The Iceberg Project Italian

The Iceberg Project was created from a desire to travel to Italy & speak the language with ease, comfort and confidence. Now, you'll find addictive language & culture lessons for students eager to become conversational in Italian.

  • New here?
  • Shop
  • Learn
    • Grammar
    • Vocabulary
    • Expressions
    • Culture
  • Podcast
  • Meet the Team
    • About Cher
    • Contact
    • Media
  • Free Lessons

Dialogue: Learning Italian with a Private Tutor, Pt. I

May 26, 2017 By Cher 2 Comments

 

Dialogue: Learning Italian with a Private Tutor, Pt. I

At The Iceberg Project, we believe the only way you can truly learn a language is by using it in real life. (We also believe that having a bottle of wine in your house at all times is a must.)

To help you get that real-life experience, we put together this dialogue for you.

Unlike other dialogues made for students, this one is full of language that Italians use every day and it doesn’t simplify the conversation.

If you’re a beginner, you’ll notice that a lot of the language is complex, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it to learn. Don’t let the length or the big words intimidate you.

Finally, you’ll notice that the translation from Italian to English is not literal. That’s on purpose because there are words / phrases that don’t directly translate in the same way.

If you have questions about this, just let me know in the comments below.


(1) Me: Ciao Paolo, sono io, Julie! – Ciao Paolo, it’s me, Julie!

(2) Tutor: Ciao Julie, ti apro, sali. – Ciao Julie, I’ll let you in, come on up!

(3) Me: Eccomi.. – Here I am!

(4) Paolo: Puntualissima come sempre, accomodati. – On time like always, make yourself comfortable.

(5) Me: Eh, sì non è vero che voi italiani siete sempre tutti ritardatari, ho fatto esperienza! – Hey, yes it’s not true that you Italians are always late, I’ve experienced it!

(6) Paolo: Ahahah, eh sì. Vedi? Ho capito cosa vuoi dire, ma sediamoci che ti butto giù due esempi. – Hahaha, oh yeah. See? I understand what you’re saying but let’s sit so I can throw out two examples already.

(7) Me: Adoro le tue lezioni, sono sempre così interessanti! – I adore your lessons, they are always so interesting!

(They sit at the table)

(8) Paolo: Allora, quando vuoi dire che “you experienced something” non devi usare “ho fatto esperienza” ma puoi dire più semplicemente “ho capito che… / ho notato / mi sono accorta che” oppure “l’ho imparato a mie spese”. Questa formula è molto utile anche perché fa capire al tuo interlocutore che hai avuto diverse esperienze che ti hanno permesso di imparare questa determinata cosa. – So, when you want to say, “you experienced something” you shouldn’t use, “ho fatto esperienza” but you can say simply, “I understood that, I noticed, I realized that” or “I learned it at my own expense. ” This formula is also useful because it tells your interlocutor that you have had several experiences that have allowed you to learn this thing.

(9) Me: Mi fai un esempio? – Can you give me an example?

(10) Paolo: Non si fa il bagno dopo mangiato, l’ho imparato a mie spese! Che sarebbe, ‘You can’t go for a swim after lunch, I learned that the hard way.’  – Don’t swim after eating, I learned the hard way!

(11) Me: Ah, ho capito! Quindi: Gli italiani non sono tutti ritardatari, l’ho imparato a mie spese, quando sono rimasta sola e i miei amici erano già partiti per la gita! – Oh, I get it! Italians aren’t always late, I learned the hard way when I was left alone and my friends had already left for their trip!

(12) Paolo: Bravissima! Ma è successo davvero? – Good job! But did this really happen?

(13) Me: Sì!! Sono arrivata con calma..mezz’ora dopo l’appuntamento e loro non c’erano più! Già partiti!! Non ho avuto parole. – Yes! I arrived casually, a half hour after the time we organized and they weren’t there anymore! They already left! I was speechless.

(14) Paolo: “Sono rimasta senza parole”, oppure usi soltanto “senza parole” – “Sono rimasta senza parole” or use just “no words.”

(15) Me: Paolo, io sono migliorata tantissimo in italiano, però certe volte mi viene ancora di pensare in inglese e faccio degli errori! – Paolo, I have improved a lot in Italian, but sometimes I still think in English and I make mistakes!

(16) Paolo: Beh, è normale! Ma dimmi quali sono i tuoi dubbi… – Well, it’s normal! But tell me what are your doubts…

(17) Me: Per esempio quando voglio dire che mi sono divertita o che è stato bello fare qualcosa con una persona o degli amici dico “bello di vederti…” oppure “che bello di sentirti…” perchè penso: nice to see, or nice to hear…..e cose simili – For example, when I want to say that I had fun, and it was a nice to do something with someone or to friends I say, nice to see you, or it was nice to hear from you, because I think, nice to see or nice to hear…and similar things.

(18) Paolo: Hm, capisco…beh, è un errore molto piccolo, ma è ottimo che tu ti renda conto di sbagliare! Vuol dire che stai imparando a correggerti da sola!! – Hm, I understand. Well, it’s a small error, but it’s awesome that you realize that you made a mistake! It means you are learning to correct yourself on your own!

(19) Me: (smiles)

(20) Paolo: Beh, tu pensi con l’infinito dell’inglese e quindi traduci il tuo “nice to” con un “bello di”, invece devi pensare che quando l’italiano ti dice “è stato bello passare la serata con te” oppure “che piacere mi ha fatto risentire la tua voce al telefono” parla di un’azione già passata, quindi userà il passato prossimo. Mi segui? – Well, you think with the infinitive in english and then you translate your, “nice to” with a “bello di” instead you have to think that when speaking Italian you say, “it was nice to spend the evening with you” or “what a pleasure it was to hear your voice again on the phone” speaking of an action already past, so you will use the past tense. You following?

(21) Me: Sì! – Yes!

(22) Paolo: Prova a contestualizzarlo in una frase – Try to conceptualize it in a sentence

(23) Me: Mmmm, Mi è piaciuto molto di fare colazion….NO! Mi è piaciuto molto fare colazione insieme stamattina! – Hmm, I really liked having breakfa…NO! I really liked having breakfast together this morning!

(24) Paolo: Molto bene! Aiutati anche con gli avverbi di tempo, brava, che ti guidano nella scelta del tempo verbale più corretto. Puoi dire anche “E’ stato bello beccarti ieri in centro!” – Very good! You help yourself also with the time indicating adverbs, nice work, they guide you in selecting the proper conjugation of the verbs. You can also say, “it was nice to run into you in the center!”

(25) Me: Ah, figo! Questa me la scrivo!  – Ah, cool! I am writing this down!

(26) Paolo: Ahahahaha, ma quanto sarai buffa! – Hahahah, you’ll be so funny!

Filed Under: Advanced Italian, Beginner Italian, Culture, Expressions, Grammar, Intermediate Italian, Italian, Vocabulary Tagged With: Italian Culture, italian dialogue, Italian phrases, learning italian

Avatar

About Cher

Cher is the founder of The Iceberg Project and a passionate learner of the Italian, Mandarin and Spanish languages. In a little town called Vegas, you can find her searching the Internet for Doctor Who and Parks & Rec memes, drinking bubble tea, or talking about how much she loves grammar.

« Italian Pronouns Quiz
3 Quick Exercises to Practice Italian Pronouns »

Looking for Something?

UPCOMING TRIP TO ITALY?

SAY CIAO

MOST LOVED LESSONS

© 2021 · Powered by Genesis Framework & Love for Italy · Design by: Bellano Web Studio