On that note, I've been learning a lot of the basics and really want to try to get into some sentence formation this week. I can make basic sentences and introduce myself, but I haven't applied much else. In my German class last year, our teacher introduced a journaling assignment - basically, we would write around a specific prompt or theme each week, looking up words that we didn't know how to translate and using them in sentences. I found that this really helped improve my knowledge of the language and I felt much more confident in my sentence forming skills. With this in mind, I think my goal for the next few weeks is to keep an everyday journal, writing down new words I learn and hopefully having a few pages of solid Italian writing, however basic it might be!
I bought this cute little journal a few weeks ago and have been looking for an excuse to write in it :~)
I've kept up my listening practice and have found a few interesting Italian stations if you're into that sort of stuff -
RAI Isoradio - news and information station centered in Milan; frequent traffic and news updates
Radio Cortina - this is a more localized station, but I've noticed the hosts tend to speak slower and often they'll have special radio music shows featuring a mix of American and Italian music
Radio Italy Live - probably one of my favorites. It's based in New York, but plays Italian music around the clock which tends to go a lot slower than spoken Italian and frankly it's more fun to listen to!
News in Slow Italian - this website is good for listening comprehension, because it provides subtitles and goes slower to aid pronunciation and understanding. It has a lot of premium features, but the broadcasts themselves are free.
Another resource I've been taking advantage of lately is the Easy Languages channel, host to tons of videos in different languages. They interview native speakers on the streets to get cultural perspective and awareness around the world - they have episodes in Ukranian, Arabic, Japanese, German, and Italian uploaded on a weekly basis. It's great for gaining not only new vocabulary and listening practice, but also cultural awareness of the customs and traditions in Italy.
Easy Italian 3: Life at the Border
Grazie mille per la lettura! See you all soon!
-Sarah
Comments this week:
Madi
Margo
Kat
Wow, it seems like you're making some really good progress with Italian! I love the idea of a penpal; I think that is so unbelievably cool. It gives you good practice with the language, and you also get a new friend!! The idea of listening to radio stations is great, because you can hear real people speaking it. I know for me with French, listening is really difficult, so getting that exposure will be really helpful :~)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I think listening is definitely an important element to getting better at speaking, especially listening to native speakers, as it helps you with different dialects and slang. I would really recommend Easy Languages for listening, they're pretty fun to watch and I think they have a French series as well!
DeleteHi Sarah! I think you have a lot of really great ideas! It's really, really cool how you are really immersing yourself in so many ways - such as the journaling, radio stations, and penpal. The penpal is such a great idea, I think it's really great that it will be really helpful for both you and Sara. Can't wait to see what you learn!
ReplyDeleteThanks Madi!! I really think having a penpal and keeping up a journal will not only force me to write entirely in Italian, but also help speed up my learning process - for example, just today I learned that "Anche io" and "Anch'io" mean the same thing, but Anch'io is just a way to form a contraction. Sara's been really really nice & helpful about everything, so I'm excited!
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