secondo me....the hardest word by far is "paraurti" (car bumper). Just when you thought you could squeek out that high pitched "u" (think ooooo and a sound not known in inglese), you get to a rolling/trilled "r". But its not over yet cause now the "t" sound cuts off the last part of the "r". My italian friends have all learned the substitute, "il bumper".
Chiacchierare. Kills me every time! Raro. Anything with -stro. It's the Rs that I stumble on. Like tuscanartist, arrivederci is difficult, so I ignore that one and use "buona giornata" (or "serata") instead.
"Gli" when used as an article, not in the middle of a word. Gets me every time. I know my pronunciation of that is dreadful, and have no idea how to improve it. Suggestions welcome!
Any word or phrase with lots of b's and r's. For example, there's a sentence from one of the Pimsleur CD's that contains the following words: vorrebbe bere qualcosa. And in my class textbook there's this: Ti piacerebbe ballare?
Those are tongue twisters for me.
"I am a Southerner. I like the feel of these words. I could no more be otherwise than I could shed my outer skin or change the color of my eyes." Willie Morris
Posts: 1426 | Location: on the Alabama River | Registered: 22 July 2002
I cannot roll my R's. I have tried and tried, and many people have tried to show me how "easy" it is. I sometimes wonder if it's related to my inability to roll my tongue (a recessive trait, by the way, so I like to think it makes me very special ). Or maybe to my inability to drive stick shift!
I also have trouble sometimes with too many vowels in succession: "cucchiaio" and even "Euro" can go astray into a kind of indistinct, all-purpose, generic vowel sound!
Posts: 656 | Location: San Francisco Bay Area | Registered: 28 June 2006
I think one of the hardest words to say is the name of the town I live in. Even Italians have a hard time pronouncing it. I called to make reservations for our vacation this year and they needed my home address. When I said the name, the woman on the other end said "oh signora, per favore, mi fa lo spelling" I assumed that she heard my accent and thought I couldn't say something so I spelled it Verona, Ancona, Genova, Livorno, Imola, Ancona, Genova, Livorno, Imola. She said VAGLIAGLI! "Oh mio dio, come fa a pronunciare quella sempre????"When I tell non Italians where I live I pronounce it a Vag lee ag lee
And here I thought this thread would be about "swear words"!
Alessandra, that oddcast link is lots of fun!
Cristina, that is a tough word!
The word I just cannot say is "purtroppo". My friend from Coccaglio cannot say "vineyard". We laugh and laugh when we are together and try to say each word. I can roll my "r's" ok (certainly not with a perfect Italian accent) except for the "ur" sound.
"chiocciolina" which I learned is the @ symbol in an e-mail address and means "little snail". Seems appropriate, don't you think? Too many combinations of "c's" in that word for my American upbringing. I always have to look and think about it.
Jack
Posts: 94 | Location: Westfield, IN | Registered: 06 July 2001
Not sure if you mean a ch sound as in cherry here, but if this is the case then no; think about the group cch as a stronger "kk" sound instead. kiakkierare would render the same sound of the word in Italian [If K were an allowed consonant in italian]
Posts: 849 | Location: italy | Registered: 18 July 2002
Grazie, Paolo. Yes, it was the cch that was messing with me. I thought perhaps the first c got a cherry sound and the "ch" got a "k" sound. No wonder I was having so much trouble pronouncing it!
Posts: 94 | Location: Westfield, IN | Registered: 06 July 2001
i don't have an authentic italian accent, but i don't have any particular trouble with italian pronunciation. at least it's predictable. i grew up hearing my mother speak her native french, so my ear is attuned to it. but i can't seem to retrain my mouth muscles into the positions required to negotiate certain combinations of french sounds. italian is cake for me compared to french!
For some reason I cannot pronounce Euro in Italian. Maybe it has something to do with my deep hatred of the currency in general. Also have never been able to say cameriera....that has nothing to do with any hatred, just flat out can't say it correctly.
Originally posted by Capocorso: For some reason I cannot pronounce Euro in Italian. Maybe it has something to do with my deep hatred of the currency in general. Also have never been able to say cameriera....that has nothing to do with any hatred, just flat out can't say it correctly.
For me, if I put the article with euro it is easier to say..."l'euro"
Louise
Posts: 246 | Location: Menasha, WI - USA | Registered: 15 February 2003
Speaking of l'euro, which is the correct way to pronounce it? I've had instructors say lay-oo-roh, and others that say it like we do in the States, as in lay-yoo-roh.
