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🎧 Mini Episode 6 – Learn Italian with Magari, Rimbocchiamoci, and Studenti Saggi.

Ciao a tutti, e bentornati! Welcome back to another mini episode of Impariamo l’italiano piano piano - the podcast where we take things step by step, slowly but surely.

In today’s episode, we’re going to look at a little word that’s been teased for a while now; magari. Then we’ll roll up our sleeves with another expression you might have noticed in Episode 4, and finally, we’ll revisit a fun question from Episode 1: what should we call our community of listeners? Let’s start with the clip. 

Magari in Action

🎧 [Play clip]
 Myra:
 We're going to wrap up this episode here, but as you've liked noticed this story has only begun. In the next episode, I'll provide the full translation to English. In the meantime, you might want to find a quiet place where you can feel free to speak out loud and have another listen to this episode. Practicing along with us.

Antonio:

[17:37]Sì, magari in una biblioteca antica, con il profumo della carta antica nell'aria.

Myra:

[17:44]Yes, that's right, Antonio. If only in an old library, with the scent of ancient paper in the air. Or did you mean maybe in an old library? I think both meanings of magari would work well here.

[End clip]

Myra:
Did you hear that? Antonio said:
“Sì, magari in una biblioteca antica, con il profumo della carta antica nell’aria.”
(Yes, maybe in an old library, with the scent of ancient paper in the air.)

And here’s the interesting thing: magari can mean maybe, but it can also mean if only, or hopefully.

Let’s look at a few more examples:

1. Maybe
Maybe we’ll go to the beach tomorrow.
Magari andiamo al mare domani.

2. If only…
If only I were rich!
Magari fossi ricco!

3. Hopefully
Hopefully it won’t rain during the party.
Magari non piove durante la festa.

It’s a tiny word, but it opens up big possibilities.

Myra:
Now it’s your turn. Can you think of a sentence using magari?

Click the SpeakPipe link in the show notes and record your version. I’d love to hear your ideas, and you might even hear yourself in a future episode.

Antonio:
Fatemi sapere se vi servono esercizi di riscaldamento per la voce.
(Let me know if you need some voice warm-up exercises.)

Myra:
So you want the listeners to let you know if they need some voice warm-up exercises?
And just how do you propose that they do that?

Antonio:
Attraverso SpeakPipe, naturalmente!
(Through SpeakPipe, of course!)

Myra:
Hmm, you know… maybe that’s not such a bad idea. A few quick warm-ups could help everyone loosen up before speaking Italian out loud.
But right now, let’s get back to Italian itself. Back in Episode 4, when we started practicing the passato prossimo, I used a phrase that literally means “let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.” Here’s the clip from that episode to refresh your memory:

Back in Episode 4, when we started practicing the passato prossimo, and I wanted to say, “let’s get to work”, I used a phrase to say, “let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work”. Here’s the clip from the episode to refresh your memory:

🎧 [Play clip]

If you're not too shy or concerned about what the people around you might think of you speaking out loud in Italian, then you are ready to make the most of this podcast experience. Enough talk. Let's roll up our sleeves - Rimbocchiamoci le maniche!

[end clip]

Literally, this expression means “let’s roll up our sleeves.” Figuratively, of course, it means “let’s get to work.”

At first glance, rimbocchiamoci looks like a big, complicated word. But if we break it apart, it’s really quite logical:

• ri- → again, back
• imboccare / rimboccare → to tuck in, to roll up
• -iamo → we (noi form in the present tense)
• -ci → ourselves

And this isn’t the only word like this. You’ll hear lots of verbs with ri- at the beginning and -iamoci at the end.

Here are some examples. See if you can guess the Italian version before Antonio says it.

·        Let’s see each other again soon.
 Rivediamoci presto!

·        Let’s hear from each other again tomorrow.
 Risentiamoci domani.

·        Let’s get back up!
 Rialziamoci!

·        Let’s rest for a bit.
 Riposiamoci un po’.

·        Let’s get back to work.
Rimettiamoci al lavoro.

·        Let’s remember this rule.
 Ricordiamoci questa regola.

Now, you might be thinking that since these are all examples of the subject doing something to or with the itself, that these are all examples of reflexive verbs. Some are, but some are simply reciprocal. If you look them up in a dictionary you would not see an infinitive that ends with, can you remember … “si”, correct.

Out of this list the reciprocal ones are:
 
 Let’s see each other again:
 Rivediamoci

And let’s hear from each other again:
 Risentiamoci

Antonio:
Oppure… Riposiamoci per sempre!
(Or… let’s rest forever!)

Myra:
Let’s rest forever? Antonio! Even for you, that’s a little over the top don’t you think?

And that is not an example of reciprocal because in the dictionary you could find riposarsi (to rest oneself). So therefore it is … a true reflexive.

So the lines begin to blur a little between verbs that are reflexive or reciprocal. There are reflexive verbs and reflexive wannabe’s. I would not concern yourself too much with the difference. The important part is: they all give us a sense of doing something together. 

Antonio:
Va bene, va bene… allora Rivediamoci al più presto!
(Fine, fine… then let’s see each other again very soon!)

Myra:
So the next time you see a word like rimbocchiamoci, just break it down and magari, it won’t be quite so intimidating.

Part 3 – A Nickname for Our Listeners

Myra:
Back to Episode 1, do you recall that I mentioned that I wanted to come up with a nickname - un soprannome - for you all, our listeners. Antonio had a few creative ideas of his own. Let’s have a listen.

🎧 [Play clip]

Myra:

Before we go, I'd like to let you know that there's a bonus episode available for supporters of the show, La Comunità dei Sostenitori. Hmm, I've been struggling to come up with a better nickname, Soprannome, for you all.

Antonio:

Un soprannome? Ah, tipo, gli studiosi della Lumaca? I lettori pian pianino? Gli amici della biblioteca segreta?

Myra:

Hmm, gli studiosi della lumaca, the scholars of the snail, that's a bit strange.

Antonio:

Ma dai, il simbolo è una lumaca, no? Simbolo di pazienza, di costanza, e del fatto che impariamo piano piano.

[end clip]

Myra:
What do you think of those ideas? I was beginning to think I’d have to go with Gli studiosi della lumaca when I heard from a fellow Canadian, Paul, from Cold Lake Alberta. Thank you Paul for taking up the challenge. Paul sent in this suggestion:

Antonio:
Ah, finalmente! Un ascoltatore coraggioso!
(Ah, finally! A brave listener!)

Studenti saggi.
 Saggi of course is wise. Wise students. And with an Italian alliteration. 
 What do you think of this one?

Antonio:
Studenti saggi. Sì, ma io sono lo studente più saggio di tutti, vero?
(Yes, but I’m the wisest student of all, right?)

Myra:
Of course you are the wisest of them all, Antonio. But what about this nickname? Studenti saggi is short, positive, and it really captures our spirit of learning piano piano.

Antonio:
Mi piace! Ha un bel suono.
(I like it! It has a nice ring to it.)

Myra:
And now, I’d love to hear from the rest of you. What do you think we should call our community of listeners? Do you like Studenti saggi? I think it’s starting to grow on me.
Do you have another idea?

Click the SpeakPipe link in the show notes and leave me a voice message with your suggestion. Non vediamo l’ora di sentire le vostre idee!
(We can’t wait to hear your ideas!)

Wrap-Up & Teaser

Myra:
So today we explored the many meanings of magari and revisited the question of what to call our community. 

And in our next mini episode, we’ll return to Episode 5 and listen to how the imperfetto and the passato prossimo actually work together. The imperfetto sets the scene, the atmosphere… and then suddenly the passato prossimo interrupts.

Antonio:
E quello è il momento in cui la storia comincia davvero a muoversi.
(That’s when the story really begins to move.)

Myra:
Join us, won’t you? 

Antonio:
Rivediamoci presto!
Let’s see each other again soon!