Your stay in Italy
Being understood
In Italy, English is not widely spoken outside of the tourist areas and cities such as Rome and Naples. When you travel outside of these areas you will find the majority of people will speak only Italian. If you visit some of the small mountain villages you will also encounter dialects such as Calabrese, found in the southern most region of Italy, Calabria. Therefore it is advisable to bring a phrase book with you when you are visiting Italy. You will find most people are willing to take the time to speak with you as long as you make an attempt to speak their language, even if it is just a few words to say hello and order something from the menu.
Eating in Restraunts
When you arrive at a restraunt in Italy the waiter or waitress will normally say the word 'Prego' which means welcome. This word will be used several times throughout the meal. The second time you hear it will be when you are seated and means 'Welcome, please sit' and will usually be accompanied by a gesture towards a table or seat. You will also hear the word used a third time when something is brought to you. In this final form it means Ýour welcome' in the same way as the English wold say Ýour welcome' after somebody has said 'Thank you. However Italians say this the other way round so they say your welcome, then you say thank you.
Having been seated the waiter will bring the menu and ask you what you would like to drink 'Bibite?'. They will then return later to take your order and bring you some bread.
Not all restaurants will accept credit cards. Especially if you are outside of the cities. It is therefore advisable to take cash with you when eating out.
Useful Phrases - Italian
Yes and No| Italian | English | Pronounced |
| Si | Yes | See |
| No | No | No |
Please and Thank you
| Italian | English | Pronounced |
| Grazie | Thank You | Graz-eya |
| per favore | Please | per-favoray |
Greetings
| Italian | English | Pronounced |
| Salve | Hello | Sal Vay |
| Ciao | Hi | Chow |
| Come Va? | Hows it? going | Comay Va? |
| Sta Bene? | How are you? | Sta Benay? |
| Sto Bene | I am well | Sto Benay |
| Bongiorno | Bon joor-no | Good day |
| Buona sera | Good evening | Buawna sarah |
| Buona notte | Good night | Buawna now-tay |
| Piacere | Please to meet you | Pee a cherray |
| Mi Chiamo .. | My name is ... | Me key-amho.. |
Explanations
| Italian | English | Pronounced |
| Io sono inglese | I am english | eyo sorno in-glazay |
| non parlo italiano | I dont speak Italain | non par-lo italiano |
| scusi | excuse me | scuw-zee |
| Mi poi utare | Can you help me | Mi poy u-taray |
| Non ho capito | I didnt understand | non o capiy-to |
| Capito? | Understood? | capiy-to? |
| Subito | Right away | Sue-bee-tow |
Menu's and Ordering
| Italian | English | Pronounced |
| Prego | welcome/please sit/here you go/enjoy | Pray-go |
| Un tavolo per favore | A table please | un tavolo perfavore Un tavolo per-favoray |
| Posso vedere il menù? | posso vederay il min-oo? | Could I see the menu? |
| il conto | The bill | il conto |
| Vorrei | I would like | vorray |
| Italian | English | Pronounced |
| prima | first | pree-ma |
| secondo | second | second-o |
| Italian | English | Pronounced |
| Carne | meat | Car-Nay |
| pesce | fish | peshay |
| Manzo | Beef | mantso |
| formaggio | cheese | fromag-jio |
| prosciutto | Ham | pro-shoot-o |
| panini | Panini | Panini |
| Tonno | Tuna | Tonno |
| Pomodoro | Tomato's | Pomo-doro |
| Fungi | Mushrooms | foun-geey |
| Italian | English | Pronounced |
| Bibite? | Drinks? | Bie-Bie-Tay? |
| Birra alla Spina | Draught lager | Beer-a alla spee-na |
| Media | large | Med-eeya |
| piccolo | small | pick-olo |
| Italian | English | Pronounced |
| Vino Rosso | Red wine | Vino Ros-so |
| Vino Bianco | White wine | Vino Bian-coe |
| l'aqua | water | l'aqua |
Public Transport
| Italian | English | Pronounced |
| vorrei andare qui | I would like to go here | vorray andaray queey |
| quanto costo | how much? | quanto costo |
| dove l'autobus | Where is the bus? | dovay l - out-o-bus |
| taxi | taxi | taxi |