Heading to Italy soon, can somebody teach me a little italian, enough to get by in Italy?

Question

I'm visiting Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan. I am trying to learn a little Italian before I leave. Could some body help me with it? Just help me translate a few sentences like "Good morning/afternoon/evening" "Excuse me, do you speak English" "Could you help me?" "How do I get to --" I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me how to pronouce them correctly, in case I made a mistake and offend some locals! I'm living in Russia, they don't sell dictionaries which translates into english, so I'm at a huge disadvantage here. So far, I haven't found a website that teaches only to cater for needs of tourists...

Answer 1

I'm also trying to learn at least some basic Italian before I go. I came across this site last night and found it pretty useful. It has different levels of Italian as well as pronounciation and the phonetics of the words.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/

Take a look! I hope it helps you :o)

Answer 2

Good morning=Buongiorno

Good afternoon/evening=Buona sera

Excuse me, do you speak English=Mi scusi lei parla inglese(formal); Scusa parli inglese (informal)

Could you help me=Puoi aiutarmi?

If you want I can help you : [e-mail]

Answer 3

Hello=Ciao (also goodbye)

Good morning=Boun Gourno(Use these phrase until around 4:00P.M.

Good Evening= Bouna Serra

Do you speak English? Parla Englese?

Thank you=Grazie

Where? Dove'

I'm not sure about my Italian spelling....

Buy a good translation book. That will tell you how to pronounce these phrases and give you some more that will help you.

Answer 4

ciao!- hello/goodbye

buon giorno- good morning(actually translated to "good day")

buona sera- good evening(but they usually start saying this after about 2 PM)

buona notte- good night

arrivederci- goodbye

per favore- please

grazie- thank you

prego- you're welcome

come sta?- how are you?

scusa- excuse me

Non c'è male.- not bad

sto bene- i am fine

che cosa ha detto?- what did you say?

ho capisco- i understand(depending where you go in italy, though...some say ho capito instead)

mi chiamo...- my name is...

sono di...- i am from

Parli inglese?- do you speak english?

non parlo italiano- i dont speak italian

non so- i dont know

lo so- i know

come?- what?

Va bene- ok

ho fame- im hungry

ho sete- im thirsty

ho freddo- im cold

ho caldo- im hot

Può aiutarmi?- Can you help me?

Come si dice ____ in italiano?- How do you say_____ in italian?

Answer 5

Well that is easy.

All you have to do is go to google and use the language translator.

here is the link:

http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=...