Travelers visiting Italy can learn and practice 11+ essential words and phrases here. We’ve posted the first 11 below.
Listen.
Record yourself.
Play back and compare.
(See more “Learn and Practice Tips” below!)
The First 11 Italian Phrases
Learn and Practice Tips
- Click the black arrow to hear the Italian speaker.
- Click the red dot once to record yourself, click the black square to stop recording.
- When you click the black arrow again, you’ll hear the native speaker and then yourself.
- Do it several times until you sound like the Italian speaker
- Then “Choose a Study Mode” and test yourself with one of the Quizlet games! (You may need to adjust your Options with the top right icon
.)
Why learn these Phrases?
Whenever you travel to a country where you don’t speak the language, you’ll encounter situations when these words will be useful.
Let’s say, you’ve ordered your first meal in a restaurant in Italy and as the waiter serves you, you say “Grazie”.
Even if the waiter knows that you don’t speak Italian, your effort may make him smile …
And beyond “Please” and “Thank you”, basic greetings really are the staple of first words you should know in any country you visit.
And we start with the most obvious and easiest ones: “Yes” and “No”. We end with asking whether your conversations partner speaks any of the languages you may also speak.
Walking in the country side…
While there’ll be many opportunities to use basic greetings in Rome and other large Italian cities, knowing them when you’re outside of a city is even more important.
As we always notice when we walk in the countryside or in smaller towns, greetings are common and even expected!
Being a visitor in Italy will make you much more welcome, when you make the effort to greet people in Italian.
The Next 12 Italian Phrases: Where is…?
In the next installment – Italian 2 For Travel– you’ll learn to ask where the bathroom, train and metro station, bank, pharmacy etc. are located.
Even if you have a GPS enabled smart phone, it won’t tell you where the bathroom is – and you’ll certainly find plenty of opportunities to ask other “Where…?” questions. It’s also often a good way to start a conversation!