Meet the ROAMies and Their Guest

Speaker 1 0:00

This transcript was automatically created and has not be read or edited by our team. Hi, I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, and together we are the ROAMies. We are married.

Speaker 2 0:07

To each other.

Speaker 1 0:08

Right?, we are a touring musical duo.

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And our music has taken us to all kinds of places all around the world and keeps us always on the go.

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So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while running around working to keep all your plates spinning.

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And we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle and feed your inner travel bug. Hi everyone, hello, welcome to our latest episode. So y'all, we are in our series of learning languages for travel and we're really excited to have with us for a first time. Y'all are going to see him again because he is a master genius, yes, but y'all we have a true polyglot on with us today.

Speaker 3 0:56

That word makes me want to clear my throat, or something.

Speaker 1 1:01

I had a polyglot once but it was an infection, but I was able to cough most of it out.

Speaker 2 1:07

We have with us David Durham, and thank you. Welcome, david Durham. We are very happy to have you with us.

Speaker 3 1:15

My pleasure, and we've got Saturday.

Speaker 2 1:19

Oh, my, okay, Because y'all, he's given us a preview. We're going to Italy today. We are going to learn phrases that you need to learn to get around Italy and not be somebody rude, but to know the language know please, and thank you, yeah, yeah, where should we dive in with?

Speaker 3 1:39

learning Italian for travel, david. Well, first of all, well, thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be with you. Piacere means pleasure, oh, okay, let me just give a little bit of background. The first time my wife and I went to Italy together, I had been there before, but she had never been there. This was celebrating our 10th anniversary, so 100 years ago. But we were staying at a place kind of out in the country and we had decided to go into Florence. But we didn't want to take our car and mess with all that, and so we were going to take the bus that only goes like once an hour through the countryside, you know.

Speaker 3 2:16

So we're at the bus stop and we wait, and we wait, and we wait. We looked at the schedule. We thought we were there when the bus would come and it didn't, and so, for the first time in my life, I stuck out my thumb.

Speaker 2 2:29

That's what you do if you want to ride right.

Speaker 3 2:32

Well, let's say, that's what you did 30 years ago and the first I think it was the first, maybe second car that came by. The guy picked us up and we started chatting. He was just so kind. He ended up inviting us to his house for dinner that night and we were not able to accept. But it was just that gesture and that was our introduction to Italian hospitality. And couple that with the fact that Italians are so used to tourists they're so used to visitors, because everybody wants to go there.

Speaker 2 3:11

It's beautiful, that's right, and the food and all that.

Speaker 3 3:13

It's like at the top of everybody's bucket list, right, yeah, just about. And so they have a lot of grace for foreigners. But I will say and this goes to our American friends who are listening, I know your audience is not only Americans.

Speaker 2 3:32

But the majority is yeah.

Italian Hospitality and American Reputation

Speaker 3 3:34

But we have a reputation. Yep, I can't, we can't deny it. That's why we're doing this series, my friend, and so one of the things that we do, my wife and I have a company called World to the Wise and we lead tours to ambassadors and we want to break the stereotype of the loud and ignorant and know-it-all American. So that's our reputation in a nutshell, right? So we want to break that stereotype. So that's just kind of a preface for everything that I have to say. As your guests say, yeah, that's great.

Speaker 2 4:26

Yeah, and I love that we are going to get to spend time with you on future episodes as well, learning some other languages because, like Rory said, you are, you know, the master language.

Speaker 1 4:35

I won't say polyglot, because then you know, then you'll have to do your whole thing again. We're not going to go through that.

Speaker 2 4:41

We first met David when we were trying to learn and have our songs translated into French, and we both were based in Nashville for a while, both families, and so we had common friends that connected us and blah, blah, blah. And so here we are.

Speaker 1 4:59

Let's just say we've known him for a few years.

Speaker 2 5:01

Yes, so let's dive into Italian, david.

Basic Italian Greetings and Etiquette

Speaker 3 5:05

Okay. So hello, buongiorno Now that is sort of the master key, if you like. It's applicable to anyone you're speaking to as the most polite way to say hello. It also means good morning. You also say it in the afternoon, until about mid-afternoon, and then you say buona sera, which means good evening, but, like I said, we already start saying it like mid-afternoon, 3, 4 o'clock in the afternoon, so buongiorno and buona sera, three, four o'clock in the afternoon, so buongiorno and buona sera.

Speaker 3 5:49

If you are a traveler and you want to ask where something is, first of all you want to say excuse me. And so here we need to understand and this will apply to any language that you're going to ask me to help you with in the future there is a difference between formal and familiar. Now, that is the case in other languages as well. My specialty is European languages, although I've been dabbling in Arabic a little bit lately. You want to address someone that you don't know who's a stranger and is. I would say don't know who's a stranger and is, I would say from a young adult on up, like from the age of 20s on up, you want to address in the formal, if you're addressing a child or a teenager or someone you know, then you use the informal, or what we call the familiar, and so back to excuse me.

Speaker 3 6:43

If you want to just go to a stranger and say excuse me, you say scusi, but if you are addressing someone in the familiar, you'll say scusa, and so that literally means excuse, as it sounds like scusi, formal, scusa, scusi, formal, scusa, familiar. And if you want to say dove, that means where is Now? Here's the thing If you start off asking them a question in Italian and your pronunciation is halfway decent, they're going to answer you in Italian, and then you're not going to understand a word, most likely. So if you're speaking to someone in the formal which we will stick with we'll say scusi, scusi, scusi. The next thing you want to ask, before you go any further, is whether they speak English, because I'm also going to tell you how to say I don't speak Italian.

Speaker 2 7:53

Great.

Speaker 3 7:55

Because you're the one that's visiting them in their home right, Exactly right yeah. And so you say scusi, non parlo italiano, I don't speak Italian. Okay, non parlo italiano, non parlo. That's a P on the beginning, but it's not as explosive as the English one Non parlo italiano. And then you say do you speak English? Parla inglese, parla inglese.

Restaurant Phrases and Ordering Food

Speaker 3 8:34

And so if they say si, yes, I speak English, then you are good to go If they say no, non parlo inglese, then you put on your big boy pants big girl pants and say dove means where is. So, if you're asking for the museum, dove il museo? If they don't speak English, then they're probably going to give you sign language or whatever. So, however, you manage to get the directions. You want to thank you and you want to say grazie. Now there's this big misconception People think that they know how to say thank you in Italian and they say grazie, but it's not grazie. There's an e on the end and so it's grazie. That's G-R-A-Z-I-E, and if you see Italian written, a Z is a T, like a T-S sound Grazie Gra-ci-e, grazie, grazie. Now, if you want to enhance your thank you and say thank you very much or thanks a lot, one very common way to say that is grazie mille, grazie mille, which literally means a thousand thanks.

Speaker 1 10:05

I love that. Yeah, that's great.

Speaker 3 10:08

Grazie mille. Now can we talk about ordering in a restaurant?

Speaker 2 10:14

Yes, yeah, so you want to. Can we first say where is the restaurant, and then you can, and where is the toilet, and then you can go to the restaurant.

Speaker 3 10:24

Absolutely.

Speaker 2 10:25

Then we can order.

Speaker 3 10:27

Absolutely Good idea. So where is the restaurant? Dove il ristorante? Dove il ristorante, dove il ristorante. So a lot of Americans know Spanish. They see restaurante all the time Restaurante, mexicano, mexican restaurant. So Italian is very similar, but it's not re, it's ri r-i Ristorante Dove il ristorante. And please is, per favore Again you can hear it similar to Spanish Instead of por favor, per favore, per favore. And then so you find the restaurant, you sit down, they seat you, you say grazie, you say scusi, excuse me once again, dove il bagno. What Same as Spanish, yep.

Speaker 3 11:33

Different spelling, different spelling, same pronunciation. So you'll see there's a lot of similarity between Spanish and Italian. And if you enjoy, or at least tolerate, grammar, you'll see that Italian has a lot of similarity with French as well. And knowing both French and Spanish already, I started to learn Italian and I thought this is awesome because it's right in the middle. It's right in the middle between Spanish and French. So, anyway, dove il bagno? Where is the bathroom? And so you're looking at il menu, the menu, and you say I would like, and that is vorrei Vorrei. So, just like in Spanish, italian, has that rolled R? If it's a double R? Now, if you don't know spelling in Italian, you're not going to know whether it's a double R, but just take my word for it that you want to roll that R if you're able. If you're not able, don't sweat it, they will understand you.

Speaker 1 12:42

Vorrei, and just those two syllables mean.

Speaker 3 12:46

I would like Vorrei. And then we've already said please. So I would like lasagna, please Vorrei lasagne. What it's not lasagna, please Vorrei lasagna. What it's not lasagna? No, because lasagna is actually singular Lasagna and they talk about their pasta as plural.

Speaker 1 13:10

Because they're plural noodles, more than one noodle.

Speaker 3 13:13

More than one noodle. And so vorrei lasagne, per favore, that's right. So here's a little sidebar that I love. You see, a lot of Italian words end in an I Spaghetti, cannelloni or cannoli right? Well, that I on the end is a plural suffix. Well, that I on the end is a plural suffix, Huh. And so when you say spaghetti, you're saying multiple noodles of spaghetti.

Speaker 2 13:43

Come on Okay, macaroni et cetera.

Speaker 3 13:46

Macaroni, that's right, exactly Zucchini.

Speaker 2 13:50

Wow Okay.

Speaker 3 13:52

That's plural, Broccoli plural.

Speaker 1 13:57

What that's awesome.

Speaker 3 14:07

And so one thing I try to get people to remember and it's like pulling teeth because it's just hard for people to remember is if you want, you love cannoli, right, you definitely want to taste the real thing while you're there. If you just want one, it's not un canolo, un cannoli, it's un cannolo, due cannoli, un cannolo, due cannoli. And then people come back and they revert to their old ways and say I'd like a cannoli, of course.

Speaker 1 14:36

Otherwise, the waiters in the US look at them like what, why are you?

Speaker 3 14:39

That's not how you say it Right right, right right, because even the people that work in the Italian restaurant don't know?

Speaker 1 14:44

Oh, of course not.

Speaker 3 14:49

So, anyway, we've learned grazie. Well, how do you say thank you? There are a couple of ways, but the most simple way, the one that you will hear all the time, is prego, that's not a brand of spaghetti sauce. It means you're welcome and, interestingly enough, it literally means I pray, and so it's. You know, the together hands and all that is just this notion of you're thanking me, but it goes heavenward. Now, they don't think that consciously.

Speaker 1 15:27

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 15:29

But prego can mean also please, as in let's say you're in the restaurant and the server comes and he'll say Buongiorno, whatever, and then he's ready to take your order. He'll say Prego. And so you think, wait a minute, I didn't thank you, why are you telling me you're welcome? Well, it's also a way of saying please, like please, I'm listening, so you'll hear prego all the time. But if someone thinks you prego is an appropriate way to say you're welcome in any context, okay. Now if you want to say I'm sorry, we will use the same expression as excuse me, and that is scusi Okay, as excuse me, and that is scusi Okay. So if you drop something on the floor and the server has to pick it up for you, say scusi, no problem, speaking of no problem, non c'è problema.

Speaker 2 16:30

Okay.

Speaker 3 16:32

Non, c'è problema, that's a good one. Yep Literally means there is no problem.

Speaker 1 16:40

There is no problem.

Understanding and Being Understood

Speaker 3 16:42

So we'll go back to. I would like Vorrei un caffè per favore. A coffee, un espresso per favore. Now, if you want a latte, what we call a latte, yeah yeah, the word latte in Italian means milk. So if you ask for un latte, you'll get a glass of milk. Good to know so it's important to say un caffè latte, okay.

Speaker 3 17:16

Un caffè latte. Okay, un café latte. Right, un té. Un té, a tea. No need to learn how to say a cup of tea, just a tea is totally fine. A black tea, un té nero. Nero N-E-R-O means black. I would like some water Vorrei dell'acqua. Acqua is water, acqua A-C-Q-U-A. Acqua Dell'acqua means some water. You can say dell'acqua minerale, mineral water, dell'acqua frale mineral water, dell'acqua frizzante sparkling water.

Speaker 1 18:04

Okay, so mineral water would be the flat water, and then you have to specifically frizzante would be the sparkling. Yeah, giusto, Giusto.

Speaker 3 18:15

Giusto.

Speaker 1 18:16

Giusto, giusto means correct, justo, justo, justo, justo, justo means correct. So quick question With the I making plural, and if you say scusi, is it like also a bit of a plural form there?

Speaker 3 18:32

That's an excellent, excellent question, rory, and the answer is no, because that I referring to plural is for nouns only. Okay, all right, and the words that qualify or describe that noun? Okay, but scusi is a verb from the verb scusare, to excuse, and so it's according to whom you're addressing. Okay. Now if I wanted to say to more than one person, excuse me, I would say scusate, so that gets into verb conjugation, which I think might be in the 2.0 version of your podcast.

Speaker 3 19:16

For sure. So that was a great question, though, and I love the way you think we definitely have similar brain waves. And I knew that about you already.

Speaker 1 19:28

Yeah, man no doubt, you too bro.

Speaker 3 19:32

So I don't understand. Is non capisco, like you hear in mafia movies.

Speaker 2 19:38

Right, capisce, sopranos are.

Speaker 3 19:40

Yeah, capisce. Well, capisce comes from the. When I'm talking to you, it's literally capisci. But a lot of people you know have how do we say? Perverted it to just drop that last syllable Capisce.

Speaker 1 19:57

So it Capisci.

Speaker 3 19:58

So it's capisci, but the first person singular, the I form, I don't understand is capisco. So if you want to say, yes, I understand, si capisco, but I don't understand non capisco, non capisco, non capisco, okay, how about? I'm lost?

Speaker 2 20:24

That could be good.

Speaker 1 20:25

That goes with the non capisco.

Speaker 3 20:29

Sono perso. Sono means I am Perso, lost, sono perso, and an appropriate facial expression should go with that.

Speaker 2 20:45

With the sign language.

Speaker 3 20:48

To evoke compassion Right.

Speaker 2 20:51

Holding up your map on your Google map and being confused.

Speaker 1 20:56

Yeah, totally.

Speaker 3 20:58

Scusi, sono perso.

Speaker 1 21:02

Help.

Speaker 3 21:05

And so if you are lost, dove, where is la stazione? You can guess what that means. Yeah, the station, the train station, Dove la stazione?

Speaker 2 21:17

All right, Can you slow that one down please?

Speaker 3 21:19

Uh-huh, dove la stazione. So that's a Z in there again. That TS sound T Stazione.

Speaker 2 21:30

Do you mind just repeating slowly the good morning and the good evening and kind of break those down for us?

Speaker 3 21:37

Yeah, great idea. So an appropriate greeting for anyone is buongiorno buon, b-u-o-n, buon, not bon, but buon giorno. And when you see that written it's a little surprise because it's G-I-O-R-N-O but that G-I says G, it's pronounced G, so buongiorno. And then when you get to about mid-afternoon, say 3, 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we switch to buona sera, which technically means good evening. Also we should mention good night, which is only when you're leaving in the nighttime. When you're saying goodbye at night, it's buona notte, Buona notte. And can you slow?

Speaker 2 22:29

down the afternoon as well.

Speaker 3 22:33

Buona sera.

Speaker 2 22:35

Okay, thank you.

Speaker 3 22:36

That's spelled S-E-R-A. A lot of people have a visual memory and they want to know how it's spelled.

Speaker 3 22:41

Yes, and I also want to mention here ciao. I haven't mentioned ciao yet. So all the time we need to understand that ciao is both hi and bye, and I said hi and not hello to emphasize the fact that it's familiar. So you won't say ciao to just anybody. You will say ciao to people that I think we could say that you feel comfortable with, where there is some kind of rapport that has been established. Now is some kind of rapport that has been established. Now. People that don't know that say ciao. You know, visitors say ciao when leaving a restaurant or whatever all the time and the people just go with it. But the more polite way to say goodbye is arrivederci. We've all heard that Arrivederci, arrivederci, so arrivederci means we see each other, and so what you're saying is until we see each other again. That's great. Arrivederci. Ciao, of course, is a lot easier to remember, a lot easier to remember, a lot easier to pronounce. So again, it means hi and bye, mostly informal, okay.

Speaker 2 24:03

Before we say arrivederci, because we will see you on future episodes. Really quick, how can people find you and your tours and connect with you further?

Speaker 3 24:15

Yeah, so my website is daviddurhamorg, just my full nameorg, and there are several tabs. One is for the tours and it's just says tours. Just click on the tours tab and that will take you to our company called World to the Wise Cute, a play on words with Word to the Wise. That will tell you all about our tours. And then, if you click on the language tab, you will see World to the Wise Academy, where we have self-study video-based courses for both French and Spanish.

Speaker 2 24:54

Awesome.

Speaker 3 24:55

Yeah, man.

Speaker 2 24:56

Well, you're a good person to learn from, so that's a good resource. Yeah.

Speaker 3 25:00

Then there's a podcast tab as well, where we talk about cultural connections. Let's call it that way crossing cultural bridges.

Speaker 2 25:09

Love it. Well, we'll put links in the show notes to all those three tabs where people can connect with you and we will see you very soon on another language and arrivederci, arrivederci amici, see you later. Friends, yes, ciao amici, ciao amici we hope we've inspired you this episode, so join us next time. Please subscribe to rate and share our podcast with your friends or you know whomever? And please like and follow us on Instagram, youtube and Facebook.

Speaker 1 25:47

We are also on X and on all social platforms. We are at TheRomies that's T-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-S, and our main hub is our website. At wwwtheromies that's T-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-S, and our main hub is our website.

Speaker 2 25:59

At wwwtheromiescom, that's right, that's. T-h-e-r-o-a-m-i-e-scom. We'll be there until next time. Yeah, thanks for listening, bye.