One of the best (and surely funny!) ways to learn Italian pronunciation is to listening and singing Italian songs.
Lara Fabian – Perdere l’amore
So, just play the following video and try to sing along with Lara Fabian by scrolling the text in the window below, and finally, read the language notes about Italian pronunciation.
E adesso… andate via! Voglio restare solo
And now you just walk away, I want to stay alone
con la malinconia, volare nel suo cielo.
with my sadness, flying through its sky.
Non chiesi mai chi eri, perché scegliesti me,
I didn’t ever ask who were you, why did you choose me,
me che fino a ieri credevo fossi un re.
me, who until yesterday believed you were a king…
Perdere l’amore, quando si fa sera,
Losing the love, when evening comes,
quando fra i capelli un po’ d’argento li colora.
when some silver among hair will color it.
Rischi d’impazzire, può scoppiarti il cuore,
You risk to become crazy, your heart can burst,
perdere una donna e avere voglia di morire!
Losing a woman and feeling like dying!
Lasciami gridare, rinnegare il cielo
Let me cry, to renounce heaven,
prendere a sassate tutti i sogni ancora in volo,
throwing stones at every dream that’s still flying,
li farò cadere ad uno ad uno,
I will make them fall one by one,
spezzerò le ali del destino E ti avrò vicino.
I will break the destiny’s wings and I will have you by my side.
Comunque ti capisco e ammetto che sbagliavo,
however I understand you and I admit I was wrong,
facevo le tue scelte, chissà che pretendevo.
I chose for you, goodness knows what I expected.
E adesso che rimane di tutto il tempo insieme,
And now what’s left of all our time together,
una donna troppo sola che ancora ti vuol bene.
a woman too alone who’s still loving you.
Perdere l’amore, quando si fa sera,
Losing the love, when evening comes,
quando sopra il viso, c’è una ruga che non c’era.
when on the face there’s a new wrinkle.
Provi a ragionare, fai l’indifferente,
You try to think about it, you pretend to be indifferent,
fino a che ti accorgi che non sei servito a niente…
till you notice you have been not of any use…
E vorresti urlare, soffocare il cielo,
And you would like to scream, to suffocate the sky,
sbattere la testa mille volte contro il muro,
to bang your head on the wall one thousand times,
respirare forte il suo cuscino…
to breathe strongly her pillow…
Dire “È tutta colpa del destino” se non ti ho vicino
Saying “It’s only the destiny’s fault” if I haven’t you by my side.
Perdere l’amore, maledetta sera
Losing the love, damn evening,
che raccoglie i cocci di una vita immaginaria.
that picks up the broken parts of an imaginary life.
Pensi che domani è un giorno nuovo,
You think tomorrow is a new day,
Ma ripeti : “Non me l’aspettavo, non me l’aspettavo…”
But you repeat: “I didn’t expect it, I didn’t expect it…”
Prendere a sassate tutti i sogni ancora in volo,
throwing stones at every dream that’s still flying,
li farò cadere ad uno ad uno,
I will make them fall one by one,
spezzerò le ali del destino e ti avrò vicino.
I will break destiny’s wings and I will have you by my side.
Perdere l’amore…Losing the love…Up | Down | Top | Bottom
How to pronounce Italian words
In the song Perdere l’amore by Lara Fabian you can learn almost all the Italian pronunciation peculiarities. Here are the most important words in the song:
- Voglio, scegliesti, sbagliavo, raccoglie: the italian gl is pronounced like the english lli in million.
- Sogni: gn is pronounced like the ni in onion, union.
- Scegliesti, lasciami, scelte,cuscino: sc is pronounced as sh in front of the vowels i and e.
- Rischi, scoppiarti, capisco: sc is pronounced as sk (as in skin) in front of all other vowels.
- Chiesi, chi, che, perché, rischi, chissà: the italian ch corresponds to english k, always! million.
- Ghiro, ghepardo (rare, there are not words with gh in the song): the Italian gh corresponds to English hard g (gift, get), always!
- Ragionare, accorgi, immaginaria, giorno: italian g before i and e corresponds to English j as in “joy”. In front of any other vowel (a, o, u) the Italian sound of g is pronounced as a hard g (English words “gap, get, got”).
- b, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, q, t, and v are pronounced more or less like English.
- q always occurs with a u, that is, qu. It has a kw sound.
- Cosa: the Italian s between 2 vowels has a z sound.
- Restare, chiesi, scegliesti: this é has a long pronunciation as in skate, rate, gate, bait.
- Adesso, è, sei: this è has a short pronunciation as in get, net, set, wet.
- Restare, chiesi, scegliesti: this é has a long pronunciation as in Kate, late, mate, bait.
- Adesso, è, sei: this è has a short pronunciation as in cot, hot, lot.
- Solo, volare, cielo: this é has a long pronunciation as in go, road, float, row, glow
- Donna, voglio, po’, farò: this è has a short pronunciation as in dot, got, hot.
Of course, the best way to learn Italian pronunciation is to listen and sing. Choose the fun so and sing all the songs on this website, don’t think too much about learning and you’ll get easier what you want to get: a correct Italian pronounce…
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