Humiliating Italian Language Screw-ups

In this episode we talk about our progress as Italian language speakers. Specifically, we share a bunch of stories of the many situations in which we got things wrong – to a funny and sometimes embarrassing degree. 

We discuss what oysters have to do with an eye exam; why mentioning fruits and vegetables might get you in trouble; and why Matt used to unintentionally describe his job as something sexual.

Want to know more about us and our travel services? Find us at:

www.LittleRoadsEurope.com

www.facebook.com/LittleRoadsEurope

We craft small-town driving itineraries for travelers to Italy, Ireland and Scotland.

And our "alter-egos" as musicians:

www.OrsiniVirtuosi.it

Transcript

Italian Language Screw-ups  podcast notes

Note: This is not a complete transcript, but rather the show notes we write in advance to prepare for the episode.

INTRO: 
Welcome to Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond

Today we’re talking about speaking Italian - particularly, the many situations in which we got things wrong to a funny and sometimes embarrassing degree. We’ll discuss:
- what oysters have to do with an eye exam
- which fruits and vegetables might get you in trouble
- why Matt used to unintentionally describe his job as something sexual

[music up]

This is Matt Walker… and I’m Zeneba Bowers

We’re recording our chat here while sitting on the terrace of our tiny home in Italy - so you’ll get a sense of the sounds of life in our little town. We want this to be more like a casual conversion with us - complete with church bells, cats meowing, motor scooters and whatever else 

…so join us as we talk about Italian language screw-ups - 
… here on Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond.”

For those of you who don’t know us: We are professional musicians and also travel writers and consultants, living and working here in Italy for the past 6 years. 
If you want to learn more about us and our lives, you can find us on our website LittleRoadsEurope..com, on our socials, and now here on this podcast.

So let’s get to talking about speaking Italian, and about when it didn’t go exactly to plan!

First of all: To sort of introduce this topic, it’s a good moment for our ASK US ANYTHING segment, where listeners write and… So one of you asked:  “How are you guys getting along with speaking Italian”

Generally: When we got here, we made LOTS of mistakes, and some of those are what we’re going to talk about today 
We do much better now, general conversations, expressing ourselves - still make mistakes 
Difficult to learn “Italian” in Soriano - they have to switch from dialect for us to understand 
We miss pop culture references - TV, movies etc, references to politics or holidays
Local nicknames “Giardinetti”

We’ve been traveling to Italy since our first trip in 2006. 
Zen had been here before that; Matt had studied Spanish, so… 

Each trip added a tiny bit more facility - we studied off and on, got private teacher to our house
Because it was too hard to schedule, too many jobs
She said traveling to Italy was best lesson
We learned a lot through historic signs and from conversations with Italians in bars, museums, etc

We find it harder to learn as “old” people, but important to keep trying


First example of screw ups is quite recent:
Eye appointment - oysters (ostriche, diagnostiche)

"Quattro occhi” →

“Best” (sign off for letter) - chances are that they didn’t get to the bottom of the email - 

Incorrect conjugation - Pansucchio, siete stronzi 

Cazzo pazzo

— “ADVERTISEMENT” BREAK —
That reminds me that we need to stop for a word from our sponsor - - - -  just kidding, we don’t have any sponsors - instead, today’s show is brought to you by: A Good Idea. 

And today’s Good Idea is: 
When traveling to a foreign country w different  language, learn a few phrases: 
Especially: Please & thank you; some greetings, where’s the bathroom. 
Show that you’re trying a bit and you’ll get better responses
That’s it!   … So anyway, where were we?

Pumpkin of fish 

“Canna” (not “dog”) on Buonasera Soriano : (This is the 2nd series of programs we’ve done from this balcony)

Z taught phys therapist to say: Don't break my balls, Boneless chicken / bonus kitchen “Non rompere i coglioni”

Gabinetto, rubinetto 

Girasole: Italian words have literal description

Caciocavallo--- horse milk, Bev's husband explained

Figo = “cool” - fico = fig, but fica = 

(also: cavolo more polite version of “cazzo”) 
→ also “Casino”

LAST STORIES: Piselli, Uccello

OUTRO: 
I think that’s a good place to wrap it up here - we hope you enjoyed these stories of embarrassing ourselves in Italian!

Anyway… If you enjoyed our chat today, please give it a like or a good rating, and tell your friends about us…

We’ll be talking about a wide variety of topics here on this podcast, from travel tips to slice-of-life stories - we’ll be posting a new episode each Tuesday. 

So catch us next time - we’ll see you down the Little Roads… CIAO!