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Pronunciation Tip #2: “Italian Tongue Twisters”

Suggerimento di pronuncia n. 2: “Scioglilingua italiani

(English follows)

Parlare oscuramente lo sa fare chiunque, ma chiaro pochissimi – Galileo Galilei

(Everyone knows how to do speak obscurely, but very few can speak clearly.)Galileo Galilei, Considerazioni al Tasso, 1589

Non potrei essere più d’accordo con Galileo, ed è per questo che gli scioglilingua, parola che è già di per sé uno scioglilingua, sono utili, almeno per quanto riguarda la parte tecnica del parlare!

È interessante notare che in italiano “scioglilingua” significa letteralmente “sciogliere la lingua”. Suppongo che aggrovigliando la lingua attorno a lettere e suoni alla fine s’impara ad allentarla e a non “attorcigliarsi” più.

In effetti, “gli scioglilingua” ti aiutano a migliorare la dizione, e non c’è da meravigliarsi, che i professionisti alla radio o nei film usino gli scioglilingua per migliorare le loro capacità oratorie o per riscaldarsi prima di esibirsi.

Uso gli scioglilingua per i seguenti motivi:
1) per migliorare la scorrevolezza nel parlare,
2) per ridurre e rimuovere accenti e inflessioni,
3) per parlare con più sicurezza e rilassarsi,
4) per divertimento: quello che dici non deve per forza avere senso!

Ogni lingua ha specifici scioglilingua che attivano suoni o parole che provocano lo scioglimento della lingua! In italiano, ad esempio, molti scioglilingua mettono alla prova la capacità di pronunciare suoni vocalici aperti e chiusi. Alcuni scioglilingua sono molto utili per lettere specifiche con cui gli studenti di italiano hanno difficoltà, come “R”, “T”, “S”…

Qui troverai 4 “scioglilingua”, a 2 velocità. La velocità 1 è un riscaldamento, la velocità 2 è dove lasci la tua zona di comforto e non ti preoccupi dei risultati, che arriveranno con pazienza e pratica … stanne certo/a!

Buon divertimento!

I couldn’t agree more with Galileo, and that’s why tongue twisters, “gli scioglilingua”, a word that is already a tongue twister in itself, are useful, at least as far as the technical speaking part goes!

It’s interesting to notice that in Italian “scioglilingua” literally means “tongue loosener”. I suppose that by twisting your tongue around letters and sounds you will eventually learn to loosen it and no longer stumble on a word, “inciampare in una parola.”

In fact, “gli scioglilingua” help you improve your speaking and your pronunciation, and it’s no wonder, “non c’è da meravigliarsi”, that professional speakers on the radio or in films use tongue twisters to improve their speaking skills or to warm up before they perform.

I use tongue twisters for the following reasons:
1) to improve speaking fluidity
2) to reduce and remove accents and inflections
3) to increase confidence and loosen up when speaking
4) for fun — what you say doesn’t have to make sense!

Every language has specific tongue twisters that trigger sounds or words that cause tongue twisting! In Italian, for example, many tongue twisters challenge your ability to pronounce open and closed vowel sounds.
Some tongue twisters are very helpful for specific letters that students of Italian have a difficult time with, such as “R”, “T”, “S”,…

Here you’ll find 4 “scioglilingua”, in 2 speeds. Speed 1 is a warm up, speed 2 is where you leave your comfort zone and don’t worry about the results, which will come with patience and practice… stanne certo! (you can stay assured!) Buon divertimento!

Tigre intriga tigre
speed 1

speed 2

particolareggiatissimamente (la parola più lunga registrata in italiano / the longest registered word in Italian)
speed 1

speed 2

Date del pane al pazzo cane, date del pane al cane pazzo (attenti a non scambiare la “p” con la “c” / be careful not to turn the “p” into a “c”!)
speed 1

speed 2

Questa e’ molto popolare / This is a very popular one: Sopra la panca la capra campa, sotto la panca la capra crepa
speed 1

speed 2

It means…: “Over the bench the goat lives, under the bench the goat dies.”
….“senza senso”, meaningless! 🙂

Più fai pratica e più noterai “la lingua che si scioglie”.
Fammi sapere nei commenti qui in basso quali suoni trovi più facili o più difficili da riprodurre!

The more you practice the more you’ll notice “la lingua che si scioglie”, your tongue loosening up.
Let me know in the comments below which sounds you find the easiest or hardest to reproduce!

A presto!
Mirella

Improve speaking and grammar while learning some Italian jokes!

How to use idiomatic expressions formed by “avere” and “essere”

by Mirella Colalillo on May 3, 2014

It’s well-known by now, “è risaputo ormai”, that Italians are the leaders not only in delicious food, fashion, cultural treasures, but also in expressing feelings, sensations, and opinions. From happiness to dissatisfaction and everything in between.

If you run into your Italian friend and ask her how she is doing, forget about “I’m good, and you?” for an answer, and instead, prepare for a detailed description of “vita, morte e miracoli”, as we say in Italian. If you don’t want to be labeled as “antipatico/a”, I suggest you follow along and do the same. At worst, “male che vada”, you might end up enjoying yourself “al bar”, at the coffee shop. And let’s be honest, going for your daily jog in the park and rushing to update your Facebook, Twitter, “e chi più ne ha più ne metta”, and so on and so forth status can wait anyway.

“Ascoltare. Non c’è cosa migliore da fare che ascoltare chi ha qualcosa da dire” @parlate_it
(Tweet-worthy!)

(Translation: “To listen. There is nothing better to do than to listen to someone who has something to say.”)

The best way to make a good impression, “fare una bella figura”, is to learn the most common idiomatic expressions in Italian that use “avere” (to have) and “essere” (to be), which, as many of you have complained “all’italiana” (Italian style), do not correspond to the English expressions. For example: “Io ho sonno” (I’m sleepy), “Io sono stanco” (I’m tired).

Avere + noun is used in many idiomatic expressions in Italian, but the equivalent English expressions are generally formed with essere + adjective.

There is no specific rule that explains this difference. The best advice is to:

first learn the conjugations of the verbs “essere” and “avere” starting with il “presente indicativo”
then learn each expression correctly
and as always practica, pratica, pratica!!

Here are some idiomatic expressions in Italian that use “avere” and “essere”.

“Avere” is used in the following expressions:

avere caldo – to be hot

avere freddo – to be cold

avere fretta – to be in a hurry

avere paura – to be afraid

avere bisogno di – to need

avere voglia di – to want, to feel like

avere a che fare con – to deal with

avere sete – to be thirsty

avere sonno – to be sleepy

avere fame – to be hungry

“Essere” is used in the following expressions (just like in English!):

essere stanco/a – to be tired

essere arrabbiato/a – to be angry

essere contento/a – to be happy

essere annoiato/a – to be bored

essere felice (m/f) – to be happy

essere triste (m/f) – to be sad

essere entusiasta (m/f) – to be enthusiastic

essere preoccupato/a – to be worried

essere in ritardo – to be late

essere testardo/a – to be stubborn

Allora, come sto?
Oggi sono felice e ho voglia di fare una passeggiata. Non ho freddo, perché è finalmente arrivata la primavera in Canada! Sono molto entusiasta!

(How am I? Today I am happy and I feel like taking a walk. I’m not cold, because spring has finally arrived in Canada! I’m enthusiastic!)

E tu come stai? Let me know in the comments below.

Remember there is no quick fix in learning idiomatic expressions… practice makes perfect!

If you liked this post please share & like!

Grazie,
Mirella

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Pronunciation Tip #1: “Practice Italian with a flawless speaker!”

Imagine learning lots of grammar and vocabulary only to discover that listeners find it hard to understand what you say…è terribile per la comunicazione!
Also, if you can’t pronounce a word correctly, then you may not be able to hear it when spoken by another person either… ancora più terribile per la comunicazione!

This is a very common problem so don’t fret (non ti allarmare). I put together 7 solutions to improve your pronunciation based on my experience teaching Italian and learning languages.

In this post I’ll share my 1st tip: “Practice Italian with a flawless speaker!”

“Learning proper Italian from the start saves you time and frustration later correcting what you’ve learned incorrectly.”

It can sometimes be very difficult to correct what you’ve learned incorrectly as it turned out for my friend who had a teacher in elementary school that was very passionate about English, but was hardly proficient enough to teach simple words, such as “apple”, which sounded more like “apele” (similar to the word “ape”, “scimmia” in Italian), although she knew all the grammar. Till this day, over 20 years later, my friend still struggles to pronounce “apple” properly.

His English teacher, also a relative of mine in my little town, wanted to share her passion and land a job, but teaching is a serious matter. When I started teaching English in Italy, although I had reached the advanced level C2, according to the “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment”, I felt it would be fair to teach only levels A and B since I wasn’t speaking English on a daily basis and wouldn’t be able to teach successfully at a higher level.

Improvised language teachers are not a good deal!

So how do you know if a teacher speaks proper Italian?

Talk and listen to them a bit before jumping into it and, depending on whether the teacher is a native speaker or a non-native speaker, the pronunciation issues, if there are any, will differ.

I would ask both if they have any particular accents or regional intonation, hoping they’re aware and honest!

However, to be certain, I would go ahead and look out for more specific issues….

In the case of the native speaker pay attention to:

how they pronounce the grave or acute vowels such as in the words “verde” (the “e” is acute “vérde”), “cosa” (the “o” is grave “còsa”);
“verde” correct:

“cosa” correct:

whether they tend to pronounce single consonants as double consonants instead; an example is “amore” sometimes mistakenly pronounced with a double “m” (the“o” is acute);
“amore” correct:

whether they shorten the infinitives stressing the last vowel, like “mangià” instead of “mangiare”, “parlà”, instead of “parlare”, and so on;

While you’re at it, you can also check some grammar, which will give you a better idea of their speaking accuracy:

how they say: “I hope you are well.” (correct: “spero che tu stia bene”),
how they say: “Can you speak Italian?” (correct: “sai parlare l’italiano?” – not ‘puoi’ parlare l’italiano?”);

In the case of the non-native speaker, issues usually concern:

pronouncing the vowels,
stressing the words correctly,
pronouncing the “r”, the “t”, the “sch”, double consonants,
pronouncing the vowels at the end of the words and pronouncing them correctly (they are not all acute, only the ones with accents on them).

A way to verify that they are flawless speakers is to find a short audio snippet and ask them to repeat it. You can find excellent and reliable audio from Italian language manuals.

“Speaking properly is a form of respect for a language.”

Let me know in the comments below what your experience has been learning Italian.

Stay tuned for my next tip about my favourite language sharpener!

If you liked this post please share & like!

Grazie,
Mirella

La Festa del Papà

Chi lavora con le sue mani è un lavoratore.
Chi lavora con le sue mani e la sua testa è un artigiano.
Chi lavora con le sue mani e la sua testa ed il suo cuore è un artista.
~ San Francesco D’Assisi

He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.
~ St. Francis of Assisi

Buona festa del Papà to my father, a hard worker, a craftsman and an artist.

March 19 is St. Joseph (San Giuseppe) in Italy where it is celebrated as Father’s Day because San Giuseppe was un uomo e padre fantastico! A man that talked little and worked a lot, respected women, escaped oppression, followed his dreams, and provided for his childrens’ future.

In the painting Felice Giani humanizes the religious theme of the Holy Family where St. Joseph in his carpenting shop lovingly fills a jug of wine from a large barrel. In the background you can see his work table on which lay his working tools.

San Giuseppe is a role model. A man who interprets the messages of his dreams and puts them into action. He first marries his girlfriend who is pregnant of a child that is not his own, sheltering them from contempt and a merciless punishment. He then carries out his second dream. He emigrates to a foreign land to escape the rule of a tyrant, and thus saves the future of his child. At last, after having rasied and taught his son a job, he realizes that at twelve years of age he is capable of dealing with the alleged wise men of the country. At this point his tasks are complete and he retires to the sidelines without honors or rewards. With a father like that no wonder (non cè da meravigliarsi) Gesus became a hero!

It may also be that San Giuseppe taught him the importance of languages and communication which I’m sure came in very handy as the saviour (il salvatore).

When my father emigrated to Canada he actually learned how to speak English fairly well compared to his brothers, setting an example for his children about the importance of learning and improving.

And talking about hard work…I know that when it comes to languages lots of work is required including tongue-twisters (scioglilingua), a useful tool to improve pronunciation and fluency. So here’s a popular Italian tongue-twister…at two different speeds.

How fast can you say it without stumbling?

Sopra la panca la capra campa,
sotto la panca la capra crepa.

Speed 1

Speed 2

________________________

How to use the verbs piacere and mancare in Italian

Come si usano i verbi piacere e mancare?

English follows

Allora, come si usa il verbo piacere? E’ una domanda che ricevo spesso. Credo che sia una buona idea rivedere come usare il verbo “piacere”, e verbi simili come “mancare” “servire”, “interessare”, ecc.

Per esempio, in italiano “mancare” può essere usato in diversi modi con vari significati. Vedremo il caso in cui significa “desiderare” indicando impazienza per qualcosa.

In questo caso segue una costruzione particolare che è comune anche ad altri verbi come “piacere” (vedi l’elenco sotto): ciò che ci piace è il soggetto mentre la persona che esprime apprezzamento diventa un pronome indiretto.

Mi (pronome indiretto) manca (verbo) l’Italia (soggetto).
Mi manca l’Italia.

È importante prendersi un momento per ripassare i pronomi indiretti e ricordare dove sono inseriti in una frase. Vedi la scheda in basso. Esistono 2 forme di pronomi indiretti: forma atona e forma tonica. La forma tonica è solitamente usata per enfatizzare.

So, how is the verb “piacere” used? It’s a question I get often. I think it’s a good idea to review how to use the verb “piacere”, and similar verbs like “mancare”, “servire”, “interessare”, etc.

In Italian “mancare” can be used in several ways with various meanings. We’ll learn how to use it when it means “to miss/to long for”, indicating impatience for something.

In this case it follows a particular construction that is also common to other verbs such as “piacere” (see list below): what we like is the subject while the person who expresses appreciation is expressed with an indirect object pronoun.

Mi (indirect object pronoun) manca (verb) l’Italia (subject).
I miss Italy.

It’s important to take a moment to review the indirect object pronouns and to remember where they are placed in a sentence. See the chart below. There are 2 forms of indirect object pronouns: forma atona and forma tonica. The forma tonica is usually used for emphasis.

SINGULAR forma atona	SINGULAR forma tonica
before the verb	before/after the verb
mi (to/for) me	a me (to/for) me
ti (to/for) you	a te (to/for) you
gli (to/for) him	a lui (to/for) him
Le/le (to/for) you (formal m. and f.)	a Lei/a lei (to/for) you (formal m. and f.)
PLURAL forma atona	PLURAL forma tonica
before the verb	before/after the verb
ci (to/for) us	a noi (to/for) us
vi (to/for) you	a voi (to/for) you
gli (to/for) them	a loro (to/for) them

Ricorda:

– Il verbo essere è l’ausiliare al passato prossimo: “Mi sono mancati i miei amici”. oppure “I miei amici sono mancati a me”.
– Il verbo mancare è singolare se seguito da un infinito: “Mi manca mangiare gli spaghetti”.
– A seconda della forma di pronome indiretto che stai utilizzando, la posizione dell’oggetto e del soggetto può essere invertita: “Mi manca l’Italia” o “L’Italia manca a me”.

Remember:
– The verb essere is used as the auxiliary in the passato prossimo tense: “Mi sono mancati i miei amici.” or “I miei amici sono mancati a me”.
– The verb mancare is singular when followed by an infinitive: “Mi manca mangiare gli spaghetti”.
– Depending on which form of indirect pronoun you are using, the position of the object and the subject can be inverted: “Mi manca l’Italia” or “L’Italia manca a me.”

Un elenco di altri verbi che seguono la stessa regola:

A list of other verbs that follow the same rule:

piacere – to like, to be pleasing
bastare – to be sufficient
attrarre – to attract
occorrere – to need
succedere – to happen
restare – to remain
servire – to serve
interessare – to interest
disgustare – to disgust
parere – to appear
sembrare – to seem
volerci – to take

Ecco un esercizio per fare fare pratica e non diemnticare di scrivere delle frasi nei commenti!

Here’s an exercise to help you practice and don’t forget to write some sentences in the comments!

📝 ESERCIZIO: COME USARE MANCARE (clicca qui) 📝

10 Ways to Laugh in Italian

What do you do when everything is going wrong? (quando tutto va storto) In Italy we laugh to keep from crying! (ridiamo per non piangere) Armed with a sense of humour, everything is easier even after the heavy storms that flooded many Italian cities this past week, among which the capital (la capitale), whose manholes (tombini) haven’t been cleaned since the Roman Times! (dai tempi dei Romani).

But with Carnevale approaching we are reminded that in Italy comedy and drama go hand in hand. An example of this is La Commedia dell’Arte, a colorful theatrical art form which began in the 16^th century. What made it so special was that there was no need for spoken language (la lingua parlata), therefore all social classes, regions, dialects came together and enjoyed the comic plots based on skillful mime, stereotyped stock characters, masks, physical gestures, improvised dialogues and clowning. Some of the characters that reigned La Commedia dell’Arte are: Arlecchino, Columbina, Pulcinella, il Dottore, il Capitano and Pantalone.

However, if you’re lucky to be in Italy in February/March, don’t miss (non ti perdere) some of the most famous carnivals which are held in Venice, Viareggio, Ivrea, Cento, Gabettola and Acireale.

And don’t forget to carry some Italian expressions of laughter with you!

What’s your favourite expression? Try making a sentence!

1) morire dal ridere – laugh to death

2) ridere a crepapelle – laugh out loud

3) sbellicarsi dal ridere – crack up laughing

4) ridere sotto i baffi – to snigger

5) schiantarsi dal ridere – to knock yourself out laughing

6) ridere di cuore – laugh wholeheartedly

7) ridere alle spalle – laugh at someone’s back

8) ridere con gusto – laugh with gusto

9) ridere da pazzi – laugh like crazy

10) ridere per non piangere – laugh to keep from crying

_______________________________

Michelangelo’s Visual Grocery List

How to communicate if you don’t speak or read a language? Draw it! (disegnalo) Michelangelo, of course, knew that well. It was actually a common practice in the old days to hand-draw (disegnare a mano) items for the illiterate, such as Michelangelo’s servant in this case.

I was still living in Florence when I embarked in an adventure to retrace Michelangelo’s steps while I was reading “The Agony and the Ecstasy” by Irving Stone. I learned much about il Grande Genio; that he was a humble and poor man (un uomo umile e povero), who only obtained wealth in his later years and that paper was a necessity but also a luxury (una necessità ma anche un lusso) for him; therefore, it would never go wasted. He would save and recycle scraps of paper to draw and write on. He would also destroy his sketches (i suoi schizzi) as he only wanted his polished works to be seen. I don’t think he would be happy to know that his grocery list has now gone viral on the internet! He had un caratteraccio, a temper, that’s for sure! But that is what made him great.

Casa Buonarroti in Florence, an important museum, often overlooked by tourists, is where this document is archived. It was my final emotional stop. It’s the house he built and died in after revolutionizing the world for 88 years!

Here are the 15 grocery items written in 16^th century Florentine:pani dua (two loaves of bread)
un bochal di vino (a bottle of wine)
una aringa (a herring;a line like that over a letter or word stands in for an unwritten “n” or “m”)
tortegli (tortelli)

una salama (a salame)
quattro pani (four loaves of bread)
un bochal di tondo (a bottle of tondo, or full ‘rotund’ wine)
e un quartuccio di bruscho (a quarter of rough wine)
un piattello di spinaci (a plate of spinach)
quattro alice (four anchovies)
tortelli (tortelli)

sei pani (six loaves of bread)
due minestre di finocchio (two fennel soups)
una aringa (a herring)
un bochal di tondo (a bottle of tondo).

I find illustrations or drawing the vocabulary myself very useful to be able to memorize it better.

Are you a visual learner like me?