Buondì. Who makes the decisions about how you learn Italian? By which I mean what the learning objectives are, what activites are included, in what order, in what percentage of the time available, with what mechanism to evaluate progress, and with which remedial activities, when your progress is not what was hoped for. Is it […]
Archives for June 2021
“How to practice talking and writing?”
Buondì. I’m pushed for time today, so I’m copying and pasting an email I received Daniel, You have a convert in the reading and listening techniques. On the other side I would love to see a letter from you on how to practice talking and writing. Example. I am trying to write (or talk to […]
Fundamental misunderstandings
Buondì. Type “learn Italian” into Google and you might find OnlineItalianClub.com on the first page of results (though it varies, Google is fickle.) I tried it with Bing, just out of curiosity, and we were somewhere near the bottom of the second page, which still isn’t bad for what is basically a hobby website. No […]
This is how human brains learn foreign languages
Buondì. Here’s an observation of how human brains learn foreign languages, using my own brain as an example. Amazingly, considering I’ve spent nearly thirty years teaching what for others is a foreign language, and have learnt several languages, to a reasonable level, it’s really, really rare that I actually notice myself learning. Of course, I’m […]
Understanding and Translating
Buondì. This from Caroline over the weekend: Dear Daniel Something to cheer you up: I’ve finally realised that it doesn’t matter what the translation of a word or a sentence is, it just matters that you understand it! Caroline But, club members will be spluttering into their cornflakes as they read this, how could you […]
An ennesimo article about ebooks
Buondì. Useful word, ‘ennesimo’ (‘ennesima’ if the noun is feminine) – literally it means nth, so to the power of a number, that is to say ‘very many’ of something. But you could translate it as ‘umpteenth’, as in, “I’ve told you umpteen times that…!” Anyway, yesterday afternoon I was teaching kids, online, as we’re […]
Ever noticed?
Buondì. 2 giugno (months aren’t capitalized in Italian) is a ‘giorno festivo’ here in Italy, that is to say a public holiday. It’s La Festa della Repubblica Italiana and the Wikipedia page I linked to there will tell you all about it (in Italian, of course!) For which reason, I have the children here, or […]
