One of my favourite things to do when I go to a foreign country is to visit a supermarket. Yes, that is right, a supermarket.
I love seeing all the new yummy things to try. OK, I admit I tend to hover towards the chocolates and cookies sections first, but I do end up wandering around the entire store, eventually, maybe. The produce section can be interesting as you discover new fruit or vegetables that you may not have back in your home country, and the bakery is most likely to surprise you with bread being made differently to how it is done back home.
Well this is great if you are lucky enough to be in the country where you are learning the local language.
But how can supermarkets help you learn Italian if you aren’t in Italy?
First we need to know that supermercato is supermarket in Italian (il supermercato).
Your shopping list in Italian
One simple tip to help you learn and remember some common vocabulary is to write your shopping list in Italian.
You will most likely need to use a dictionary the first time or two to discover what each word is in Italian, but once you start using the word, and reusing it, the word should stick in your memory.
Try to make the list without the translation written next to it (otherwise you will just look at that part of your list). There may be a moment where you think… what is carta igienica? and then you go all the way back home and remember it was a toilet paper (not a good thing to forget!).
La lista della spesa = The shopping list
Do you know what each item is on the shopping list above?
One way to make sure you are writing the correct words is to look at one of the online supermarket catalogs in Italian.
Italian supermarkets and online catalogues / brochures
Following my own advice, I tried looking for websites of individual supermarkets in Italy (starting with the biggest chains) though it wasn’t easy to find the promotional catalogues/brochures on their websites. There was usually just a lot of boring stuff about the company, their outlook on life and other uninteresting dribble. Then I stumbled across a site that will help you A LOT.
www.volantinofacile.it – Volantino = brochure/catalogue … Facile = easy.
This website will lead you to the straight to the latest offerings and discounts that each supermarket has (there are over 20 different supermarkets). Not only that, if you go to their home page, there are also brochures for other types of companies like electronics stores, hardware stores, and not just supermarkets.
These brochures can be useful to get used to prices should you be planning a trip to Italy.
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