7 cose da fare a Milano - 7 things to do in Milan

21st October 2018

You've got a weekend in Milan, what can you do? Learn to talk about famous Italian monuments and traditions in this episode of 5 Minute Italian.

No.55

Listen to the episode

You're in Milan for the weekend: che cosa puoi fare? What can you do? Find out in episode 55 of 5 minute Italian.

To help you remember what you learnt in today's lesson, below you'll find bonus materials including word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first...

Learn Italian with us in Italy!

Click on the link below to find out how to join our Italian immersion vacations.

Italian Immersion vacation

Bonus Materials

Remember what you learnt with the bonus materials for today's episode.


Today's Italian words

Che cosa puoi fare a Milano? = What can you do in Milan?

Che cosa = What

Puoi = You can

Fare = do

A Milano = in Milan

Puoi visitare il duomo e salutare la Madonnina = You can visit the cathedral and say hello to "la Madonnina", which is the little golden statue of The Virgin Mary at the top of the cathedral.

Puoi = You can

Visitare = visit

il duomo = the cathedral

e = and

salutare = say hello to

la Madonnina = the little Virgin Mary statue.

Panino = sandwich (literally means small bread).

Pane = bread

ino = word ending that means "small"

Puoi visitare il castello sforzesco = You can visit the Sforzesco Castle.

Con un parco bellissimo = With a beautiful park.

Puoi mangiare piatti tipici del Nord Italia, come il risotto = You can eat typical dishes of Northern Italy, like risotto.

Puoi = you can

Mangiare = eat

Piatti = dishes

Tipici = typical

Del = of the

Nord = North

Italia = Italy

Come = like

il risotto = the risotto

Puoi mangiare il panettone e bere il Prosecco = You can eat Panettone (a typical Italian Christmas cake, which is a Milanese speciality) and drink Prosecco.

Puoi fare "aperitivo" = You can do "aperitivo" (a cocktail with all you can eat nibbles)

Take the Quiz!

How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!

Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Che cosa puoi fare a Milano? What can you do in Milan?

Italian flashcards

Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.

Become a 5-minute Italian member (it's free!)

Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you'll get:

  • Mini Italian lessons + bonus materials delivered to your inbox.
  • Access to the private Facebook group where you can practice chatting in Italian.
  • Invites to free speaking workshops.

If you'd like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.

Transcript

Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.

Katie: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 Minute Italian, I’m Katie.

Matteo: And I’m Matteo.

K: And in today's lesson, we'll be talking about things to do in Milan.

M: Let's listen to the conversation first, then we'll go through the details.

K: Matteo, che cosa puoi fare a Milano?

M:

  • Puoi visitare il “duomo” e salutare la Madonnina
  • Puoi visitare il castello sforzesco
  • Puoi mangiare piatti tipici del nord Italia, come il risotto.
  • Puoi bere il Prosecco e mangiare il panettone.
  • Puoi fare “aperitivo”
  • Puoi parlare italiano!

K: So first, you heard me ask:

M: Che cosa puoi fare a Milano?

K: What can you do in Milan?

M:

Che cosa = What

Puoi = You can

Fare = do

A Milano = in Milan

K: And notice here we said "a" Milano. When Italians are talking about cities, they use "a".

M: Yes, they don't say they're "in Milano" they say "a Milano", "a Londra" "a Barcelona" etc.

K: Next, you heard Matteo say:

M: Puoi visitare il duomo e salutare la Madonnina

K: You can visit the cathedral and say hello to "la Madonnina", which is the little golden statue of The Virgin Mary at the top of the cathedral.

M:

Puoi = You can

Visitare = visit

il duomo = the cathedral

e = and

salutare = say hello to

la Madonnina = the little Virgin Mary statue.

K: In Italian, the word "salutare" means "say hello to someone". La saluto = I say hello to her. Now, let's talk quickly about the word "Madonnina".

M: In Italian, "Madonna" means the Virgin Mary. The "ina" at the end, means that it's small. We do this a lot in Italian. For example, the word Panino, which means "sandwich" literally means small bread. "Pane" means bread and "ino" means that it's small.

K: In Milan can climb up to the top of the cathedral "the duomo" to see the Madonnina and the gothic architecture from close up, and get a birdseye view of the Milan rooftops. On a clear day you can see over to the Alps too.

Next, you heard:

M: Puoi visitare il castello sforzesco

K: You can visit the Sforzesco Castle. Milan is quite special because it's one of the few cities where you've got a big castle in the middle.

M: Con un parco bellissimo

K: With a beautiful park. Next, you heard:

M: Puoi mangiare piatti tipici del Nord Italia, come il risotto

K: You can eat typical dishes of North Italy, like risotto.

M:

Puoi = you can

Mangiare = eat

Piatti = dishes

Tipici = typical

Del = of the

Nord = North

Italia = Italy

Come = like

il risotto = the risotto

K: Then you heard:

M: Puoi mangiare il panettone e bere il Prosecco

K: You can eat Panettone (a typical Italian Christmas cake, which is a Milanese speciality) and drink Prosecco. Notice that Italians usually say "the panettone" and "the Prosecco".This is a typical Christmas tradition in Italy - in December, people get together to eat il Panettone and drink il Prosecco with their loved ones. What else can you do?

M: Puoi fare "aperitivo"

K: Aperitivo in Italian, is when people meet up after work for a cocktail and nibbles. In Milan, the nibbles have got more and more generous so Milanese aperitivo is now like a drink with a free all you can eat buffet of Italian nibbles.

M: Notice that in Italian they say "fare aperitivo" literally "do aperitivo"

K: Next, you heard Matteo say:

M: Puoi parlare Italiano

K: You can speak Italian! Speaking of "parlare italiano", we'd like to invite you to our next Italian immersion vacation in Milan from the 14th - 17th December 2018. We're calling it "Prosecco and Panettone" because it's Christmas time, so there will definitely be some of that involved.

M: We'll be doing all the things we talked about in this episode and more.

K:  Like tasting traditional Italian hot chocolate, walking tours of Milan and exploring the Christmas markets. And Matteo will be teaching you how to make pasta, right?

M: Right!

K: To find out more, click on the link in the show notes below and sign up to our Immersion vacations mailing list. If you're listening after the deadline has passed, no worries, sign up to the mailing list and we'll send you information about the next vacation as soon as it's ready.  That's it for this week, ciao for now, or as we say in Italian:

M: Alla prossima!

Learn Italian with us in Italy

Click on the link below to find out how to join our Italian immersion vacations.

Italian Immersion vacation

Mamma mia! You’ve signed up – but without our weekly free lesson

Our free weekly lesson is a great introduction to learning Italian in a fun and friendly way. No boring grammar or lists of random words. It’s all about real Italian conversation!

Be the first to hear when registration opens!

Our online school opens its doors to new students three times a year. The only way to secure your place is to join up during this time – sign up to our newsletter today so you don't miss out.

Bellissimo!