Italian for Travellers

So you’re thinking of travelling to Italy? View our very fast and short video series below and learn the correct pronunciation for some useful Italian phrases for travel. Our introduction is filmed at the Italian Language Centre in Brisbane with one of our amazing teachers, Giovanna Amatruda. Add your name to the form below and we’ll send you a PDF version of these phrases that you can print and take with you. Everyone is welcome at the Italian Language Centre (ILC). From beginners to advanced, there is an Italian class for you to learn Italian in a fun and engaging way.

We are so pleased to see that travel to Italy has finally opened up again.  There’s hardly a better way to learn about Italian customs and culture than learning how to communicate with the locals. Perhaps you have always wanted to navigate the streets of Italy with a native twist? If you would like to travel in Italian style but have yet to grasp the lingo, then our quick guide on travel phrases will get you started.

Some quick introductory phrases that every traveler should know are words of greeting; ciao, salve, buongiorno and buonasera. While ciao might be the most popular Italian greeting, what some call the Italian “aloha” for it’s being used as a “hello” and “goodbye,” it should be noted that using it in the wrong way can be considered offensive. In modern Italy, ciao is used as an informal greeting for those that you already know, like family or friends. 

When meeting strangers or first encounters, it is best to use more formal greetings like buongiorno, “good morning,” or buonasera, “good evening.” These phrases are interchangeable depending on what time of the day it is, with buongiorno typical for before 4 p.m. and buonasera any time later in the evening. Another way to say “hello” to someone is salve, which is more formal than ciao and a good word of greeting to use if you are unsure whether you should be formal or not. 

The most common way to say goodbye is arrivederci, which translates to “until we meet again.” To thank someone you would say, grazie mille, or “a thousand thanks.” 

To learn more quick and useful travel phrases or how to pronounce these new words to wow the locals, have a look at the Travel Phrases Part 1 video (above) with one of the Italian Language Centre’s amazing teachers, Giovanna Amatruda. To learn more phrases, check out the video Travel Phrases Part 2 and consider signing up for our Adult Language Classes, semester 2 starting on July 18th.