Telephone bookings (Final A2 Italian listening, with transcript)

Excitement is building. There’s a sense of anticipation in the air.

Like before a big exam…

Next week, we launch the B1 (intermediate) level material!

For now, though, here’s the final A2 Italian listening, and the usual transcript to study.

Today’s topic is ‘making bookings’, which means hotels, restaurants and the like.

(If you’re reading this in an e-mail, you’ll need to visit our website to hear the recording. Click here.)

Transcript

8. Fare prenotazioni

Pronto, parlo con l’Hotel Riviera? Mi chiamo Francesca Rossi, vorrei prenotare una camera singola nel vostro hotel. Arriverò il 15 ottobre e mi tratterrò per cinque notti. Se possibile, preferirei una stanza al primo piano con balcone e con la vasca da bagno. Inoltre vorrei sapere se nel vostro albergo c’è un parcheggio gratuito per la mia automobile. Grazie per le informazioni. A risentirci.

Pronto, mi chiamo Giulia Bianchi. Vorrei sapere se avete una camera matrimoniale libera per il 18 luglio. Mio marito ed io arriveremo intorno alle 18 perciò vorremmo sapere se nel vostro hotel c’è anche un ristorante aperto a cena. Preferiremmo avere una camera dotata di televisione e aria condizionata. La prego di ricontattarmi il prima possibile al numero 04/998374777

Pronto, parlo con il ristorante La Casetta? Mi chiamo Paola Russo e chiamo per riservare un tavolo per sei persone per stasera alle 19. Poiché festeggiamo un compleanno è possibile prenotare anche una torta al cioccolato? Infine, è possibile pagare con carta di credito? Grazie per la disponibilità.

P.S.

People quite often e-mail me with their comments about this site. Here’s a message that came in over-night from Nicole:

Buona sera, 
Ho ascoltato Il mio viaggio a Parigi; è interessante ma ho avuto difficulta per capire la voce.  Era un poco strano. Che pensa? Ma grazie perché, da nuovo, un buon esercizio.  Saluti (scrivo un mail perché non trovo la casella per scrivere)
Nicole

Thanks for writing, Nicole. The box for leaving comments is at the bottom of each article. Click the link in the email you receive (like this one) to view the article on our website, then just scroll down.

If you’re already on our site, click ‘Articles‘ in the menu which appears at the top of every page, then click on the title of the article you want to comment on to view the full article. The comments box is at the bottom of the page.

So, comments are very, very welcome. Please give it a go. Even just to say ‘Ciao’!

E-mails are fine too, but for anything of general interest (like Nicole’s feedback), it’s great to do it as a comment, so everyone can see it.

Anyway, to answer Nicole’s point, yes, I remember there was one track that I found ‘harder’ when I first listened to it. Possibly because of the speaker’s accent, or the speed of delivery, or both. Could have been this one, I don’t really recall.

Our ‘level’ system for these listenings is based on length of text and the grammatical/lexical complexity, rather than on speed or accent.

Ideally, I’d like to publish MORE slurred, accented speakers…. because I believe that it would help you prepare better for real life situations, in which Italians don’t always speak clearly…

Unfortunately, the people doing the recordings (mostly family & friends, or OnlineItalianClub.com teachers) are quite particular about enunciating properly and using a standard Italian accent.

Teachers, bah! I have to pour several glasses of wine before they will relax enough to revert to their original accent…

So that’s why you might find some tracks harder to understand than others.

Talking of improving your Italian listening, an excellent way to do that is to meet up regularly online with one of our professional OnlineItalianClub.com Italian teachers…

For just €20, you could try an online lesson. To see if you enjoyed it and to see for yourself how it would really help you improve your Italian listening and speaking.  Go here to book a lesson.