Italian All-in-One For Dummies (3 page)

BOOK: Italian All-in-One For Dummies

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Beyond the Book

In addition to the plethora of Italian language information you find in the print book or e-book you're reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the eCheat Sheet at
www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/italianaiofor common idiomatic expressions that use the verbs
fare
(
to do; to make
),
avere
(
to have
),
essere
(
to be
), and
andare
(
to go
); the scoop on using capital letters properly in Italian; and more.

This book comes with 29 audio tracks that allow you to hear many of the Talkin' the Talk dialogues spoken by Italian speakers. If you've purchased the paper or e-book version of Italian All-in-One For Dummies, just go to
www.dummies.com/go/italianaioto access and download these tracks. (IfÂ you don't have Internet access, call 877-762-2974 within the U.S. or 317-572-3993 outside the U.S.)

Where to Go from Here

Before you start reading
Italian All-in-One For Dummies,
answer the question “how much Italian do I know?” If your answer is “not much,” “nothing,” or “just a little,” start with Book I. If you have a foundation of Italian but find thatÂ grammar always trips you up, you may want to jump to Book III. To test your understanding of tenses and how to use them properly, Book V is the place for you. You decide your priorities, so go ahead and make your choice â there's plenty to browse and to select.
Buon divertimento
! (bwohnÂ dee-vehr-tee-
mehn
-toh!) (
Have fun!
)

Book I

Speaking Italian in Everyday Settings

Visit
www.dummies.comfor free access to great Dummies content online.

Contents at a Glance

Chapter 1: Exploring Pronunciations and Italian You May Already Know

Chapter 2: Dealing with Numbers, Dates, and Time

Chapter 3: Buongiorno! Salutations!

Chapter 4: Making Small Talk

Chapter 5: Casa Dolce Casa: Home Sweet Home

Chapter 6: Using the Phone and Talking Business

Chapter 7: Food, Glorious Food, and Drink

Chapter 8: Shopping, Italian-Style

Chapter 1

Exploring Pronunciations and Italian You May Already Know

In This Chapter

Taking note of the little Italian you know

Becoming familiar with basic Italian pronunciation

Putting the emphasis on the right syllable

Y
ou probably know that Italian is a Romance language, which means that Italian, just like Spanish, French, Portuguese, and some other languages, is a “child” of Latin. There was a time when Latin was the official language in a large part of Europe because the Romans ruled so much of the area. Before the Romans came, people spoke their own languages, and the mixture of these original tongues with Latin produced many of the languages and dialects still in use today.

If you know one of these Romance languages, you can often understand bits of another one of them. But just as members of the same family can look very similar but have totally different personalities, so it is with these languages. People in different areas speak in very different ways due to historical or social reasons, and even though Italian is the official language, Italy has a rich variety of dialects. Some dialects are so far from Italian that people from different regions can't understand each other.

Despite the number of different accents and dialects, you'll be happy to discover that everybody understands the Italian you speak and you understand theirs. (Italians don't usually speak in their dialect with people outside their region.)

You Already Know Some Italian!

Although Italians are very proud of their language, they have allowed some English words to enter it. They talk, for example, about gadgets, jogging, feeling, and shock; they often use the word
okay;
and since computers have entered their lives, they say
cliccare sul mouse
(kleek-
kah
-reh soohl mouse) (
to click the mouse
). Finally, there's
lo
zapping
(loh
zap
-ping), which means switching TV channels with the remote. These are only a few of the flood of English words that have entered the Italian language.