I am trying to learn Italian. Mia Nonna was Italian from Florence and I am going to the Italian Riviera for my main holiday this June.
I can make a reasonable fist of reading simple texts. But without practice I fear my speech will be barely understandable. However it has been very enjoyable and I thought it would be fun to impart a little of what I have learned.
It is quite a simple language and for the taster I am going to teach you how to pronounce the Italian vowels. There are five of them and they have only one pronunciation each.
A: pronounced ‘ai’ in English as in the word eight. The Italian is pronounced as a short ‘a’ as in cat, but note, never as in castle, that takes the English ‘ar’ sound.
E: pronounced ‘ee’ in English as in peach. The Italian is a short ‘e’ as in said or lead, but note, never as in lead.
I: pronounced ‘aye’ in English as in byte. The Italian is ‘ee’ as in key or read. But note never as in read.
O: pronounced ‘oh’ in English as in woah, or dough. The Italian is a short ‘o’ as in want and even twice in entente, but note, never as in scone. That rhymes with own.
U: pronounced ‘ugh’ in English as in love. The Italian is a short ‘oo’ as in flew, or you, – and that will do.
And there endeth the lesson. If that has piqued an interest then there are plenty of online courses available on the internet.
© Gerry Mandarin 2024