronounced /k/ like in “car” or “tʃ” like in “chat”.

E is never pronounced as /i/.

G can be pronounced /g/ like in “goal” or /dʒ/ like in “jeans”.

I is always pronounced /i/.

H is always silent but in CH and GH: in these cases CH is pronounced as /k/ (“chiesa”, church)and GH as /g/ (“ghetto”, guetto).

R is softer than in English.

S and Z both have two different pronunciations but most of Italian speakers don’t even notice the difference because it is very small so…don’t worry about it!

U is always pronounced like “oo” in English (for instance in the word “pool”).

The trick to pronounce perfectly V is to press gently your upper teeth on your lower lip.

Combinations of letters:

Sometimes you can find words such as SCENDERE (to go down) or SCIARE (to ski). The pronunciation of the combination SC is pronounced like English SH (shy, show…).

GL (“gli”, the) is pronounced as LL in Spanish. There are exceptions but now it’s not important for you to know them because they’re inusual words.

GN (“gnomo”, gnome) is pronounced as NY in canyon or like the Spanish sound Ñ.

Maybe you didn’t know that…

In Italian we use J, K, W, X and Y but, usually, that’s just because we use a lot of words from other languages, above all from English, such as COMPUTER, BUSINESS, etc.

EXCERCISES (Key at the end of the lesson)

Choose the right answer (in the brackets you can find a little help: the translation of the right word).

a)      chiao/ciao (hello)

b) chiaro / Ciaro (clear)

c)      quattro/cuattro (four)

d) As / quanto (how much)

e) Ghatto / cat (cat)

f) war / querra (war)

g)      anghelo/angelo (angel)

h)      cara/chara (expensive)

i)        gara/ghara (race)

j)        ghetto/guetto (guetto)

k)      gola/ghola (throat)

Right answers / Correct answers: ... / 11

Choose only the words with the sound /k/ (in the brackets you can find the translation of the words in Italian)

a)      scala (stairs)

b) the church (church)

c) box (square)

d)     maccheroni (macaroni)

e)      celeste (sky-blue)

f)       camino (path)

g) the custodian (guardian)

h) speed (speed)

Right answers / Correct answers: ... / 8

Choose only the words with the sound /g/ (in the brackets you can find the translation of the words)

a) oath (swear)

b)      gesto (gesture)

c) guide (guides)

d) lines (stripes)

e)      gonna (skirt)

f)       strategia (strategy)

g)      ghirlanda (garland)

h)      rogo (stake)

Right answers: …/8

VOCABULARY

NUMBERS - NUMBERS (0-20)

0 ZERO

1 ONE

2 DUE

3 THREE

4 QUATTRO

5 FIVE

6 SEI

7 FITTING

8 OTTO

9 NEW

10 TEN

11 ELEVEN

12 TWELVE

13 THIRTEEN

14 FOURTEEN

15 FIFTEEN

16 SIXTEEN

17 SEVENTEEN

18 EIGHTEEN

19 NINETEEN

20 TWENTY

HELLO AND GOODBYE – SALUTI

CIAO = HELLO, HI but also BYE

BUONGIORNO = GOOD MORNING

BUON POMERIGGIO = GOOD AFTERNOON (actually it is not very usual)

BUONASERA = GOOD EVENING

BUONANOTTE = GOODNIGHT

ARRIVEDERCI = GOODBYE

A PRESTO = SEE YOU SOON

A SHORT DIALOGUE - A LITTLE DIALOGUE

WELCOME! (WELCOME!)

Sarah and Will are American students and they want to learn Italian. They decided to go Italy in order to study there and to practice. It’s their first day in Italy and they’ve just got at the flat they are going to share with an Italian boy, Marco.

Sarah and Will are two American students who want to learn Italian. They made the decision to go to Italy to study and practice. It's their first day in Italy and have just arrived at the apartment who will share with an Italian guy, Marco.

Marco: Hello! Welcome!

Sarah: Hello! I'm Sarah!

Will: My name's Will! What's your name?

Marco: My name is Mark. Where are you from?

Sarah: We're Americans. And you?

Marco: I am Italian. How old are you?

Will: My name is Will! What’s your name?

MY NAME IS ... / = MY NAME IS ... MY NAME IS ...

COME TI CHIAMI? = WHAT’S YOUR NAME?

WHERE YOU COME FROM? / WHERE ARE YOU? = WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

4. Try to answer! You can find the right answers at the end of the lesson.

What is the name of Will roommate (flatmate) and Sarah? How Old Will? Where are Sarah and Will?

Right answers / Correct answers: ... / 3

WRITE ABOUT YOURSELF! - WRITE ABOUT YOURSELF!

Write a short text about yourself using the sentences you’ve just learnt: what’s your name? How old are you? Where are you from?

Write a short text about yourself using the phrases you've just learned: what's your name? How old are you? Where are you from?

EXERCISES - Exercises (KEY AT THE END OF THE LESSON - SOLUTIONS AT THE END OF LESSON)

NUMBERS - NUMBERS

5. Look at the images and write the numbers in letters.

Look at the pictures and write the numbers in words.

Right answers / Correct answers: ... / 10

HELLO AND GOODBYE – SALUTI

6. Look at the images. Write the right greeting.

Look at the pictures. Write the correct greeting.

Right answers / Correct answers: ... / 4

SOMETHING ABOUT ITALY AND A LITTLE TIP!

The Italian peninsula is called “lo stivale” (“the boot”) because of its shape.

The Italian peninsula is called "boot" for its shape.

If you want to practice Italian and if you use social networks such as Facebook or MySpace change the language in the setting and choose Italian! You’re going to learn many new words without any effort!

If you want to practice your Italian and if you use social networks like Facebook or MySpace changes the language in the settings and choose the Italian! You will learn many new words without any effort!

KEY

hello / light / four / what / cat / War / Angel / darling / race / ghetto / throat scale / church / box / macaroni / fireplace / caretaker / guide lines / skirt / garland / pyre The roommate of Will and Sarah is called Marco / will is 22 years old / Sarah and will are two from the USA / thirteen / ten / seven / five / nine / seven / five / eight / six hello / good morning / afternoon / good night

Right answers / Correct answers: ... / 47

If your right answers are 40/47…ok!!Good job!

If your right answers are 30/39…maybe you should repeat something…Look at your answers and understand where you made more mistakes then repeat the related topics.

If your right answers are 0/29…review carefully the whole lesson and then try again to succeed!