Top online tips for effective Italian learning

In my last workshop at King’s College, University of London I presented some helpful online free resources to help improving different linguistic skills (reading, listening, use of grammar, etc.) at different levels.

Here is part of my presentation, enjoy!Antonio

What we need more of as teachers is time, but time is limited, especially with adult learners and professionals.As classroom time is so precious, we need to use it wisely, to practise speaking and writing in Italian. We also need to think about how our students use their time outside the classroom.

To maximise our time and theirs and help students learn as fast as possible, technology is the answer.Every day, each of us spends a huge amount of time commuting from home to work on public transport. In the past, this may have been considered ‘dead’ time, but as most of us now carry a smartphone, tablet or laptop, we can use this time for learning.

Apps, websites and mobile learning games are great tools for language learning. My aim is to show you how I use my lessons to do things that students can’t do at home, and to give them tools to learn and practise using technology outside my classroom.

Click on the links of each slide to open the websites.

1. In the first part of the presentation we will see a site with a bank of flash-cards and games that are helpful for learning vocabulary. With this tool we work with our visual memory. This is great for beginners but also for intermediate and advanced learners.
2. On the second slide we have a site for interactive grammar activities. On this website you have hundreds of activities from beginner to advanced levels. I believe this is a great tool because you have access to an automated response system and you don’t need your teacher to check your work.
3. On the next slide we have listening activities, including Italian rai tv with subtitled programmes and another websites offering activities based on radio news.
4. On the web we have also tutors offering video lessons on their youtube channels, tv series for students of Italian and, on the bbc website, an Italian TV crime series for students of Italian.
5. Finally we have a language community website with native speakers offering language swaps, another website for listening to Italian radio, an app for your smartphone, and Italian songs to use for listening activities.

Study Italian in ItalyH