Unlocking Italian with Paul Noble: Your key to language success with the bestselling language coach. Paul Noble
from the first pile, one from the second, one from the third and one from the fourth. Make as many sentences as you can!
* literally “a chamber”
Checklist 2
You have now reached your second checklist. Remember, don’t skip anything! The checklists are essential if you want what you’ve learnt to remain in your memory for the long term.
So again, cover up the English words on the right-hand side while you read through the list of Italian words on the left, trying to recall what they mean in English. If you can go through the entire list, giving the correct English meaning for each of the Italian words / expressions without making more than three mistakes in total, then you’re done. If not, then go through the list again. Keep doing this, either working from the top of the list to the bottom or from the bottom to the top (it doesn’t matter which) until you can do it without making more than three mistakes.
Okay. Ready, set, go!
| il weekend (eel weekend) | the weekend |
| romantico (roe-man-teek-oh) | romantic |
| fantastico (fan-tass-teek-oh) | fantastic |
| politico (pol-ee-teek-oh) | political |
| illogico (ee-lodge-eek-oh) | illogical |
| Ho (o) | I have |
| visitato (visit-art-oh) | visited |
| Ho visitato (o visit-art-oh) | I have visited / I visited / I did visit |
| Roma (roam-er) | Rome |
| Napoli (nap-oh-lee) | Naples |
| Ho visitato Napoli. (o visit-art-oh nap-oh-lee) | I have visited Naples / I visited Naples / I did visit Naples. |
| passato (pass-art-oh) | spent |
| Ho passato (o pass-art-oh) | I have spent / I spent / I did spend |
| Ha (a) | You have |
| Ha passato (a pass-art-oh) | You have spent / You spent / You did spend |
| Abbiamo (ab-ee-arm-oh) | We have |
| Abbiamo passato (ab-ee-arm-oh pass-art-oh) | We have spent / We spent / We did spend |
| settembre (se-tem-bray) | September |
| il Natale (eel nat-arl-ay) | Christmas |
| a Roma (a roam-er) | in Rome |
| in Italia (een eet-al-yer) | in Italy |
| in Svizzera (een zvee-tser-er) | in Switzerland |
| Abbiamo passato il Natale in Svizzera. (ab-ee-arm-oh pass-art-oh eel nat-arl-ay een zvee-tser-er) | We have spent Christmas in Switzerland / We spent Christmas in Switzerland / We did spend Christmas in Switzerland. |
| Ha passato settembre in Italia. (a pass-art-oh se-tem-bray een eet-al-yer) | You have spent September in Italy / You spent September in Italy / You did spend September in Italy. |
| e (ay) | and |
| Era (air-ah) | It was |
| Era fantastico. (air-ah fan-tass-teek-oh) | It was fantastic. |
| Il tempo era fantastico. (eel-tem-poe air-ah fan-tass-teek-oh) | The weather was fantastic. |
| Ho passato il weekend a Roma – e wow, il tempo era fantastico. (o pass-art-oh eel weekend a roam-er ay wow, eel-tem-poe air-ah fan-tass-teek-oh) | I spent the weekend in Rome – and wow, the weather was fantastic. |
| preparazione (prep-are-atz-ee-oh-nay) | preparation |
| preparato (pray-par-ato) | prepared |
| prenotazione (pray-no-tatz-ee-oh-nay) | reservation |
| prenotato (pray-no-tart-oh) | reserved / booked |
| ordinato (or-din-art-oh) | ordered |
| pagato (pag-art-oh) | paid |
| fatto (fat-oh) | done |
| il conto (eel kon-toe) | the bill |
| la cena (la chain-er) | the dinner |
| il caffè (eel ka-fe) | the coffee |
| un tavolo (oon tav-oh-loe) | a table |
| una camera (oon-a cam-air-a) | a room |
| un taxi (oon taxi) | a taxi |
| Ho preparato la cena. (o prep-are-art-oh la chain-er) | I have prepared the dinner / I prepared the dinner / I did prepare the dinner. |
| Ho ordinato il caffè per la cena. (o or-din-art-oh eel ka-fe pair la chain-er) | I have ordered coffee for dinner / I ordered coffee for dinner / I did order coffee for dinner. |
| Ho prenotato un tavolo per Lei. (o pray-no-tart-oh oon tav-oh-loe pair lay) | I have booked a table for you / I booked a table for you / I did book a table for you. |
| Lei ha (lay a) | She has |
| Lei ha prenotato un tavolo per questa sera. (lay a pray-no-tart-oh oon tav-oh-loe pair kwest-er sair-er) | She has booked / reserved a table for this evening – She booked / reserved a table for this evening – She did book / reserve a table for this evening. |
| Lui ha (loo-ee a) | He has |
| Lui ha prenotato una camera per due persone. (loo-ee a pray-no-tart-oh oon-a cam-air-a pair doo-ay pair-soan-ay) | He has booked / reserved a room for two people – He booked / reserved a room for two people – He did book / reserve a room for two people. |
| Abbiamo prenotato un taxi per Lei. (ab-ee-arm-oh pray-no-tart-oh oon taxi pair lay) | We have booked a taxi for you / We booked a taxi for you / We did book a taxi for you. |
| Abbiamo pagato il conto. (ab-ee-arm-oh pag-art-oh eel kon-toe) | We paid the bill / We have paid the the bill / We did pay the bill. |
| Che cosa? (ke koe-ser) | What? / What thing? |
| Che cosa ha preparato? (ke koe-ser a prep-are-art-oh) | What have you prepared? / What did you prepare? (literally “What thing you have prepared?”) |
| Che cosa ha fatto? (ke koe-ser a fat-oh) | What have you done? / What did you do? (literally “What thing you have done?”) |
| Ho prenotato un tavolo, ordinato la cena e poi pagato il conto. Che cosa ha fatto? (o pray-no-tart-oh oon tav-oh-loe, or-din-art-oh la chain-er ey poy pag-art-oh eel kon-toe. ke koe-ser a fat-oh) | I booked a table, ordered dinner and then paid the bill. What did you do? |
Now, do the same thing once again below, except that this time you’ll be reading through the list of English words and trying to recall the Italian. All you need to do is to be able to do one full read-through of them without making more than three mistakes in total and you’re done!
| the weekend | il weekend (eel weekend) |
| romantic | romantico (roe-man-teek-oh) |
| fantastic | fantastico (fan-tass-teek-oh) |
| political | politico (pol-ee-teek-oh) |
| illogical | illogico (ee-lodge-eek-oh) |
| I have | Ho (o) |
| visited | visitato (visit-art-oh) |
| I have visited / I visited / I did visit | Ho visitato (o visit-art-oh) |
| Rome | Roma |