Basic: Introduction?

since it's usually the simplest way to start. ;)

so, how can we introduce ourselves in Italian? oh, and I wonder if words in Italian are read different than what's written, like in French or German. if yes, I guess I'll make use of the recorder in my phone and post it a lot on the internet. XD

thank you!

Well, well, well... Words in Italian are read different that what's written, but not always. Anyways... How do we Italians introduce ourselves? Simply...

"Buongiorno, mi chiamo Marco e ho 16 anni."

Marco is my name (eng. Mark);
Buongiorno is composed by Buon and Giorno, in english is Good and Morning = Goodmorning;
Mi chiamo is the verb "chiamarsi", which is riflessive because its meaning refers to the subject;
Ho 16 anni means "I'm 16 years old".

okay. that's cool. now to how to pronounce it. from all those words, which ones read different than how it's written?

Almost everyone.

16 is read Sedici, where the "c" is read like "chilly".

ouch. looks like it's gonna be hard studying like this. XD

let's go from the first word: "buongiorno". how do you say "buon" and "giorno"? I pronounced it exactly the same as how it's written, only that I read "gi-" as in "giraffe".

sorry to bother you, hehe~ I'm just trying out this new section. ;)

No problems, I like trying to teach someone else my language, though it's a bit difficult~

About "gi", it's exactly like that~

Mi chiamo: "mi" is pronounced as "me" in english ^^ "chiamo" is pronounced as it's written, but "chi" is like the english word "key".

Ho: is the verb "to have" and it's red as it's written, withouth the aspiration of the H.

I have an idea! >_<
Maruko what if you made a thread with the Italian alphabet and how to pronounce the letters, along with commonly used letter combos like "mi", etc. and then create a thread for commonly used phrases, and then expand from there to include other categories.
Good or bad? ;3

Very good >8D
To be honest, I actually wanted to do something like that, but it was too difficoult because Italian is a very complex language >< Anyhow, I can make some registrations of the pronunciation ^^

Yea!~ =^_^=
I was trying to remember my Spanish class, and how my teacher taught it. Although Italian is somewhat similar to Spanish I know they can be very different, so I look forward to see what the differences are. And, good luck!

hey, awesome idea, Frisk! I was actually confused where to start learning, so I decided to make such thread, hehe~

I've tried saying it, and I guess I can work it well. thanks, Maruko! ^^

next, what about if I want to say, "I am from Indonesia"?

"I am from Indonesia" translated is "Io vengo dall'Indonesia".

Io = this is the subjec. The "i" is read as the "e" in english.

Vengo = this is the verb "to come". In Italian, when someone has to say where she/he comes from, we use "to come".

dall' = to be more precise, this word might be "dalla". But because of Indonesia starts with a vowel, we Italians take away the finale "a" from "dalla", and put a ' (apostrophe). I don't know if you know the Italian Singer Lucio Dalla... well, "dall'" is pronounced as Dalla, only without the final "a".

Indonesia = nothing to say I think~

oooh, I see. that's cool! let's see what's more I'd like to ask, hehe~

hey, everybody else is welcome to ask on this topic if you want to know more! this is not a private lesson, haha~ XD

I have a question about Italian pronouns. I've read that they have gender specific pronouns too. Are those used like the Japanese Kimi/Anata and Boku/Watashi? xD

Yep~

Italian Pronouns are these:

Io (I)
Tu (You)
Lui / Lei (He / She)
Noi (We)
Voi (You)
Essi (They)

We don't have the corrispective for "It". Lui is the MALE pronoun of third person, and Lei is the FEMALE pronoun of third person. Second person pronoun, Tu, is pronounced as it is "Too" in english ^^

There's an alternative, more used form for "Lui", and it is "Egli". The sound "gli" in english doesn'exist, and it's a bit difficoult to explain how to pronounce it. Maybe I'll do a recording ><

And how about the ending letters (such as when to end with -a for girls and -o for boys)...?

Oh humm... For example...

Beautiful in Italian is said "Bello" (MALE) and "Bella" (FEMALE). We simply change the final vowel from "o" to "a". It isn't always like this, but it's frequently used.

The same think happens with articles, past particicles, name etc... ^^

Could you give example sentences? Thank you.

Let's see...

In english there's only one determinative article: The. In italian we have a male, singular article, a famale, singular article, a male, plural article and a female, plural article.

MALE
Singular: Il
Plural: I

FEMALE
Singular: La
Plural: Le

The same thing happens with undeterminative articles. English has only "a", Italian has:

MALE
Singular: Un, Uno
Plural: Degli

FEMALE
Singular: Un', Una
Plurale: Delle

Female, singular article "Un'" is used when it precedes a female word starting with vowel. With all other cases, we use Una.
Male, singulare article "Un" is used when it precedes a male word starting with vowel. With all other cases, we use Uno.

Anyway, I'm preparing a first lesson with alphabet and other stuffs.

Thank you!

wow, it's kinda confusing. it's similar to German, how some words and articles are written differently based on male or female characteristics.

I can't wait for your first lesson, sir!