Italian All-in-One For Dummies (70 page)

 

Chapter 3

Exploring the Outdoors, Sports, and Hobbies

In This Chapter

Discovering the great outdoors

Exploring sports and other hobbies

Enjoying yourself with reflexive verbs and
piacere

I
n this chapter, we talk about the fun stuff — playing sports, delighting in hobbies, and generally enjoying yourself. Plus we throw in a section about reflexive verbs so you can talk correctly about enjoying yourself.

Maybe you use your
fine settimana
(
fee
-neh
seht
-tee-
mah
-nah) (
weekends
) as a chance to play sports, like
calcio
(
kahl
-choh) (
soccer
),
tennis
(
tehn
-nees) (
tennis
), or
pallavolo
(
pahl
-lah-
voh
-loh) (
volleyball
). Or perhaps you park yourself in front of the TV to watch
pallacanestro
(
pahl
-lah-kah-
nehs
-troh) (
basketball
). In any case, being able to talk about sports and other recreational activities is a plus in any language.

Italy's rich and varied natural attractions are the perfect setting for a holiday. You can be in contact with nature and stay in cozy cottages or fishermen's lodges. You can explore the country and taste authentic food, or choose a cultural itinerary and breathe the atmosphere of history and traditions in quiet villages. If you're brave enough, you can climb six among the ten tallest mountains in Europe:
Monte Bianco
(
mohn
-teh
byahn
-koh) (
white mountain
),
Monte Rosa
(
mohn
-teh
roh
-sah)
(
pink mountain
),
Cervino
(cher-
vee
-noh),
Gran Paradiso
(grahn pah-rah-
dee
-soh) (
big paradise
),
Bernina
(behr-
nee
-nah), and
Monviso
(mohn-
vee
-soh), in the
Alpi
(
ahl
-pee) (
alps
). If water is your element, then explore the incredible seabed of
Ponza
(
pohn
-dzah) or
Sardegna
(sahr-
deh
-nyah) (
Sardinia
).

Getting Close to Nature

Maybe you like to go up into the mountains to be close to nature. Even when
ti godi
(tee
goh
-dee) (
you enjoy
) Mother Nature on your own, however, you may want to know some vocabulary to express the wonders you see, such as
Che bel panorama!
(keh behl pah-noh-
rah
-mah!) (
What a great view!
)

l'albero
(
lahl
-beh-roh) (
tree
)

il
bosco
(eel
bohs
-koh) (
wood
)

la
campagna
(lah kahm-
pah
-nyah) (
countryside
)

il fiore
(eel
fyoh
-reh) (
flower
)

il
fiume
(eel
fyooh
-meh) (
river
)

il
lago
(eel
lah
-goh) (
lake
)

il
mare
(eel
mah
-reh) (
sea
)

la
montagna
(lah mohn-
tah
-nyah) (
mountain
)