Here's a fun way to learn some Italian words and phrases with 5 easy Italian language games. Italian is such a beautiful, melodious language, and learning some basic vocabulary and pronunciation is not that hard at all. Try a couple of these easy Italian games. You'll become familiar with some typical Italian words and sounds, and you may well end up falling in love with the Italian language.
A good place to start are a few common greetings and expressions. Even if that's all you know, it's a great way to engage with Italian speakers, and locals if you're traveling in Italy. When you play the game, imitate the pronunciation of the speaker - out loud. It's all about "mouth mechanics". Just thinking the words in Italian won't make you them sound them out right in Italian.
1. Hello, Goodbye, etc.
Greetings and polite phrases should definitely be in your language kit. They signal respect and friendliness. Click on Italian Language Game: Hello, Goodbye, etc., to learn and practice these essential words and phrases. They'll become automatic in no time, you'll see. Being able to say them "like a native" will definitely boost your confidence when in you're in an Italian setting. Here's what you'll learn in Game 1: • Ciao - Hi • Buongiorno - Good morning • Benvenuto - Welcome • Per favore - Please • Grazie - Thanks • Prego - You're welcome • Bene - Okay • Mi scusi - Excuse me • Arrivederci - Goodbye
2. Italian Numbers 1-20
Italian Numbers 1-20 are a good next step. Not only do numbers contain typical Italian sounds, they are really easy to practice even when you're doing something else. Count steps when you walk, count pushups or weight reps when you exercise, count when you're cutting your veggies, the list can go on. Click on Uno-Due-Tre: Italian Numbers You can Learn, where you'll find Language Games for Italian Numbers 1-20, as well as another game for Italian Numbers 21 and beyond. This is what you'll learn in Game 2: • 1 uno • 2 due • 3 tre • etc.
3. Italian Question Words
Question Words are the language tools you need for getting information, even if your Italian is limited. You'll use them for shopping, finding your way, getting together with others, learning what a word means, fixing the time when meeting someone, etc.
Click on Italian Language Game: 8 Question Words. They are easy to pronounce, but to keep them apart you'll need a little practice. Give them a try! Here's what you'll learn in Game 3: • quando - when • quale - which • quanto - how much • come - how • dove - where • chi - who • perché - why • che cosa - what (With Italian 2 for Travel on our - also completely free - sister site, Lingo-Late.com, you can learn and practice 12 questions with “Mi scusi, dov'è...? [Excuse me, where is...? ] - quite useful when traveling and looking for directions.)
4. Present Tense of "essere" - to be
As a next step, you may want to learn the present tense forms of the irregular verb "essere" - to be. Note that in Italian, personal pronouns (I, you, he, she etc.) are often left out unless they are needed for context or clarity. We include them at first in the game, then drop them in some of the easy practice sentences. Click on the Italian Language Game: Essere - Present Tense. Here's what you'll learn in Game 4: • io sono - I am • tu sei - you are (familiar) • lui/lei è - he/she is • noi siamo - we are • siete - you are (plural) • loro sono - they are
Passato prossimo with the present tense forms of "essere":
Note that the present tense forms of "essere" are also used to form the "passato prossimo", the Italian tense you use to talk about past events and actions that are finished. "Essere" as an auxiliary verb is used mainly with verbs of motion, those expressing change, or verbs that are intransitive. Examples: lui è arrivato (he arrived, he has arrived); noi siamo andati (we went).
5. Present Tense of "avere" - to have
Finally, here's a game to learn and practice the present tense of "avere" - to have. Again, the personal pronouns are included at first and then dropped in a couple of the easy practice sentences. Click on the Italian Language Game: Avere - Present Tense. Here's what you'll learn in Game 5: • io ho - I have • tu hai - you have (familiar) • lui/lei ha - he/she has • noi abbiamo - we have • voi avete - you(pl) have • loro hanno - they have
Passato prossimo with the present tense forms of "avere":
Note that the present tense forms of "avere" are also used to form the "passato prossimo", the Italian tense you use to talk about completed past events and actions. "Avere" as an auxiliary verb is used with most verbs (besides movement verbs, verbs expressing change, and intransitive verbs). Examples: io ho mangiato. (I ate, I've eaten); noi abbiamo comprato (we bought, we've bought).
A few easy language games, even if they're fun, won't make you fluent. But they're a start. And if they've put you on the language learning road, it's a good thing. Learning new skills, discovering new places, making new, international friends, is an exciting part of being alive, right?
If our games are not enough and you want to improve your Italian further we can recommend the following sites: 1. Think in Italian. Our post: Think in Italian - Updated Review gives you some insight into how the program works. This is a Partner site and we earn a small fee (at no additional cost to you) if you subscribe after the free trial. 2. Italiano ON-air. We just added this site to our Resource page. The podcasts are currently free and you can greatly improve your Italian listening skills, if you are far enough along.
Do you have Italian travel memories or are you dreaming about visiting Venice? Exploring this romantic and historic city will leave you with lots of wonderful memories.
Our first Italian Travel Memories post covered Pisa, where Marco, the young traveler in our Italian 1 travel-story course, visits his aunt and uncle. He then takes the train to Florence, and Venice is his third stop in Italy.
In this installment - Marco in Venice, we'll follow Marco's explorations of Venice. For those of you who are doing or have done our "Italian 1 course: Marco in Italia", these additional details will complement those in the course.
Our series of Travel posts tell you about our own travel as well as more about each of the cities of GamesforLanguage's travel-story based courses. We typically use the cities' names of the streets, hotels, squares, restaurants, etc. and we've been to many of them ourselves.
In our free travel-story courses you learn everyday conversational language. Here, we've listed a few additional basic words and phrases in Italian that will help you in your travels.
Brief Facts about Venice
The city of Venice is located in the northeast of Italy. It is the capital of the Veneto, one of Italy's 20 regions (regioni). Venice is also a Metropolitan City (città metropolitana), which includes the city of Venice and 43 other municipalities (comuni).
Venice's origins are traditionally said to date back to the dedication of its first church, San Giacomo in 421 A.D. The name Venice may be derived from the ancient Veneti people who lived in the region many centuries earlier.
Early on, the area of Venice was a Roman/Byzantine outpost. From the 9th to the 12th century, Venice developed into a city state (the other three being Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi).
With its strategic position at the head of the Adriatic, Venice became an international trade and finance center with considerable naval power.
From the late 7th century until the end of the 18th century, Venice was ruled by a Doge, who was elected for life by the city's aristocracy. The word "doge" is the Venetian dialect version of the Latin "dux" (leader) and related to the English word "duke".
After the Napoleonic wars and the Congress of Vienna (1815), Venice was annexed by the Austrian Empire. Italy was unified in 1861. In 1866, Venice became part of the Kingdom of Italy. In 1946 Italy's monarchy was abolished by a constitutional referendum.
Because of its rich cultural heritage and unusual urban layout, Venice has become one of Europe's most popular tourist destination. The city stands on an archipelago of 118 small islands that are connected by 400 foot bridges and 170 boat canals.
The lagoon and the historic part of the city are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Marco's Arrival in Venice
Marco's train trip from Florence to Venice takes him two hours or so. He arrives at Venezia Santa Lucia, Venice's main train station.
From there, he takes the Vaporetto - water bus - on the Grand Canal to his hotel Antica Locanda al Gambero, located on Calle dei Fabbri, just a few minutes from the Rialto Bridge. (Going to the hotel on foot would have taken him about 20 minutes.)
The historic city of Venice is divided into 6 administrative districts called "sestieri". They are: Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro, Santa Croce, San Marco, and Castello.
The hotel Al Gambero is situated in the small, historic quarter (sistiere) of San Marco, where many of the city's landmarks are. He checks in, gets a key, and finds out how he can connect to the hotel's Wi-Fi.
Useful Italian Vocabulary
• il vaporetto - the water taxi • il sestiere - district, quarter, neighborhood • prenotare - to make a reservation • l'albergo - the hotel • una camera - a room • il passaporto - the passporto • la chiave - the key
Piazza San Marco
Next day after breakfast, Marco walks over to the Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square). It is usually just called "la Piazza". That is because all other squares in Venice are called "campi" (fields), with the exception of Piazzale Roma. A "piazzale" is a large, open square, and Piazzale Roma serves as the main bus station for Venice and major entrance to the city.
Piazza San Marco (Photo by Francesco La Corte on Unsplash) is named after Venice's patron saint, San Marco, who received that honor in the middle of the 9th century. It was an assertion of the city's independence, and soon after, the building of the basilica began.
For a narrative of the eventful history of la Piazza, see this Wiki Link.
Piazza San Marco is a beautiful square, beloved by visitors and locals alike. At one end stands the stunning Basilica San Marco. Around the other sides of the grand square you'll find many shops, restaurants, and cafés. As you sit and sip your aperitif, it's always fun to watch what's going on: street musicians playing, kids chasing the pigeons, people hurrying about. It's a great place to linger and meet others.
Useful Italian Vocabulary
• il giorno dopo - the next day • camminare - to walk • la piazza - the square • il piazzale - the (large, open) square • il campo - the field (in certain cities: square) • l'autostazione - the bus station
The Doge's Palace
Marco has a wonderful time strolling through the Palazzo Ducale, which is also located in the sestiere San Marco. Dating back to the 14th century, the Palazzo Ducale is considered a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, with layers of building elements added over the centuries.
The inside rooms and corridors of the Palazzo Ducale are lavishly decorated and filled with collections of paintings and with statues.
Marco is especially interested in the wall and ceiling paintings of Jacopo Tintoretto (1518/19–1594) a master of the Venetian School.
Campo Santa Margherita
In the evening, Marco gets together with Claudia, a student he had met, and some of her friends. They have dinner at the storied Caffè Florian on Piazza San Marco. Then they walk to Campo Santa Margherita, which is located in the sestiere of Dorsoduro.
Originally an industrial area, Dorsoduro is now an artsy, bohemian neighborhood with museums, galleries, palazzos, churches, bars, restaurants, and of course, "gelaterias" (ice-cream parlors). Since the 18th century, Dorsoduro has attracted painters, sculptors, writers, collectors, etc. It's a great place to spend an evening and is frequented by local students and art lovers alike.
Useful Italian Vocabulary
• il pittore - the painter • lo scrittore - the writer • un palazzo - a large building • una chiesa - a church • una gelateria - an ice-cream parlor • lo studente - the student (m) • la studentessa - the student (f)
Saint Mark's Campanile
On Marco's last day in Venice, Claudia suggests they go up Saint Mark's Bell Tower, il Campanile di San Marco. At 98.6 meters high (323 ft), the bell tower offers a gorgeous view of Venice and the Venetian Lagoon.
Have you been to Venice? We'd love to hear some of your suggestions and travel memories!
Marco's Next Stop
From Venice, Michael flies to Rome, the last stop on his Italy trip. That's our last Italian travel memories post. From the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, he finds his way by train and tram to the historic Trastevere neighborhood, where his aunt Grazia lives. As a welcoming meal, she makes "saltimbocca". After dinner, they take a little walk (una passeggiatina) to the Colosseum. The next day, they visit the famous Piazza Navona and afterwards go to a wine bar on Campo de' Fiori.
Ten years ago, GamesforLanguage started out as an experiment and family project: a language teacher and course editor, a retired engineer, a computer programmer (our son) and his graphic designer wife collaborated on what has turned out to be a fun and rewarding enterprise.
Over the years, we've had a steady stream of users and have gotten valuable feedback. We've also found plenty of incentive for our own language learning by using our own courses, joining online language learning groups and trying out other language programs and apps.
Our site is free to all - without any Google advertisements - a fact that more and more teachers and parents seem to appreciate as well. You can play our Quick Games and Podcasts, and read our Blog Posts by just clicking on the links.
Only our language Courses require a simple registration. This way, players can pick-up the story and continue learning and practicing where they last logged off.
At the beginning of a new year, we usually look back to determine what has interested our users most. Over the last few months of 2020, we've noticed a substantial increase in groups playing our Quick Games and travel-story Courses.
Registrations increased by users with an institutional email address, in particular schools. Most of the students registered that way play Courses in addition to Quick Games.
Although we don't know the email addresses of users who just play Quick Games, Podcasts, or read our Blog Posts, we are able to identify which content receives the most traffic.
Travel Story Courses
Our original purpose for Gamesforlanguage was to combine the idea of learning a new language with a travel story and fun games. Being language learners ourselves, we've used (and are still using) many different language programs.
Not surprisingly, it was our German courses that had the most players from registered users last year. This may also be due to the fact that we have two(2) 36-lesson German courses, as well as an active German Facebook page.
If German or any of our other languages - French, Italian, and Spanish - interest you, click on the registration page or the screenshot above, and register. (Our Course English for Spanish Speakers is still in development and has 3 levels at this time.)
Quick Games
We currently have over 300 Quick Language Games, and we are adding new games every few weeks. These can be played by just clicking on the Quick Games link on our website and selecting the language you want to practice.
Each fun game only takes a couple of minutes or so. It helps you practice a few words, a grammar point or some typical phrases.
We post one of the nearly 90 Quick German Games every weekday on our German Facebook page, Learn German -A Game A Day.
Since we started Gamesforlanguage in January 2011, we've added nearly 400 Blog Posts about language learning, travel experiences, and related topics. That's an average of over 3 posts per month.
It's always interesting to see which of the older posts have become perennials. Our 2013 post about La Paloma Lyrics - Learning Spanish with a Song, was also a favorite in 2020. (And if you like that idea for learning Spanish, we can suggest one of our partner sites, Language-Zen.)
For those who have tried our travel-story based Courses, it's no surprise that we like stories for learning and practice. We are obviously not the only ones. Our 2016 post: Why Polyglots Also Use Stories for Language Learning has been very popular.
And, as it's quite a short post, we're always surprised to see the 2013 entry - Quick French: “On y va”, “Allons-y!” - to be on our most read list year after year!
Podcasts
We have not yet promoted and expanded our Podcasts. (Something we're going to focus on in 2021.) Most of our podcasts are the MP3 audios and chapters of each of our courses.
We believe that listening to the story BEFORE or AFTER playing a course lesson, helps you to internalize the sound and rhythm of the language and to memorize the phrases.
We are planning to add more Podcasts about Language Learning, Culture and Travel.
We're hopeful that in the fall of 2021, we can again travel to Europe. In any case, until travel is safe again, there' s plenty of time to practice languages online, to read books, to listen to podcasts and to watch foreign movies.
Updating our earlier “Ripeti con me!” review requires a clarification: The conversational Italian audio course is now online, as part of "Think in Italian", a large offering of materials, which also include short readings, study tips, grammar points, a free ebook, etc. All the material is available online on the website for a Monthly or Yearly Subscription, or for a One-off Lifetime Membership.
To receive a 50% discount on the first month through us, click HERE, scroll down to I WANT TO LEARN* and enter your email.
When its founder, Stefano Lodola, contacted us about updating our review, I was actually still practicing with his downloadable course “Ripeti con me!”, while preparing lunch or taking walks.
However, I quickly realized that Stefano has made major changes for his new site Think in Italian. He has expanded the original audio course; he is continually adding reading and listening materials grouped together as "Leggi con me!"; and you'll also find a large number of free resources to accelerate your learning.
A personalized dashboard will help you plan and monitor your learning path. Everything is now accessible online on his new site Think in Italian.
Thus, the audio course “Ripeti con me!” is part of a much larger offering of "comprehensible input" for learning Italian. That means, you'll find plenty of language material that's on your level and which you can understand from context, even though you might not know all the words and grammar patterns.
The new material on the site - described further below - supports and enhances what I really like about the original audio course.
Stefano Lodola is an Italian polyglot, language teacher and translator, who now speaks 12 languages. As I mentioned in my earlier review, he's also an opera singer with a wonderful voice. You'll hear that in the lessons of the "Ripeti con me!" Italian audio course.
Learning Italian online with Think in Italian will have you choose different plans:
Ripeti con me!
Update (11/2022): The course Ripeti con me! is still the core of "Think in Italian". There are now 250 lessons, instead of the original 45.
The simple and effective lesson format has not changed, but with the increased number of lessons, you'll acquire much more vocabulary and become familiar with a much wider range of grammatical patterns.
Go to our detailed description of the Ripeti con me lesson format. To try the lessons out for yourself, make use of Stefano's free 7-day Trial.
The goal of the audio course is to get you to think in Italian right away, and to make speaking increasingly automatic. That's what fluency is about, right?
Leggi con me!
Italian Short Stories
These stories are for beginners and intermediate learners and are read by a native speaker at a slow but natural pace. You'll have a transcript as well as an English translation.
One advantage of learning with stories is that it trains you to guess meaning from context, which is pretty much how we learn a language in an immersion situation.
News in Slow Italian
We all live in a world that bombards us with news. We read news and talk about it on a daily basis.
But news stories use vocabulary and grammar patterns that are often different from fictional or personal stories that we read and tell.
So, part of being fluent also means understanding and speaking about local and global news events.
Italian Conversations
Mastering daily conversations is a fluency skill of its own. In conversations, native Italian speakers often use extra little filler words (beh, boh, allora, dai, tipo, cioè, insomma, etc) that act as conversational bridges or show that you're listening.
And they use specific sounds (mmh, ehm, uhm) that break a silence or signal a hesitation or reaction to what's being said. To sound natural, you need to learn to understand these filler words and sounds and use them yourself.
With the conversations, you'll learn plenty of conversational vocabulary, but you'll also learn how to use those little important filler words and sounds while talking.
The Italian conversations are for beginners and intermediate speakers, and come with slow audio, transcripts and English translation.
Update (10/26/2022): Leggi con me is a growing collection of now 600+ stories, news pieces, conversations, plus newly added jokes and songs/
Free "Think in Italian" Resources
Italian Grammar Lessons
Whether you hate it or love it, grammar is "the system or structure of a language", as defined in the Oxford Dictionary. You'll find that becoming aware of basic grammar patterns will boost your fluency.
The good news is that when we learn a language, we start to absorb its grammar patterns automatically. Kids do that already very early with their native language.
Doing grammar exercises is simply a way of learning to figure out how a language hangs together. The audio course "Ripeti con me!" introduces a basic grammar pattern in each lesson. It's a great way to internalize grammar and make it automatic.
The section with Italian grammar lessons just gives you some rules and explanations if you want them.
Online Italian Test
To check your Italian Level with immediate feedback, you can take a quick test. That too is a resource for learning and improving your Italian.
Learn Italian (a Polyglot's Tips for Mastering Italian)
The Think in Italian Blog provides a wealth of hacks, resources and inspiration to language learners. Topics include: How to talk about your family in Italian, Italian curse words, Learn foreign words with these 4 simple mnemonics, Speaking practice: talk to yourself, and many more.
On this page you should also check out the bottom section entitled: "How to Master Italian? With these tips!" You'll see a list of over 50 language learning tips and further resources from fellow polyglots.
The Dashboard
Once you've created an account and signed in, you can go to your personal dashboard. There you'll see all the content you signed up for and any free resources.
The dashboard shows you what lesson you were on last, so you can continue where you left off.
You'll see any lessons and readings that you've marked as completed, and you can bookmark any content you want to track. You can quickly check your account, and access the FAQ's and further support.
To receive a 50% discount on the first month through us, click HERE, scroll down to I WANT TO LEARN* and enter your email.
In my experience, you become fluent in a language only if you engage with it consistently and make an effort to speak frequently. It's great, of course, to have a Italian speaker as a frequent conversation partner.
But what also works really well for improving your fluency is "shadowing" a native speaker. You can do that, for example, by listening to the Italian - spoken sentences, conversations, short stories, news pieces - and repeating what's being said right along with the speaker or a split-second after the speaker says it.
I'm currently fluent in four languages, and find that I'm well on my way to becoming fluent in Italian, too. My practice with Ripeti con me! is clearly helping me, as are the various techniques that polyglots commonly use, and which Stefano describes so well on his site.
A 7-day trial with daily engagement is probably the best way to become familiar with all that's available.
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She's a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments right here below!
Disclosure: "Think in Italian" is one of our partner sites. If you subscribe for a month through us,Gamesforlanguage will receive a small commission, which will let us keep our site free of Google ads and other advertisements. As an affiliate, we were given three months full access to "Think in Italian".
Following our recent posts about German and French idioms, we are now looking at 12 Italian idioms.
A few years ago, we lived for several months in Rome, on Via di Genovesi in the Trastevere neighborhood. Our apartment was located directly across from a small restaurant, Le Mani in Pasta (Photo by Jorge Zapata on Unsplash)
It was then a restaurant for locals and none of the waiters spoke English. We loved going there. Our Italian at the time was still quite rudimentary and it was a fun challenge to order from the Italian-only menu. (The restaurant has since expanded and continues to be popular. A nephew who had dinner there with his family early this year liked it very much!)
As new Italian learners, we were puzzled by the form “le mani”, but our tutor explained that “the hand” in Italian is feminine: it's "la mano, le mani". What had obviously thrown us off was that most Italian nouns ending with “o” are masculine.
(Sometimes a look at related languages helps. It's “la main” in French, and - no surprise - “la mano” in Spanish. And even in German, the word hand happens to be feminine: “die Hand”.)
1. Avere le mani in pasta
Idiom: to have a finger in the pie Literally: to have the hands in dough Explanation: To be involved, especially in a business matter, or situation of power. Italian: Essere addentro a qualcosa, in particolare a una questione d'affari, o a una situazione di potere.
2. Avere le mani di pasta frolla
Idiom: to be a butterfingers Literally: to have pastry-dough hands; "pasta frolla" = shortcut pastry Explanation: To be someone who drops things they are carrying or trying to catch, to be clumsy, awkward, not careful, not know how to do something or do it badly. Italian: Essere goffi, impacciati, non accurati, non saper fare nulla o farlo male.
3. Calcare la mano
Idiom: to lay it on with a trowel Literally: to tread or press down on the hand Explanation: To exaggerate, especially regarding a punishment or accusation. Italian: Esagerare in rigore e severità, soprattutto se riferito a una punizione, un'accusa.
4. Non perdere la mano
Idiom: to keep your hand in Literally: to not lose the hand Explanation: To not get out of the habit of doing something. Italian: Non perdere l'abitudine di fare qualcosa.
5. Essere in gamba
Idiom: to be on the ball (Photo by Jeffrey F Lin on Unsplash) Literally: to be on your feet Explanation: To be in good health. Also more broadly speaking, to be smart, skillful, expert, efficient. The first meaning alludes to the fact that a sick person is generally in bed and does not use their legs. Italian: In buona salute. In senso lato anche intelligente, abile, esperto, efficiente. Nel significato primo, allude al fatto che una persona malata sta generalmente a letto e quindi non usa le gambe.
6. Fare il passo piu lungo della gamba
Idiom: to bite off more than you can chew Literally: to take a step longer than the leg Explanation: To risk going beyond one's own possibilities. Italian: Arrischiarsi oltre le proprie possibilità.
7. Prendere qualcuno in giro
Idiom: to pull someone's leg, take somebody for a ride Literally: to take someone for a stroll Explanation: To make fun of a person, mock, taunt or fool someone. Italian: Farsi beffe di una persona, burlarla, canzonarla.
8. Tenere un piede in due scarpe
Idiom: to keep a foot in both camps Literally: to have a foot in two shoes Explanation: Staying involved in two situations (groups of people, opinions etc), while trying to profit from both of them. Italian: Barcamenarsi tra due situazioni cercando di trarre profitto da entrambe.
9. Si è dato la zappa sui piedi
Idiom: to shoot yourself in the foot Literally: He has given himself a hoe on the feet Explanation: To hurt oneself, to come to harm oneself, particularly in a fit of anger. It's used especially when someone hurts themselves while thinking they is harming someone else. Italian: Farsi del male, procurarsi un danno, detto in particolare di chi agisce avventatamente o spinto dall'ira. Usato soprattutto a proposito di finisce per nuocere a se stesso pensando di danneggiare qualcun altro.
10. Ormai la frittata è fatta
Idiom: You can't unscramble eggs. Literally: At this point the omelet has been made. (Photo by Cooker King on Unsplash) Explanation: An exclamation that expresses resignation about a mess that was made. Italian: Esclamazione, esprime rassegnazione per un guaio ormai avvenuto.
11. Rivoltare la frittata
Idiom: to turn the tables on somebody Literally: to flip over the omelet Explanation: To turn around a discussion, to change a situation to your advantage. Italian: Rigirare un discorso, capovolgere una situazione a proprio vantaggio.
12. Avere grilli per la testa
Idiom: to have a head full of nonsense Literally: to have crickets in the head Explanation: To have strange, bizarre or overly ambitious ideas. Italian: Avere idee stravaganti, bizzarre o troppo pretenziosi.
Since our stay in Trastevere, Rome, we've continued to have fun learning Italian in various ways and with various programs. Building our own GamesforLanguage site - together with native-language writers and speakers - has been a direct way to keep our hands in the language dough.
And, especially now that travel has become more complicated, our site and our blog has allowed us to connect with an ever growing online language community. For more Italian Idioms check also The Intrepid Guide or Dizionario modi di dire
Sometimes, your day can just become a little brighter after you have been pleasantly surprised. In this case it concerned my glasses. And here is the little story:
During our recent skiing vacation, Ulrike and I decided to walk down to Gstaad. We had skied the day before, and in the evening I discovered that one of the little nose pads on my glasses was missing.
It's about an hour's walk through fields and past chalets to get to Gstaad from Schoenried, where we usually stay. On this day, the weather felt like spring and there was no snow. (Snow was to arrive the next day.)
Mirage – Gstaad, Switzerland
On our way down, we visited Mirage Gstaad, a house made of mirrors that stands in the middle of an open field. It's another installation of such a house by the well-known American artist Doug Aitken.
The outside walls mirror the beautiful natural scenery that surrounds the house. Inside, as you go through the rooms, you see yourself move reflected in dozens of images.
Gstaad Mirage has become quite a destination for many visitors in the Gstaad area and is an interesting idea. As one of the Italian visitors called out: Che bella idea!
"Offerieren" @ Optik Gstaad
But on to my quest for those little nose pads. Normally, in the US I find pads like that in a drugstore, but I knew it was unlikely that a Gstaad pharmacy or a “Drogerie” (i.e. drugstore) would have them.
In Switzerland, shops are more specialized than in the US. When we asked at a Drogerie, the clerk pointed us to “Optik Gstaad”, the only optician in town.
There I showed my glasses with the missing nose pad to a friendly saleswoman, and she understood immediately. I also asked her for a couple of extra pads in case I should lose another one. She nodded, suggested that we take a seat and disappeared to the back of the store. I had expected that she would just sell me a bag with a few pads.
About 15 minutes later – I was already wondering what could take so long – a young man appeared holding a silver tray: on it were my spotlessly clean glasses, with one new and one replaced nose pad, as well as two additional pads and a little bag on the side.
As I moved over to the payment counter – already trying to calculate what this little repair might cost – the young man wouldn't have any of it and said in Swiss German: “... mi möchtn's offerieren!”. I didn't really catch the first part of his explanation. But it took me only a moment to understand what he meant, i.e. that there was not going to be any charge, neither for the replacement nor for the extra pads.
In fact, in this context “offerieren” did not just mean “to offer” - the usual translation, but to offer the provided service (and product) for free.
I thanked him in my best Swiss German and put on my glasses. As I left the store, the world looked indeed very bright and clear through them.
And where do you think, I will buy my next sun glasses? This Swiss business clearly understood how good will is created. Rather than selling me a few Silicon pads for a Swiss Frank or two, the folks at Optik Gstaad understood that they are also in the service business. (And if you should be traveling to Switzerland in the near future you'll find travel tips in All about Swiss.)
“Offro io” – It's on me, my treat ...
Why did I understand, after only a moment's surprise, what the young man was telling me? Maybe it was because I had recently played our Italian Quick Game: “In an Italian Café”. The game starts with the expression “Offro io”, which means, I offer it, it's on me.
In English, "to offer something" generally means to provide something, free or with a condition attached. The other person can accept or reject the offer.
“Darf ich Ihnen einen Cognac offerieren?” - May I offer you a Cognac? If you hear this question asked at a dinner party, you don't expect to have to pay for it. On the other hand, if a waiter asks you that in a restaurant at the end of your dinner, and you accept, you'd better expect to see the charge for it on your check.
So the meaning of “offerieren” and “to offer” without any condition, will very much depend on the context and situation in which it is used.
As a noun, “die Offerte”, just translates as “the proposal” for a service and/or product and typically includes conditions such as price, delivery schedule, etc. It's used quite frequently in business German.
Well, that's the true fun of learning a language: It gets you out of your monolingual corner and opens you up to surprising moments of discovery and pleasant personal encounters. That way, life becomes so much brighter and more interesting.
[Updated: 11/2022] Learning Italian? Check out "Ripeti con me!", the conversational Italian audio course that gets you to Think in Italian.
For a 50% discount of your first month click HERE, scroll down to the form I WANT TO LEARN*, and enter your email. Your subscription includes "Ripeti con me" (250 audio lessons from Beginners to Advanced), "Leggi con me" (600+ short readings with audio and translation), plus a host of complementary materials. All the material is available online on a Monthly or Yearly subscription plan or as a One-off Lifetime Membership Plan.
Note: We originally reviewed Stefano Lodola's "Ripeti con me" Italian audio course in 11/ 2018. More recently, in 11/ 2020, we wrote an update of this course, which had been expanded and moved online as part of Stefano new site "Think in Italian".
When Stefano wrote to ask us about reviewing his audio course "Ripeti con me!" for learning Italian, we were happy to try it out.
Stefano is an Italian Polyglot, language teacher and translator who speaks twelve languages. He's also an opera singer, and as you'll hear on the audio, he has a clear and pleasant voice.
The description of the "Ripeti con me!" audio course and the method behind it intrigued me.
I've always enjoyed learning a language with good audio lessons. Before our 5-month stay in Italy several years ago - my husband and I completed the 3 Pimsleur Italian audio-only courses (no text), a total of 90 lessons.
We were by no means fluent when we arrived in Rome, but we felt confident enough to use our Italian on a daily basis as we explored the city, shopped at the market, went to various bars and restaurants, etc. Learning with the Pimsleur audio courses sharpened our pronunciation and gave us a good core vocabulary that we easily built on. (For full disclosure: before 2011, I was an author and development editor at Pimsleur for several of their courses.)
I've been learning Italian for a few years now and I've been looking for an Italian course to refresh and boost my Italian speaking skills. So, I am not only quite familiar with audio courses but also definitely motivated to try out a new approach and new materials.
Stefano gave us access to 15 downloadable Lessons of "Ripeti con me!", so I could review his method and the course format.
THE COURSE BASICS
In 11/ 2018,"Ripeti con me"had 60 Lessons in audio format that you could download. Now, in 11/ 2022, "Ripeti con me!" has 250 lessons. The format of the lessons has stayed the same.
• Each Lesson is made up of 30 basic sentences, spoken at a natural pace. • For each audio Lesson there are three files, Part A, Part B and Part C, to be done in sequence. • The three files have you practice the same 30 sentences in three different ways. • The sentences contain useful, conversational vocabulary and common, idiomatic grammar patterns. • Spaced Repetition of vocabulary and grammar patterns is built into the course. • Sentences come up again and again, but each time with small changes that show how the language works. • The course is for Total Beginners (A0) to Advanced Learners (C1) who want to improve their speaking skills. • In his Introduction, Stefano has detailed instructions on how to learn with his course.
I love learning with audio. I agree with Stefano that spoken and written language are processed differently by the brain.
When you just listen, your brain connects directly to the sound without needing to decode the letters.
When I do a lesson for the first time, it's really effective to just sit with eyes closed while repeating and "shadowing" (i.e. speaking along with the speaker, or a split second behind him). That way I can also pay attention to the small but meaningful sounds that connect the sentence: prepositions, negatives, endings, agreements, etc.
With Audio, you can easily take the course with you and listen and repeat on the go, while walking, jogging, cooking, waiting for a bus, etc.
PDF DOWNLOAD
The sentences and their translations can all be downloaded in PDF. Reviewing the text is optional.
Still, I've found it very useful to look at the written sentences after doing the Audio. The sentences and their translations can all be downloaded in PDF. Reviewing the text is optional.
That's because living in a world of the printed word, I automatically make up my own mental spelling of any unfamiliar word I hear or see, no matter what the language. I might as well learn the correct form.
Besides, I love to read. For any language that I learn, it's my goal to learn to read fluently (online news, blog posts, articles, stories, novels).
Reading is one of the most powerful ways to learn additional vocabulary and grammar patterns, and stay interested in the language.
SENTENCES AND SPACED REPETITION
In "Ripeti con me!", sentences (not individual words) are the basic building blocks. You learn and practice all vocabulary in the context of everyday, useful sentences.
By listening and repeating many sentences that use and reshuffle basic vocabulary, you become more and more familiar with typical phrases and idioms.
The application of Spaced Repetition in "Ripeti con me!" is very good. As you constantly learn to construct new, slightly changed sentences, you automatically internalize Italian vocabulary and grammar patterns.
The English translations, because they are often not literal, help you to think in Italian. For example:
Come sto con gli occhiali? - How do I look in my glasses? (literally: How am I with the glasses?)
Come fai senza macchina? - How can you live without a car? (literally: How do you make it without car?)
THREE TYPES OF PRACTICE
Practicing the same 30 sentences of the lesson in three ways is quite effective, especially if you repeat/say the Italian out loud. Part A: After the English cue, listen and repeat/shadow the Italian sentence. (For meaning, pronunciation of words, correct intonation.) Part B: After the English cue, say the sentence in Italian in the pause that follows. (To produce the Italian and check if you're correct.) Part C: Shadow each of the Italian sentences. (No English. To mimic the speaker and learn to think in Italian.)
I like the technique of shadowing when I'm learning a language. I use it often when listening to audio books or going over sentences in a course.
As mentioned, shadowing means speaking along with the speaker, or a split second behind. It takes a little practice. But once you've got the knack, you'll improve the rhythm, intonation, and pronunciation of your Italian.
Don't be afraid to talk over the native speaker's voice, you'll find that you can listen and talk at the same time.
GRAMMAR PATTERNS
I don't really know if my brain is wired for grammar, but it's definitely wired for language patterns.
Listening and repeating many sentences that have small shifts in pattern works really well for me.
I noticed that as I practiced, more and more phrases and idioms became familiar again and I would start using them automatically. (As Italian is not a new language for me, it's also likely that I notice these patterns more than a beginner.)
Each lesson focuses on a specific grammar point, built into the sentences. (The specific grammar items are in bold on the PDF.) Here are some examples of grammar points:
In Lesson 1, there are many sentences with present forms of the verb "essere" (to be).
In Lesson 2, the sentences focus of the present forms of "avere" (to have), including common idioms with "avere".
In Lesson 3, you practice number agreement (un gelato-due gelati), and adjective-noun agreement. (see photo in PDF section)
In Lesson 6, the sentences highlight the indefinite article forms: "un', un, una".
In Lesson 13, you practice sentences with "piacere": "mi piace/mi piacciono" (I like), "ti piace" (you like), "a Giulia non piace" (Giulia doesn't like), "a voi piace" (you-all like), etc.
A WELL-PACED COURSE
It's recommended that you do a full Lesson a day. Because you're often reusing familiar vocabulary for new sentences, even a beginner can follow the pace. Still, if you don't feel ready to move on, you can easily repeat that Lesson the next day.
My spoken Italian is probably at a Low Intermediate level (while my listening comprehension and reading skills are quite a bit better). With "Ripeti con me!", I found I can really focus on practicing to speak in Italian. I'm happy with the improvement I've noticed.
PRICING
Think in Italian offers two types of lessons:
1. The audio course "Ripeti con me!", which has 250 Lessons. 2. Various Readings with audio, consisting of 600+ brief stories, conversations, news pieces, jokes, songs.
All the material is available online on a Monthly or Yearly subscription plan or as a One-off Lifetime Membership Plan. Click HERE, scroll down to the I WANT TO LEARN* form, and enter your email. You'll receive Stefano's best offers, plus a 50% discount on the first month through us.
Stefano's courses are more expensive than most language apps, but they are clearly worthwhile for motivated learners who want results.To try the lessons out for yourself, make use of Stefano's free 7-day Trial.
FURTHER THOUGHTS
No program will teach you everything you want to achieve in a language. And a program can certainly not replace speaking regularly with native speakers, a trained tutor, or good conversation partners.
A real conversation is so much more than listening and repeating. You have to understand what the other person is saying, which includes all the non-verbal signals that are part of effective communication. Plus, as you're listening and decoding what's being said, your brain is also working on an answer.
Still, good programs offer you the chance to practice specific foreign language skills. The 15 Lessons of Fluent Simple, which I did according to instructions, have clearly boosted my basic speaking fluency.
Beyond that, one can always find more ways to learn with a good program. "Ripeti con me" is no exception. Once you've gone through the course, you can go back and do other things with it. It keeps the material fresh.
MEMORIZE
For some people memorizing works. Once you've gone through the course as suggested, you can take ten sentences, for example, and just keep them in your head for the day.
Say them to yourself from time to time, as you walk to work, take a break, or take the bus home. It's a good way to become totally familiar with certain sentence patterns.
DICTATION
I've always enjoyed dictation and have used it a lot in my language teaching and learning. In "Ripeti con me!", Part C of each Lesson is perfect for this. Write down the sentence as you hear it, and stop the audio if you need to.
At the end, you can check what you've written against the correct sentences on the PDF file. For one, dictation strengthens the sound-letter correlation. Plus for me, writing something down by hand helps me remember.
WRITING
Journal writing for learning a language has become very popular. Even as a beginner, keep a daily journal by using the sentences that you've learned. Or you can even try out new variations of some of sentences.
Do this just from your head, without looking up anything. Because of the many-sentence structure of the course, you'll have lots of possible sentences ready. It's a great start for beginning to write.
Italian is a wonderful language to learn, and you can do it at any age. Think about Italian culture and history, Italy's historic cities, villages, and beautiful countryside. And there's Italian music, and the world of Italian food, fashion and movies.
Besides, learning a language is good for your brain and learning Italian may inspire you to visit. Go for it!
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She's a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments right here below!
Disclosure: We added "Think in Italian" to our Partners' list. Should you decide to purchase through our link above, Gamesforlanguage will receive a small commission - at no cost to you - which will help us keep our own site ad-free.
If you're traveling to Italy, you won't want to miss Florence. Exploring this romantic and historic university town will leave you with some wonderful travel memories.
Our first Italian TravelMemories post, Marco in Pisa follows the young traveler in our Italian 1 course to Pisa, where he visits his aunt and uncle.
He then takes the train to Florence. Read and listen to the Italian Language Story: Il viaggio di Marco 3 - Il viaggio in treno
In Florence he looks up a friend he had met back home. At his friend's place he meets two other students who join him on his walk through the historic center of Florence. Read and listen to the Italian Language Story: Il viaggio di Marco 4 - Firenze.
We'll follow Marco's explorations of Florence. For those of you who are doing or have done our Italian 1 course: Marco in Italia, the additional details will complement those of the course.
The travel memories blog posts tell you a few interesting facts about the cities that are featured in GamesforLanguage's travel-story courses. We typically use the cities' names of the streets, hotels, squares, restaurants, etc. and we've been to many of them ourselves.
In future blog posts, we'll provide more details of the other two Italian cities Marco visits, Venice and Rome. And we'll do the same for the cities that our other travelers visit in France, Spain, Germany and the U.S.
In our travel-story course you learn everyday conversational language. In this post, we've listed some additional basic words and phrases in Italian that you may encounter in your travels.
Brief History of Florence
The city of Florence (Firenze), considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, is the capital of Tuscany (Toscana), one of Italy's 20 regions. It lies in central Italy, about 2 1/2 hours north of Rome by train.
The most populous city in Tuscany, Florence was named a Metropolitan City (città metropolitana) in 2015. This includes the city itself and the large urban sprawl around it.
Early Florence was a Roman city, established in 59 BC by Julius Ceasar as a place to settle his veteran soldiers. Because of its position at the confluence of rivers (the Arno and its tributaries Murgone, Ema, and Greve), this outpost was first named Fluentia. But the name was later changed to Florentia ("flowering").
In the early Middle Ages, Florence was a city state. It had a flourishing textile industry and developed into an important international trade and finance center.
The Medici family held power in Florence for three centuries (from 1434 to 1737). They were bankers to the pope and great patrons of the arts. Lorenzo die Medici 1449-1492 for example, was a poet as well as a statesman, and commissioned works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Leonardo da Vinci.
From 1737 to 1859, a number of foreign powers governed Florence (the Austrian House of Lorraine, the Italian House of Bourbon-Parma, Napoleonic France). Then in 1861, Tuscany became a region of the Kingdom of Italy. For six years, Florence was its capital.
Italian Unification (or Risorgimento) was a complicated process that lasted from 1815 to 1871, when Rome finally became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. After unification, the state adopted Italian as the official language. Standard Italian is based on the Tuscan dialect, which was a literary language spoken by the upper class of Florentine society.
Florence is a beautiful city to discover on foot. Its historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage site containing numerous monuments, art museums and architectural treasures.
Marco's Arrival in Florence
The trip from Pisa to Florence takes Marco around an hour by train. He arrives at the Santa Maria Novella Train station in the center of Florence. (see picture)
From there, it takes him ten minutes on foot to arrive at Via Montebello 52, where his friend lives. His place is in the historic center of town (Quartiere 1).
The other four administrative boroughs (quartieri) of Florence lie in a ring around the historic center. Nearby is the Arno River, which runs through the old part of the city. The best known of the five bridges that cross the Arno is Ponte Vecchio with its gold and jewelry shops.
Useful Italian Vocabulary
• il tren - the train • la stazione ferroviaria - the train station • la via - the road, street • il quartiere - the district, part of town • il centro storico - the historic center • il fiume - the riveril ponte vecchio - the old bridge
Palazzo Ricasoli and James Fenimore Cooper
On a walk through the historic district, his friends show Marco the Palazzo Ricasoli, where the popular American writer, James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) lived during his nine-month stay in Florence in 1829. (The Palazzo is now a hotel right in the center of town, where you can stay, see picture.)
Fenimore Cooper's most famous novel, "The last of the Mohicans", was written in 1826. He's also known for a series of adventure stories called the Leatherstocking Tales.
Reportedly, Fenimore Cooper loved the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Florence. He met and socialized with emigrés from various countries and became a kind of celebrity with travelers on the Grand Tour and with American expatriates.
Useful Italian Vocabulary
la passeggiata - the walk il soggiorno - the stay, temporary residence il palazzo - the building, palace il scrittore - the writer il romanzo - the novel il emigrato - the emigrant il viaggiatore - the traveler
Palazzo Vecchio
Next, Marco and his friends walk past the Piazza della Signoria and the famous "PalazzoVecchio" (Old Palace). The palazzo has a long and interesting history.
Construction on the building started in 1299. During the centuries the palazzo was used for various purposes, including a prison. Since 1872 it has served as Florence's City Hall. A replica of Michelangelo's David stands near the entrance.
A tour of the Palazzio Vecchio takes you through several courtyards, Roman ruins, a Medieval fortress with secret routes, beautifully decorated Renaissance chambers, and more.
Useful Italian Vocabulary
la piazza - the square la prigione - the prison il comune - the city hall la entrata - the entrance le rovine - the ruins la fortezza - the fortress
Piazziale Michelangelo
Finally, Marco and his friends take a 15-minute bus ride to Piazziale Michelangelo, a large square in the Oltrarno (beyond the Arno) district of Florence. From that piazziale (large square) one has a stunning panoramic view of the city.
Marco's Next Stop
From Florence, Michael takes an Intercity train to Venice. There he stays in a hotel he had booked on the recommendation of his friends. To get to the hotel, he has to take the "vaporetto", or water bus. In Venice he meets up with Claudia, one of the students he met in Florence.
Have you been to Florence and want to share some of your suggestions and travel memories? It would be great to hear from you! Register, or log in again and continue with the Italian 1 course.
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She's a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments right here!
You know that you're making progress when you start to pick up language subtleties in the language you're learning. Language subtleties can be fun or embarrassing, but you'll especially remember the embarrassing ones.
I'm not only talking about “false friends”, which are not that hard to check. For example, my (German speaking) father quickly learned the English word “gift”, as the same word means “poison” in German. “Gift” was also the first entry in our earlier post, 20 German False Friends To Watch Out For.
There are also quite a few such “cognates” in Spanish, as we listed in False Language Friends – Spanish: me despierto et al. (And, we just realized that we are still to list the major cognates for Italian and French, Gamesforlanguage's other two languages.)
In the meantime, here are just a few language subtleties we came across recently.
GERMAN SUBTLETIES
One of our sons told us the other day that during a stay in Germany he responded to a question whether the room temperature was ok: “Ja danke, ich bin warm.” But, the correct German expression for "I'm warm" is “Es ist mir warm.” He could not understand the chuckle of the family friend he was staying with.
The friend explained that the answer did not go together with the question: “warm sein” in German is used to mean to be “gay”, or “schwul”. Although the above exchange occurred over 15 years ago, our son still remembers the different meanings of the two expressions.
Going back even further, I remember when my French-speaking brother-in-law, who also spoke excellent German, was puzzled when he heard one of our friends tell us over a glass of beer:
“Als ich nach der Party mit dem Fahrrad nach Hause fuhr, hatte ich einen ordenlichen Affen sitzen.” (Literally: When I rode home on my bicycle after the party, I had a substantial monkey sitting.)
My brother-in-law laughed as heartily as all the others, but later he asked me: “Why did he have a monkey sitting on the bicycle with him?”
Idioms
As many other languages do as well, German has many ways to express being tipsy or drunk, for example: • einen sitzen haben (literally: to have one sitting) • einen Affen sitzen haben (literally: to have a monkey sitting) • einen Schwips haben (somewhat literally: to have intoxication) • einen im Tee haben (literally: to have one in the tea)
And in the various German dialects there are quite a few more.
Words with more than one Meaning
This brings me to German words with more than one meaning. For example, “einen Kater haben” could mean “owning a male cat”. But more likely – and you would know from the context – it would mean “having a hangover”.
In German, there are plenty of words with more than one meaning. There is no way around learning them. Examples are: • “Linsen” are “lentils”, but also lenses of cameras • “ein Gericht” could be “a court of justice”, or a meal • “die Wirtschaft” could mean “the economy” or the local pub • “ein Bienenstich” is a German cake specialty, made with yeast dough, filled with vanilla custard and topped with almonds, but it also simply means “the sting of a bee”. I still have no idea how this cake got its name.
You can sometimes guess the meaning of a word from the context, but that is often harder for idioms.
SPANISH SUBTLETIES
The other day I was again reviewing the use of “estar” and “ser” in Spanish. One of the explanations of the difference between both is the following: Think about “ser” as a “passive” verb, something “being” that way permanently, e.g. describing a personal trait; “estar”, on the other hand, is a more active verb describing a (temporary) condition.
Expressions with Ser and Estar
In the examples below the use of either “ser” or “estar” changes the meaning of the adjective. For example:
The young woman in the picture certainly would NOT want to say: “Soy aburrido” which means “I am boring”, when she really wants to say: “Estoy aburrido” (“I am bored”) - hopefully only a temporary condition with her date!
Similarly, when you tell somebody that you are not ready, say “No estoy listo” and NOT “No soy listo”. The latter means that you are not intelligent or a quick thinker. Also:
• vivo/a is “alive” with estar, but “clever” with ser • cansado/a is “tired” with estar, but “tiring” with ser
Remember as well that “estar” is used to indicate your location, as in “Estoy en casa” (I'm at home), but “ser” is used to indicate your origin, e.g. place of birth, “Soy de Austria.” (I'm from Austria.)\
Exceptions
And just when I thought I had understood the differences well enough, I was reminded of a few major exceptions: • “Está muerto” (he is dead) seems to be quite a permanent condition, but uses “estar” to indicate that somebody is dead. • On the other hand “ser” is used to indicate time as in “Son las tres de la tarde” as in “It's 3 PM”, which seems quite transitional.
Words with more than one Meaning
As with German, Spanish also has words that have more than one meaning: • piso: can mean “apartment” or “flat” but also is used for a building's “level” or “floor” • gato: “cat” is the translation I know, but apparently it is also a “car jack” • tiempo: can mean “time” or “weather” • techo: can mean “ceiling” or “roof”
Different Meaning in Different Countries
As Spanish is spoken not only in Spain but also in the Americas, it's not surprising that there are quite a few words that have acquired various meanings in different countries. A few examples include: • fresa: a “strawberry” in most Spanish speaking countries (but “frutilla” in Argentina); in Mexico it's also a slang term for a “spoiled, egocentric, wealthy youngster” • coche: a “car” for Spaniards, but a slang term for “pig” in Guatemala (maybe from French “cochon”?), or a “babystroller” in Chile • torta: a “cake” in most Spanish speaking countries, it also translates as “a punch in the mouth” in Spain.
This iTalki post has quite a few more Spanish words with different meanings in different countries. Only the context of a sentence lets you sometimes figure out the meaning. But because Spanish has phonetic spelling, it is much easier than French with its many homophones, as we'll see below.
FRENCH SUBTLETIES
As with German and Spanish above (and most languages), some French words have two or more meanings.
words with more than one meaning
For example, “voler” can mean either “to fly” or “to steal”. (Maybe the image with the seagulls below will help you remember the two meanings).
But with nouns, often the article changes, and that can alert you to which meaning is used. • la tour (a tower), le tour (a trip) • la poste (the post office), le poste (a position) • la mémoire (the memory), le mémoire (the essay)
I'm doing a lot of listening at the moment (on LingQ) to get my French up a notch for an upcoming trip to French Switzerland.
words that sound the same but have a Different Meaning
One feature that makes spoken French particularly tricky are its many homophones, words that sound the same but are spelled differently. Here are a few examples: • fin (end), faim (hunger) • verre (glass), vers (a verse, or “towards”), ver (worm), vert (green) • vin (wine), vain (in vain), vingt (twenty), vint (came) • saut (jump), seau (bucket), sot (dummy), sceau (seal) • maire (mayor), mer (sea), mère (mother) c'est (it is), sait (knows), s'est (reflexive pronoun + est)
Not to mention the various personal verb endings that get swallowed in spoken French. • (il) est, (tu) es • (je) parle, (tu) parles, (ils) parlent
You have to pay special attention to the context to get the right meaning and spelling.
Idioms
Idioms pose their own challenge as the literal meaning is often quite far from the idiomatic meaning. A couple of my favorites are: • poser un lapin à quelqu'un - to put a rabbit to someone (to stand someone up, not show up for a date) • faire la grasse matinée - to do the fat morning (to sleep in) • faire le pont - to make the bridge (if Thursday is a holiday, you may as well not work Friday either and take a nice long weekend)
Last August, we spent several days in Montreal to attend LangFest 2017. The conference is a popular annual language gathering that attracts language enthusiasts from all over the globe.
We really enjoyed being in a French environment, but it took us a few hours to attune our ears again to the melody and expressions of Québecois, the local language spoken there.
One of the first workshops at LangFest was a quick overview of Québecois by translator and editor Grégoire Lahaia. This was really helpful for us. Lahaia pointed out three major characteristics of how Québecois is pronounced:
1) Dipthongization of long vowels (also called vowel breaking) • père (pronounced: paèr) • rêve (pronounced: raève) • fort (pronounced: faort)
2) The consonants t/d are pronounced ts/ds before the vowels u/i • tu (pronounced: tsu) • tuer (pronounced: tsuer) • tirer (pronounced: tsirer) • durant (pronounced: dsurant)
3) Many words are contracted • tu es (pronounced: t'es • sur la (pronounced: s'a) • il aime (pronounced: y'aime) • je suis (pronounced: j'su)
It made us realize again how important it is to listen to different regional accents of a language to train your ear to understand variations beyond standard pronunciation.
ITALLIAN SUBTLETIES
Even if you've figured out the difference in Spanish between “estar” and “ser”, the Italian verbs “stare” and “essere” will provide you with a new challenge.
Expressions with essere and stare
In general “essere” means “to be”, and “stare” means “to stay”. But in some contexts “stare” also means “to be”. As a starter, it's useful to learn a few basic phrases, so you don't have to think about what to use with these.
Use “essere”:
For nationality, profession, possession, essential qualities. • Sono italiano. - I'm Italian. • Sono insegnate di francese. - I'm a French teacher. • La casa è di Carla. - It's Carla's house. • Il tavolo è negro. - The table is black.
For condition or emotion. • Sono malato. - I'm sick. • Sono felice. - I'm happy.
For Date and Time. • Sono le dieci. - It's ten o'clock. • È lunedì. - It's Monday.
Use “stare”:
For precise location (but in some cases, you can also use “essere”) • La sedia sta/è in cucina. - The chair is in the kitchen. • Lui sta da me. - He's at my place.
For certain idiomatic expressions. • Sto bene. - I'm well. • Come stai? - How are you? • Sto male. - I'm feeling bad.
For the continuous tense: • Sta piovendo. - It's raining. • Sto mangiando una pizza. - I'm eating a pizza.
The little word “ci”
The two-letter word “ci” pops up a lot in conversational Italian. You'll see it on its own and also attached to the end of a verb. It helps to learn basic phrases, but more importantly, just become aware of it as you read or listen to Italian. With time, you'll learn to recognize the various meanings of “ci”.
Personal pronoun “ci” = us/to us/ourselves • Marco ci ha invitato a cena. - Marco has invited us to dinner. (direct object) • Ci l'hanno dato. - They gave it to us. (indirect oject) • Ci siamo divertiti molto. - We enjoyed ourselves a lot. (reflexive) • Ci vediamo là? - We'll see each other there? (reciprocal)
Demonstative pronoun “ci” = about it/on it • Non so che farci. - I don't know what to do about it. • Ci penserò. - I'll think about it. • Ci puoi contare. - You can depend on it.
Adverb “ci” = here/there; there is/there are; it is/they are • Qui non ci ritorno più. - I'm not coming back here again. • Conosco Roma perché ci ho abitato. - I know Rome well because I lived there. • Ci sono 30 kilometri. - It's (there are) 30 kilometers. • C'è nessuno in casa? - Is there anybody at home?
Verbs with “ci”
A number of verbs change meaning by adding “ci”. The meanings have to be learned in context. Here are a couple of examples: • pensare - to think • pensarci - to think/take care of sth; ci penso io (I'll take care of it)
• stare - to be, stay • starci - to be up for it/to fit in it; non ci sta (it doesn't fit in it)
• credere - to believe • crederci - to believe it; non ci credo (I don't believe it)
We obviously could only touch the surface of the four languages' many subtleties. But once you start paying attention to them, you'll be a step closer to mastering the language you're learning. The proof will be when you recognize some of the expressions in conversations and can use them yourself.
If you love music, songs provide a wealth of language learning possibilities for you. But not only that. Each culture has its own tradition, which makes it all the more interesting.
A simple word like the English “song” is a good example of how various languages may differentiate among alternative meanings (or not) for a basic concept.
And, as you get more familiar with the culture of the language you're learning, you'll also begin to appreciate different traditions of "songs".
When you google for the translation of “song” in the four languages of our Gamesforlanguage site, you'll get the following results:
French
English “the song” translates as “la chanson” (music with words) and “le chant” (song-like piece of music, song-like poem), from “chanter” (to sing).
The English language uses “chant” as a synonym for “song” or “singing,” often in connection with spiritual or religious singing. We talk about Gregorian chants, not Gregorian songs, and it's the same in French.
France has a strong tradition of “art songs,” which include not only beloved arias from operas by Bizet, Fauré, Gounot, and Massenet, but also poems, by Hugo, Verlaine, Baudelaire, set to music by Debussy, Fauré, Ravel, and others.
While the English “song,” may or may not include any lyrics, the French “chanson” is typically a lyric-driven song.
Singers that we enjoy include Edith Piaff, Jacques Brel, Mireille Mathieu, Charles Aznavour, Joe Dassin, Georges Moustaki, and Québec's “chansonniers” Félix Leclerc, Claude Léveillé, Raymond Lévesque, and more.
The traditional French “chanson” has a long and colorful history, dating back to the Middle Ages. “Chanson” differs from other French “pop” music by reaching back to French traditions of lyrics and music (rather than following British or American trends).
Songs in French are a wonderful way to acquire the sounds and the rhythm of the French language, and to learn words and idiomatic expressions.
By listening over and over to a French song you really like, you'll even pick up some typical grammar structures.
We are especially fond of Edith Piaf's Non, je ne regrette rien, which let's you pick up a number of grammatical clues.
Check out the “Chanson française du moment” and see if you can find one that you like. If it gets into your head, your French will surely improve.
German
The German translation of “the song” is “das Lied.” This may be a little confusing as the verb “to sing” translates to “singen,” and for “the singing” and you'll get “das Singen” and “der Gesang.”
“Das Lied” is similar to the French “la chanson,” and “Gesang” is the equivalent of the French (and English) “chant.” In German, for example, we talk about the “Gregorian Gesänge” (der Gesang; pl: die Gesänge).
German music lovers will also be familiar with “Lieder” (das Lied; pl: die Lieder). These are often poems put to music by composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Strauss, etc.
An English translation for “Lieder” may be “art songs,” as these are poems set to classical music. Their tradition goes back to the 12thCentury and the German “Minnelieder” (courtly love songs).
From the 1960s on, German singer-songwriters liked to call themselves “Liedermacher” (makers of songs).
In modern German, “songs” may also translate as “Schlager,” the popular German songs of the Hit Parade.
Songs performed by Marlene Dietrich and Lale Andersen (Lili Marleen) went around the world; Peter Alexander, Catharina Valente, Freddy Quinn, Udo Jürgens, and many others all had “Schlager” hits in their time.
One of our favorites is Jürgen von der Lippe's Guten Morgen liebe Sorgen.... It topped the Hit Parade list for several weeks in the 80's.
Every week, the Offiziellen Deutschen Party & Schlager Charts are updated. Take a look and see if you can't find a song that you like, and – by memorizing the lyrics - you will improve your German.
Italian
The Italian translation of “the song,” is “la canzone.” “The singing” translates as “il canto,” derived from “cantare” (to sing). All Romance languages trace the equivalent for “song” back to the Latin word “cantio” (singing).
The Italian “canzone,” (which derived from the Provençal “canso,” a troubadour's love song) traditionally referred to a song of 5 to 7 stanzas with a particular rhyme scheme. The form was later made famous by the Italian Renaissance writers Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio.
Italian opera, born in the 17th century and fashionable in the 18th and 19th centuries has been a rich source of “art songs” that are popular to this day.
Just think of the great Luciano Pavarotti singing exquisite arias from the operas of Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, or Puccini.
In the late 1950s and 1960s emerged the “cantautori” - the singer songwriters, who wrote and sang their own songs, often in protest against the more traditional “canzone.” This was an interesting and important development.
Starting out as an imitation of sorts of the French “chanson” at the time (Brassens, Brel, Ferré, etc.), the Italian “cantautori” soon succeeded in creating songs about Italian everyday life and reality. It's a trend that's strong even now.
A smash hit from 1962 that has 55 versions is “Quando, quando, quando.” We featured it on one of our blog posts, "Dimmi quando..." - An Italian Song for Language Learning. Italian Pop and Rock music is often characterized as “musica leggera” (light music).
Songs by contemporary singers such as Eros Ramazzotti, Mina, Ligabue, Javanotti, Laura Pausini, and many others are good for learning and practicing Italian because the lyrics are relatively simple. The music is great and many of the songs get under your skin, which boosts language learning.
Check out the Canzoni del momento and see whether there is one you can memorize. It will certainly help your Italian.
Spanish
The Spanish translation of “the song” is “la canción” (music with words, song-like music) and “el canto” (song-like poem). “To sing” translates as “cantar.” Spanish music combines a wide range of cultures that were part of Spain's past, most notably Arabic culture.
During the 17th and 18th century a Spanish form of light opera, or operetta, called “zarzuela” developed and became popular. It was a kind of music theater that combined spoken and sung storytelling, and included regional and folk elements. The Spanish full opera was much slower to develop.
Well-known Spanish “art songs” are by the composers Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Fernando Obradors, though this genre did not become quite as popular as its French and German counterparts.
After the Spanish Civil (1936-1939) and during Franco's repressive government which followed, regional culture and its music were banned. Rock and roll and pop music found its way into Spain only towards the end of Franco's regime.
After Franco's death in 1975, and as part of the new countercultural movement Movida Madrileña, there emerged a new, energized style of music. It resembled the British new wave and the Neue Deutsche Welle, but added flamenco passion and rhythms.
Since then, the Spanish music scene, with its centers in Madrid and Barcelona, has been nothing but innovative and exciting.
Latin Music opens a new world of diverse and beautiful sound. Check out this Latin Music History. Croonersinclude Jose Jose and Juan Gabriel, Mexico; Jose Feliciano, Puerto Rico; Leo Dan, Argentina; Jose Luis Rodriguez 'El Puma', Venezuela.
Maybe you'll also like “El Perdón", the subject of a recent post. And, if you like to learn Spanish with songs, Language Zen, has a number of Spanish songs with lyrics to do just that!
If music turns you on, songs are a fantastic tool for getting the sound, the rhythm, vocabulary, and grammatical structures of a new language lodged deeply in your mind. And singing along in a foreign language is just fun and a pleasure – so why don't you find one in the language you are just learning?
Bio: Ulrike & Peter Rettig are co-founders of Gamesforlanguage.com. They are lifelong language learners, growing up in several European countries before moving to Canada and the United States. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Here's a fun way to learn some Italian words and phrases with 5 easy Italian language games. 
1. Hello, Goodbye, etc.
2. Italian Numbers 1-20
3. Italian Question Words
4. Present Tense of "essere" - to be
5. Present Tense of "avere" - to have
Do you have Italian travel memories or are you dreaming about visiting Venice? Exploring this romantic and historic city will leave you with lots of wonderful memories. 
Marco's train trip from Florence to Venice takes him two hours or so. He arrives at Venezia Santa Lucia, Venice's main train station. 
Next day after breakfast, Marco walks over to the Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square). It is usually just called "la Piazza". That is because all other squares in Venice are called "campi" (fields), with the exception of Piazzale Roma. A "piazzale" is a large, open square, and Piazzale Roma serves as the main bus station for Venice and major entrance to the city. 
The Dashboard
10. Ormai la frittata è fatta
Sometimes, your day can just become a little brighter after you have been pleasantly surprised. In this case it concerned my glasses. And here is the little story: 
replacement nor for the extra pads. 
“Darf ich Ihnen einen Cognac offerieren?” - May I offer you a Cognac? If you hear this question asked at a dinner party, you don't expect to have to pay for it. On the other hand, if a waiter asks you that in a restaurant at the end of your dinner, and you accept, you'd better expect to see the charge for it on your check. 
