As this picture shows, pronouncing double consonants is not very easy for many non Italian speakers, but it is very important in Italian.
As an Italian speaker, when I first saw this picture it took me a while to understand the joke. With an Italian accent in my mind, I was like “…he looks cahn-nehl-lonee… okay, this is not funny”, then I realised something was wrong and decided to read it with an English accent and… there you are! Okay. It was funny.
Another example? “anno” (year) vs. “ano” (anus)
See?
Next time you want to wish your Italian friends a happy new year you want to be careful not to wish them to have a happy new anus!
How to…?
The sound is prolonged, but you still want it to sound natural and not forced… just make sure your listeners can percieve the difference.
Here is a list of words that only differ in a double consonant:
camino – fireplace
cammino – walk, stroll
capello – hair
cappello – hat
cassa – cash register
casa – house
lego – I tie, I fasten
leggo – I read
note – notes
notte – night
polo – pole
pollo – chicken
rosa – pink/ rose
rossa – red
sano – healthy
sanno -they know
sono – I am/they are
sonno – sleepy
speso – spent
spesso – often
