For several consecutive years, in mid-October, I have been leaving for a week in one of the European cities to relax and see how they live there. Brussels turned out to be a charming, fragrant chocolate and beer-foamy French-speaking city. From the words "bonjour" and "arevoir" sometimes dizzy, and in the throat began to tickle from the gressed French "r".
One evening I needed to order an early breakfast for myself, as the next day I was leaving for a nearby city on a tour. The guide accompanying our group advised me to place an order not for the number, but for my surname.
The first thing the reception manager asked me about, and you must have heard this question more than once, "How do you spell it?" (How do you say this?). Those. spell your last name and first name.
Rule 1: Speak the letters as they are pronounced in the alphabet. Not “se,” but “es.” Not "fe", but "ef", etc. The same technique is valid in all foreign languages.
Why all this background? To the most important and basic in learning a new language - the alphabet. You must admit that it is unlikely that the hotel staff in Milan or Venice can perfectly speak Russian, and we still don’t speak Italian so well.
I hasten to please you, the modern Italian alphabet is considered the shortest. It has only 21 letters, you just need to remember the pronunciation. For example, the letter “C” si, familiar in English pronunciation, says chi in Italian, and “H” is said to be pronounced like an acca.
My Italian teacher in the first lesson decided that learning the alphabet on paper does not make sense. It is better to let each letter have its own portrait, of course, Italian.
How do you like the alphabet consisting of the names of famous Italians? Everything will come in handy - athletes and musicians, historians and artists, scientists and heroes of works. For example, A a - Armani (Giorgio Armani) or B bi - Bellucci (Monica Bellucci), C chi - Cavalli (Roberto Cavalli) or G ji - Galilei (Galileo Galilei), M umme - Morricone (Ennio Morricone) or S essay - Salieri (Antonio Salieri), etc.
By the way, I will be glad if you offer your version of the Italian alphabet!
Rule 2: Learn the alphabet not in separate letters, but in words. Better in the ones you use daily.
All proposed famous names are read as they are heard. However, do you notice anything suspicious? Cavalli was supposed to be Chavalli, and Galileo - Jalilea. What if the eminent royal dynasty of the Medici was actually called the Medici? The secret is simple: some Italian sounds have little tricks when pronouncing, without which knowledge speech can become a subject of jokes, and sometimes big troubles.
Rule 3: Remember how letter combinations are read. This will help immediately say the words correctly.
And now, sadly, a little cramming. Just a little, so as not to hit the dirt in front of the ... disarming smile of some Italian passing by in Rome. In the Italian language there are letter combinations that you definitely need to remember. Let these be small formulas, similar to the multiplication table:
Consonant "c"followed by the vowels "a", "o" or "u" are read, like our "k".
For example, musica is precisely “music” and not “music” :) And after the vowels “i” or “e” are read like our “h”. For example, cinema is definitely not “cinema”, as in English, but “cinema”. Sometimes an inaudible sound “h” is attached to the sound “c”, which turns “ci” chi and “ce” che into “chi” ki and “che” ke.
So:
ca, co, cu = ka, ko, ku
ci, ce = chi, what
chi, che = ki, ke
Consonant "g" it always reads like our "g", but only when the vowels "a", "o", or "u" stand after it. For example, "gatto" is a cat. If we see "i" or "e" - there will be a "ji". Feel the delicious Italian word "gelato" (gelato) - ice cream!
Well, in the case of the already familiar "h" we hear "ghi" - gi and "ghe" - gee.
So:
ga, go, gu = ha, go, gu
gi, ge = ji, jae
ghi, ghe = gee, gee
Also remember that the combination g+n give softened n - n, and from g+li it turns out. They can be heard in the sleepy word "sogno" or the coveted "voglia".
Consonant "s" - this is our "es", but sometimes it can also sound like s. Compare the Italian words "salone" (salone) and "casa" (kaza, which means "home" in translation).
s at the beginning of the word = s
s after consonants = s
s between two vowels or before voiced consonants = s
Separately remember combination sc.
sc + "a", "o" or "u"= ska, sko, sku
You are definitely not mistaken, paying attention to the famous Milanese La Scala and apologizing to the passerby who accidentally stepped on his foot - Scusi!
sc + "e", or "i" = shhe, shi
Are you frozen? Rather, wrap yourself in a scialle, t.v. into a scarf.
ss (double es) - always read as ss
If it does not help, then please have a cup of espresso!
The first step has been taken, and of course you want to impress everyone with knowledge. I also wanted to. Only no one understood me, but they laughed for a very long time. Why, you ask? Because the Italian language loves when all sounds are pronounced clearly: 2 letters "n" are written, be so kind as to pronounce both. And it will turn out like mine - instead of a pen (penna), I earned punishment (pena), and turned the pole (polo) into chicken (pollo). Or imagine that you are a journalist and want to take an exclusive interview, for example, from Roberto Cavalli, but, by chance, uttered his last name as "cavallo". How could a couturier be called a horse ?! Scandal ensured! Just thanks to one letter.
Rule 4: Pronounce all sounds clearly: percussion and unstressed, single and double.
It was only part of the grammar, without which it is impossible to know the language. It is easy for someone, hard for someone. But the main thing is that there is a great desire, right?
Therefore, for today, the last Rule 5: Ask, clarify, train your memory and love the language you are learning!
And then everything will be, as the Italians say, perfetto!
