Whitney: September 1

I have to go to work in like ten minutes but I thought I'd try to throw a post in.

Where we left off:

Justin wins race, we eat at County Seat, come back to RVA. Sarah and I realized we both had nothing to do, so we decided to go on an adventure. We walked to Carytown, stopped and said hello to The Champion of Powhatan, and then went to Mellow Mushroom and got a potato skin pizza thing. Then some COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY THINGS OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA NATURE HAPPENED. We will disregard this. We walked back to ze apartment. I took some pictures of Sarah because she's adorbs.

I hate the way this stupid blog lays out photos. Oh well, whatever. Sarah took away Boosh to socialize with other kitties, Justin went to play poker with the boys, and I was left with plenty of productive things to do, but obviously I chose none of them and decided to drink instead.

Sidenote: Midnight/Dawn Italian with Whitney

I'm just going to try to consolidate and paraphrase my Italian so far.


Alphabet things:

Letter | italian pronunciation {Lazy American pronunciation}

A | a {ah}
B | bi {bee}
C | ci {chee}
D | di {dee}
E | e {eh}
F | efe {ehf-feh} it's more of a softer "eh" than "ay"
G | gi {jee}
H | acca {ahk-kah}
I | i {ee}
L | elle {ehl-leh}
M | emme {ehm-meh}
N | enne {ehn-neh}
O | o {oh (I have noticed it seems a bit more open than our super OWE noise. It's like that song GLOOORRIAAA or if of and off had a baby. There's jsut more of a jaw opening than our direct cheerio sound)}
P | pi {pee}
Q | cu {coo}
R | erre {ehr*-reh}
S | esse {ehs-seh}
T | ti {tea}
U | oo {ooh}
V | vu {vooh}
Z | zeta {zeh-tah}

Words not in the Italian alphabet:
J | ilunga {ee-loon-gah}
K | ka {kah}
X | ixe {eeks-eh}W | dochia vu {dohkyah vooh}
Y | ipsilon {eep-seelon (like long without "g")}


USING THAT JANK:

Some common things to try to keep you from sounding painfully American when reading out of you dorky Italian dictionary**:
 **No Italian dictionary? I have one for the both of us.

C
ca & co: totes chill. Pronounce like "k"
capo, cotone, contento

ci & ce: pronounce the "c" like "ch"
cervo, cena, cibo, cielo (you will say this like che-llo, because the i sort of smushes into the "ch" sound)
bicicleta

G 
go & ga: just like you think it would be.
gusto

gi & ge: pronounce like "j" 
Giovanni (similar rule with i as in "ch" sound),  geografia

gn: just like Spanish ñ
cognome
 
gl: my notes say this sound is silent. I don't know how reliable my notes are there because I missed the first class and I probably copied them weird. It is said they are silent, but I notice a slight sound when they are present, like in "glug" if you were to mouth it. I don't know if that makes sense.

foglio

S 
se & sa, sco & sca: normal "s"
salve, scarpa

sci & sce: "sh" sound
scena, liscio, pesce
 
one "s" between two vowels: "z"
rosa

T
Just a note on pronouncing "t" in Italian: don't make it such a harsh, sharp tone like we do in English. Making a "t" sound in Italian is soft. Try putting your tongue right at the top back of your front teeth when making t sounds. Americans really get made fun of for the "t" thing.

 Z
This one isn't incredibly groundbreaking, but it alternates between a "dz" sound and a "ts" sound. I think it depends on where it is in the word, but I can't find my notes from that day. I'll have to get back with you there. 
zaino {dzai-no}, grazie {grats-yeh}   

QUICK PHRASES:
 
Ciao, mi chiamo {kyah-mo} Bailey. Comé ti chiami?
Mi chiamo Whitney, piacere {pyahchereh}.

Come stai? (Formal: Come sta?)
Bene, e tu?

Bene fine
Molto bene very good
Benissimo friggin' awesome
abbastanza bene alright
cosi cosi eh, so-so 



per favore please
grazie/prego

 
Greetings
Formal
Buongiorno hello
Buonasera good afternoon
Arrivederci  goodbye

Informal
Ciao
Domani see you tomorrow
Presto see you soon
Puí tarde see you later (today)  


Alright, well I fell asleep and got lazy writing this and now I have to get ready for my 9am. I hope this gives you enough information to at least start figuring out some words and not have accent insecurity. Expect a post sometime today that will hopefully make up for the brief posts prior. CIAO ;D (ew).