Language Partners

Some language learners find it useful to have a language partner when they start learning a new language, while some other learners don't find it necessary, or ever it is not something that would cross their mind, to look for a language partner.
For you to decide whether you need a language partner, you need to ask yourself few questions:
1- What am I learning the language for?
2- How good do I want to be in it?
3- How important are culture, pronunciation and daily expressions to me?
Most people who want to learn a language, they want to be (or they don't mind being) perfect in it, having as much vocabulary as they possibly could have, and sounding like ,or close to, a native speaker.
To help you answering the question whether you need a language partner, let me tell you that a language partner can be a great boost to your language skills, but as you can tell, you need to have language skills to start with!
If you are an absolute beginner, then the need of a language partner will not be that important right now, unless you are interested in the culture of the country which you are about to learn its language (most learners are!) Say you want to learn Japanese, and (or because) you are really interested in the Japanese culture, then it would be a great idea to have a Japanese language partner, who would keep you interested and enthusiastic, and also keeps track of your language improvement, which is really important to you later to know exactly how far you gone with the language. Unbelievable how your partner would know exactly how good you are, better than you.

If you are not addicted to chatting, go for it. But if you are, then be careful. Having such a partner in an early stage can distract you from your main mission you have set, the language learning mission.Unless you already have some conversational skills you want to practice, try to keep the idea of a having a language partner later.
Once you decide you want a language partner, there are few things you need to keep in mind. First of all, a language partner is someone you have to stick to for the next year or two, or maybe longer, so be sure you get one who you can really talk to; someone who shares lots of interests with you. In the beginning you won't feel the need for being so picky, most language learners don't consider this when they look for a partner, since it's not ''personal'', but after few months, when they start having some conversational skills they start finding the need of having few conversations about random topics, guess what? the partner then doesn't make that good company to be with, and they start looking for another partner from scratch, or they draft into normal conversations with few native speakers online, which is not bad itself, but having a constant language partnership beats anything else. In one year, your partner would know everything about you, what you want to say, what is on your mind, what mistakes you always do, what words you don't know, what words you overuse, and much more. and this is incredible for your language progress.
If you are Jewish, look for  a Jewish partner, if you are a person full of passion for politics, try to look for someone like that, etc...
Soon I will post a list of free methods to find a language partner.

MICHEL THOMAS GERMAN (BASIC) COURSE: CD3 Transcript

CD 3 (52.42)
(1) 9.16
I want voglio
I want it lo voglio
I don't want it non lo voglio
I want to do it voglio farlo, lo voglio fare
(Italian words do not end in a consonant, as a rule)
what do you want? cosa vuole?
do you want it? lo vuole?
don't you want it? non lo vuole?
why don't you want it? perché non lo vuole?
I want it but not now lo voglio ma non adesso
what are you saying? cosa dice?
why don't you tell me? perché non mi dice?
(for "it to me", the person comes before the thing, and mi lo becomes melo)
why don't you tell it to me? perché non melo dice?
to you Le
I am going to tell you later Le dico più tardi
I am telling you Le dico
I am telling dico
you are telling dice
to tell dire
I will tell you Le dirò
to understand capire
I will understand capirò
to speak parlare
to see vedere
("I will see" is contracted a little)
I will see vedrò
he will see vedrà
we will see vedremo
I will see it lo vedrò
he won't see it non lo vedrà
we will see it lo vedremo
I will see you later la vedrò più tardi
he will not see me non mi vedrà
(2) 6.21
to give dare
I give do
he gives da
he gives me something mi da qualcosa
the book il libro
why don't you give me the book? perché non mi da il libro?
why don't you give it to me now? perché non me lo da adesso?
to bring portare
I am going to see you tonight and I will bring you the book la vedo stasera e Le porterò il libro
to him gli
I will give him the book gli darò il libro
I am going to tell him gli dico
I will tell him gli dirò
I want to tell him voglio dirgli
(3) 4.53
I won't tell him, I will not tell him non gli dirò
I don't want to tell him non voglio dirgli
I don't tell you because I don't want to tell you non Le dico perché non voglio dirle
will you tell me, would you tell me vuole dirmi
can you tell me? può dirmi?
(4) 5.03
to tell dire
he will tell me mi dirà
he won't tell me non mi dirà
he doesn't want to tell me non vuole dirmi
please per favore
will you please tell me per favore, vuole dirmi
will you tell me vuole dirmi
why don't you want to tell me? perché non vuole dirmi?
he won't tell me non mi dirà
I won't tell you non Le dirò
I will tell you later Le dirò più tardi
I won't tell you now non Le dirò adesso
will you tell me vuole dirmi
(5) 5.26
I am sorry but mi dispiace ma
it pleases me, I like mi piace
I like very much mi piace molto
I like very much to do it mi piace molto farlo
but I don't like to do it now ma non mi piace farlo adesso
I will do it later if I have the time lo farò più tardi se ho il tempo
I like mi piace
I like very much to speak Italian mi piace molto parlare italiano
you like Le piace
do you like? Le piace?
I don't like to stay here non mi piace stare qui
I like very much to do it mi piace molto farlo
I want to do it voglio farlo
but I won't do it ma non lo farò
I want to do it voglio farlo
I don't want to do it now non voglio farlo adesso
I won't do it non lo farò
(6) 6.49
I want to do it voglio farlo
I cannot do it now non posso farlo adesso
I cannot tell you where it is because I don't know it non le posso dire dov'è perché non lo so
I want to tell you something voglio dirle qualcosa
I won't tell you non Le dirò
I want to tell you voglio dirle
it pleases me mi piace
you like Le piace
does it displease you? Le dispiace?
doesn't it displease you, if you don't mind non Le dispiace
(7) 6.01
(non le dispiace can be used for "if you don't mind")
won't you mind telling me, will you tell me... non le dispiace dirmi...
what do you want to say? what do you mean? cosa vuole dire?
to explain spiegare
I will explain to you later Le spiegerò più tardi
will you please explain to me vuole spiegarmi
will you explain it to me vuole spiegarmelo
why don't you want to explain it to me? perché non vuole spiegarmelo?
(8) 3.34
I don't know what it means non so ciò que vuole dire
to wait aspettare
will you please wait for me vuole aspettarmi
to do fare
will you do it vuole farlo per favore
can you do it for me? può farlo per me?
will you wait for me vuole aspettarmi
can you wait for me? può aspettarmi?
(9) 5.19
there is c'è
near here qui vicino
I want to know where there is a good restaurant near here voglio sapere dove c'è un buono ristorante qui vicino
far lontano
it is not far non è lontano
to walk andare a piedi
you can walk può andare a piedi
will you tell me where it is because I cannot find it vuole dirmi dov'è perché non posso trovarlo
I want to see it voglio vederlo

(end of recording)

MICHEL THOMAS ITALIAN (BASIC) COURSE, CD2 TRANSCRIPT

CD 2 (63.50)

(1) 7.06

to stay stare

I am staying sto

I am staying at home tonight sto a casa stasera

are you staying home tonight? sta a casa stasera?

how long are you staying? quanto tempo sta?

to leave partire

I am leaving tomorrow parto domani

at what time are you leaving tomorrow? a che ora parte domani?

why don't you want to leave with me? perché non vuole partire con mi?

why can't you leave with me? perché non può partire con me?

to come venire

why can't you come with me now? perché non può venire con me adesso?

I am going to... vado a...

I am going to eat vado a mangiare

he is going, she is going to, you are going to eat va a mangiare

why can't you come to see it with me this evening? perché non può venire a vederlo con me stasera?

I must devo

to have to dovere

you must deve

you must come with me deve venire con me

you must speak Italian with me deve parlare italiano con me

to wait, await aspettare

to wait for me aspettarmi

to understand capire

to understand me capirmi

can you understand me? può capirmi?

why can't you understand me? perché non può capirmi?

(2) 9.23

to say, to tell dire

I cannot say it in Italian non posso dirlo in italiano

can you tell me? può dirmi?

will you, will you please, do you want vuole

will you tell me where it is vuole dirmi dov'è

(In English, "will you..." meaning "will you please..." does not express the future, but makes a polite request)

will you tell me vuole dirmi

can you tell me? può dirmi?

can you tell me where it is? può dirmi dov'è?

to find trovare

will you tell me where it is because I cannot find it vuole dirmi dov'è perché non posso trovarlo

I have ho

I have it lo ho, l'ho

I don't have it non l'ho

you have it lo ha, l'ha

why don't you have it for me now? perché non l'ha per me adesso?

I want to have it voglio averlo

I want voglio

I want it lo voglio

I want it now lo voglio adesso

I don't want it now non lo voglio adesso

why don't you want it now? perché non lo vuole adesso?

to have avere

I have ho

you have, he has, she has ha

to know sapere

I know so

I don't know non so

I know it lo so

I don't know it non lo so

you know it lo sa

why don't you know it? perché non lo sa?

do you know where it is? sa dov'è?

can you tell me where it is? può dirmi dov'è?

can you tell me how much it is? può dirmi quant'è?

because I want to buy it perché voglio comprarlo

today oggi

I must have it today if it is possible devo averlo oggi se è possibile

(3) 5.13

I am staying home tonight because I am tired sto a casa stasera perché sono stanco

to prepare preparare

I am preparing it lo preparo

why don't you prepare it for me? perché non lo prepara per me?

the dinner la cena

to dine, to have dinner cenare

will you have dinner with me tonight vuole cenare con me stasera

where do you want to have dinner tonight? dove vuole cenare stasera?

I cannot speak with you now because I am eating non posso parlare con Lei perché mangio

(to say "I am in the process of eating", you say sto mangiando, or sto -endo with verbs from the other track)

I am eating mangio

I am in the process of eating sto mangiando

what are you preparing? cosa prepara?

what are you in the process of preparing? cosa sta preparando?

(you can also use sto with per followed by any full verb, meaning "I am just about to...")

I am just about to eat, I am getting ready to eat sto per mangiare

I am just about to prepare it sto per prepararlo

(4) 5.36

(whenever "to" implies "in order to", you say in Italian "for to do it" - per farlo)

I don't have the time in order to do it now non ho (il) tempo per farlo

(but if you use a noun which is followed by a verb, then after the noun you mostly throw in di meaning "of")

I don't have the time to do it non ho (il) tempo di farlo

to leave partire

I will leave tomorrow parto domani

at what time do you leave? a che ora parte?

the week la settimana

next prossima

next week la settimana prossima

at what time do you leave next week? a che ora parte la settimana prossima?

at what time are you leaving next week? a che ora parte la settimana prossima?

(there is, in fact, a future tense in Italian. "I will leave" became "to leave-I have", which contracted from partire ho to partirò, with the stress on the final syllable)

I will leave partirò

you, he, she will leave partirà

(the endings -rò and -rà are universal for all Italian verbs)

(5) 5.52

to do, to make fare

I will do farò

I will do it lo farò

I won't do it non lo farò

he will do it lo farà

when will you do it? quando lo farà?

to say, to tell dire

to call chiamare

I will call you la chiamerò

I call you tomorrow la chiamo domani

I will call you tomorrow la chiamerò domani

I will call you la chiamerò

I am staying sto

I am staying here sto qui

I am staying home tonight sto a casa stasera

I will stay home tonight starò a casa stasera

how long are you staying in Italy? quanto tempo sta in Italia?

how long will you stay in Italy? quanto tempo starà in Italia?

I don't know non so

still ancora

yet (in a negative sense) ancora

I don't know yet, still I don't know ancora non so

I don't know yet how long I will stay in Italy ancora non so quanto tempo starò in Italia

(6) 7.08

I am ready sono pronto

it is ready è pronto

to be essere

you must be ready soon deve essere pronto subito

it can be ready soon può essere pronto subito

I will be sarò

you will be, he will be, she will be sarà

it will be ready soon sarà pronto subito

I don't know yet at what time it will be ready but I must have it today if it is possible ancora non so a che ora sarà pronto ma devo averlo oggi se è possibile

to see vedere

to see it, to see him vederlo

to see her, to see you vederla

to see me vedermi

I am going to call you later la chiamo più tardi

(for the future tense, -are verbs have the ending -erò, not -arò)

I will call you later la chiamerò più tardi

to speak parlare

I will speak parlerò

to eat mangiare

I will eat mangierò

he will eat mangierà

(for "we", use the future ending -remo)

we will eat later mangieremo

we will stay home tonight staremo a casa stasera

we will leave tomorrow partiremo domani

(7) 4.36

(in the present tense, for "we" use the ending -iamo)

we speak parliamo

we are staying stiamo

we are leaving partiamo

to go andare

we are going andiamo

(andiamo expresses different meanings, such as "let's go!")

let's go and eat! andiamo a mangiare!

we are eating mangiamo

let's eat! mangiamo!

to start cominciare

I am starting now comincio adesso

at what time are you starting? a che ora comincia?

at what time are you going to start tomorrow? a che ora comincierà domani?

let's start! cominciamo!

I want to know voglio sapere

I want to know at what time it will be ready voglio sapere a che ora sarà pronto

I am going vado

he is going, she is going, it is going, you are going va

where are you going? dove va?

where are you going to be tonight? dove sarà stasera?

(8) 5.10

good buono

it is very good è molto buono

quite proprio

it is quite good è proprio buono

it is quite possible è proprio possibile

(words in English ending -ant and -ent are similar in Italian)

it is very different that way è molto differente così

(così can also translate "so")

it is not so different non è così differente

it is so good è così buono

it is not so different that way non è così differente così

important importante

it is very important that way è molto importante così

I have to know it because it is very important for me devo saperlo perché è molto importante per me

I would like vorrei

I would like to know it vorrei saperlo

I would like to go with you vorrei andare con Lei

there ci

(this word is also hooked on to the end of the whole verb)

I would like to go there with you vorrei andarci con Lei

I would like to go and see it with you tonight vorrei andare a vederlo con Lei stasera

(9) 6.35

(words that can be hooked on to the end of the verb, can also come way up front)

I want to do it voglio farlo, lo voglio fare

(either way is as good as the other)

I cannot do it now non posso farlo adesso, non lo posso fare adesso

why can't you tell me now? perché non può dirmi adesso, perché non mi può dire adesso

it is not ready yet but it will be ready for you soon ancora non è pronto ma sarà pronto per Lei subito

to do, to make fare

I do, I make faccio

he does, he makes fa

why don't you do it? perché non lo fa?

I am doing it now lo faccio adesso

I am in the process of doing it lo sto facendo

I'm just about to do it sto per farlo

I say, I tell dico

you say, you tell dice

what are you saying? cosa dice?

why don't you tell me? perché non mi dice?

(10) 7.11

to understand capire

I cannot understand it non posso capirlo

can you understand it? può capirlo?

can you understand me? può capirmi?

why can't you understand me? perché non può capirmi?

I understand capisco

I understand it lo capisco

I don't understand it non lo capisco

you understand capisce

do you understand it? lo capisce?

do you understand me? mi capisce?

don't you understand me? non mi capisce?

why don't you understand me? perché non mi capisce?

I am sorry but I don't understand it very well mi dispiace ma non lo capisco molto bene

what are you saying? cosa dice?

(when you use "what" in the middle of a sentence, you use ciò che)

I don't know what you're saying non so ciò che dice

(you can also say qualche instead of ciò che)

I don't understand very well what you are saying non capisco molto bene ciò che dice

it is not what I am saying non è ciò che dico

I don't understand what you want to say non capisco ciò che vuole dire

("want to say" is the Italian for "mean")

I don't understand what you mean non capisco ciò che vuole dire

what do you mean? cosa vuole dire?

you don't understand what I mean non capisce ciò che voglio dire

(end of recording)

MICHEL THOMAS ITALIAN (BASIC) COURSE,CD1 TRANSCRIPT

CD 1 (69.56)

(1) 4.51

(2) 6.19

(words ending in -ible in English, like "possible", end -ibile in Italian, like possibile)

possible possibile

it is è

it is possible è possibile

it is not non è

it is not possible non è possibile

for me per me

it is for me è per me

it is not for me non è per me

it is not possible for me non è possibile per me

for you per Lei

(per Lei also means "for her")

it is for you è per Lei

it is not for me non è per me

it is possible for you è possibile per Lei

(to ask a question, use inflection)

isn't it possible for you? non è possibile per Lei?

why? perché?

(perché also means "because")

why isn't it possible for you? perché non è possibile per Lei?

like that, in that way così

it is like that è così

it is not like that non è così

it is not possible for me that way non è possibile per me così

I am sorry mi dispiace

(this literally means "it displeases me")

but ma

I am sorry, but it is not possible for me that way mi dispiace, ma non è possibile per me così

(words ending with -able in English end with -abile in Italian)

probable probabile

it is not probable non è probabile

probably probabilmente

possibly possibilmente

(3) 7.06

late tardi

it is late è tardi

very molto

it is very late è molto tardi

more più

later più tardi

I want voglio

("I" is understood in Italian)

to know sapere

I want to know voglio sapere

I don't want non voglio

I don't want to know non voglio sapere

it is possible è possibile

where dove

I want to know where is voglio sapere dove è

(dove è contracts to dov'è)

how much quanto

I want to know how much it is voglio sapere quanto è

to buy comprare

I want to buy voglio comprare

the thing la cosa

I want to buy the thing voglio comprare la cosa

the same thing la stessa cosa

I want to buy the same thing voglio comprare la stessa cosa

I don't want to buy the same thing non voglio comprare la stessa cosa

the same lo stesso

I want to buy the same voglio comprare lo stesso

but I don't want the same thing ma non voglio la stessa cosa

you want vuole

do you want the same thing? vuole la stessa cosa?

what (thing) do you want? che vuole, che cosa vuole, cosa vuole?

what do you want to buy? cosa vuole comprare?

here qui

what you want to buy here? cosa vuole comprare qui?

(4) 5.49

some qualche

something qualche cosa, qualcosa

do you want to buy something here? vuole comprare qualcosa qui?

why don't you want to buy something here? perché non vuole comprare qualcosa qui?

I want to know voglio sapere

it lo

to know it sapere lo

(sapere lo contracts so that the lo is hooked on to the end of the "whole" verb.  All Italian "whole" verbs do this)

I want to know it voglio saperlo

to buy comprare

to buy it comprarlo

I want to buy it voglio comprarlo

I want to know how much it is because I want to buy it voglio sapere quanto è perché voglio comprarlo

if se

expensive caro

it is very expensive è molto caro

it is not very expensive non è molto caro

I want to buy if it is not very expensive voglio comprarlo se non è molto caro

too, too much troppo

it is not too expensive non è troppo caro

I want to buy if it is not too expensive voglio comprarlo se non è troppo caro

(5) 5.39

to have avere

I want to have it voglio averlo

when quando

how much quanto

when do you want to have it? quando vuole averlo?

you can può

you can have it può averlo

if you want se vuole

if you want to have it se vuole averlo

now ora, adesso

I want to have it now voglio averlo adesso

if it is possible se è possibile

at what time? a che ora?

at what time do you want to have it? a che ora vuole averlo?

you can have it now if you want può averlo adesso se vuole

acceptable accettabile

it is not acceptable for me non è accettabile per me

I am sorry but it is not acceptable for me that way mi dispacie ma non è accettabile per me così

good buono

I want to know why it is not acceptable for you that way because it is very good voglio sapere perché non è accettabile per Lei così perché è molto buono

(6) 7.37

according to me..., in my opinion... secondo me...

according to you..., in your opinion... secondo Lei...

according to me it is very good that way secondo me è molto buono così

I am sono

ready pronto

I am ready sono pronto

soon presto

soon (a little more soon), right away subito

I am ready right away sono pronto subito

(Roberto and Roberta, subito and subita)

I am ready soon (female) sono pronta subita

it is ready è pronto

it is not ready non è pronto

to stay stare

I stay sto

you stay, he stays, she stays, it stays sta

I stay here sto qui

he is staying here sta qui

how long (how much time) quanto tempo

how long are you staying? quanto tempo sta?

I am staying sto

you are staying sta

how long are you staying? quanto tempo sta?

how long are you staying here? quanto tempo sta qui?

(definition of nouns, verbs and adjectives)

(the English infinitive verb, e.g. "to speak", is expressed in Italian with an ending such as -are)

to speak parlare

to eat mangiare

to leave, to depart partire

to understand capire

to see vedere

(7) 6.53

I want to see voglio vedere

I want to see it voglio vederlo

you, him, her, it la

I want to see you later voglio vederla più tardi

a little un po'

a little later un po' più tardi

I want to see you a little later voglio vederla un po' più tardi

busy occupato

because I am busy now perché sono occupato adesso

to speak parlare

I want to speak Italian voglio parlare italiano

I want to speak Italian with you voglio parlare italiano con Lei

do you want to speak Italian with me? vuole parlare italiano con me?

why don't you want to speak Italian with me? perché non vuole parlare italiano con me?

I can posso

you can, he can, she can, it can può

I am sorry but I cannot speak with you now because I am very busy now mi dispiace ma non posso parlare con Lei ora perché sono molto occupato ora

but I can see you a little later if you want ma posso vederla un po' più tardi se vuole

to eat mangiare

I want to eat now voglio mangiare adesso

what (thing) do you want to eat now? cosa vuole mangiare adesso?

do you want to eat something now? vuole mangiare qualcosa ora?

why don't you want to eat now? perché non vuole mangiare adesso?

(8) 8.01

I eat mangio

you eat mangia

(these endings apply for all verbs ending -are.  There are three types of verbs, but all verbs can be divided into two "tracks", the -are track and a track for all the others.  For the -are track, the ending for "I" is -o and the ending for "you, he, she, it" is -a.  For the other track, the ending for "I" is still -o, but the ending for the "you, he, she, it" is -e)

to go andare

to come venire

I see vedo

you see vede

to take prendere

I take prendo

you take prende

I am taking it lo prendo

you are taking it lo prende

why don't you take it? perché non lo prende?

(In English, we have three ways to express the present tense: "I take it", "I do take it", "I am taking it".  In Italian, all three are translated in one way: lo prendo "I take it")

I am sono

I am eating mangio

I don't speak non parlo

French francese

yes I speak Italian but I don't speak French sì parlo italiano ma non parlo francese

I don't eat non mangio

I am not busy non sono occupato

I am not eating non mangio

I don't eat non mangio

(9) 6.58

to prepare preparare

I prepare preparo

I prepare it lo preparo

I am preparing it lo preparo

I don't prepare it non lo preparo

I am not preparing it non lo preparo

to have avere

I have ho

you have ha

do you have something for me? ha qualcosa per me?

what do you have for me? cosa ha per me?

I am hungry (I have a little famine) ho fame

are you hungry? ha fame?

do you want to eat something now? are you hungry? vuole mangiare qualcosa adesso? ha fame?

don't you want to eat? aren't you hungry? non vuole mangiare? non ha fame?

to drink bere

I drink bevo

you drink beve

what are you drinking? cosa beve?

thirst sete

I am thirsty ho sete

I am thirsty and I want to drink now ho sete e voglio bere adesso

is è

and e

do you want to speak Italian with me? vuole parlare italiano con me?

what do you eat? cosa mangia?

what are you eating now? cosa mangia adesso?

to do, to make fare

what do you want to do now? cosa vuole fare adesso?

do you want to do it? vuole farlo?

why don't you want to do it now? perché non vuole farlo adesso?

(10) 4.00

I can posso

you can può

I am very sorry but I cannot do it now because I am very busy mi dispiace molto ma non posso farlo adesso perché sono molto occupato

I can do it later if I have (the) time posso farlo più tardi se ho tempo

to stay stare

I stay sto

I am busy sono occupato

I am busy (female) sono occupato

tired stanco

I am very tired now sono molto stanco adesso

the house la casa

the thing la cosa

something qualcosa

at home a casa

tonight stasera

I am tired and I am staying home tonight sono stanco e sto a casa stasera

(11) 6.43

tomorrow domani

tomorrow evening domani sera

tomorrow morning domani mattina

tomorrow afternoon domani pomeriggio

(in Italian the present tense is used very much.  For example, it is used to express the future, for example you can say "I see you tomorrow")

I will see you tomorrow, I see you tomorrow la vedo domani

(in English, we have two ways to express the future tense: "I will/shall see you" and "I am going to see you".  In Italian, you cannot use "going" to express the future)

to go andare

(in Italian, "go" is a combination of two Latin verbs)

I go vado

you go va

to call chiamare

I call chiamo

I call you la chiamo

I will call you later la chiamo più tardi

I will call you tomorrow la chiamo domani

(after coming and going, the next verb is preceded by a)

I am going to see it, I am going (in order) to see it vado a vederlo

I am going to buy it now (I am on my way to buy it now) vado a comprarlo adesso

I will buy it tomorrow lo compraro domani

(end of recording)