4Elisa.com volume #1 Italian with Elisa {2015} A Free Multimedia Language Course for the World Bernd Sebastian Kamps Languages with Elisa Flying PublisheR Bernd Sebastian Kamps Italian with Elisa (1) www.4Elisa.com 2015 Edition A tablet will be fine to read this book; however, if your children or grandchildren learn Italian, please consider offering them the print edition. A book is more than a PDF. Please check also the The Word Brain (81 pages, free PDF): “After reading The Word Brain, you may decide that you have no time to learn a new language – but never again will you say that you have no talent for it.” Bernd Sebastian Kamps Italian with Elisa A multimedia language course for the world 2015 Edition Volume 1 Flying Publisher 4 | Copy Editor: Rob Camp [email protected] Cover Design: Attilio Baghino www.baghino.com Disclaimer Language and grammar is an ever-changing field. The publishers and author of Italian with Elisa have made every effort to provide information that is accurate and complete as of the date of publication. However, in view of the rapid changes occurring in language, as well as the possibility of human error, this guide may contain technical inaccuracies, typographical or other errors. The information contained herein is provided “as is” and without warranty of any kind. The contributors to this book, including Flying Publisher & Kamps, can not be held responsible for any errors or omissions or for results obtained from the use of information contained herein. This work is protected by copyright both as a whole and in part. © 2015 by Flying Publisher & Kamps ISBN: 978-3-924774-98-1 | 5 Preface Italy is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and the Italian language is wonderfully expressive and pleasing to the ear. If you plan a trip to Italy, don’t miss out on the opportunity to acquire some language skills. Knowing a few words will greatly enhance your Italy experience. Elisa will help you. Italian with Elisa (www.4Elisa.com) is a free and versatile multimedia language course. Depending on your time, you can choose between a short overview and a full immersion: 1. If your time is limited, go through ‘Section A’ of each Level and follow the 21 episodes of Giulia, Giacomo and their friends (‘A1: Love’) and/or the 21 fundamental recipes of Italian cuisine (‘A2: Italian Cuisine’). 2. If you have time for an in-depth discovery of the Italian language, don’t stop at section A and continue instead with sections B, ‘Action Words’, C, ‘Words’, D, ‘Rules’, etc. Italian with Elisa is a free language course – in addition to the free PDF, you have free access to the website www.4Elisa.com and all audio files. Welcome to Italy, welcome to the Italian language! Bernd Sebastian Kamps 14th February 2015 P.S. The conceptual framework of Italian with Elisa is published at www.TheWordBrain.com. Print copies of Italian with Elisa are available at Amazon (see www.italianwithelisa.com/link.php?id=13). 6 | Italian with Elisa | 7 Acknowledgements It all started on a sunny Sunday morning in spring 2014 when I received a WhatsApp video message from Elisa. The video showed a hilly Sardinian countryside, and while walking through curious rock formations with natural caves, Elisa made playful comments on what she was discovering. I watched the video several times and was in awe. Listen to that voice, I said to myself. It was a calm, melodious and pleasant voice, and I immediately realized that it would be excellent for presenting a language course. A few days later, Elisa accepted my invitation to participate. So I put aside a project I had just begun – a French language course – and started ‘Italian with Elisa | A multimedia language course for the world’. Elisa’s unique and inimitable voice was not her only contribution to this first volume of the ‘Italian with Elisa’ series. Her outstanding sense of method, discipline, and perseverance was repeatedly helpful and motivating, especially in times when the usual stimuli and incentives were scarce. In this respect, Elisa is a model not only for adolescents but also for most adults. I would also like to express my deepest appreciation to Gerolamo who helped me in devising, structuring and elaborating the dialogues of the book. Without his crucial contribution, ‘Italian with Elisa’ would not have the real Italian touch it has today. I thank Daniela who allowed herself to be recorded on part of the audio, Charlotte who lent her voice to the Italian recipes as well as to Giulia’s and Giacomo’s love story, and Marco who assisted me with language fine-tuning. As always, Rob did the copy editing and Attilio the cover design. I wouldn’t want to not have them on my book projects. 8 | Italian with Elisa | 9 Table of Contents Level 0 Who are you? ................................................ 15 Level 1 Love and Cuisine........................................... 19 A1: Love (1) ............................................................................... 20 A2: Italian Cuisine (1) .............................................................. 22 B. Action Words ....................................................................... 24 avere to have ....................................................................... 24 C. Words.................................................................................... 25 Hunger, thirst, fear............................................................. 25 Mai, anche, ancora, et al. ................................................... 26 D. Rules ..................................................................................... 26 Negatives (I) ........................................................................ 26 E. Past, Future and What if’s? ................................................ 27 Avere: Imperfetto (imperfect tense) ................................... 27 Avere: Futuro (future tense) ............................................... 28 Avere: Condizionale presente (hypothetical “what if’s”) .. 29 Summary ............................................................................. 30 Action word timeline ......................................................... 31 F. Buongiorno .......................................................................... 32 G. Results & Preview ............................................................... 32 Level 2 Fatto, detto, visto et al. ................................ 35 A1: Love (2) ............................................................................... 36 A2: Italian Cuisine (2) .............................................................. 38 B. Action Words ....................................................................... 40 essere to be .......................................................................... 40 Avere: Passato prossimo .................................................... 42 Fare + andare ....................................................................... 48 10 | Italian with Elisa C. Words.................................................................................... 48 Technology .......................................................................... 48 Preview ................................................................................ 49 D. Rules ..................................................................................... 50 Negatives (2) ........................................................................ 50 Asking a question ............................................................... 51 E. Dialogue ................................................................................ 52 La macedonia di Amos ....................................................... 52 Amos’ fruit salad ................................................................. 52 Words ................................................................................... 53 F. Results & Preview ................................................................ 55 Level 3 Avere ............................................................ 57 A1: Love (3) ............................................................................... 58 A2: Italian Cuisine (3) .............................................................. 60 B1. Action Words ..................................................................... 62 Dimensions of time ............................................................. 64 Words ................................................................................... 66 1. I have, I had, I will have, et al........................................ 67 2. Compound tenses ........................................................... 71 3. Simple tense sextets ....................................................... 72 4. Compound tense sextets ................................................ 77 5. Summary.......................................................................... 80 B2. Action Words ..................................................................... 80 Volere + potere.................................................................... 80 C. Words.................................................................................... 81 Question words ................................................................... 81 Preview of Level 4 ............................................................... 82 D. Rules ..................................................................................... 83 Numbers, time..................................................................... 83