Episode 24 · Living in Italy
Bruschetta, not brushetta - how Italians really say it
Say brushetta in an Italian bar and the waiter will smile. In Italian, SCH sounds like SK.
Rose orders her favourite starter in a bar. Laura, playing the waiter, helps her hear the rule with one word she already knows.
Laura ·
In this lesson
| Italian | Word for word | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Una bruschetta, per favore | a bruschetta, please | said bru-SKET-ta, never bru-SHET-ta |
| Scherzo | joke | same rule: sch = SK |
| Pesce | fish | sc + e or i without h = SH |
| Come si legge? | how does one read it? | how do you pronounce it? |
In Italian the H after C keeps it hard: CH = K, so SCH = SK (bruschetta, scherzo, schiena). Without the H, SC before E or I sounds like SH (pesce, scienza).
SOURCES - https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/bruschetta/ - https://www.lawlessitalian.com/pronunciation/sch/ - https://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/resources/PronouncingItalian.html
Which Italian food word do you find hardest to say? Write it in the comments!
The dialogue
Every line from the video, with the English meaning under the Italian.
Rose
Every waiter in Rome smiles when I order this.
Rose✗ Mistake
Una brushetta, per favore!
A brushetta, please!
Laura
Mmh... come si legge 'scherzo'?
Hmm... how do you read 'scherzo'?
Rose
Scherzo!
Scherzo (a joke)!
Laura
Quindi...?
So...?
Rose✓ Correct
Oh! Una bruschetta, per favore!
Oh! A bruschetta (SK), please!
Laura
Perfetto! Ecco perché i camerieri sorridono.
Perfect! That's why the waiters smile.
Rose
Peccato... era divertente.
Shame... it was fun.
Laura
Per loro, sì!
For them, yes!
The voices in this video are synthetic and the on-screen host is generated. The Italian itself is written and checked by a native speaker.
Ready to speak, not just watch?
Practise these phrases out loud with Laura in a small group or a private lesson.
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