Hi everybody, my name's Mike and this is the Let's Speak Italian podcast. So you've been listening to the first few lessons, and hopefully you're learning how to speak Italian.

Well with the first 100 lessons completed, I wanted to release the first few lessons for free as a little teaser so that you can see just how easy it is to learn to speak Italian. Now, by going to the website, you can buy the first 100 lessons for only $15.00. That includes 100 lessons, plus 20 review lessons as well, for a total of 120 lessons in all. That's 24 weeks of lessons, for only $15.00.  It's over 13 hours of Italian lessons, for the price of what you might pay for one music CD.

I've found that the key to learning to speak Italian is to learn a little bit every day, and to practice it with your friends. So get lessons 1-100, and listen to one lesson, every day for 24 weeks. By the end, you'll be amazed at how easy it was, and just how much you can learn by practicing a few minutes every day.

To buy the first 100 lessons, just go to the web site at www.letsspeakitalian.net and click on one of the banner ads. If you want to Download Lessons 1-100, click on the 'Download' banner ad. Once I get your payment, I'll e-mail you a link to the files. Be patient though, it might take a few hours before I check my email.  If you would rather Get Lessons 1-100 on CD-Rom, click on the 'CD' banner ad and once I receive your payment, I'll mail the CD-Rom to you.  For only $15.00 you'll be speaking Italian before you know it.

Grazie tanto, arrivederci.

Di dove sei (tu)? = Where are you from? (informal)

Di dov'e' (Lei)? = Where are you from? (formal)

Sono di...= I am from...

Dov'e'...? = Where is...?

Ecco... = Here is...

And here are some famous cities and their Italian and English pronunciations.

Roma = Rome

Milano = Milan

Venezia = Venice

Firenze = Florence

Napoli = Naples

Italian Spelling = English Sound

a = ah

e = ay

i = ee

o = oh

u = oo

c (before e or i) = ch

c (before other vowels) = k

ch = k

g (before e or i) = j

g (before other vowels) = g (as in go)

gh = g (as in go)

gl = lli (as in million)

gn = ny (as in canyon)

h = always silent

r = r (a single r should lightly rolled or trilled; a double rr is strongly rolled or trilled)

s = s (but pronounced as a z when it comes between vowels)

sc (before e or i) = sh

sc (before other vowels) = sk

sch = sk

z (beginning of a word) = dz

z (within a word) = ts

zz = ts and sometimes dz

io = I

tu = you (informal)

Lei = you (formal)

lui = he

lei = she

noi = we

voi = you (plural, formal and informal)

loro = they

The subject pronoun io, unlike the English I, is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence.

Lei is the formal form for both masculine and feminine and is written with the capital L to distinguish it from lei (she).

Essere = to be

io sono = I am

tu sei = you are (informal)

Lei e' = you are (formal)

lui/lei e' = he/she is

noi siamo = we are

voi siete = you are (plural)

loro sono = they are

Avere = to have

io ho = I have

tu hai = you have (informal)

Lei ha = you have (formal)

lui/lei ha = he/she has

noi abbiamo = we have

voi avete = you have (plural)

loro hanno = they have

0 = zero

1 = uno

2 = due

3 = tre

4 = quattro

5 = cinque

6 = sei

7 = sette

8 = otto

9 = nove

10 = dieci

11 = undici

12 = dodici

13 = tredici

14 = quattordici

15 = quindici

16 = sedici

17 = diciassette

18 = diciotto

19 = diciannove

20 = venti

Ciao = Hi, bye

Salve = Hello

Buongiorno = Good morning, good day

Buonasera = Good evening

(Tanto) Piacere = (So) Nice to meet you

Molto lieto/lieta = Very pleased to meet you

Scusa = Excuse me (informal)

Scusi = Excuse me (formal)

Come ti chiami? = What is your name? (informal)

Come si chiama? = What is your name? (formal)

Mi chiamo... = My name is...

E tu? = And you? (informal)

E Lei? = And you? (formal)

Come stai? = How are you? (informal)

Come sta? = How are you? (formal)

Come va? = How's it going?

Sto bene = I'm fine

Sto benone = I'm terrific

Sto benissimo = I'm very well

Sto molto bene = I'm very well

Sto abbastanza bene = I'm quite well, or I'm well enough

Sto cosi' cosi' = I'm so-so

Sto male = I'm badly

Non sto bene = I'm not well

Non c'e' male = Not too bad

Bene, grazie, e tu? = Fine, thank you, and you? (informal)

Bene, grazie e Lei? = Fine, thank you, and you? (formal)

Signore = Mr.

Signora = Mrs.

Signorina = Miss

Avvocato = Lawyer

Ingegnere = Engineer

Professore = Masculine professor

Professoressa = Feminine professor

Dottore = Masculine doctor

Dottoressa = Feminine doctor

Insegnante = Teacher

On those masculine titles that end with 'ore'; the final 'e' is dropped before the person's last name:

Signor Bianchi = Mr. Bianchi

Professor Ricci = Professor Ricci

Feminine titles remain unchanged.

Ciao = Bye (also means Hi)

Arrivederci = Good-bye (informal)

ArriverderLa = Good-bye (formal)

A presto = See you soon

Alla prossima = Until next time

Ci vediamo = See you later

Addio = Farewell

parlare = to speak

io parlo = I speak

tu parli = you speak (informal)

Lei parla = you speak (formal)

lui parla = he speaks

lei parla = she speaks

noi parliamo = we speak

voi parlate = you speak (plural)

loro parlano = they speak

Inglese = English

Francese = French

Spagnolo = Spanish

Tedesco = German

Russo = Russian

Giapponese = Japanese

Italiano = Italian

Parliamo Italiano = We speak Italian

libro = book

penna = pen

matita = pencil

carta = paper

quaderno = notebook or planner

sedia = chair

luce = light

finestra = window

scrivania = desk

pagina = page

porta = door

Change the 'o' to an 'i' to make it plural:

amico = friend, amici = friends

Change the 'a' to an 'e' to make it plural:

chiesa = church, chiese = churches

Change the 'ca' to a 'che' to make it plural:

banca = bank, banche = banks

Change the 'e' to an 'i' to make it plural:

studente = student, studenti = students

Most masculine words ending in 'io' you drop the 'o' to make it plural:

negozio = store, negozi = stores

Nouns ending with an accented vowel or a consonant do not change in the plural:

caffe' = coffee shop, due caffe' = two coffee shops

foto = photo, due foto = two photos

Nouns ending in 'o' are generally masculine:

amico = friend (male)

libro = book

Nouns ending in 'a' are generally feminine:

amica = friend (female)

casa = house

Nouns ending in 'e' can be both and simply must be memorized:

ristorante (m) = restaurant

pane (m) = bread

classe (f) = class

notte (f) = night

Words ending with a consonant are usually foreign words, and are usually masculine:

bar, autobus, film, sport

ance = anza

importance = importanza

ence = enza

intelligence = intelligenza

ant = ante

important = importante

ent = ente

student = studente

ible = bile

possible = possibile

ist = ista

dentist = dentista

ly = mente

generally = generalmente

sion = sione

mission = missione

tion = zione

station = stazione

ty = ta'

society = societa'