Top 10 Tips for Learning the Italian Language

Hey all,

Here's the great list from Becoming Italian Word By Word that I mentioned...

1. Fill your ears. Modern Italian sprang from the volgare, the rough-and-ready street Latin of ancient Rome. Spoken for centuries before the vernacular was captured on paper, Italian remains a language for the ear. Listening primes the brain for understanding. I started listening to beginner Living Language CDs in my car years ago and drove my way through the entire series. You also can download podcasts to your iPod, MP3 player, or cell phone, and listen on planes, trains, buses, and places in between.

2. See it, say it, stick it.Train yourself to say the Italian word (if only to yourself) for things you look at every day: il cielofor sky, la sediafor chair; il panefor bread. (It’s always best to memorize the masculine or feminine article along with a word.) Put a post-it note with the Italian name on objects, such as il tavolo(table) or lo specchio(mirror), around the house. Don’t remove one until you’ve memorized the term.

3. Read. Go to onlinenewspapers.com for a sampling of Italian language papers. Just scanning the headlines will give you a sense of common words and names in the news. Try to get your hands on Italian comics (seriously). If you’re young or young at heart, you’ll delight in the adventures of Topolino (Mickey Mouse). Italian action comics, with heroes such as Tex, a time-traveling cowboy, and the sauve jewel thief Diabolik, “king of terror,” provide a fun way to improve your vocabulary and reading skills.

4. Watch. Movies allow you to see and hear Italian in action. Rent classics such as Roma, città apertaor La dolce vita. By all means, read the English subtitles but leave the sound on so you can absorb the rhythm of the language. Among the movies I watch time and again are: Fellini’s Amarcordand E la nave va, Il Postino, Pane e tulipani,and anything with Marcello Mastroianni, particularly the biography " Si, mi ricordo" ("Yes, I Remember"), made by the woman who shared the last decades of his life.

5. Sing. Even if you can’t carry a tune, singing along with popular Italian songs can introduce you to everyday vocabulary and improve your pronunciation. At www.youtube.com you’ll find everything from charming ninnenanne (lullabies) such as Stella stellina to pop tunes like Volare and famous operatic arias such as Nessun dorma.

6. Play. Word games in any language strengthen the brain and boost memory. In Italian giochi di parole, such as cruciverba(crosswords), enigmi (puzzles), and anagrammi(anagrams) add the extra bonus of building your vocabulary. You can buy inexpensive puzzle books at newsstands in Italy or play online. Another fun option is playing the Italian versions of popular board games, such as Monopoly and Scarabeo (Scrabble), with friends or fellow students. Or you can ask an Italian to teach you card games such as Scopa and Briscola. (Just don’t bet any money on them.)

7. Mingle. Join a bocceteam or a Vespa club. Watch a soccer match in an Italian bar or restaurant. Take cooking classes taught by Italians. Go to Italian street festivals. For informal opportunities to speak Italian, look for a local conversation group at www.meetup.com. Enroll in a class at schools, community centers, Italian cultural organizations -- or, best of all, in Italy.

8. Don’t be afraid of tripping over your tongue. “Sbagliando si impara,” Italians say. “You learn by making mistakes.” Focus on communicating, not speaking in diagram-able sentences. If you can’t think of the correct tense, just say the infinitive of a verb -- parlarefor “speak”, for example -- or stick to the present tense. And by all means, use your hands. That’s molto italiano.

9. Spend time in Italy every day. If you don't have time or money for a trip abroad, bring a little Italy into your life. Drink an espresso. Eat some pasta. Have a gelato. Listen to a Puccini aria. Wear something Italian (shoes are a great choice). Visit the websites of ex-pats, happy wanderers, and travel bloggers.

10. Be swept away. I fell so madly, gladly, giddily in love with Italian that I spent years researching and writing La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language. The more you know about how Italian became Italian, civilized the Western world, and enriched every aspect of our culture and life , the more Italian you’ll want to know.

Eataly

EATALY -Un nuovo negozio a New York City con 50.000 metri quadrati all'interno dei mini-ristoranti. Il mercatino artisinal aperta a Torino nel 2007. Che un grande nome! Non vi piacerebbe andare qui? eataly.it

il riciclaggio

in Italia

Adverbs Flashcards

Hi everyone! I created flashcards for adverbs. I hope they help you. Enjoy!

Carmella

Adverbs - Italian/English Adverbs

Adverbs 2 - More Italian/English Adverbs

New Adjective Cheat Sheets

Adjectives - Familiar - Adjectives Group is Familiar With

Adjectives - Need Work - Adjectives that Group Has Some Familiarity With

Adjectives - New - Adjectives the Group Doesn't Know

New Using Prepositions Flashcards

I've added the Using Prepositions (cheat sheet 9) to the blog and flashcards. I'm sure you all have memorized them but here they are anyway.

Direct URL: http://www.flashcardmachine.com/908388/z81f

New - Verb Flashcard Sets

Just entered three sets of verb flashcards - first one is ones we're all pretty familiar with. Second is verbs we have seen, but probably don't know well. And the final one is basically new verbs we've had in class at some point:

Familiar (154): http://www.flashcardmachine.com/908961/p58d

Need Work: http://www.flashcardmachine.com/909011/1cd5

New (57): http://www.flashcardmachine.com/909041/1mq8

Have fun!

Five noun flash card sets

OK, we've added all of the flash cards for nouns that we don't all know so far - 100 in the first set, 100 in the second, and 57 on the third (more to be added once we finish going thru the noun cards):

Set 1: http://www.flashcardmachine.com/890058/m59s

Set 2: http://www.flashcardmachine.com/893906/x49j

Set 3: http://www.flashcardmachine.com/894001/2cv7

Set 4: http://www.flashcardmachine.com/899103/4jk6

Set 5: http://www.flashcardmachine.com/913382/j48b

Try to study these over the next coupla weeks! Remember, you do not need to be logged in to view these. They are also on the noun page.

:)

--Scotti e Marco

Flash Cards, Cheat Sheets, and Posting to the Blog

Ciao, compagni!

I just posted the imperativi cheat sheet on the "altri" page.

I also found a free flash card site where you can make your own flash cards and post them publicly. I entered the difficult nouns from today's session, so study study study:

http://www.flashcardmachine.com/machine/?read_only=890058&p=m59s

No login required. But if you want, you can set up your own account and make some cards too. Let me know what you think.

Finally, I noticed no one else is posting to the blog - does anyone need a quick tutorial again?

:)

--Scotti

Surprise, Surprise - We Found This Under Our Bread at Trevi Restaurant in Vegas

Pretty cool, huh? Apparently they've been using these since 2009, so the news is fake. But it's fun to read! Click on the pic for a full page version.

:)

--Scott & Mark

Just added a song to the Blog "Testi" page

per il canzone "Dove c'è musica" - con il traduzione di Marco ed io...

Not sure how accurate we are, but if you want to give it a try, you can then compare yours to ours...

:)

--Scotti e Marco

La Prima Festa Del Raccolto

Ciao, compagni,

La Prima Festa del Raccolto è stato un grande successo! Abbiamo avuto un buon tempo, e fortunatamente, Marco ha ricordato di portare la macchina fotografica, così abbiamo molte foto belle di ricordare questa sera!

Ci vediamo al La Bou!

:)

--Scotti e Marco

Non dimentichate

Potete trovare il "shortcuts" per i compiti sul blog - cercate "Altri", e troverete li l'informazione.

Anche, aggiungete quale piatto porterete per la Festa del Raccolto se non lo fate già.

:)

--Scotti

festa

Canziano e Zinnia portero Pasta con verdure insalata di pomodori

È ancora libero. Non lo so quanto costa. Non ricordo il luogo.
Sharona

Festa Italiana 2010!

Need Your Input for the Blog "Pages"

Ciao, amici!

As we mentioned today, we can have up to 10 static "pages" - links that are always on the blog for things that we want to use and update regularly.

Please send me your lists (direct to scott@mongooseontheloose.com) of any ideas you have for these pages, which I'll compile and we'll then vote on. Ideas might include a page for each of the parts of speech, or a page for downloads of all the cheat sheets, or...?

Capite?

:)

--Scotti

SALMOM FALLS ROAD

SALMON FALLS ROAD ERA UNA BUONA STRADA,MA IL TEMPO ERA ADESSO
CANZIANO

Italia?

Questa foto è da la nostra escursione a piedi in montagna di Sierra Nevada 22 luglio.

Una barzelletta

Come si può riparare una pizza rotta?

Con pasta di pomodoro!