Salvatore Bancheri - Perfect Phrases in Italian for Confident Travel: The No Faux-Pas Phrasebook for the Perfect Trip

The No Faux-Pas Phrasebook for the Perfect Trip

Salvatore Bancheri and Michael Lettieri

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Did you know that Italians dont leave tips at restaurants? Or that Italians do not order cappuccinos after breakfast? When visiting Italy, a faux pas like tipping at a restaurant or ordering a cappuccino at lunchtime wouldnt create much of a problem. In the first case, the waiter will appreciate your generosity; in the second case, he or she will probably just smile and recognize you as a tourist. Unfortunately, a cultural faux pas in a different situation could cause you a good deal of embarrassment or even offend your companions. When traveling to Italy, or to any other country for that matter, cultural awareness is fundamental to enjoying a perfect trip.

Italians love when a tourist tries to speak their language. Theyll appreciate your effort even if they hear their language spoken with an imperfect pronunciation. Theyll even go out of their way to help you if you request information, directions, or advice in their language. However, your Italian might not be as effective if your request is not culturally appropriate. Nonverbal communication and cultural awareness will open the door to understanding and enjoying Italian culture and people.

Perfect Phrases in Italian for Confident Travel will give you the fundamental tools you need to communicate effectively, speak with confidence, and avoid cultural embarrassment. Each chapter is based on the most common situations a traveler might encounter. The topics include dining out, driving, and many other everyday activities. Each chapter contains high-frequency sentences and expressions designed to make your visit to Italy easier and more enjoyable, but, more importantly, each main phrase is followed by detailed cultural insights explaining its context. These entries are then followed by extra phrases that will greatly improve your ability to communicate and converse. Each of these phrases is accompanied by an English translation and a phonetic transcription that approximates the Italian pronunciation using common English sounds. This pragmatic approach will help you achieve the most effective level of communication using the least amount of language, all in a culturally sound context.

The cultural insights offered in this book will give you a better understanding and deeper appreciation of Italian life and culture. The everyday phrases will help you communicate effectively to make your trip even more memorable.

Each Italian phrase in this book is accompanied by an English translation and a phonetic transcription that approximates the Italian pronunciation using common English sounds. Both components should help make you a more confident speaker of Italian. The phonetic transcriptions are broken down by syllables, with the stressed syllable capitalized. Keep in mind that most Italian words are stressed on the second-to-last syllable, but there are exceptions. Here you will find a brief explanation of Italian sounds, particularly those that present some difficulties to English speakers.

When pronouncing Italian words, please remember that all vowels must be pronounced clearlythis is the key to being understood by native speakers. Unlike English, Italian vowels always have the same sound, no matter their position in a word:

A is always pronounced like the a in father, party

E is always pronounced like the e in met, get

I is always pronounced like the i in police, machine

O is always pronounced like the o in cold, gold

U is always pronounced like the oo in moon, soon

The sounds of most consonants (b, d, f, g