It’s exactly two weeks since I last wrote about my quest to improve my listening (in French, so as to demonstrate to you guys that it’s possible to do the same with your Italian).
This afternoon I decided to call it a day.
Want to know how I got on?
How to improve your listening in Italian
Below is a summary of the advice I’ve given in the articles over the last six weeks (it’s also what I’ve been doing myself!)
- Above all, locate a good source or sources of recorded materials, organised by level, ideally with transcripts. I used exams, free stuff I found on websites, and simplified readers with audio CDs
- Measure your starting point (your current listening level). Mine was a shaky A2.
- Define your objective. I decided to aim for a B1 exam pass.
- Set a timetable, and stick to it if you can. I started my ‘listening challenge’ at the beginning of January and ‘studied’ for around 6 weeks (including periods when I did very little).
- IMPORTANT – start with the lower level materials and build up gradually over the period you have allowed yourself. Don’t rush. Give your brain time to adjust to level X, before moving on to Y, then eventually Z.
Basically it’s a question of setting yourself a realistic target, finding appropriate study materials, and using them in an intelligent and unhurried way.
But success comes not just from doing the right things, but also from not doing the obviously unhelpful things….
Pitfalls to avoid
Here are the biggies…
- Don’t fall into the ‘I don’t know this grammar’ trap! Listening successfully is about a lot more than grammar.When you’re working on listening, work on listening and forget the damn grammar.
- Similarly, don’t obsess over all those words you don’t know. Focus instead on what you DO know. It might be enough to work out what’s going on.
- And forget ‘perfect’. You don’t need it to pass an exam, or to get by when you’re using the language.You’ll never, ever, ever understand everything, every time. So don’t sweat it. Good enough is, unsurprisingly, good enough.
Teacher, teach thyself!
Teachers do a lot of ‘telling’, but not a lot of ‘doing’, so I was pleased to have a chance to learn something for a change.
And happy to see that the advice I dispense actually seems to work, at least for me.
This is what I wrote after first trying the B1 listening test (when I was defining my objective – 1st Jan. 2014):
I went on to the B1 page, knowing that it would likely be a step too far. This time I scored a terrible 5%, once points were deducted for the wrong answers I’d picked (sneaky French habit…)
More interestingly though, this time I had the clear sensation that I genuinely hadn’t understood large parts of the text. It was just a flow of sound, unlike the A2 material. My score came as no surprise.
Since then I’ve done all the available A1 and A2 material, and yesterday a reader at B1 level.
So, in an idle moment this afternoon, I thought I’d have a go at the next B1 test.
I still “didn’t understand large parts of the text”, but it certainly wasn’t “just a flow of sound” as it had been 6 weeks ago.
In fact, with several of the answers that I got wrong, I had been convinced that I had heard them correctly (they were ‘trick questions’, as became evident when I looked at the transcript afterwards…)
The final score was 60%. A pass on that particular exam is anything over 50%.
So, that’s me done.
Mission accomplished. Target reached. Point proven, I hope.
But what about you?
A lot of OnlineItalianClub.com readers ‘signed up’ to improve their listening at the beginning of this series of articles. Maybe you were amongst them.
In which case, I’d love to hear whether you’ve made any progress, what has worked for you, and even what hasn’t worked so well. Go here to leave a comment on this article.
What’s next?
So we’ve ‘done’ listening, but that still leaves speaking, reading and writing, and I’m not ready to quit studying just yet…
Which should we tackle next?
I’m game to have a go at developing another skill, just as I’ve been doing with listening. But which would be most helpful for you?
What would you most value advice on: reading, writing, or speaking?
Vote here by scrolling to the bottom of the page and leaving a comment.
John Thomson says
ciao a tutti
ho appena finito la mia prima sessione webinar – fantastico
il sistema ha una grande potenziale.
Paolo e molto paziente e gentile
C’e solo un problema – tutti potevano sentirmi ma nessuno poteva vedermi, che peccato, sono ancora un fantasma
non vedo l’ora della mia prossima sezzione
una domanda – Paulo leggi tu queste poste ?
che bella esperienza
Grazie
John
Daniel says
Thanks for the feedback, John. I’m happy you enjoyed the session and I’ll make sure Paolo sees your comment.
Your writing is getting better and better, by the way. Complimenti!
Paolo Copparoni says
Ciao John!! sono contento che ti sia piaciuta la sessione di oggi! E’ stata molto divertente!
Ricorda che la prossima settimana ci saranno altre sessioni…e aspettiamo di conoscere la ricetta della tua torta al cioccolato!!
A presto e buon fine settimana
Paolo
John Thomson says
Ciao Paolo
Mi sono divertito la sua lezione
ecco la ricetta
La torta al cioccolata, senza farina
La ricetta da David Rocco
Preparare – venti minuti cuocere al forno – quaranta minuti
Gli Ingredienti –
Duecento grammi della cioccolata scura
Cento grammi del burro
Cento grammi dello zucchero
Quatro uova
Un pizzico di sale
Il metodo –
Rompere la cioccolato,mettere in una ciotola pirex. Poi aggiungere il burro
Scogliere su una pentola di aqua bollente
Separare le uova
Mettere I tuorlie e lo zucchero in una ciotola, smettere a crema.
Mettere gli albumi in una altra ciotola, aggiungere un pizzico di sale
Montare gli albumi a un picco morbido
Aggiungere il cioccolato e burro fuso alla ciotola contenente il composto di uova e zucchero, mescolare bene
Piegare delicatamente gli albumi
Ungere uno stampo o teglia, versare la miscela
Dovrebbe essere 2-3 centimetri di profondità
Preriscaldare il forno a 180 gradi
Cuocere al forno circa 40 minuti
Si lascia raffreddare,mettere su in piatto, decorare con zucchero a velo e fragole dimezzato
Godere, inoltre ha un sapore delizioso come un dolce con panna e gelato
Alla prossima venerdi
John
Paolo Copparoni says
Ciao John! grazie mille per la ricetta..sono sicuro che sarà buonissima! …e soprattutto complimenti per il tuo italiano scritto!!!
Ci vediamo venerdi al webinar!
Paolo
Katy Wheeler says
Hi Daniel
Congratulations on your achievement! I was actually going to post somewhere on this blog today, so thanks for providing the ideal place!
I’ve been continuing my weekly lesson with my italian teacher, and doing *some* work maybe 5 days out of seven on my italian, plus watching 2 hours of “Inspector Montalbano” each week, spread over 2 days. My experience is that I understand a lot more than I used to even though I haven’t done (or even found) any online tests which give a percentage or pass mark. However, last night I went to a cinema screening of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” live from the Royal Opera House in London. I had totally not clicked that the opera would be in Italian, and before when I have watched operas, the italian has just been mostly jumbled stream of sound. I was astonished and very pleased that last night I understood perhaps 40-60% of what was being sung. Words and phrases jumped out at me and I was even aware some of the time that the translations were not totally direct, but paraphrasing. So, exams aside, I’m thinking “RESULT”! I’m taking this as a Pass. 😉
That said, I’d still be interested if anybody else has found an online resource which provides a proper level test with answers/marking like you have found for French.
John Thomson says
Hi Kate
Your italian is very good, below is a link which you can use to test your levels
http://cils.unistrasi.it/articolo.asp?sez0=89&sez1=0&lng=1&art=202&prev=b
I came out as a ‘high’ A1 but this included lower marks for listening
Anyway have a go, if you have any problems with the site post again
in bocca al lupo
John
Katy Wheeler says
Hi John
Thanks for the link – I will take a look at that.
My Italian is really only at the beginning of A2 level. I should have pointed out that the opera had English subtitles, and what I meant was that with the aid of those, I understood 40-60% of what was sung. Not quite the same! And as for reproducing it with speaking … pft!
Daniel says
Thanks Katy, but well done to YOU! I’m really delighted to hear of your progress. That’s excellent. Do keep it up, won’t you?
Katy Wheeler says
Hi Daniel
Thanks for your congrats! I will certainly keep it up – I have booked two more weeks in Venice in May and this has given me a new goal and impetus. Thanks so much for your inspiring blog posts too.
Ruth Stephens says
But Daniel how can John and also Maureen from the Wednesday session, overcome the problem of not being seen? As John said, it really is a pity. With Maureen it was like hearing a voice from behind a screen, like in some courtrooms! I hope she’ll try again and that I’ll see her (and John) if we’re on the same session.
Ruth
Daniel says
At the moment we’re offering 12 places in each session. Often 12 people sign up, then it’s closed.
In reality, only 10 can share audio. And only 6 can stream video. Those are the limits of the system.
But this week, our sessions have averaged around 5 participants. 8 today was the highest. Lots of people sign up, but don’t bother.
So mostly it should work.
However, if more than 6 people actually do turn up (like today), the tardiest ones will be invisible. That said, we’ve often had people unable to share their video even when there were fewer than six. ‘Pilot error’, probably. These are new technologies, and we all need time to get used to them.
Conclusion: while this remains free for participants, we’re expecting high ‘no show’ rates, which means we have to allow for more registrations than could actually share video streams.
WERE we to charge for this type of lesson, obviously then we would limit each session to six and therefore have no video/audio issues. Most people would turn up too.
But as nobody at all said they would be willing to pay when I asked for feedback on the issue the other day (in fact some people said they wouldn’t be willing to…) Well, currently Paolo’s wages are coming out of the marketing budget… which means it’s experimental and we won’t get too upset if it doesn’t work out.
We’re doing our best. And paying for the privilege.
Hope you understand.