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Lesson Introduction
Today we'll be discussing one of the questions that has plagued man since he (or she) discovered how to ferment grape juice over 6,000 years ago... What should you drink? Red or white? White or red? Join ItalianPod hosts Marco and Catherine as they explore an innovative approach to making this most important of decisions!
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billkaulitzlover says
June 11, 2008
Italianpod has the funniest dialogues of all the language podcasts.
Really fun way of learning. :)
roscovanbasten says
June 11, 2008
Another great lesson...Bravi
Also got a question for you!
Ubriaco - meaning drunk; Are there any colloquial ways of saying "I'm Drunk" , like in English "I'm wasted", "I'm hammered", "I'm legless", "I'm out of my tree"...the list could go on - but I think you get the idea
Grazie amici
marcod says
June 12, 2008
I guess we don't have that many expressions. You could say sbronzo, brillo or alticcio (more similar to tipsy).
An interesting expression for drinking is "alzare il gomito", literally: to raise one's elbow!
sandro76 says
June 12, 2008
and what about:
"ebbro" (inebriated)
"ha bevuto come una spugna" He drank as a sponge
"ciucco" well drunk... :)
michele says
June 12, 2008
a good term for an heavy drunk is ubriaco fradicio where fradicio means soaking wet.
so you could say, sei proprio ubriaco fradicio you're really drunk..
but guys, please don't abuse with alcool, it's a dangerous thing...
lunetta says
June 12, 2008
Another interesting thing about the Italian drinking culture is that the Italians rarely get "wasted" or "hammered", and they don't usually use similar terms to brag about how much alcool they consumed at a party. I once shared a house in the UK with a bunch of Italians and they were utterly shocked by the way people their own age would behave after a night out.
nurdle says
June 12, 2008
I'm wondering if someone could check the volume levels on the Lesson Reviews for ItalianPod. Some sections (like the intro's) come out very loud, and the English is at a different volume level from the translation. Is anyone else experiencing this? It's pretty frustrating. If it's just me, do you know what I can do to fix the Fix?
catherinem says
June 12, 2008
Nurdle,
Thanks for noting that. It's not just you and I understand that it's frustrating. We've got our sound engineer working on adjusting the levels. It'll be fixed soon. :)
roscovanbasten says
June 12, 2008
Lunetta,
You're quite right about Italians not bragging about getting drunk. It is very much a part of British and Irish culture, and when I lived in Rome the locals were not so accustomed to how we drank. They preferred to enjoy alcohol rather than binge drink - and I think they have a point..Also, a lot of cultures that do drink find that they can't be outgoing unless they consume ridiculous amounts of alcohol...many Italians are already very outgoing - so imagine what alcohol would do to them:-)
lunetta says
June 12, 2008
Rosco, if you want to see what does happen, try going to the best stocked enoteca in Palermo, buy a bottle of snaps and bring it to a New Year's party of 6 people. The best New Years party I ever had!
mayor_bombolini says
June 13, 2008
My late uncle from Abruzzi would argue about the best wine thing.
I've found Italians are very proud of their region.
Regarless, Italian wine drunk in Italy is a very good experience.
vittoria says
July 21, 2008
I respect so much the way Italians imbibe. The very best dining experience is perhaps drinking a regional wine in Italy with a wonderful dinner among friends, preferably outside. I just find that one glass usually is enough, maybe two but that is all..and typically, that is the Italian way. Lots of laughter, conversation and not too much drinking
caprilotta says
January 30, 2009
I love taking anglo-saxon friends to my local restaurant and quietly pointing out (well through the meal) the ratio of water bottles to wine on the other tables...
and yes, our local wine (Lazio) is very good too! I enjoy the "fatto in casa" from all around... who needs to go to the enoteca?
wolson says
May 18, 2009
Unlike the French, the Italian wines are best in Italy! It is said that rather than sell the best wines abroad, the Italians keep them for themselves. The French on the other hand sell them.
I am a fan of Sangiovese which I like the best oth the many Italian wines but most all have good vintages.
catherinem says
May 19, 2009
@wolson haha I\'d agree. The best wines I ever had were in Italy. They were usually the ones you got at the vineyard that you could take home in bottles with old labels (they were usually the wrong labels, too!). It\'s those bottles that definitely don\'t get exported...
aquanerd says
June 22, 2009
When I took Spanish, when someone sneezed, the first sneeze we said "salud". However, after that inital sneeze, the words changed (amor, dinero, etc.). Does this also happen in Italian?
catherinem says
June 23, 2009
@aquanerd I've heard that from Spanish speakers before! In Italian it's just 'salute.' No love or money!
tjgolubi says
July 6, 2009
I think "gesundheit" in German also means "health".
blueschaeffer says
August 12, 2009
Mi prefere rosso. Salute!
catherinem says
August 12, 2009
@blueschaeffer
I like red better, too! Just a little correction on what you wrote:
Cheers! Salute!
mantis108 says
August 21, 2009
As a podcaster and a bilingual English/French speaker now learning my third language (Italian), I have to say I'm really impressed by the quality and entertainment value of the lessons I've heard so far. I'm writing this from my vacation in Firenze and am getting to put all of this wonderful learning to direct and immediate use!
Salute!
catherinem says
August 25, 2009
@mantis108
Glad to hear you're enjoying our podcasts so much! I imagine our food and beverage podcasts will be of particular use while you're on holiday in Firenze!!
Happy travels!
pamelaryan says
January 9, 2010
Ciao! While recently viewing a cooking show on PBS set in a vineyard in Val d'Osta, the converstaion between chef Lydia and the winemaker included many unfamiliar Italian terms used to describe the nuances of the wine--full bodied, thin, fruity etc. I can only find one Newbie lesson in a search under "wine." Are there others buried within the website?
suz333 says
January 12, 2010
Hello, I am just starting to learn Italian and Chinese. I am a French Canadian and I have been learning Spanish on Spanish Pod for about a year. The few Italian lessons I have so far seen look as good as the Spanish lessons. I am sure I will enjoy learning Italian.
laiabcn says
January 25, 2010
First of all, wanted to tell you I just joined this site 2 days ago and find the podcasts are absolutely excellent!!!! They are very helpful and entertaining. Couldn't ask for more!
I'm from Barcelona, which means I'm already Catalan/Spanish bilingual, but happen to have studied abroad so I'm also fluent in English. I've always enjoyed learning languages. I studied French at school as a 2nd foreing language, and also got started with German (now! that's a tough one!!). I have to admit that Italian is heaps easier for us (especially us Catalans), since the grammar structure and lots of words are very similar.
I wanted to comment on how we use the "salute" expression here when someone sneezes. We say "salud" or "salut" (in Catalan), and some people say "Jesús" (I think it has something to do with Jesus Christ protecting you from getting extremely sick or something...), but have to say that I have never heard anyone say anything about love or money... Might be used in other parts of Spain, who knows...
Well... hope to get a chance to write again. Ciao!
BlueThru says
August 26, 2010
Can we increase the length of the lesson reviews please!
carasusanetta says
5 days ago
BlueThru, Praxis still supports ItalianPod, but there is nothing new. I haven't even seen any teachers responding yet to these comments...