In this lesson you’ll learn Italian words associated with staying in a hotel.
There’s a list of words and translations to study. Now, what could you do to make it more interesting and useful?
Here are some ideas…
– sort the list gramatically, grouping words which are masculine (il) and feminine (la, l’)
– sort the list by meaning i.e. the words associated with the hotel bathroom. Why not draw a picture and label it? Attach the result to your fridge to amaze your family and friends!
– group the words by number of syllables and by which syllable is stressed, like this:
2 syllables – ‘bag-no, ‘do-ccia, ‘le-tto’
3 syllables, 1st syllable stressed – ‘fri-go-bar
3 syllables, 2nd syllable stressed – al-‘ber-go
Once you have your groups of words with the same stress patterns, you could try memorising each group as a chant or a rap, which sounds a little silly at first, but is fun:
beat, beat, ‘bag-no, ‘do-ccia, ‘le-tto, ‘vil-la, beat, beat,
l’albergo – hotel
il bagno – bath/bathroom
il parcheggio – parking
la doccia – shower
il frigobar – minibar
la camera singola – single room
la doppia – twin room
la camera matrimoniale – double room
il letto – bed
la coperta – blanket
il cuscino – pillow
la sedia – chair
l’armadio – wardrobe
il portacenere – ashtray
il tavolo – table
la lampada – lamp
il termosifone – radiator
la valigia – suitcase
l’asciugacapelli – hairdrayer
il sapone – soap
la saponetta -bar of soap
la carta igienica – toilet paper
l’asciugamano – towel
il televisore – television
la lavatrice – washing machine
la campagna – countryside
l’aria condizionata – air-conditioning
la villa – villa/residence
il palazzo – building/palace
il quartiere – quarter/district
la colazione – breakfast
la cappella – chapel
la vacanza – holiday
il garage – garage
Last but not least, get out there into the real world and give your new words a spin!
Find an Italian hotel website, making sure you see the Italian version of the site rather than the English language version, and plan yourself a fantasy weekend away!
Here’s one to start with – it’s a hotel in Bologna where a couple of our students work.
I’ve picked out ‘la camera deluxe con balcone‘ for my own fantasy weekend…
Add any new words you find on the website to the above list.
Buon viaggio!
(Click here for an exercise on this topic, it will help you memorize new words.)