October 1, 2017
Come ti chiami?
come = how, much like Spanish como
ti = you, the object. In this case, "yourself"
chiami = you call, 2nd person singular present tense of chiamare, to call
What is your name? Literally, how do you call yourself? Right after you say, piacere, it is nice to know the other person's name! Come ti chiami is the informal way to say this, if you are meeting a child or an adult at an informal setting such as a party. In a business or other formal setting, it is polite to say instead, Come se chiama? This translates to something like, "how is one (s/he) called?" In return, when asked either come ti chiami or come se chiama, it is appropriate to answer with either Sono your name, "I am your name" or Mi chiamo your name, meaning, "I call myself your name.
I would like to mention that I have picked up a new risorsa! For the past few days, I have been listening to a podcast called Coffee Break Italian. It is a nice set of lessons that teaches a few phrases at a time with a Scottish teacher, a Scottish learner of Italian, and a native Italian speaker who helps with pronounciation and Italian culture. It is geared towards both beginners and those who would like to review their Italian. Personally, I learn best by a mixture of visual, auditory and kinesthetic exposures. While Duolingo is excellent for practicing a bit every day, the volume can vary quite a bit between words, leading to some issues when practicing listening skills. Interestingly enough, this is not true for the Spanish lessons. I have not really studied any other languages on the Duolingo app, and cannot say whether this is the case for other languages.