THE LANGUAGE BARRIER

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It is always a good idea to prepare a few phrases when visiting a country which uses a different language than your own. This is very true in Italy. It is insulting for the locals when foreigners expect them to understand a foreign language. Imagine an Italian showing up in New York and expecting you to understand Italian!!

The fact is, everybody you deal with will speak some English.
Hotel staff will be fluent, people in restaurants and bars will know enough to take your order and handle most of your questions, and taxi drivers will know enough to ask you for your destination and your money!

Many of them will have good English, and will enjoy making small talk, to practice and improve themselves.

Even so, you will find that by trying to speak the local lingo, people will respond to you a lot better
than if you don’t even try. Even if your attempt is terrible, most people will appreciate the effort,
and reply to you in English. The majority of people who leave Rome with reports of rudeness
are the ones who do not even say “buongiorno” or “grazie”.
Rome Survival Guide

Essential Words and Phrases


Basic

Buongiorno

Buona sera

Salve

Ciao!

Arrivederci

Per favore

Grazie

Essential Questions

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Italian Phrases
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