Buondì.
Here’s a copy/paste from an article in February:
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Next week NativeSpeakerTeachers.com has it’s twice-yearly Free Trial Lesson Offer, a chance for anyone who hasn’t yet tried a free thirty-minute online lesson with a native speaker teacher to do so.
For years, the one thing that was missing from my own language learning was interacting with a real person.
Once I figured out that, no matter what else I did, if I wasn’t speaking and listening ‘live’, ideally with a native speaker, I wouldn’t feel prepared and able to do so when the need arose – well, I gave it a shot, not without some trepidation, mind you.
One-to-one online lessons were the missing piece of the puzzle, and for me, affordable. Ok, since I’ve been minding Roomie (and another little animal before her), I’m down to just the one language/30-minute conversation a week – at one point I was doing four!
But chatting in Swedish every Wednesday lunchtime is a good way to maintain what I’ve learnt, and to pile up lived experience of interacting with Swedes in their own language. Next time I visit my wife’s relatives, I’ll be prepared, if not anywhere near perfect.
Personally, I think everyone could benefit from taking 1-1 lessons, even if (especially if) you just chat with your ‘native speaker’.
But you don’t have to take my word for it – that’s what the free trial is for, so you can check out for yourself whether you think it’ll help.
Anyway, more about the FTLO on Monday, and/or go to NativeSpeakerTeachers.com and get on their mailing list.
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Other than that, I have little to add. It’s Friday, much of Europe is afflicted by storms, and I have a thousand emails to answer, plus a ‘to do’ list that I’ve been terrified of even looking at for much of the past month.
Guess I’ll keep this short then!
With reference to the cut/paste above, earlier this morning I drove Bug to his petting zoo, then, on the way back, listened to the news headlines in Swedish.
It was the usual – Gaza, gangland shootings, the extreme right-wing political party dominating the polls, public transport fares likely to go up as local authorities are forced to make savings, and a heavy snow warning from SMHI.
Nothing exceptional then, just a routine family chore combined with a light workout for the language-learning components in my brain.
Later today I aim to fit in the prescribed thirty-minute-minimum daily walk (which I’ve been neglecting of late due to tendon pain) and, while I’m doing that, listen to France.info (rolling news, interviews, discussions.)
Over the weekend I’ll be spending a lot of time in the kitchen – carbonara on Saturday, ‘testo bread’ for the evening, chicken and roast potatoes at Sunday lunchtime, then pizza in the evening.
So that’s another three or four hours of radio. Maybe Spanish and Turkish, depending on my mood.
Radio – through smartphone apps – works well for me, as I can slot it into my daily routine, combined with other things. TV wouldn’t work, for the same reason. And right now, with Bug keeping us awake half the night, I’m too sleepy to read.
What about you? What’s your language-learning routine? Leave a comment on this article, with tips for club members.
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A lunedì.
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P.P.S. 
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Felice says
My top tip – pick an Italian YouTube Channel / podcast etc. based on a subject you’re passionate about (mine’s Elisa True Crime, but I admit my tastes are a little strange) and listen to it regularly religiously. Don’t expect to understand much – just listen. Don’t be tempted to pause / rewind or otherwise review – just listen straight through. No, you’re not likely to understand much at first (you’ll never understand everything), but you’ll pick up something. Repeat ad nauseum. One day you’ll suddenly realise that you’re starting to understand more, though you won’t know why / how! You still won’t be able to understand everything, let alone translate what you’re hearing into English at the same time, but you will understand more. Welcome to the Twilight Zone! No, you won’t find other material in Italian suddenly becomes easier; you’re brain is “tuning into” the subject vocabulary, along with commonly used Italian words / phrases. To date, it’s not been much use with my speaking skills – possibly because I’ve not found any Italian language exchange students with the same interests! If you’re planning to do something at the same time, I would suggest a YouTube Channel that you can just listen to; try to do without looking at the Italian subtitles, otherwise you’ll just be practicing reading.
Daniel says
Thanks for your contribution, Felice!
One comment, though. You write:
“You still won’t be able to understand everything, let alone translate what you’re hearing into English at the same time, but you will understand more.”
If we’re talking about normal, day-to-day listening (and reading, it’s the same), then no one does or can translate into English or another language while doing it, except for very practiced and very expensive simultaneous interpreters. Spend any time around bilingual people and you’ll notice they think ‘in boxes’, so when speaking Italian (like my kids) they’re doing that and that only, but when they switch to English the Italian program in their brains switches off and is replaced by an English one.
With regard to listening, to a podcast as you suggest, then the basic task your brain is doing is recognising elements of meaning (i.e. a name, a word, a phrase) and connecting them up to what came before, and what comes next, as far as that’s possible, filling in or ignoring the gaps. Try deleting the second half of every sentence in a text to get an approximate simulation of that. The objective is ‘overall meaning’, and the big challenge is not perfect understanding of every element, but handling the ‘real time’ flow of input (listening) or executing the process efficiently in time (reading). This is, of course, basicially what you were saying – it’s a process, practice and you’ll get better at it. I just wanted to emphasise that translating plays no part in it. If a student tries to translate what they hear, they’re doing listening/reading completely wrong, and likely won’t get very far!
Felice says
Absolutely agree with you Daniel. I was going to add that listening is like being in a torrent of words – if you stop to try and fish out any particular word, there’s a whole deluge of other meaningful stuff you’re going to miss.
But not wanting to translate into our mother tongue it is a hard thing to do, and I think most of us only learn to let go of that desire the hard way!
Daniel says
“most of us only learn to let go of that desire the hard way!”
When the language is taught IN the language, for instance in an Italian school in Italy, it’s apparent very quickly to students that there’s no time, or POINT, in translating, as the yardsticks of success lie elsewhere.
If you’re familiar with CLIL ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_and_language_integrated_learning#:~:text=Content%20and%20language%20integrated%20learning%20(CLIL)%20is%20an%20approach%20for,the%20subject%20and%20the%20language. ), which is widely used in Italian schools, that more or less an ‘official’ example of what you have figured out for yourself.
There are advantages and disadvantages of focusing on wider meaning and skills, as I/we are suggesting, of course. I push it a lot because most people at at the other (translation, grammar-focused) end of the spectrum most or all of the time, and find it doesn’t deliver for them.
Helen says
I listen to Rai Italian radio using the Simple Radio app that you included a link to in one of your emails. I listen on my phone when I’m out walking , when I’m cooking etc and even in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep. Using ear phones I can listen wherever and whenever I want without disturbing anyone. I also search on YouTube for anything to watch and listen to in Italian. Last week I discovered an interview with Allegra Gucci speaking about a book she’s written about her father and family., I certainly didn’t understand all of the interview but got the gist of it and was inspired to buy her book which I’m now working my way through. Again I don’t understand all of it but get the gist of it.
Daniel says
Bravissima, Helen!
David says
In addition to two weekly Italian classes (Wednesday morning’s online, Thursday’s at East Sussex College) I listen to RAI Radio whenever taking a car journey. I mostly enjoy tuning to Radio 24
Daniel says
Good way to make the most of time spent driving, I agree!