How to Survive Your First Italian Conversation

How to Survive Your First Italian Conversation Suzy S. Are you nervous about speaking  Italian for the first time? Below, Italian teacher Nadia B. shares some tips on how to survive your first Italian conversation Youve memorized a long list of  Italian vocabulary words, and youve practiced repeating them out loud with your Italian teacher. But, are you confident enough in your skills to  have an Italian conversation with someone other than your Italian instructor? The following tips and tricks will teach you how to navigate through your first Italian conversation. These tidbits will help you communicate with and comprehend your conversation partner, as well as avoid  some of the most common challenges facing Italian language learners in conversation. Lets get started! 1. Ask Your Partner  to Speak Slowly If your Italian conversation partner is a native Italian, you might find that  he or she will  become animated and start to speak rapidly. Dont worry, this is very common among native Italian speakers. If youre having trouble understanding your partner, you can try the following phrase: Parla/parli più lentamente, per favore, which means Please speak more slowly.  In this phrase, parla is informal and parli is formal. 2. Take Note of Hand Gestures Another thing that happens as Italian speakers become more animated is their use of hand gestures. Take note of these hand gestures, as they  can help you gain comprehension. Check out this link to  see the many hand gestures that Italians often use. Familiarize yourself with some of the gestures, and see if you can catch them in use in actual conversation. 3. Phrases to Use When You Dont Understand If asking your partner to speak slowly doesnt work, here are some phrases you can use if theres something you dont understand: Potresti/Potrebbe ripetere la parola/la frase, per favore? (Could you please repeat the word/the last few words?) In this phrase, potresti is informal and potrebble is formal. Cosa vuol dire ____?  (What does ___ mean?) If youre really not able to understand what your conversation partner has said, you can resort to: Non capisco. (I dont understand.) Non ho capito. (I didnt understand [a specific thing].) 4. Substitute Words You Dont Know If youre  following what your partner is saying,  but youre having trouble expressing a particular idea or thought, try to work around it. If you cant think of a particular word, or dont know the word, you can try to describe it using words you do know. For example, if you didnt know the word for bookstore in Italian (la libreria), you could say, E dove si compra un libro. (Its where you buy books.) If youre really stuck, and the person youre conversing with speaks some English, try the following phrase:  Come se dice ____ in italiano? (How do you say ____ in Italian?) 5. Keep it Simple Lastly, remember to keep it simple. Using simple sentence structures and basic vocabulary words can go a long way. Remember these common building blocks of sentences: The verbs to be: essere and stare Subject pronouns: io (I), lui (he), noi (us), etc. Common verbs:  mangiare (to eat),  parlare (to speak),  andare (to go) Helpful  prepositions:  di (of),  da (from),  accanto (beside),  davanti (in front),  indietro (behind),  giù (below) Useful adjectives: interessante (interesting),  bello (beautiful),  amabile (friendly), difficile (hard), facile (easy) 6. Ask Your Partner Questions In addition to using the above structures to create varied conversation, dont forget that another way to increase the richness and depth of your conversation is to ask the person youre conversing with questions about themselves, or ask for more information about what he or she has  said. Use the following question words to gain more information: perché (why) come (how) quando (when) dove (where) che cosa (what) chi (who) Use these tips and consult your  Italian teacher to help prepare for your first Italian conversation. Most of all, enjoy yourself! Its sure to be full of fun  and learning, and its only the beginning of many adventures in Italian to come! Post Author: Nadia B. Nadia B. teaches Italian in New York, NY. She graduated summa cum laude from New York University, with a double degree in Italian Language and Literature and Classical Music Performance.  Learn more about Nadia here! Photo by  Giulia Mulè Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher