Hello Aroso, -The "c" in Italian is pronounced "ci" as a letter = the sound of "Tschi" -In combinations CA , CU, CO it is pronounced like a "k": Casa , Cucina * the first 'c'*. -In combinations CE, CI it is pronounced rather like "tsch". Cinema With combinations CHE , CHI it is pronounced like a "k" again: Chiave In case it is preceded and succeeded by a vowel like in your example "manicotti" * preceded by an "I" and succeeded by an "O" ----- "ICO" it is pronounced as "tsch" Another example the word 'cucina' : The second "c" -------" UCI " , it is also pronounced like a "tsch" because it is preceded by the vowel "U" and succeeded by another one "I". You can hear some of the above words and their pronunciation at this link: http://www.zapitalian.com/Italian-Alphabet/Alphabet.html CIAO ;) * as in "tschiao" because it is a CI combination*

Maybe you're hearing a long, hard 'C' for 'manicotti.' That makes the 'C' look like a weak 'G.' It happens too for 'T' and 'D'; 'B' and 'V' in romance languages. These sounds are produced very similarly in the mouth.

Italian and English are two difference languages. Your expectation of the Italian alphabets should sound like English. That's WHY you have noticed the difference. Italian is Italian, English is English don't mixed them up.