CBI 1-03 | Talking about where you come from in Italian

This is your sign to finally launch that dream business. IONOS makes it ridiculously easy for just $1 a month. You get a pro website builder, professional email address, a custom domain, and your own personal consultant to help you succeed. Seriously, a dedicated human expert for advice at no extra cost. It's time to be your own boss. Start today for $1 at IONOS.com. That's IONOS.com/podcast and use code Talk10 today to save. Not every sale happens at the register. Before AT&T Business Wireless, customer checkout would take too long and create awkward delays. At one point, completing a transaction felt less like making a sale and more like a staring contest no one wanted to win. Now with AT&T Business Wireless, transactions happen fast, helping us to keep things moving. That means less time spent dealing with delays and more time staying focused on the day ahead. When the connection matters, it has to be AT&T. Get AT&T Business at AT&T.com/5GNetwork. Coffee Break Italian. Season 1, lesson 3. [Music] Buongiorna tutti. Buongiorno. Hello. We're back with another lesson of Coffee Break Italian. My name is Mark and I'm the teacher on this course. I'm Katie and I'm the learner and I'm Francesca. I'm here to help you. Perfect. Okay, last time we learned how to use greetings at different times of the day. We're going to add to this today. We're going to be learning some more useful Italian and this time we're going to be learning how to say where we are from. So are we ready to begin Francesca? How would we say are we ready or are you ready talking to all our listeners? Siete pronti. Listen to that again. Siete pronti. Siete pronti. Allora, cominciamo. Let's begin. Cominciamo. [Music] Allora, Katie, how are you today? [Music] Normally we can just say "sto bene", which means "I'm well", but I said "io sto bene". In this situation, I'm stressing the "i". I'm saying, "I'm well". You ask me, "How are you?" And to stress that I'm talking about me, I would say "io sto bene". We can also use this in other situations. For example, if you were to ask me, "What is your name?" How would you say that? [Music] And I could say "mi chiamo mark". [Music] [Music] Fantastic. Well done. So there you are stressing the "i". I'm called Mark or "i'm" called Katie. My name is Katie. And with "mi chiamo", it's a little tricky, because "mi chiamo" literally means "myself, I call". So "chiamo" is the "i call part". "mi" is "myself". So "i call myself Mark", "mi chiamo mark". And if I say "io", "mi chiamo mark", it means "i call myself Mark". I'm stressing that "i". We're going to see this in a conversation that we're now going to listen to, because Francesca and I are going to take on different roles again this time. I'm going to be Jack. And Francesca, you're going to be? Giovanna. Okay. So Katie, we'd like you to listen to this conversation. And of course all our listeners can listen to this conversation. And we're going to introduce a new element of language. And that's going to be where we come from. Let's see how much you understand. We're heading back to this party where we're getting to know different people. [Music] Buongiorno. [Music] Okay, we're going to listen to this conversation again. [Music] Buongiorno. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Okay, now Katie, there were a few things in there that are new. Yeah, I think I heard Francesca answer "comistai" in a way that we haven't covered so far. That's right, Francesca or rather Giovanna said. [Music] Listen again to that. [Music] [Music] Literally, it means there's nothing bad. It means not bad. How are you? Not bad. It's a very common response, particularly for English speakers saying, "Not bad," when you say, "How are you?" So you can see in Italian, "non ce male." "Non ce male." Okay, now another phrase in this conversation was the phrase "di dove sei." Let's try repeating that together. [Music] [Music] [Music] Literally, that means from where are you? [Music] [Music] Good, now "di dove sei" means where are you from? So to answer it, we need to say, "I am," and then give our nationality. That's one way of answering it anyway. And to say, "I am," we already know how to say that word. "I am" was. [Music] So I would say, for example, "sono scotsese." [Music] And that's what Jack said in this conversation. [Music] [Music] I am Scottish. I'm from Scotland. So let's listen again to the part of this conversation where we use these phrases. Francesca, can you start with Giovanna's part? "Di dove sei, Jack?" "Sono scotsese." "E tu, di dove sei?" "Io, sono italiana. Sono di Milano." So let's listen again to Giovanna's answer there. "Io, sono italiana. Sono di Milano." So Giovanna or Francesca is saying, "Sono italiana." Can you guess what that would mean? "I'm Italian." Well done. Not too difficult. "Sono italiana." And then she uses "sono" again, but this time she says, "Sono di Milano." So in this case, she's saying, "I am from and then the city of Milan." So you can use "sono" plus an adjective like "scotsese" or "Italiana" to say what nationality you are. And then "sono di" with a town or a city to say where you come from. So "sono di" is very useful. It's a very versatile phrase. Let's think more about nationalities. And we're going to start with that word "scotsese." Now, I'm sure our listeners are very much aware that we are from Scotland. We live in Scotland and this programme is being produced in Scotland, albeit with native Italian speakers. But "sono scotsese" means "I am Scottish." And I would say "sono scotsese" and Katie, you would also say "sono scotsese." Okay. "sono scotsese." Okay. Now, if you were English, then the word would be "inglese." "Englese." So let's try that again. "Englese." "Englese." So how would you say "I am English?" "Sono inglese." Perfecto. Now, perhaps you might be Irish, some of our listeners are from Ireland, then they would want to say "irlandese." "Irlandese." "Irlandese." "Irlandese." And perhaps we have some listeners in Canada, in which case they would say "sono canadese." "Sono canadese." Now, all of these nationalities end in "ese." Scotsese, "Englese," "Irlandese," "canadese." And these ones don't change regardless of whether the person using them is male or female. However, there are other words that we use in some situations for nationalities, which do change depending on whether the speaker is female or male. Let's go back to our conversation and Giovanna said "sono italiana." Now, if I would Italian, I wouldn't say "sono italiana." I would say "sono italiano" with an "o" sound at the end as opposed to an "a" sound. So I would say "italiano." Katie, you would say. "Italiana." "Italiana." And there are many other nationalities that use this form, for example, "americano." I would say, "American." Americana. Of course, she would say Americana. So I'll say, again, Americano. And you would say Americana. And if I want to say I am American, I could say Sono Americano. Sono Americana. And one more that we'll do with this A or ending, and that would be australiano. Australiano. So Katie, the masculine form is australiano. And if you were Australian, you would say. Sono australiana. Good. So the A ending for a female and the O ending for a male. Let's go through all of these words again and we'll use the Sono each time. So I am Scottish, first of all. Sono Scotsese. Sono Scotsese. I'm English. Sono inglese. Sono inglese. I'm Irish. Sono Irlandese. Sono Irlandese. I'm Canadian. Sono Canadese. Sono Canadese. And then the three other nationalities that we learned which change from O to A in the feminine. First of all, I'm Italian. Sono Italiano. Sono Italiana. Okay. I'm American. Sono Americano. Sono Americana. Sono Americana. And last but not least, I'm Australian. Sono australiano. Sono australiana. Sono australiana. No, there are obviously many other nationalities and we'll cover some of them in the bonus episode for this week. And we'll tell you more about that at the end of the show. Okay, so far so good I think. Sorry. It's easy. The nationalities are easy. Oh easy. Okay. Facile. Facile. Perfecto. Mark, I remember last time we were talking about formal and informal questions for asking where someone is from. We've done the informal version. That's right. Didovese is informal. Okay, so is there a formal version of that as well? There is indeed. Listen to the formal version of the question. Where are you from? Didovese. Didovese. No, this should really be Didovese, eh, but because dovese and eh run together, it becomes Didovese. Didovese. And again, you would answer that in the same way. So I could say, Lei, Didovese. Son o Scotsese. Okay, so I'm asking there you in the formal form, you and you, where are you from? Lei, Didovese. And Katie's answered Son o Scotsese. I'm from Scotland. Now we've also heard that you can use Son o D with a city or a town. So let's see if you remember how to say some of the names of certain cities that we might know using English names, but of course have their own Italian names. So Katie, here's a little challenge for you. How would you say I am from Florence? Of course we're giving our listeners some time to think about this. Okay, Katie, I'm from Florence. Son o D Firense. Son o D Firense. Benissimo. What about I am from Venice? Son o D Veneto. Are you sure? No. Son o D Venetia. Venetia. Son o D Venetia. Son o D Venetia. Didovese, Katie. Son o D Venetia. Perfect. One more about I am from Naples. Son o D Napoli. Son o D Napoli. Perfect. Okay, we're going to take a short break there and we'll be back in just a moment. Stain parando l'italiano, certo? Ma vuoi imparare anche un'altra lingua? Did you know that you can also learn French, Spanish, German and Chinese with coffee break? Or if you'd like a quick espresso shot of another language, you can try one of our 26 one-minute language courses from Arabic to Zulu. For all your language learning needs, go to coffeebreaklanguages.com. When the connection matters at SB AT&T, get AT&T Business at AT&T.com/5Gnetwork. I honest makes it ridiculously easy for just $1 a month. You get a pro website builder, professional email address, a custom domain and your own personal consultant to help you succeed. Start today for $1 at ionoss.com. That's ionoss.com/podcast and use code Talk10 today to save. Hey, it's Tony from Tony told me. On A Yanlar, the inside fix, a podcast from own. A Yanlar Vanzan revisits the stories, teachings and insights that made her show fix my life a must watch for millions. With fresh eyes, she re-examines those lessons with greater clarity and shares new wisdom for the challenges we face today. Personal growth evolves over time, and there's always room to find new meaning in old lessons. Listen to A Yanlar, the inside fix, wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, let's get on with the lesson. Okay, now we're talking about cities in Italy, and I think it's no time to find out a little more about one city in particular. It's time for our cultural segment, and for that, of course, it's time to head over to Francesca. Okay, it's now time for the Café Cultural Report for this episode of Coffee Break Italian. Today we're going to talk about the capital of Italy, Roma, which is known as the Eternal City, La Città Eterna, because it's for today back to the early days of civilization. Rome is a spectacular city with lots of fascinating things to do and places to discover. It blends the history of the Colosseum, Il Colosseo, with the modernity of some of the top fashion houses in the world. There is something for everyone. Perhaps one of the most iconic landmarks in Bella Roma is the Roman Colosseum, which opens its gigantic doors in AD 80. It is one of the largest amphitheaters in the Roman world, providing seats for up to 50,000 spectators and hosted gladiator combat and wild animal fights. The Colosseum has been damaged by fires and earthquakes over the centuries, but is visited by around 5 million tourists every year and often host music concerts. Of course, there are many places to visit in the wonderful city, but that's where I'm going to leave it for today. I look forward to telling you more about the country next time. For now, I'll hand you back to Mark. Grazie Francesca. Now, I wonder if any of our listeners have visited, have the opportunity to visit Rome and the Colosseum and all the wonderful places there are to visit in Rome. If you have, then do let us know. You can head over to facebook.com/coffeebreaketallion and post some of your Roman holiday photos there. Now, it's time to go through the words and phrases that we've learned in this lesson. And, as usual, for this, I'll say the English. Francesca will say the Italian. We'll leave you some space to repeat and then it's over to Katie. To begin with today, we learned a phrase for "not bad" when asked the question "comestai". So "not bad"? "Non c'est male". "Non c'est male". Then we learned "where are you from?" The informal version is. "di dove sei", "di dove sei", and "the formal version", "di dove", "di dove". To see "I am from a city", you can see "sono di milano", "sono di milano". Let's add in a couple of other cities that you might be from, for example, if you're Scottish like us, you might be from Edinburgh. Now, most other places stay the same. However, there are two cities in the English-speaking world that we'll tell you about, first of all, London. "Londra", "londra", "so I'm from London", "sono di Londra", "sono di Londra", and another one would be Dublin. "sono di dublino", "sono di dublino". Okay, now we can also use "sono" with nationalities, so "I am Scottish". And that one doesn't change whether you're a male or female. I am English. "sono inglese", "I'm Irish", "sono irlandese", "sono irlandese", "I'm Canadian", "sono canadese", "sono canadese", so as you know, Scotsese, English, Irlandese and canadese stay the same. However, we learned three nationalities which change. Firstly, "I'm Italian". "sono italiano", "for males or?" "sono italiana", "sono italiano", "sono italiana", "I'm American", "sono americano", "sono americana", "sono americano", "sono americana", and last but not least, "I'm australian". "sono australiano", "sono australiano", "sono australiana", and that is where we're going to leave this episode for today. How you can get more out of this course. In addition to these audio lessons, we also have videos and text materials which will help you understand the words and phrases covered in each lesson. There's more information, of course, at coffeebreakitalian.com. Don't forget, you can also continue practicing over on Facebook at facebook.com/coffeebreakitalian. And if you are on Twitter, we are out to learn Italian. This is the production of the Radio Lingua Network. Find out more at radiolingua.com. It's Tony from Tony told me, on ionla the inside fix, a podcast from own, ionla vanzan revisits the stories, teachings, and insights that made her show fix my life a must-watch for millions. Listen to ionla the inside fix, wherever you get your podcasts.