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    Street Italian 1: The Best of Italian Slang
    Street Italian 1: The Best of Italian Slang
    Street Italian 1: The Best of Italian Slang
    Ebook389 pages3 hours

    Street Italian 1: The Best of Italian Slang

    By David Burke

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Francesca ha una cotta per Giovanni! (trans.): Francesca has a crush on Giovanni! (lit.): Francesca has a baking for Giovanni! Ho mangeato in un ristorante caro, dove mi hanno spennato! (trans.): I ate at an expensive restaurant and got fleeced! (lit.): l ate at an expensive restaurant and got plucked! Mamma mia! Even after years of trying to learn Italian, you still have trouble conversing with a native speaker. Why? Because everyday Italian is filled with slang and colloquialisms. Street Italian 1 is the first in a series of slang/idiom books that teach you how to speak and understand the real language used daily on the street, in homes, offices, stores, and among family and friends. Entertaining dialogues, word games and drills, crossword puzzles, word searches, and "inside" tips will have you sounding like a native in no time at all.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTurner Publishing Company
    Release dateAug 1, 2000
    ISBN9781620459393
    Street Italian 1: The Best of Italian Slang
    Author

    David Burke

    David Burke studied for his PhD at the University of Greenwich and the University of Birmingham, including five months in the Soviet Union. He has taught at the Universities of Cambridge, Greenwich, Leeds and Salford. His books include The Spy Who Came in from the Co-op, The Lawn Road Flats and Russia and the British Left.

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      Book preview

      Street Italian 1 - David Burke

      STREET ITALIAN 1

      The Best of Italian Slang

      DAVID BURKE

      John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

      New York • Chichester • Weinheim • Brisbane • Singapore • Toronto

      Design and Production: David Burke

      Copy Editor and Translator: Alessio Filippi

      Front Cover Illustration: Ty Semaka

      Inside Illustrations: Ty Semaka

      This book is printed on acid-free paper.

      Copyright © 2000 by David Burke. All rights reserved

      Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

      Published simultaneously in Canada

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, E-Mail: PERMREQ@WILEY.COM.

      This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

      ISBN 0-471-38438-0

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      This book is dedicated to Noah

      CONTENTS

      Acknowledgments

      Introduction

      Legend

      LESSON 1

      Per la terza volta questa settimana, Antonio ha fatto forca a scuola!

      For the third time this week, Antonio cut class!

      Dialog

      Vocabulary

      Practice the Vocabulary

      LESSON 2

      Francesca ha una cotta per Giovanni!

      Francesca has a crush on Giovanni!

      Dialog

      Vocabulary

      Practice the Vocabulary

      LESSON 3

      Pasquale si è spennato a forza di fare sempre benzina!

      Pasquale went broke buying gas all the time!

      Dialog

      Vocabulary

      Practice the Vocabulary

      LESSON 4

      Il mio ospite comincia a starmi sull’anima!

      My houseguest is starting to get on my nerves!

      Dialog

      Vocabulary

      Practice the Vocabulary

      LESSON 5

      Come fa uno a vivere in una tale topaia?

      How can anyone live in such a rattrap?

      Dialog

      Vocabulary

      Practice the Vocabulary

      REVIEW EXAM FOR LESSONS 1-5

      LESSON 6

      Il mio vicino è flippato e dovrebbe andare da uno strizzacervelli!

      My neighbor’s nuts and should go see a shrink!

      Dialog

      Vocabulary

      Practice the Vocabulary

      LESSON 7

      Graziella è dawero diventata una scorfana!

      Graziella has really turned into a troll!

      Dialog

      Vocabulary

      Practice the Vocabulary

      LESSON 8

      Pensavo che Oreste fosse una pasta d’uomo.

      I used to think Oreste was a good egg.

      Dialog

      Vocabulary

      Practice the Vocabulary

      LESSON 9

      Paolo si è sentito a pezzi ieri.

      Paolo was exhauted yesterday.

      Dialog

      Vocabulary

      Practice the Vocabulary

      LESSON 10

      Mamma mia! Che tappo grasso!

      WOW! What a fat slob!.

      Dialog

      Vocabulary

      Practice the Vocabulary

      REVIEW EXAM FOR LESSONS 6-10

      ANSWER TO LESSONS 1-10

      APPENDIX (DICTATIONS)

      GLOSSARY

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      I’m forever grateful to Alessio Filippi for his extraordinary contribution to this book. His insight into the spoken Italian language had me constantly amazed. He will always have my deepest appreciation and regard.

      To say that Try Semaka’s illustrations are brilliant, hilarious, amazing, and magical would be an understatement. I consider myself so lucky to have found so much talent all wrapped up in one person.

      My special thanks and most sincere admiration go to Chris Jackson, my editor at John Wiley & Sons. To date, I don’t believe there has been a word or an idiom created that describes someone who is as professional, reassuring, attentive, enthusiastic, motivated, and fun as Chris. He made the entire process truly enjoyable.

      I consider myself very fortunate to have been under the wing of so many wonderful people during the creation of this book. A tremendous and warm thanks goes to my pals at John Wiley & Sons: Gerry Helferich, Marcia Samuels, and Sibylle Kazeroid. They are without a doubt the most friendly, supportive, encouraging, and infinitely talented group of people with which I’ve had the pleasure to work.

      INTRODUCTION

      STREET ITALIAN 1 is the first in a series of entertaining guides that will help you to learn quickly the actual spoken language of Italy that is constantly used in movies, books, and day-to-day business, as well as among family and friends. Now you can finally become an insider as you learn the secret world of popular slang that even a ten-year veteran of formalized Italian would not understand!

      STREET ITALIAN 1 is designed to teach the essentials of Italian slang in ten lessons that are divided into five primary parts:

      DIALOGUE

      In this section, 20-30 slang words (shown in boldface) are presented in an Italian dialogue on the left-hand page. A translation of the dialogue appears on the opposite page. On the following page, you’ll find a literal translation of the dialogue that often proves to be hilarious!

      VOCABULARY

      This section spotlights all of the slang terms that were used in the dialogue and offers:

      an example of usage for each entry

      an English translation of the example

      synonyms, antonyms, variations, or special notes to give you a complete sense of the word or expression.

      PRACTICE THE VOCABULARY

      These word games and drills include all of the slang terms and idioms previously learned and will help you test yourself on your comprehension. (The pages providing the answers to the drills are indicated at the beginning of this section.)

      DICTATION

      This section will allow you to test yourself on your listening comprehension. If you are following along with your cassette, you will hear a series of sentences from the opening dialogue. These sentences will be read by a native speaker at normal conversational speed. When the sentences are read again, there will be a pause after each to give you time to write down what you have heard.

      REVIEW

      Following each sequence of five chapters is a summary review encompassing all the words and expressions learned up to that point.

      The secret to learning STREET ITALIAN 1 is to follow this simple checklist:

      Make sure that you have a good grasp on each section before proceeding to the drills. If you’ve made more than two errors in a particular drill, simply go back and review. . .then try again! Remember: This is a self-paced book, so take your time. You’re not fighting the clock!

      It’s very important that you feel comfortable with each chapter before proceeding to the next. Words you’ve learned along the way may crop up in the following dialogues. So feel comfortable before moving on!

      Make sure that you read the dialogues and drills aloud. This is an excellent way to become comfortable speaking colloquially and to begin thinking like a native.

      IMPORTANT: Slang must always be used with discretion because it is an extremely casual language that certainly should not be practiced with formal dignitaries or employers whom you are trying to impress! Most important, since a nonnative speaker of Italian may tend to sound forced or artificial using slang, your first goal should be to recognize and understand these types of words. Once you feel that you have a firm grasp on the usage of the slang words and expressions presented in this book, try using some in your conversations for extra color!

      Just as a student of formalized English would be rather shocked to run into words like pooped, zonked, and wiped out and discover that they all go under the heading of tired, you too will be surprised and amused to encounter a whole new array of terms and phrases usually hidden away in the Italian language and reserved only for the native speaker.

      Welcome to the expressive and colorful world of slang!

      LEGEND

      LEZIONE UNO

      Per la terza volta questa settimana, Antonio ha fatto forea a scuola!

      (trans.): For the third time this week, Antonio cut class!

      (lit.): For the third time this week, Antonio did the gallows!

      LEZIONE UNO • Dialogue in Slang

      LESSON ONE • Translation of Dialogue

      For the third time this week, Antonio cut class!

      LESSON ONE • Literal Translation of Dialogue

      For the third time this week, Antonio did the gallows!

      VOCABULARY

      beccare v. to call on someone in class (said of a teacher) • (lit.): to peck.

      bonazza f. a girl who is extremely pretty to the point of being overdone, bombshell (which comes from the adjective buono/bono [buona/bona], meaning good) • (lit.): a really good thing.

      casino di roba exp. a lot of stuff • (lit.): a brothel of stuff.

      Cavolo! interj. Wow!• (lit.): cabbage.

      fare forca exp. to cut class • (lit.): to do the gallows.

      fare fuori exp. to kill, to waste (someone), to take

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