Does Your Computer Speak the Italian Language?

La Bella Lingua in Linea (Online)

The first time I visited an internet café in Rome, I quickly learned that, despite its English name, an Italian computer—whether computer da tavolo (desk-top) or computer portatile (lap-top)—speaks Italian.

When I turned on (accendere) il computer, it asked for my nome utente (user name). 
“How do I connect (connettersi) to the Internet?” I asked the manager (who spoke two languages: Italian and Chinese).  After showing me which keys to click (cliccare), he started to dictate a website address: “Vuvuvu.punto.” I typed “vvv.” before realizing that was how Italians say www.

When I tried to check e-mail (controllare la posta), I found myself immersed in a vocabulary lesson in Italian computerese (computer jargon), including:

posta in arrivo -- inbox


rubrica -- address book


aiuto –- help 


stampa -- print


chiudi -- close


rispondi -- reply


invia –- send 


invia allegato –- send attachment


inoltra –- forward


elimina, cancella -- delete


salva –- save


cestino -- trash


cartella –- folder


sposta -- move to

svuota la cartella –- empty folder


mail spazzatura or, more politely, posta indesiderata –- spam

esci -- log out

Things got more complicated when I tried to open or close a document (aprire/chiudere il documento), compose a new message (nuovo messaggio) or simply find the essential @ key (called chiocciola for the snail it resembles). With a bit of doing, I managed to download (scaricare) some stuff and compress (zippare) a file.

I toyed with the idea of creating an Italian pseudonimo (alias) and visiting a stanza della chat (chat room) or forum (discussion board). Instead I went shopping for Italian DVDs and placed some of my choices in a functional carrello (shopping cart) and others in a far more evocative pozzo dei desideri (wishing well).

Then the moment came when I uttered the words I’d hoped never to use: “Il mio computer non funziona.” (My computer isn’t working). “È bloccato?” (Is it frozen?) the manager asked. “È morto!” (It’s dead!) I replied, panicked that all my information was lost (perso), damaged (danneggiato) or deleted (eliminato). He expertly pressed a series of keys and rebooted (riavviare).

“È risuscitato!“ I exclaimed. “It’s come back to life!”

Words and Expressions

Most computer terms in Italian are borrowings from English. Here are some of the more obvious you'll need when talking about computers in Italian.

Dov’è il computer? -- Where is the computer?

Avete un sito web? -- Do you have a website?

internet -- internet

l'e-mail -- email

il mouse --mouse

You can hear these phrases on the Living Language blog.

Comments

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Has anybody ever taken a foreign language evening class?
for the sheer hell of having something to do? I'm really getting bored with my life, all I seem to do is work and don't have many single friends left! Was thinking of maybe studying French or Italian or Russian or something at one of the local university classes.

[Penegra]

I have a hard time memorizing the basic stuff for italian. im in high school now. italian is my worst subject and today i got a 62 on a quiz. every other subjects i do just fine except this language. any tips on becoming better at it? please find me websites that could help me if you can.

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Any suggestions in learning to speak Italian?
I am very interested in learning to speak Italian. I am planning on going to Italy next year and would love to be able to speak this beautiful language. I am wondering if I would need to find a teacher, or will a computer/or cd program work? Any suggestions would be appreciated.