Basic Bootcamp #1 - Self Introduction: Basic Greetings in Italian

Ciao a tutti!

Buongiorno! Marco here, Basic Bootcamp Lesson 1. Self-introduction and basic readings in formal Italian. Hello and welcome to the Basic Bootcamp Lesson 1 at ItalianPod101.com. where we study modern Italian in a fun educational format. So, brush up on the Italian that you started learning long ago or start learning today. Thanks for being here with us for this lesson. Laura, what are we looking at in this lesson?

Okay, now you'll probably think with a name like bootcamp this is going to be painful. No, in our bootcamp you definitely won't suffer. We'll take it slow and be nice to you. We should have called it Bootspa, actually. In this lesson, you will learn how to initiate a first contact with a person in Italian and introduce yourself.

This conversation takes place in the reception lobby of a hotel in Italy. The conversation is between the receptionist and the tourist. The speakers will be speaking formally. Okay, now let's listen to the conversation. Buongiorno signora, mi chiamo Giovanni. Piacere signore, mi chiamo Lenti Barbara. Piacere signora. Let's hear it slowly now. Ancora una volta lentamente. Buongiorno signora, mi chiamo Giovanni. Piacere, signore. Mi chiamo Lenti Barbara. And now, with a translation.

questa volta con la traduzione. Buongiorno signora, mi chiamo Giovanni. Hello madam, I'm Giovanni. Piacere signore, mi chiamo Lenti Barbara. Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Barbara Lenti. Piacere, signora. Nice to meet you, madam. So, the receptionist's name is Giovanni. I bet it's a popular name in Italy. Yes, it's very popular. As for the customer, her first name is Barbara. Barbara has also been very popular in Italy for quite a while, hasn't it?

Yes, this name doesn't seem to age. Now, I noticed that she introduced her name starting with her last name, Lenti. Is that a usual thing to do? No, it's not. Here, she's giving her name to a receptionist. That's why she's starting with her last name so he can check her reservation. Usually, when you introduce yourself to someone, you say your first name first.

And sometimes you can only say your first name, right? Yes, most of the time actually. The more formal the situation is, the more formally you will speak. And saying both your name and your last name is very formal.

You would do that in a business context, I assume? Absolutely. Now, do people in Italy shake hands when meeting for the first time? At work, when it's your first encounter with your co-workers, then yes, you will shake hands. No kisses? Kisses come later, once you know people better. And outside of a business context?

That's different. In casual situations, people will sometimes kiss each other when meeting again after being introduced. Men with women and women with women. What about men with men? Well... Men tend to shake hands, but when they are really good friends, they will kiss. A kiss on each cheek, correct? Yes. So don't be shy when you go to Italy and kiss everybody. Well, not if it's your boss or a client. Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. Buongiorno. Hello, good day.

Buongiorno. And next? Signora. Madam, lady, missus. And next we have... My name is... Mi chiamo. And finally we have... Piacere. Nice to meet you. Piacere. Piacere. Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase we look at is buongiorno signora. This is hello madam. Yes.

And buongiorno is used during the day from morning through the afternoon and up to the evening. It literally means good day. That's right. And at both evening and night, Italians say buonasera, meaning... Good evening. This greeting is usually used after 5 or 6 p.m. What else do we have here? We have buongiorno signore, which means hello sir.

A lot of people don't say signore or signora anymore when introducing themselves. Really? Do you? Very rarely. I assume I would say it if I met President Obama. You would speak to Obama in Italian? Just for the greetings. So it is possible for me to say buongiorno only when I meet an unknown person? Yes, that's what you say in stores, at the bank, everywhere.

But you can definitely say signore and signora if you want. People always appreciate politeness. Okay, what do we have next? Next is piacere. Which means nice to meet you. Yes. And what would it be literally? Pleasure? Exactly. I know it's a little over the top. It's really nice. And next we have... Mi chiamo. Which means, my name is...

Yes, mi chiamo Laura, my name is Laura. And mi chiamo Marco. What is this verb? It's the verb chiamarsi. Okay, let's have a quick recap together. Marco and I are going to introduce ourselves to each other. Let's go! Buongiorno! Buongiorno! Mi chiamo Marco. Piacere Marco, mi chiamo Laura. Great! You can all introduce yourself in Italian now. How do I ask someone what his or her name is? Oh yes, that can be useful. Well, you can ask...

Come si chiama? One more time slowly. Come si chiama? That's formal. What's the informal way? It will be come ti chiami? Okay, so when addressing someone you don't know or in a formal situation, you will say lei si. Yes, and when it's informal with friends or family, it will be tu ti. I have a tricky question here. Go ahead. What if I introduce myself to a friend of yours? Should I use to, since he's a friend of a friend, or should I use lei, since I don't know him?

You should use tu and say come ti chiami, because that's right, he's a friend of mine. The use of lei and tu in Italian is hard to get, but don't worry, you'll get there. Yes. And Italian people are very tolerant when they're used by a foreigner. Okay, now let's focus on ways to say your name. Let's take a look at the grammar point.

We already saw that you can use the phrase mi chiamo followed by your name. Mi chiamo means literally am called. It is not necessary to add I, which is io, as in io mi chiamo. which is literally, I am called. Italians only use I, which is io, you, which is to, and so forth, for emphasis. You guess who is speaking, or the person you are addressing, from the context anyway.

so there's no need to specify personal pronouns. Now, another way to say your name is just like in English. Io sono Laura, I am Laura. Io, again being I, and sono, being am. I am. Io sono. Again, you would usually skip io and just say sono Laura. Now you know two ways of introducing yourself. Marco, could you sum them up? No problem. One. Mi chiamo. And two? Sono. Just a quick note about the verb chiamarsi. Chiamarsi is the infinitive form of mi chiamo and it ends with si.

If you see a verb ending with C, it is a verbo reflexivo, or reflexive verb. Many verbs can be used in a reflexive form. Yes, and the reflexive verbs are when the action is directed to the subject. Literally, I call myself or I watch myself and so forth. Mi chiamo means I am called, as in I call myself. All right.

I think that's enough grammar for today. Yes, and don't worry, if you don't remember what is what, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that you know how to say my name is or I am.

Before we wrap up this conversation I would like to introduce you to some popular Italian names. My friend from Italy named her baby Rocco. Rocco is one. Nowadays baby names tend to be short and sometimes a bit unusual. Rocco, Matteo and Tommaso are common for boys and Emma, Sofia, Sara and Jessica are popular for girls.

Some almost don't sound Italian. Some of them are not, actually. And I will end with my favourite name for a girl, Isabella. It's really cute. OK, I think that will be it for today. Okay, some of our listeners already know about the most powerful tool on ItalianPod101.com. Line-by-line audio. The perfect tool for rapidly improving listening comprehension.

By listening to lines of the conversation again and again. Listen until every word and syllable becomes clear. Basically, we break down the dialogue into comprehensible, bite-sized sentences. You can try the line-by-line audio at italianpod101.com. Bye everyone! Arrivederci! Buongiorno signora, mi chiamo Giovanni. Piacere signore, mi chiamo Lenti Barbara. Piacere signora.