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Books

Culture, politics and society

Forden, Sarah, The House of Gucci (2001), HarperCollins. Forden's look at the life of Maurizio Gucci, the last of his family to run the Italian fashion giant, is an extraordinary tale of money, murder and expensive handbags.

Jones, Tobias, The Dark Heart of Italy (2003), Faber and Faber. Jones's fascinating and readable book goes deeper into the essence of modern Italy than most books on the country, examining the violence, the corruption, crime and (the lack of) punishment, and how Silvio Berlusconi manages to own or run almost everything.

Sciascia, Leonardo, The Moro Affair (2001), Granta Books. Sciascia, better known as a writer of crime fiction, looks at the real-life events surrounding the gang murder in 1978 of former Italian Prime Minister Also Moro.

Fiction and travelogue

Parks, Tim, Europa (1997), Minerva. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Parks's novel about a love, hate and a three-day coach journey across Europe was loosely based on a real coach journey undertaken by lecturers and students of Verona University .

Parks, Tim, Italian Neighbours (1992), Vintage. The book that launched Tim Parks is an account of his first ten years living and working in Verona. Filled with Veronese characters and their Italian habits, it is an amusing and acutely-observed insight into ex-pat Italian life. In the follow-up, Italian Education, Parks concentrates on the growing up of his two children.

Parks, Tim, A Season With Verona (2002), Vintage. Following Hellas Verona for a season around the grounds and cities of Serie A football, Parks gets inside the fanatical mentality of Verona supporters and all their rivalries and discriminations, especially against the south and against black players, but also against the other Verona side, Chievo . He also gets to travel the country and give an insight into its beautiful, exciting, and frustrating national sport.

Food and drink

Ferrigno, Ursula, Truly Italian (1999), Mitchell Beazley. If you want to recreate some of Verona's Italian food without so much of the horsemeat and bone marrow, Ursula Ferrigno's vegetarian Italian cookbook is one of the best introductions. With separate sections including pasta, risotto, bread and salads, all beautifully illustrated, the book is crammed full of simple but delicious Italian recipes.

Guy, Patricia, Amarone, Morganti Editore. A small hardback book, Guy's guide to Verona's best wine is also an attractive and colourful introduction to the Valpolicella area.

History

Farrell, Nicholas, Mussolini (2003), Weidenfeld & Nicholson. Farrell's biography of the much reviled and much ridiculed fascist dictator takes an unexpectedly positive view of his early career but pulls no punches when it comes to his later devastating mistakes. A portrait of the man as much of as the leader, it gives an interesting insight into a personality which, for a while at least, seduced Italy. It also covers the period of the Salò Republic, when Mussolini's powerbase was on the shores of Lake Garda .

Ruskin, John, Verona and its Rivers (1870), Bonato Editore. Only available in Italy as a slim volume in both English and Italian, this was a lecture given by Ruskin to the Royal Institution, which, in few pages, covers good government, irrigation, rocks and the della Scala family.

Photography

Barbey, Bruno, The Italians, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Barbey's atmospheric black and white photos of Italians (from nuns to prostitutes and mafiosi) in 1960s Italy still epitomise everything that is cool about the country and its people.

Bassotto, Enzo and Raffaello, Verona: Topographies (2002), Cierre Edizioni. Wide format black and white panoramic photos of the city, largely unpopulated by people. A modern, spacious and sometimes sideways look at the architecture and the spaces of the city. Hard to find outside Italy.

Language

In hotels and bigger restaurants, you'll usually find English is spoken. The further you go from the tourist centre, however, the more trouble you may have, unless you have at least a smattering of Italian. Around the shores of Lake Garda English, German and Italian are spoken almost equally.

You will also find that the heavy Veronese dialect is spoken, especially as you go out of the city into the surrounding countryside. A slight variant on the Veneto dialect, once the official language of Venice, the dialect spoken today in and around Verona has changed little in centuries and exhibits Germanic influences. Characteristic sounds are short, clipped and nasal, or come from the back of the mouth.

Pronunciation

Stress in spoken Italian usually falls on the penultimate syllable.

Italian has standard sounds: unlike English you can work out how it sounds from how it's written and vice versa.

Vowels:

a: like 'a' in cat

e: like 'e' in vet, or slightly more open, like the 'ai' in air (except after c or g, see consonants below)

i: like 'i' in sip (except after c or g, see below)

o: like 'o' in fox

u: like 'ou' in soup

Consonants:

Generally consonants sound the same as in English, though 'e' and 'i' after 'c' or 'g' make them soft (a 'ch' or a 'j' sound) and are silent themselves, whereas 'h' makes them hard (a 'k' or 'g' sound), the opposite to English. So ciao is pronounced 'chaow', but chiesa (church) is pronounced 'kee-ay-sa'.

The combination 'gli' is pronounced like the 'lli' in million, and 'gn' like 'ny' in Tanya.

Basics

thank you grazie

hi/goodbye ciao

good day (until after lunch/mid-afternoon) buongiorno

good evening (after lunch) buonasera

goodnight buonanotte

goodbye arrivederci

please per favore

I’m sorry mi dispiace

excuse me permesso

yes si

no no

Numbers

one uno, two due, three tre, four quattro, five cinque, six sei, seven sette, eight otto, nine nove, 10 dieci, 11 undici, 12 dodici, 13 tredici, 14 quattordici, 15 quindici, 16 sedici, 17 diciassette, 18 diciotto, 19 diciannove, 20 venti, 21 ventuno, 22 ventidue,

30 trenta, 40 quaranta, 50 cinquanta, 60 sessanta, 70 settanta, 80 ottanta, 90 novanta, 100 cento, 200 due cento, 1000 mille.

Questions

how? come?

how much? quanto?

when? quando?

where? dove?

why? perché?

what? che cosa?

Problems

I don't understand non capisco

I don't know non lo so

I don't speak Italian non parlo italiano

How do you say …(in Italian)? come si dice … (in italiano)?

Is there anyone who speaks English? c'è qualcuno che parla inglese?

Shopping

this one/that one questo/quello

less meno

more di più

How much is it/are they? quanto costa/costano?

Can I have …? posso avere …?

Travelling

one ticket for… un biglietto per…

single solo andate

return andate ritorno

does this go to Mantova? questo va per Mantova?

airport aeroporto

bus stop fermata

train treno

car macchina

taxi tassi

Eating/drinking

what do you recommend? che cosa mi consegna?

can I have the bill? posso avere il conto?

what's this? cos'è questo?

is there a menu? c'è un menù?

where's the toilet? dov'è il bagno?

Food and drink

acqua frizzante/naturale sparkling/still water

agnello lamb

anguria watermelon

antipasto starter

arancia orange

baccalà salt-cod

birra beer

caffè coffee (ie espresso)

caffè macchiato espresso with a dash of foamed milk

carne meat

coniglio rabbit

coppa/cono cone/cup

formaggio cheese

frutti di mare seafood

funghi mushrooms

gelato ice-cream

granita flavoured crushed ice

insalata salad

manzo beef

melanzane aubergine

olio oil

pandoro Veronese Christmas cake

pane bread

pastissàda de caval Veronese horsemeat stew

Pearà Veronese bone marrow sauce

peperoncino chilli pepper

peperone pepper (vegetable)

pesce fish

pollo chicken

polpette meatballs

pomodoro tomato

rucola rocket

vino rosso/bianco red/white wine

vitello veal

Hotels

a double/single room una camera doppia/singola

a double bed un letto matrimoniale

bathroom bagno

Is there a view? c'è una bella vista?

Can I see the room? posso vedere la camera?

When is breakfast? a che ora è la colazione?

Can I have the key? posso avere la chiave?

Time

morning mattina

afternoon pommeriggio

evening sera

night notte

soon presto/fra poco

later più tardi

What time is it? Che ore sono?

today/tomorrow/yesterday oggi/domani/ieri

Days

Monday lunedi

Tuesday martedi

Wednesday mercoledi

Thursday giovedi

Friday venerdi

Saturday sabato

Sunday domenica

Conversation

alright va bene

right then allora

who knows! bo! / chi sa

good luck! in bocca al lupo! (literally, 'in the mouth of the wolf')

one moment un'attimo

hello (when answering a phone) pronto (literally, 'ready')

let's go! andiamo!

enough/stop basta!

give up! dai!

I like ... mi piace …

how's it going? (well, thanks) come va? (bene, grazie)

how are you? come sta/stai? (polite/informal)

Gestures

Italians are famously theatrical and animated in dialogue and use a variety of gestures.

Side of left palm on side of right wrist as right wrist is flicked up Go away

Hunched shoulders and arms lifted with palms of hands outwards What am I supposed to do?

Thumb, index and middle finger of hand together, wrist upturned and shaking What are you doing/what’s going on?

Both palms together and moved up and down in front of stomach Same as above

All fingers of hand squeezed together To signify a place is packed full of people

Front of side of hand to chin ‘Nothing’, as in ‘I don’t understand’ or ‘I’ve had enough’

Flicking back of right ear To signify someone is gay

Index finger in cheek To signify good food

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