Should I learn some Italian for my trip?
 

Hello,

I am planning my first trip to Italy early next year. Do you suggest I learn some phrases, basic sentences in Italian to be respectful and/or to make sure I can get around?

What was your experience?

Thanks!

Yes, absolutely, and without a doubt you should

Hello 317345. You probably will not learn enough Italian to be able to carry on a great conversation in Italian. However it is ever so nice to know the basic words/phrases. And even though probably most Italians you will come across (in the tourist industry) will speak English it is so nice to be able to speak a little Italian. Your efforts will be appreciated by them and you.

My experiences btw is that in large and middle size cities it is common to find Italians that speak some English, especially the younger Italians. In small villages and in out of the way places the dear Italians that do not speak English have to put up with my terrible Italian. Somehow it has always worked out. I have always commented the Italians have to be so intelligent since they can understand my pathetic Italian, LOL.

Hi e,

You should be able to say:

Hello
Goodbye
Please
Thank you
How much is that?
This one, please
That one, please
May I look?
Where is the rest room?
I wish to buy xxx ticket(s).

You should know the days of the week and how to count to 12.

No is "no" and yes is "si".

((I))

Loveitaly is correct but I would like to add that even if you try to speak to Italians that speak any English, they usually answer you in English. I was born in Italy but I have lived in the US for so long,even though I am fluent, I have an American accent. So that always happens to me.

But I alway say it is good to learn what you can and try to speak some of the language wherever you go because the people do appreciate it and it's always fun to learn something else.

Just back from Italy. Had an Italian phrase book and had good fun picking out the words. Had a few laughs with the Italians when they saw the effort I was putting into it especially tne night when I told them in Italian that I wanted my meat well done.They enjoyed it and it made for a great night. A lot of them have english but its surprising how many italian words I picked up during my short stay.

To answer your original question, yes definitely!

I took three years of Italian in college, so I've been able to use the language when visiting Italy in the decades since then.

However, I was in your situation when I went to Greece. More than 30 years ago I made an effort to to learn a little Greek from a traditional beginners book for about three weeks before I went. It was both helpful and fun for me to know some Greek, to be able to ask where things were, to say that i did not speak Greek, to pronounce what signs said and recognize the names of various places in Greek letters, to recognize the sections of the menu (e.g., fish, salads), to be able to ask for bread or water or wine or various fruits, and to say polite greetings and farewells and thnak yous. I didn't do my advance prep before my Turkey trip last year, because I was almost positive I was going to cancel (knee injury), but I hurried up and tried to learn as much as I cold on the flight over and once there. I kept a notebook and write down the new words I was learning, both in the correct spelling and in my phonestic spelling, with the syllabic stress marked, I listened very carefully and I paid attention to signs on exits and bathrooms and buildings and stores displays and foods as ways of hurrying up my learning of vocabulary ,spelling, and pronunication. I didn't learn as much Turkish as I'd learned Greek years before, and I haven't retained it very well. But in Turkish, on a three-week trip, I did learn some, e.g., hello, goodbye, good night, thank you, exit, toilet, various foods like eggplant, apricot juice, yogurt, lamb, cucumbers, cherry juice, water, tea, hazelnuts, numbers up to ten and 100 and 1000 and 20, 30 and the other numbers up to 100 that are multiples of 10.

Always learn the basic courtesies in their language. By some amazing process it usually reminds them how well they speak yours ;-)
If you're from the UK I recommend the Language Survival Guides published by Collins, I don't know if it's available elsewhere. As well as being a useful phrase book it has information on such simple but essential things as how to buy a bus ticket.
Ira, you didn't include "two more beers please" or "another wine please" in your list of essential phrases?

Absolutely! It adds to the pleasure of the trip and I am always so glad I made the effort. We just returned from Turkey and I was certainly not proficient, but I could read and pronounce things and say the basics on Ira's list. I would also add How are you? and Fine, thanks, and you?

Italian is a very consistent language in pronunciation, with very few silent letters, so it is pretty easy to learn, particularly if you have any background in any of the Romance languages(Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian) The sentence structure and use of masculine/feminine nouns and pronouns is pretty standard even though the actual pronunciations and vocabulary differ between the languages. I found that my (many years ago) high school French gave me enough of a head start to learn Italian.

Check with your community colleges or adult education departments to see if they offer a beginner or traveler's Italian class. Couple that with a couple of months practice with audio tapes, and you'll be amazed at how much you can pick up. I recommend Pimsleur audio lessons--most library systems have them or can get them for you. Have fun and buon viaggio!

Absolutely, learn as much as you can. Taking a class is fun in preparation for a trip.

I just returned from 18 days in Italy, and I agree that it's good to know at least some basic things. Since you won't be fluent, it doesn't do much good to ask a question in Italian if you're not going to understand the answer!

In addition to Ira's list, I would add:

Do you speak English?
I don't understand.

I found that if I politely greeted someone in Italian and asked in Italian if they spoke English, they were very glad to help.

I have the Harper Collins language guide for Italy -- bought it here in the U.S. I found it at Barnes and Nobles (in person), but I have never found it available online. It's *the best* guide I've had in terms of language and helpful tips...it was especially helpful for our car hire. I would have been lost without it! Great suggestion, Craigellachie.

I am currently using "In-flight French" to prepare for my trip to Paris in December. It doesn't teach you the language, but enough words and phrases to get around. It's geared towards phrases that you would use on a trip, too, so I think it will be very useful. With that and a phrase book, I think I'll be set.

I'm German, speak French and understand a little English too. I never had a problem communicating anywhere in Europe. Basic Spanish an Italian is rather easy to understand, it's the same words with only tiny variations. Choose a word you think would fit and wait for the answer :-)

Also learn to say "The bill, please" or you may stay at your table a lot longer than you want to. You will NOT be rushed out so the restaurant can use the table again.

Oh logos, IMO your English is wonderful!

This thread reminds me of a joke. And please remember it is a joke, so don't bash me, alright?

Q Do you know what you call a person that speaks more than one language?
A Bilingual

Q Do you know what you call a person that speaks only one language?
A An American!

Again, this is a joke!!