Parliamo italiano

L’alfabeto italiano A ah J ee loongo S esseh B bee K kappah T tee C chee L elleh U oo D dee M emmeh V voo / vee E eh N enneh W doppio voo F effeh O o’ X eeks G jee P pee Y ee greco / ipsylon H akkah Q koo Z zaytah I ee R airreh

a = [ah] gatto mamma mia! Make a sign of pulling a train whistle with the arm Emphasize the letter “u” and associate with the sound

e /è = [ay] elefante bene! Make a sign of pulling a train whistle with the arm Emphasize the letter “u” and associate with the sound

i = [ee] così, così sì spaghetti Make a sign of pulling a train whistle with the arm Emphasize the letter “u” and associate with the sound

o = [o’] cappuccino ciao no Make a sign of pulling a train whistle with the arm Emphasize the letter “u” and associate with the sound

u = [oo] cappuccino russo mucca Make a sign of pulling a train whistle with the arm Emphasize the letter “u” and associate with the sound

c =[k] chilometri caffè chiamo come perché cuore Make sign of drinking coffee Emphasize spelling for “c” in front of “i” or “e” – add an h

c = [tch] ciao! cinema cento Make waving sign Emphasize the sound is only found when “c” is followed by i or e

g = [g] gatto spaghetti gusto funghi goooaaal Make a sign of playing the guitar Emphasize spelling when “g” is in front of “e” or “i” – add an h

g = [dj] giornalista giorno gente Make sign of writing on a notepad Emphasize that the sound is only found in front of “e” or “i”

qu = [kw] quattro tranquillo Emphasize spelling of “qu” and associate with duck sign

z / zz = [ts] pizza zero Make sign of deflating balloon – could swap this for mosquito sound as “zanzara” has repetition of core sound. Explain that sound can be voiced (dz) or unvoiced (ts) but sounds very similar

gli = [ll] famiglia tagliatelle Make pupils put their dentures on, make them do a wet “l” sound with back of tongue Explain that this is the hardest sound to make as it is the only one not present in English. Emphasize spelling

h = [-] ho ha hanno Explain that “h” at start of word is extremely rare and is never pronounced.

gn = [gn] lasagna montagna Make sign of layers, for layered lasagne.

sc = [sh] sci pesce Make sign of layers, for layered lasagne.

[sh] [ah] [ay] [ee] [o] [oo] [tch] [k] [kw] [dj] [g] [ll] [gn] [tz] [-]

a e i o u qu gli gn z h ci ce gi ge sci sce ga go gu ca co cu ghi ghe chi che qu gi ge gli gn z h sci sce