Language question

Wordmonkey translator from Google says, "Io non mangio carne, che cosa consiglia" or: "E-o non manjoe carnay, kay koza consealya?" would be MY take on pronunciation. Buon Appetito!

Grazie!

Denny,

Add that the second to last sylabble is almost always the one accented and you did well.

For example:

Io (I) is pronounced like a long E followed by a long o, accent on the E.

When you speed it up it, doesn't sound much different than Yo (Spanish for I, or New York for "hey") ;)

One of my Italian friends said you only need to know to phrases to get by in Italy:

Io fame. Pronounced Ee oh Faa-may, which means I'm hungry (think I'm fammished). And Io sette(?). Pronounced Ee oh Said tay (or something close to that) which means I'm thirsty.

vegetariano is vegetarian in Italian. You'll sometimes see it on the menu.

Many times telling some one you don't eat meat will get you away from red meat (carne) but they may offer chicken (pollo) or fish (pesce).

Verdura is vegetable. Formaggio is cheese.

solo la verdura ed il formaggio would be only vegetables and cheese

Brad: Small corrections: The Italian for "I am hungry" or "I am thirsty" is "Ho fame" and "Ho sete", the Italian verb being "avere", to have. Your version has no verb.

The "H" is silent so you would say "O FAmay" and "O SETay". In Italian (as in French) the literal translation would be "I have hunger and I have thirst".

You are always going to have plenty of pasta choices and contorno (side dishes) which are usually vegetables (verdure).

Stay away from carne, suino, maiale, bistecca, vitello, coniglio, cavallo, pollo, etc. and you will be fine :)

What region are you traveling to? Most places in Italy have very little seafood on the menu if you are more than an hour or two from the seas. Also if you see a * on a menu and it says at the bottom surgelato it means frozen - we usually avoid any frozen restaurant offerings in Italy outside of french fries (patatine fritte).

This should not really be a big problem. The antipasti section of the menu will frequently offer grilled veggies or bruschetta. In the pasta section there should be a various selection of choices. The contorni section will offer salads and various vegetable dishes. Also, every restaurant posts a menu outside for customers to read. If you are unfamiliar with Italian many guidebooks present menu items with their Italian names. Eating well in Italy is easy to accomplish no matter what your dining choices may be.

Buon viaggio,

RB

Thank you all so much! I always like to ask for recommendations from servers and have had some of my most unusual and delicious meals this way. Now (thanks to you) I can say that I'm a vegetarian and I also know the tip off words that would let me know which meals I would not appreciate. We leave in just over a week and I'm so excited! Thanks again for all your valuable information!