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How to learn Italian in 5 steps

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013

According to a research conducted by the Times, learning a language is a must-do if you want to have an happy life.

How to learn fast and easily a language? Commitment is the key when you start learning a language but following some easy steps you can learn easily and fast a language.

Follow five steps to learn Italian.

learn italian on line

Have fun when you learn: games, crosswords and picture dictionaries can help in your home study, learning a language doesn’t mean long, tiring grammar activities.

Listen, learn and sing: Italian music is more than love, hearts and tears. Listen to the radio or songs and learn new words and improve the vocabulary. Buon ascolto!

An Italian song: fill the gaps

Watch movies : a movie is a full language experience where you can learn the culture, the people and the language.

Travel, meet people and speak: you want to practice the language, go and meet the Italians in Italy or join web groups where you can post and discuss with students or tutors.

Watch some Italian TV:TV is the best and most inexpensive teacher to learn real Italian, you can also learn everyday Italian from soap operas and sitcoms.

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Pronounce Italian right!Come si pronuncia?

Monday, March 11th, 2013

Chiacchieriamo in italiano!!

La pronuncia del verbo “chiacchierare” è l’incubo degli studenti e allora come imparare a pronunciare bene?

tongue

 

Internet, come sempre, ti aiuta e per imparare a pronunciare correttamente ecco una lista di siti utili:

Pronny

Forvo

Pronounceitright

Audiobooks in Italian: Liber Liber

Italian phonology

Language guide

Persino Brad Pitt ha bisogno di un corso di pronuncia in italiano…..;)

 

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Italian VS English

Monday, December 3rd, 2012

Starting from the first lessons, it’s funny seeing how many mistakes can be made when we literally translate from English into Italian or viceversa.

The real, everyday language that we use with our friends is quite different from the language we learn in class.  It can be full of idiomatic expressions and aphorisms which we learn and become familiar with the more we practise and improve.

For example, in Italian we say ho freddo/caldo, which is far from translating literally I am cold/ hot because we are using 2 different verbs (to have in Italian, to be in English), but on the other hand ho fretta, which in Italian means ‘I have hurry’, in English would be I am in a hurry.

If you arrive late to the lesson, it’s not tu sei tardi but tu sei in ritardo.  When you say mi dispiace it means you are sorry, but non mi piace means you don’t like something.   I can’t wait becomes non vedo l’ora - I can’t see the hour. And in Italy you are a piece of bread (un pezzo di pane) but in the UK you are a piece of gold.  And finally, in Italy we don’t tell our friends to break a leg when they have an exam but to be in the wolf’s mouth (in bocca al lupo).  I don’t know what’s better!  Fattoria is a farm but Fabbrica is a factory. Libreria is a bookshop but on the other hand the biblioteca is a public library, i parenti are the relatives and i genitori are the parents.

Just a suggestion from my friend, Preservative sounds like Preservativo in Italian but it’s not the chemicals that they put in your food, but rather a condom.

The list goes on, and I am sure that as soon as I publish this post I will think of another 10 examples.

Last but not least, if you need my help and want to give me a shout, hit me with the phone (dammi un colpo di telefono).

Antonio

Read more about idiomatic expressions

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Listen, learn and sing

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

When I ask my students if they know any Italian songs or singers, they always mention Italian singers that were famous 20/30 years ago.  If they have to describe Italian songs they use adjectives like sentimental, romantic and at the very worst, cheesy!  But Italian music isn’t just about love, broken hearts and tears.

When you learn a language it’s good to have different tools - learning a language using songs is relaxing and fun, and can help you to enjoy the learning activity.  You’ll find that you can memorise the exercise much more quickly than with a written grammar exercise.

Italian songs we 

Allora, let’s try to write the first ILEARNITALIAN playlist: listen, learn and sing!A Rap devised by Italian students: Rap del passato prossimoFind the opposite verbs and revise “passato prossimo” with a romantic slow song: La prima cosa bella

Do you hate pronouns in grammar?Try to revise them with this song: E tu come stai by Claudio Baglioni

Friends,  a glass of whisky and life – a classic Italian song using the imperfect tense: Quattro amici al bar

Great video, good rhythm and a lot of new words to learn, build your vocaboulary with “Coinquilini” Davide Zilli.

A great voice and a simple song that’s easy to follow  for beginners – present tense, present progressive : Sto pensando a te, Vasco Rossi

And finally, a modern romantic song that’s simple to sing: Dove ho visto te by Lorenzo Cherubini

 

Buon ascolto,

Antonio

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Play and Learn

Thursday, October 11th, 2012
Learning a new language should be fun, which is why I like to use games and puzzles when teaching.  Even revision and home study can be fun – all you need is a computer.
I have searched the internet to find websites which offer interactive games to help you learn:
Learn the names of household objects using a picture dictionary,  test your knowledge of Italian geography with  a names of the cities crossword, or, see if you can Match the Language with the Nation, or learn the Italian names of animals.

More games here.

Buon divertimento,

Antonio

 


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The pleasure of reading in Italian

Sunday, August 19th, 2012

Reading in another language is challenging but also a great way to develop and improve your vocabulary. Starting with children’s authors can be a way to start reading in Italian. This short story “La legge del più forte” is about wolves and men and the difference of their laws.

Enjoy and buona lettura,

Antonio

 

La legge del più forte 
Angelo Signorelli

 

Un vecchio lupo magro, malconcio e sdentato viveva isolato nel folto della foresta in attesa di passare a miglior vita. In questa solitudine aveva avuto modo e tempo di pensare a ciò che aveva fatto di buono e di cattivo nella sua lunga vita. Giunto sul punto di morire, chiamò a raduno il branco e così disse:
- Amici miei, penso che sia arrivata la mia ultima ora e vado rassegnato verso il mio destino. Nella mia vita credo di aver vissuto sempre onestamente, da vero lupo e nel rispetto della nostra legge, ma ora ho un dubbio che prima di morire voglio mi sia chiarito: ma siamo proprio certi che la nostra legge sia quella giusta?

Continua a leggere qui: www.filastrocche.it

 

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5 good Italian films to watch in summer

Monday, July 16th, 2012

If during the summer you miss your Italian lesson or you want to keep your level of Italian and watch movies but you don’t know which one, here some tips to spend a couple of hours.

Un classico: Ladri di biciclette, also known as The Bicycle Thief, is a 1948 Italian neorealist film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of a poor man searching the streets of Rome for his stolen bicycle, which he needs to be able to work.

Una commedia:  Mid-August lunch (2008) Pranzo di ferragosto (original title). The table is set for this very Italian, very funny, yet touching movie. It captures the essence of living the Italian life and the universal need for friendship and human contact at any age.

Un giallo: Le conseguenze dell’amore also know as The Consequences of Love   is a 2004 Italian psychological thriller film directed by Paolo Sorrentino. It tells the story of a lonely and secretive Italian businessman living in a Swiss hotel.

Un’altra commedia: Loose Cannons (2010) – Mine Vaganti (original title) Tommaso is the youngest son of the Cantones, a large, traditional southern Italian family operating a pasta-making business since the 1960s. On a trip home from Rome, where he studies literature and lives with his boyfriend, Tommaso decides to tell his parents the truth about himself.

Drammatico: Il gioiellino (2011) The Jewel- The movie helps to understand the largest bankrupt in Italian history, the description of  how the CEO and CFO Parmalat hide a huge debt before collapsing.

To be continued….

 

Book your Italian lesson

Posted in Entertainment & Arts - Cultura, Livello Avanzato - Advanced, Livello Intermedio - Intermediate, Livello Principiante - Beginner | 1 Response »
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Idiomatic expressions

Monday, March 19th, 2012

 

Che cosa significano queste espressioni in italiano ?

  1. La vuoi piantare!!

 
  1. Chiedere di piantare un fiore, una pianta
  2. Chiedere di smettere di parlare
  3. Chiedere di andare in campagna
 È un pezzo di pane
  1. Indicare un tipo di pane
  2. Comprare solo un pezzo di un panino
  3. Descrivere una persona molto buona
 Rompere il ghiaccio
  1. Iniziare una conversazione con una persona che non si conosce bene
  2. Discutere vivamente con una persona
  3. Avere molto freddo
Dammi il cinque!
  1. Non essere d’accordo
  2. Essere d’accordo
  3. Dare la mano, presentarsi
In bocca al lupo!
  1. Buona fortuna
  2. Buona vacanza
  3. Chiedere di fare attenzione agli animali

Controlla qui: modi di dire WWW.ILEARNITALIAN.NET

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Come si usa “piuttosto che”

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Una crociata contro l’uso improprio del ” piuttosto che”.

Carlotta spiega  quando e come si usa con tanta passione, buona visione.

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A bit of grammar: the prepositions

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Preposizioni articolate: fill the gaps with the combined prepositions :

La crisi delle librerie
Dal 2005 ad oggi il numero delle librerie in Gran Bretagna si è dimezzato: sei anni fa ce n’erano poco più di 4 mila, oggi ne sono rimaste aperte solo 2178. Quasi duemila librerie hanno dovuto chiudere e cessare l’attività, messe in crisi dalla crescita (1.)………….. ordinazioni via internet (su Amazon e altre librerie online che spediscono a domicilio i libri acquistati dai clienti sul web), (2.)……..boom degli e-book e (3.)……………. sconti praticati dalle grandi catene e dai supermarket. Il risultato è che oggi un totale di 580 città britanniche non hanno nemmeno una singola libreria. Le chiusure hanno colpito soprattutto le piccole librerie indipendenti (tra cui “Travel Bookshop”, la libreria dove fu girato il film “Notting Hill”, in cui Julia Roberts faceva la parte di un’attrice americana che si innamora di un libraio inglese, interpretato da Hugh Grant ), sia in grandi città che in cittadine di provincia, ma anche le catene hanno sentito la crisi, inclusa la più grande, Waterstone’s, che ha dovuto chiudere varie filiali ed è stata venduta a un nuovo proprietario, un oligarca russo, che ha promesso di salvarla ripristinando la libreria vecchio stile. Fra le sue prime decisioni la nomina di un nuovo direttore generale, proveniente dal mondo delle piccole librerie indipendenti, e la decisione di mettere fino a un diffuso sistema di sconti: compri 3 (libri, solitamente tascabili), paghi 2. Ma di libri se ne comprano ancora, e molti, sebbene ogni anno un po’ di meno: (4.)……………….2010 in Gran Bretagna ne sono stati acquistati 229 mildioni di copie, un declino dell’1,7 per cento rispetto (5.)…………………… anno precedente.

Check the article from ” Repubblica” here

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