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Newbie Lesson
First Impressions Can Last a Lifetime!
1
Formal Italian
Formal English
Informal Italian
Informal English
Vocabulary
Grammar Points
Cultural Insight
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3
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Formal Italian
Laura
John
Laura
Buon giorno.
Buon giorno. Piacere di conoscerLa. Mi chiamo John Smith.
Piacere di conoscerLa. Mi chiamo Laura Rossi.
Formal English
Laura
John
Laura
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon. Pleased to meet you. My name is John Smith.
Pleased to meet you. My name is Laura Rossi.
Informal Italian
Laura
John
Laura
Ciao.
Ciao. Piacere di conoscerti. Mi chiamo John.
Piacere di conoscerti. Mi chiamo Laura.
Informal English
2
Laura
John
Laura
Hi.
Hi. Pleased to meet you. My name is John.
Pleased to meet you. My name is Laura.
Vocabulary
Italian
English
Class
Ciao
hello, hi, bye
greeting expression
Buon giorno
Good morning, Good day, Good
afternoon
greeting expression
Piacere di conoscerti.
Pleased to meet you.
greeting expression
Mi chiamo...
My name is... (lit. I call myself)
phrase
LC: 001_NB_L1_020408
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2008-02-
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Vocabulary Sample Sentences
Ciao, Laura.
Buon giorno, Luca.
Piacere di conoscerti. Mi chiamo John.
Mi chiamo Peter.
Mi chiamo Luigi.
"Hello, Laura."
Good day, Luca.
"Pleased to meet you. My name is John."
My name is Peter.
My name is Luigi.
Grammar Points
The Focus of This Lesson is Italian Greetings
Buon giorno. Ciao.
"Good Afternoon. Hello."
Ciao is the easiest and most common Italian greeting people use to say "hello" or "goodbye." You
should only use this greeting with people whom you are well acquainted with, such as friends or
relatives. It is common to address foreigners entering into Italy with ciao. The reason for this is that it's
a friendly and easy way to greet them. Sometimes owners of casual, modern shops may greet
customers with ciao as a way to keep social distances at a minimum and make talking easier and faster,
thus making you feel more comfortable.
3
On the other hand, you may use buon giorno (also written buongiorno) with anyone, even people met
for the first time. Literally, buon giorno means "good day," however, you may also interpret it to mean
"good morning" or "good afternoon." As a rule of thumb you can use buon giorno only during
daytime-from morning until evening-or from before daybreak to before dusk. If we want to express
"good morning" clearly, we may use buon mattino, but this expression is very rare. As for "good
afternoon," we sometimes use buon pomeriggio.
Piacere di conoscerti, as we have seen, directly translates as:
1. "pleased to meet you"
2. "how do you do?"
3. "nice to meet you"
Note the difference between conoscerti and conoscerLa. In informal situations, you use -ti, while the
use of -la is preferred for formal situations. Both of these endings refer to the occasion of meeting one
LC: 001_NB_L1_020408
© www.ItalianPod101.com - All Rights Reserved
2008-02-04
ItalianPod101.com
Learn Italian with FREE Podcasts
person. When meeting more people you use piacere di conoscervi regardless of the situation. We will
discuss more details of their usage in future lessons.
The Focus of This Lesson is Stating Your Name
Mi chiamo John.
"My name is John."
Instead of mi chiamo, literally, "I call myself," we may use io sono ("I am").
Note that in the informal dialogue, it was not necessary to state one's surname-just the name was
enough.
Cultural Insight
Where Will You Find The Italian Language?
Italian is the official language of Italy and San Marino, one of the official languages of Switzerland,
and it is the second official language used in the Vatican City.
4
Italian and its dialects are widely used by Italian immigrants and their descendants. For example, in the
United States you would most commonly find Italian speakers in four cities: Boston, Chicago, New
York City, and Philadelphia. In Canada there are large Italian-speaking communities in Montreal and
Toronto, and it is the second most commonly spoken language in Australia.
Throughout the world, Italian is the fifth most taught non-native language, after English, French, and
German.
LC: 001_NB_L1_020408
© www.ItalianPod101.com - All Rights Reserved
2008-02-04