February 2015

Episode 3 – High Five French

July 23, 2025February 27, 2015 by Coffee Break Languages

Join Emma and Mathilde in this ten-lesson podcast series for younger learners of French. In episode 3 you’ll learn to ask “how are you?” and how to answer the question.

Listen to the episode

High Five French Membership

The free podcast is only the beginning! High Five French is a full forty-lesson video course with a range of materials allowing children to learn and understand the French language. Purchasing a membership gives access to the following elements for each of the forty lessons:

video episode: join Emma and Mathilde on location in France in our video episodes. The video presents the language covered in the lesson in a fun way, allowing children first to hear the French word or phrase, and then to see it on the screen as Mathilde encourages viewers to repeat the word and practise their French.
the High Five French Radio Show: this bonus audio recording provides further practice of the words and phrases covered in the main video lesson, and also provides some bonus vocabulary. Each episode of the radio show finishes with a musical review of the words and phrases of the lesson.
activity sheets: we’ve included two activity sheets for each lesson, allowing children to practise the written language in fun puzzles and activities.
transcripts: there are full transcripts of the video lessons with explanations of any unfamiliar French words.
notes for parents: if you’re not familiar with French, it can be difficult to support your child in their learning. Our notes for parents for each lesson will help you help your child learn! There are explanations of the difficult words and phrases and background information on the language and culture of the French-speaking world.

Learn more about High Five French

The members’ version can be accessed through our membership system. You can purchase a membership using the links below. The complete course of 40 lessons is already available, so as soon as you purchase you will have access to all 40 lessons.

Access a trial lesson and find out more here
The course includes 40 streaming video lessons, 40 streaming audio lessons, activity sheets, notes for parents
(£99.00 GBP inc VAT / approx $124.00 USD ex VAT for non EU customers)

Information for teachers

If you’re a teacher and you’re interested in using this resource within your school, we provide a licence for using High Five French in schools which includes all the resources mentioned above and comprehensive notes for both specialist and non-specialist teachers. High Five French is the perfect way to introduce French in an engaging way to younger learners. Visit Radio Lingua Schools for more information.

Subscribe links

Subscribe in iTunes | RSS Feed | Purchase members’ audio and transcripts

Episode 3 – Season 4 – Coffee Break Spanish

February 18, 2025February 26, 2015 by Coffee Break Languages

It’s time for another episode of Coffee Break Spanish and in this advanced series you can follow the exploits of María and Rory as they spend the summer together on the island of Mallorca. In this episode we eavesdrop on a conversation between María and Rory on the phone before Rory leaves for Mallorca.

5 phrases for introducing and talking about your family in Italian

July 14, 2025February 23, 2015 by Coffee Break Languages

Learning how to talk about your family is one of the most rewarding aspects of picking up a new language. It allows you to connect with others on a personal level and share details about your life. If you’re learning Italian, knowing how to introduce and talk about your family in Italian is a must.

In this blog post, we’ll explore five key phrases and some essential vocabulary to help you with that. Whether you’re sharing details about your family or asking someone about theirs, these phrases will enhance your ability to communicate.

As usual, don’t forget to listen to the episode below to discover the correct way to pronounce the words we will present in this text!

Family members in Italian

Before discovering the essential phrases for talking about family in Italian, you must familiarize yourself with the vocabulary for family members. Here’s a comprehensive list to help you begin your journey:

Immediate family

If you are talking about your immediate family, these are the key terms:

mamma mum
papà dad
sorella sister
fratello brother
moglie wife
marito husband
figlia daughter
figlio son

Extended family

If you are hoping to talk about your grandparents or how much you and your cousins used to have fun as kids, this vocabulary for family in Italian will come in handy:

nonna grandmother
nonno grandfather
zia aunt
zio uncle
cugino/cugina cousin (male/female)
cugini cousins
nipote grandchild or nephew/niece

Other terms

Finally, if you are talking more generally about family relations, here is what you might need:

famiglia family
compagno/compagna partner (male/female)
genitori parents
figli children

5 essential phrases for talking about family in Italian

Now that you know which word stands for each family member in Italian, it is time to learn essential phrases for confidently introducing your loved ones, sharing details about them, or even asking about someone else’s family.

Whether you’re meeting new friends or engaging in small talk, these phrases can be useful for day-to-day communication.

1. Questo è mio… / Questa è mia…

After saying hello in Italian and exchanging pleasantries with a new acquaintance or friend, if you have to then introduce your relatives, these two simple structures – questo è mio… / questa è mia… – make everything easy. Let’s check some examples:

Questo è mio padre. This is my father.
Questa è mia madre. This is my mother.
Questo è mio cugino. This is my cousin (male).
Questa è mia nonna. This is my grandma.

2. Come si chiama tuo…? / Come si chiama tua…?

What if you would like to ask what someone’s family member is called? Then you can use this phrase and just change the ending to match the person that you and the person you are talking to have been speaking of:

Come si chiama tuo zio? What is your uncle’s name?
Come si chiama tua sorella ? What is your sister’s name?

Also, once you’ve introduced someone, you might want to share their name. To do that, you use the structure ‘si chiama…’. Check it out:

Questo è mio nonno. Si chiama Roberto. This is my grandfather. His name is Roberto.

3. Hai fratelli o sorelle?

One of the most common small-talk questions about family in Italian and any other language is asking whether someone has siblings. To ask that you can say: Hai fratelli o sorelle? Do you have brothers or sisters?.

To understand the answer or answer the question yourself, you can use simple phrases like:

Sì, ho un fratello. Yes, I have a brother.
No, non ho sorelle. No, I don’t have any sisters.
Ho due fratelli e una sorella. I have two brothers and one sister.

These phrases not only help you learn more about someone’s family but also give you the chance to practise talking about your own!

4. Dove vive la tua famiglia?

Here is another phrase to continue talking about small talk using family in Italian vocabulary. It translates to “Where does your family live?” and is a great conversation starter. It allows you to practise talking about places or countries in Italian while learning more about your new friends or acquaintances.

Some of the answers you might get or give are:

La mia famiglia vive a Roma. My family lives in Rome.
I miei genitori vivono in campagna. My parents live in the countryside.
Mia sorella vive a Glasgow, in Scozia. My sister lives in Glasgow, Scotland.

5. La mia famiglia è piccola / numerosa.

Finally, when talking about your family in Italian, you might want to describe its size. If you have a small family, you can say la mia famiglia è piccola. On the other hand, if your family is big, you can say la mia famiglia è numerosa.

To complement it, you can add the number of siblings, uncles, aunts or even cousins:

La mia famiglia è piccola. Ho solo un fratello. My family is small. I only have one brother.
La mia famiglia è numerosa. Ho quattro zie e sedici cugini! My family is large. I have four aunts and sixteen cousins!

See, talking about your family in Italian is a fantastic way to practise the language and connect with people. With these key phrases, you’ll be ready to introduce your loved ones, share their names and even inquire about someone else’s family easily!

If you have a big family and you would like to learn more numbers in Italian, make sure to head to the blog post we prepared to help you with this vocabulary!

Season 4 – Episode 30 – Coffee Break French

March 12, 2025February 20, 2015 by Coffee Break Languages

It’s time for another episode of Coffee Break French and this week Mark and Pierre-Benoît are discussing the latest email from Sylvie to her mother, Monique. There are lots of interesting language points to talk about including the expressions être pot de colle, faire poireauter quelqu’un and the wonderful word dorénavant.

Learn how to ask and answer the question ‘Where do you live?’ in Italian

July 14, 2025February 16, 2015 by Coffee Break Languages

After taking your first steps in speaking Italian, it’s important to keep the conversation going by adding more details about yourself. In a previous post, we covered how to ask “Where are you from?” along with talking about nationalities. But what if the question is “Where do you live” in Italian?

Today, we’ll focus on another essential part of engaging in Italian conversations: asking and talking about where you live. These expressions are great for sharing some more information about yourself and getting to know others in Italian.

Be sure to tune into the Coffee Break Italian podcast to hear these phrases in action and practise along with Mark and Francesca in real-life scenarios!

How to ask ‘Where do you live’ in Italian

Once learned where someone is from, a natural next step is to ask about where they currently live. This keeps the conversation flowing and allows you to exchange more personal details.

As usual in Italian, there is an informal and a formal way to ask it.

Informal phrase

The phrase to ask “Where do you live?” in Italian is Dove abiti? This is a simple and informal way to ask, suitable for most everyday conversations.

Formal phrase

In more formal situations, Dove abita? should be used instead, so only the verb ending changes.

How to respond: Talking about where you live

When talking about where you live, you can use the phrase Abito a… followed by a city, or Abito in… followed by a country. For example:

Abito a Firenze, in Italia. I live in Florence, in Italy.
Abito a Glasgow, in Scozia. I live in Glasgow, in Scotland.

Note the use of the preposition a before cities and the preposition in before countries. This rule is key to sounding natural in Italian when talking about locations!

Some countries in Italian

Here are a few examples of how you might respond when asked about where do you live in Italian:

Abito a Londra, in Inghilterra. I live in London, in England.
Abito a Dublino, in Irlanda. I live in Dublin, in Ireland.
Abito a New York, negli Stati Uniti. I live in New York, in the United States.
Abito a Sydney, in Australia. I live in Sydney, in Australia.

These examples highlight how to use a with cities and in with countries, helping you to structure your sentences correctly.

Also, note how for Stati Uniti another preposition is used: negli is the result of the combination of in and gli in Italian, as for the United States, like in English, we need the plural definite article gli before.

Practice makes perfect

To see how these expressions fit into a conversation, here is a sample dialogue:

Dove abiti? Where do you live?
Abito a Roma, in Italia. E tu? I live in Rome, in Italy. And you?
Abito in Scozia, a Edimburgo. I live in Scotland, in Edinburgh.

Or another example:

Abiti a Milano? Do you live in Milan?
No, non abito a Milano. Abito a Trieste. No, I don’t live in Milan. I live in Trieste.

To respond negatively, remember to simply use non before the verb.

Use these phrases to confidently discuss where you live in Italian, adding more depth to your Italian conversations. Don’t forget to check out the Coffee Break Italian podcast for more practice and to hear these expressions in real-life situations. Keep practising, and you’ll be chatting in Italian in no time!

To keep improving your language skills, what about learning how to talk about your family in Italian? Check out the blog post and podcast we have on the subject!

Episode 2 – High Five French

July 30, 2025February 13, 2015 by Coffee Break Languages

Join Emma and Mathilde in this ten-lesson podcast series for younger learners of French. In episode 2, you’ll learn to say your name and to ask other people what they’re called.

Listen to the episode

High Five French Membership

video episode: join Emma and Mathilde on location in France in our video episodes. The video presents the language covered in the lesson in a fun way, allowing children first to hear the French word or phrase, and then to see it on the screen as Mathilde encourages viewers to repeat the word and practise their French.
the High Five French Radio Show: this bonus audio recording provides further practice of the words and phrases covered in the main video lesson, and also provides some bonus vocabulary. Each episode of the radio show finishes with a musical review of the words and phrases of the lesson.
activity sheets: we’ve included two activity sheets for each lesson, allowing children to practise the written language in fun puzzles and activities.
transcripts: there are full transcripts of the video lessons with explanations of any unfamiliar French words.
notes for parents: if you’re not familiar with French, it can be difficult to support your child in their learning. Our notes for parents for each lesson will help you help your child learn! There are explanations of the difficult words and phrases and background information on the language and culture of the French-speaking world.

Learn more about High Five French
The members’ version can be accessed through our membership system. You can purchase a membership using the links below. The complete course of 40 lessons is already available, so as soon as you purchase you will have access to all 40 lessons.

Access a trial lesson and find out more here
The course includes 40 streaming video lessons, 40 streaming audio lessons, activity sheets, notes for parents
(£99.00 GBP inc VAT / approx $124.00 USD ex VAT for non EU customers)

Information for teachers

Subscribe links

Subscribe in iTunes | RSS Feed | Purchase members’ audio and transcripts

Episode 2 – Season 4 – Coffee Break Spanish

August 30, 2018February 11, 2015 by Coffee Break Languages

Join Mark and Carmen for the second episode in our series for advanced learners of Spanish and follow the story of María and Rory’s summer on the island of Mallorca. In this episode María writes an email to Rory inviting him to spend the summer working in her Aunt Consuelo’s hotel.

How to ask and answer ‘where are you from?’ in Italian

July 14, 2025February 9, 2015 by Coffee Break Languages

To make new friends when speaking a new language, you must know how to ask about their nationality and answer about yours, as it can be an icebreaker in conversations. Therefore, if you are in Italy or Switzerland, being able to ask ‘where are you from’ in Italian can be very important.

In this article, we will explore the various ways to ask and answer the questions as well as provide you with a basic list of nationalities in Italian. Don’t forget to listen to the Coffee Break Italian episode while reading this article to master the pronunciation of the new sentences you will learn here!

Asking ‘where are you from?’ in Italian

After asking someone how you are doing in Italian, the next step to keep the conversation going might be to talk about someone’s origins. As in almost any language, there are both formal and informal ways to ask ‘where are you from?’ in Italian.

You can choose the appropriate form depending on the context and who you’re speaking to. Let’s have a closer look at them:

Informal

For casual conversations with friends, peers, or people your age, you can use the informal version:

Di dove sei?

The pronunciation of it goes as dee DOH-veh say.

Formal

This form uses the third-person singular conjugation and is appropriate when speaking to someone older, in a professional setting or when you want to show respect. The formal version of asking ‘where are you from?’ in Italian is:

Di dov’è?

The pronunciation is a little different dee doh-VEH.

Nationalities in Italian

Before diving into how to answer the question ‘where are you from?’ in Italian, you must know some nationalities or even the names of some cities in the language, right? So, check out the list to learn some new vocabulary:

americano/a American
scozzese Scottish
canadese Canadian
australiano/a Australian
italiano/a Italian
brasiliano/a Brazilian
irlandese Irish
spagnolo/a Spanish
francese French
cinese Chinese
tedesco/a German

Notice that -o is for masculine and -a is used for feminine. This is a pattern that you will see in many situations as you progress in Italian. Although in the above list, it is also possible to see the use of -e for both genders, usually they end in –ese.

Now, let’s check the names of some cities, as they can change a little when pronouncing them in Italian:

Milano Milan
Londra London
Dublino Dublin
Parigi Paris
Mosca Moscow
Lisbona Lisbon
Berlino Berlin

Responding to ‘where are you from?’ in Italian

Okay, now you are familiar with Italian nationalities and the names of some cities. That means that you are ready to answer when someone asks you, “Di dove sei?” or “Di dov’è?”

You can respond with a simple sentence indicating your place of origin. The basic structure is:

Sono di [place]. I am from [place].

For example:

Sono di Roma. I am from Rome.
Sono di Lisbona. I am from Lisbon.
Sono di Madrid. I am from Madrid.

After stating where you’re from, it’s polite to ask the same question back to continue the conversation if you were the one who didn’t ask it first. You can say:

E tu? Di dove sei?
E Lei? Di dov’è? (formal)

Understanding how to ask and answer ‘where are you from?’ in Italian is a fundamental step in your language-learning journey. You’ll become more confident in your Italian-speaking abilities by practising these phrases and engaging in meaningful conversations.

So next time you meet someone new, don’t hesitate to ask ‘di dove sei?’ and be prepared to share your own story ‘sono di [your place]’.

Are you ready to keep improving your language skills? Then check out the article we prepared on how to talk about where you live in Italian!

Learn how to ask ‘What is your name?’ in Italian and how to introduce yourself with confidence

July 14, 2025February 2, 2015 by Coffee Break Languages

Whether you’re dreaming of exploring the streets of Rome, planning to connect with Italian friends, or simply interested in learning a new language, mastering the basics of Italian is a great place to start. Today, we’re focusing on an essential step before engaging in conversations in Italian: how to ask ‘what is your name?’ in Italian and introduce yourself.

These essential phrases are perfect for introducing yourself and getting to know others in Italian-speaking environments. Don’t forget to listen to the Coffee Break Italian podcast, where you’ll hear these expressions in real-life contexts and practise your pronunciation with Mark and Francesca.

How to ask ‘What is your name’ in Italian

When meeting someone new, it’s always polite to ask for their name. In Italian, there are different ways to do this, depending on how formal the situation is.

Informal phrase

The informal way to ask What is your name? in Italian is Come ti chiami?. You can use this phrase when speaking to someone around your age or in a casual setting. It’s a friendly and relaxed way to start a conversation.

Formal phrase

In more formal situations, you would use Come si chiama? to ask What is your name? in Italian. This version is appropriate when speaking to someone you don’t know well, someone older, or in a professional setting to show respect.

Saying ‘my name is’ in Italian

As important as asking ‘What is your name?’ in Italian, is knowing how to say ‘my name is …’. This is one of the most basic yet important phrases to learn. It allows you to introduce yourself confidently.

The most common way to say ‘my name is’ in Italian is Mi chiamo… followed by your name. This phrase is versatile and can be used in both formal and informal situations.

Alternatively, you could say Il mio nome è…, which also means my name is, or even a simple Sono… which is I am. However, Mi chiamo is more commonly used in everyday conversation.

Engaging in conversation

After introductions, it’s natural to ask someone how they are. This question acts as a friendly icebreaker rather than a genuine inquiry, often used to set a positive tone at the start of a conversation.

Whether you ask Come stai? (informal), Come sta? (formal), or simply Come va?, these are all ways to check in and open up dialogue. For a detailed look at these phrases and other essential greetings in Italian.

Piacere!

When you meet someone for the first time, you can say Piacere!, which translates to Nice to meet you! or Pleased to meet you!. It’s a polite and friendly way to greet someone new.

You can then respond with Piacere mio!, translating to My pleasure or The pleasure is mine. It’s a warm way to reciprocate the greeting and express that you are also pleased to meet the other person.

Practice makes perfect

To help you practise your new Italian phrases, here’s an example of an informal conversation between two people who are meeting for the first time. This will cover how to ask their name, and respond warmly:

Ciao, come ti chiami? Hi, what’s your name?
Mi chiamo Anna. E tu? My name is Anna. And you?
Io sono Marco. Piacere di conoscerti! I’m Marco. Nice to meet you!
Piacere mio, Marco. The pleasure is mine, Marco.
A presto! See you soon!

By using these expressions you can confidently introduce yourself in Italian and initiate a conversation! To take the conversation further don’t forget to check our blog post to ask where you live in italian, so you will be able to add more information on yourself and reply to questions!

Listen to the episode

High Five French Membership

Information for teachers

Subscribe links

Family members in Italian

Immediate family

Extended family

Other terms

5 essential phrases for talking about family in Italian

1. Questo è mio… / Questa è mia…

2. Come si chiama tuo…? / Come si chiama tua…?

3. Hai fratelli o sorelle?

4. Dove vive la tua famiglia?

5. La mia famiglia è piccola / numerosa.

How to ask ‘Where do you live’ in Italian

Informal phrase

Formal phrase

How to respond: Talking about where you live

Some countries in Italian

Practice makes perfect

Listen to the episode

High Five French Membership

Information for teachers

Subscribe links

Asking ‘where are you from?’ in Italian

Informal

Formal

Nationalities in Italian

Responding to ‘where are you from?’ in Italian

How to ask ‘What is your name’ in Italian

Informal phrase

Formal phrase

Saying ‘my name is’ in Italian

Engaging in conversation

Piacere!

Practice makes perfect

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