EstyOst1

If I'm visiting Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome, how much Italian will I really be required to use?
I sort of have the feeling that most people working in the "touristy areas" can understand basic english combined with hand gestures and facial expressions.

Joe_in_Silver_Spring

Phonetically, it's something like:
"doe-vay see tro-vay une cartica hee-genica." It got us what we needed--toilet paper--to restock an apartment that a friend loaned us.

Marilyn

One phrase I used a lot (tells you plenty about my trips and state of mind): Va bene! (va beh' nay) = Everything's fine, it's good, etc.

As for pronunciation, Italians really do speak in a lilting rhythmic way, so if you "ham it up" when you say things, you'll actually be understood better.

Intrepid1

Since a great many Italians know some English and often relish the opportunity to improve their conversational skills AND to show a decent amount of respect for that possibility I suggest you start out your conversation, request for help, etc., with this:

Ciao, parlate inglese?

eliztrav

Hmmm...and yet I've had so many Italian friends tell me that "ciao" is reserved for use between friends & family and when spouted indiscriminantly by foreigners to people they don't know, it is seen as rude. Although, it is generally forgiven when it is clear the "offender" is non-Italian speaking & just trying to get by. Better, perhaps, to begin with a greeting, such as buon giorno or buona sera, and to end with something like arrivaderci.

Budman

I think one of the most important phrases one would need to know in Italy is: "More wine, please."

Cassandra

Can someone distinguish for me between "prego," "per favore," and "per piacere"? What do they each mean and when do you use which?

Eloise

"Prego" translates literally to "I pray" and can be used to mean either "Please" or "Not at all" (in the sense of "You're welcome, like the French "De rien.&quot Personally, I only use it in the latter sense.

"Per favore" and "per piacere" both mean "Please" and can be used interchangeably. If you want to sound old-fashioned, you can also say "Per cortesia," which means, more or less, "As a kindness..."

ira

> my Italian teacher ... gave me to understand that "Dov'è il gabinetto?" is a little indelicate, preferring "Dov'è il toiletta?".<

I had been led to believe that the former is more formal.

sandi_travelnut

I agree Ira, on my Italian tape they teach you "Dov'è il gabinetto?" and from the other phrases on there, they usually side with the more formal.

Budman

Most importantly, if your room does not come with a refrig, and you need something to keep your beer cold, just ask the concierge for an "ice-a-box-a."

Wayne

EstyOst, if I may offer an answer in a different way: The thing to do is to think about all the typical situations you will encounter. Mentally go through your entire trip and think of the phrases you will need for whatever you might want to do. Phrasebooks have already done that for you in most cases, but you can hone down the larger list by doing the exercise of traveling mentally. Then there are always a few that might be needed even when you hadn't planned, such as:
-Can you help me, please?
-I am lost.
-Where can I find a (buidling, museum, car, taxi, toilet, elevator, drink of water, restaurant, hotel, etc.)
-All the hows: how much, how many, how long, how large, how small, etc.
-A few key comparatives: larger, smaller, darker, lighter, heavier, more expensive, etc.
-A few key adverbs: too, very, etc.
-The key nouns that will fill your phrases.
-The key verbs that you will use: walk, drive, stop, go, see, talk, sleep, wake, tell, pass, close, open, take, receive, etc.

This has gone on too long. Sorry, I'm just repeating what you should find in any good book on learning a little Italian. Good luck.

lobo_mau

I thought immediatly about "ti amo" when I saw the title, but I see DonnieD already had the same idea

suze

The phrase I always learn in the new language and use all the time is - "I'm sorry, I don't speak French (Italian, Spanish, whatever) and say it with a smile. Practice it until you can speak at a normal speed and proper inflection.

My viewpoint is that unless you are really going to seriously study and learn a language, even if you can manage to ask a question, you will most likely not be able to understand the answer you are given.

I also learn a few polite words that require no further converstion such as: good morning, good evening, please, thank you, excuse me, I'm sorry.

And I can order a glass of white wine in several languages, since that's very important to me!

In 5 trips to Europe with no second language, I've yet to encounter a situation that pulling out a dictionary would have been helpful, quite honestly.

bookchick

It's important to know "sciopero" because it means "strike". A lot of Italian workers in various industries will strike, usually with warning. It may concern a traveler when it has to do with the transportation industries.

Buon Viaggio,
BC

tedgale

In honour of ira and his query, I marched up one flight of stairs, across a rear hall and down another flight of stairs -- then back up, across and down -- in this absurdly grandiose apartment, to check my old Garzanti dictionary on the question of "toletta".

Toletta -- which I swear I never heard in 9 months of residence in Italy --has "lavatory" only as a secondary meaning. Otherwise, it means grooming as in "Making a fastidious toilet"; tertiary meaning: "abiti eleganti" -- elegant apparel.

On the QUITE questionable principle that it is more polite to be oblique than to be specific:

Gabinetto refers to the general place: gabinetto = cabinet = room. Toletta = the apparatus itself.

Therefore: dov'e il gabinetto is more "genteel" than dov'e la toletta.

LoveItaly

eliztrav is correct. Ciao is too famaliar to use except with family and close friends. She is correct with her posting.

And prego is our "your welcome"..you say grazie (thank you) and they say prego.

It is better to err on the side of formality in Italy.

And as Marilyn said; one can never miss with saying va bene!!!

Regarding Ti amo, you will never want to say unless there is someone is Italy that you are romantically in love with (lucky you!)

When answering the phone you say "pronto". Than of course the person calling will think you speak Italian and start talking in Italian and than you are on you own, LOL.

Really, in most areas you will find that English will get you by. But for sure it is good to know greetings etc. as other posters have stated. But don't get stressed about it. And Italians do love to practice their English. And they are a warm and kind people. Any effort you show to speak Italiann will be well received.

By the way EstyOst1, thank you is "grazie". Have a fun trip.

Huitres

Actually, "dove' il bagno" is simplier to say (where is the bathroom?) and is the most common in terms of spoken inquiries.

You don't want to say "Ti amo" because Italians take words/signs of affection very personally and one must be very close and intimate (in terms of a friendship or more) to use those kinds of familiar phrases. Something as simple as "con affetto" (with affection) that doesn't seem like a big deal here in the U.S. actually has a much deeper meaning there. That person has "affected" you and it is more intense than it sounds.

Also, don't refer to the "tu" (familiar "you&quot ever until you actually know someone well. However, as a tourist, you might be able to get away with it in Rome and other bigger cities. The same goes for "ciao" - again a familiar term used between friends and family (not acquaintances).

"Va bene" is a very common phrase and nice to say in response during conversation (means "ok" or "going well&quot

Try to remember to start everything with a salutation "Buon giorno" or "buona sera" than go into what you are asking or wanting....

soccr: una camera tranquilla, per favore

Despite all the "rules", Italian is still by far a more relaxed, less formal language than French. I prefer it over French any day! The Italians are so friendly that indeed after seeing them day after day (if you are staying in a small town, etc) they do sometimes become enough of an acquaintance that you can use the "ciao" and even "tu" forms in conversation.

In France, I did not find this to be the case, they are much more reserved in their enthusiasm and mannerisms (my Mom is French and she would die if someone used familiar words without knowing her for 10 years prior).

Neil_Oz

I don't know what I was thinking, including "ciao" in my list. A surfeit of vino rosso with a couple of formerly-Italian amici, I guess. More grey cells down the tube. And ira and others, thanks for straightening me out on 'gabinetto'. As well as my Italian teacher, an elderly Italian waiter in a Melbourne restaurant chipped me for using the term, so I took their advice as gospel.

suze

There's lots of great advice here, but I think since this person is leaving in 11 days, it really IS those 10 key phrases he/she should attempt to master. That's just not enough time IMO to build a vocabulary, master even a few verbs, sentence structure, etc. Now if the trip was 1 year away, then definitely would be worthwhile to attempt.