Start off your course in Italian by learning some basic Italian expressions. This will give you a good idea of how difficult you will find learning the language. However, once you have some background in the expressions and can pronounce the words properly, you have a good head start on becoming a fluent speaker. If you have some knowledge of Spanish, you will have very little difficulty learning Italian because the two languages are very similar. You do need to know certain phrases, such as:



- Si ?yes

- No- no

- Forse ?Maybe

- Grazie ?thank you

- Molte grazie ?thanks a lot

- Prego ?you welcome

In Italian, it is considered polite to always say prego when you are thanked for anything. However, thank you is not a widely used expression. It is mainly reserved for situations in which you are truly thankful for something.

You can use two different expressions to say please in Italian. You can use either per favour or per piacere. Both expressions are equivalent and can be used at either the beginning or the end of a sentence.

There are also different ways of saying sorry and excuse me in the Italian language. There are three ways of saying each one.

- Scusi, mi scusi and chiedo scusa ?all three expressions mean xcuse me?

- Scusi, mi scusi and mi disiace ?all three of these expressions mean sorry?

Parle means do you speak when you are talking to one person. When you are speaking to more than one person, you use the plural form of the word ?parlate. To ask someone whether he/she speaks English you would use the expression arla nglesse? or arlate nglesse? To rely to a question in the negative, you use the word before the verb. To say, for example, I do not speak Italian, you would say on parlo taliano?

If you go shopping in an Italian city and you want to browse the selection in the store, you can use the expression dare un sqaurdo??This means say I browse??Some of the various expressions posted in Italian stores that may interest you include:

- Offerta Speciale ?Special offer

- Merce in Saldo ?Goods on sale

- Saldi ?sale

- Saldi di fine stagione ?End of season sale

- Sconti ?discount

- Sconto del (followed by a per cent) ?discounted by ?%

When using the telephone there are also commonly used Italian expressions. To ask someone to wait a minute you would say ttenda, prego? If you make a call and ask to speak to a certain person, you would say before you say the person name. Another way of asking to speak to a certain person is puo passare??

When learning expressions in Italian it is best to concentrate on one category of expressions at a time. As you start using the expressions in conversation, you will easily pick up others and know the different types of situations in which you can use them correctly.