Ready for the second in our series of eight C1 (advanced) Italian listening practice activities?
This one’s about coincidences (casi), not to be confused with ‘houses’ (case)…
But if C1 (advanced) for you is still but a distant aspiration, not to worry. You’ll find other (easier) Italian listening tracks & transcripts here:
A1 (beginner) | A2 (pre-intermediate) | B1 (intermediate)| B2 (advanced) | Recent articles like this
(If you’re reading this in an e-mail or mobile device, you won’t see the audio plug-in you need to hear the recording so click here to view this article on our website.)
Transcript
2. PERIODO IPOTETICO DELL’IRREALTA’
I casi della vita
Mi chiamo Azzurra e la settimana scorsa è caduto l’anniversario di matrimonio mio e di mio marito Carlo.
In quei giorni ho ripensato tanto a quando ci siamo conosciuti e alle coincidenze che ci hanno fatto incontrare.
E’ accaduto tutto diciotto anni fa, ancora ricordo il giorno, era una mattina soleggiata e dovevo andare all’università.
Se quel giorno non avessi perso l’autobus, il 90 espresso, di certo non l’avrei incontrato. Ero molto scocciata perché sapevo che sarei arrivata tardi a lezione, così chiesi informazioni ad un signore distinto che però non fece altro che confondermi.
Se non mi fossi persa per il quartiere Monti non sarei mai finita in quel bar. Ricordo benissimo che quando entrai avevo il fiatone, e lui, ancora non sapevo che si chiamava Carlo, stava seduto davanti al bancone su uno sgabello.
Cominciammo a parlare e decise di accompagnarmi, solo dopo mi rivelò che se non gli fossi sembrata così sperduta e impaurita non si sarebbe dato tanta pena di aiutarmi.
Camminammo a lungo e alla fine a lezione non ci andai nemmeno più, ci fermammo in un altro bar e mi offrì un caffè.
Spesso penso che se quella mattina mi fossi svegliata in tempo per prendere l’autobus ora non avrei la bellissima famiglia che ho.
P.S.
I’m planning what will come next, after the advanced listenings.
We can see from the site statistics that the A1 (beginners’) pages get the most visits.
But does that represent the majority of our ‘active’ users? It’s difficult to say.
So, whaddya want next? Something easy at A1 or A2 level, or something more challenging?
Leave a comment here. Tell me what your current level is, and what sort of materials you would prefer to see here.
It would also be good to hear your preference regarding the frequency of articles:
Once a week? More often? Every day?
Click here to fill in the comment form at the bottom of the article. That way I’ll know!
john Thomson says
June 30, 2014 at 10:31 amHi Daniel
I sent you an e-mail on this subject to your webwork address you probably did not receive it, I have had many problems since moving to BTmail
Anyway my suggestion was to add a component to the writing exercise
members could write down say five REAL conversations they have been involved in an example would be
“Jennifer, Sam seems to be hungry, when did he last eat ?”
translate it
“Jennifer, Sam sembra abbia fame, quando ha mangiato scorso” (this may well be wrong!!!!!)
send these off to their mentor who sends back the corrected version
anyway the fact that these are real things that have been said similar things may well recur
makes a change from ” the political situation in Italy is unpredictable”
just a thought
I hope other members post their views
Cheers
John
Daniel says
June 30, 2014 at 1:19 pmHello John,
Yes, I received your email and spoke to Paolo about it. He’ll be replying with the translation you wanted.
Careful though, not to confuse speaking and writing, which are very different skills.
And a fatal error when learning a foreign language is to try and frame your thoughts in your own language before translating them for use in conversation.
Remember, when you’re practicing speaking in Italian you’re not just working on expressing your thoughts as you would be able to do in your own language, but also on understanding and responding to what others say.
Think of it as a game of tennis… Working out what how you’d like to play before the match begins has only limited value!
My advice would be, if you want to improve your speaking, you have to join in real conversations, and accept the limitations and frustrations that that will entail, at least in the short term.
Best wishes,
Daniel
john Thomson says
June 30, 2014 at 3:01 pmDaniel
una punta ben fatta
certamente un talento differente
nella conversazione non ci sara un dizionario,il tempo di traddure nella testa, sapere tutte le parole
ci sara un sacco di “ehm ehm “,” allora”, “mi dispiace non capisco”, “per favore, parli piu lentamente” e l’errori.
ma valera la penna
è il modo migliore di imparare l’italiano e altre lingue
esercizio, esercizio e poi eserczio
John
Gerald says
June 29, 2014 at 12:52 pmGreat stuff here; all very helpful. You asked about other things that people would like to see offered. What about something similar to your Writing Course (which I enrolled for) but aimed at those taking (or hoping to take) formal Italian exams offered by the UK boards (OCR, Edexcel, Cambridge International) or by Italian examining bodies? I for one would be interested in a Translation course (English/Italian; Italian/English) aimed at B2/C1 levels. Also, following on from the simplified readers, what about starting a kind of ‘book club’ with feedback exercises discussion etc but based on the non-adapted works. Examining Boards usually do authors such as Ginzburg. Anyway, am really enjoying the site. Keep up the great work.
Daniel says
June 29, 2014 at 4:20 pmLots of great ideas there, Gerald. Thank you! I’ve made a note of all your suggestions.
And thanks for the feedback about the site, too.
Daniel
Maria says
June 26, 2014 at 5:49 pmCiao Daniel:
Grazie nuovamente per offrire questa nuova serie d’audio. Nonostante, gli ho trovato un tanto accelerato. So che gli italiani parlano così velocemente, ma per uno straniero è faticoso capire tutto. Quando ho visto la trascrizione, ho potuto capire tutto tranne due nuove parole. A proposito, quando dice un signore distinto, si riferisce a qualcuno in speciale (distinguish in inglese?)
Maria
Daniel says
June 27, 2014 at 5:36 pmCiao Maria,
Per ‘distinto’, Wordreference.com ci da “Che dimostra un’eleganza fine e disinvolta”.
(e per ‘disinvolta’: “Che affronta persone e situazioni con franca e naturale sicurezza di sé”)
Quindi, “un signore distinto” in inglese potrebbe essere “distinguished” or “refined”, si.
Ma personalmente lo tradirei con “elegant”.
Tom says
June 25, 2014 at 5:32 pmThanks for providing these listening with transcript exercises! I am just starting to listen to the A1 exercises, but hope to work on them regularly and progress as far as I can. Since I don’t currently have any face-to-face or classroom Italian instruction, any practice listening to “conversational” Italian should really be helpful in improving my listening skills. I am probably at the A2 level, so I would vote for more material at this level +/- a level (of course, A1 and B1 would be good review/reinforcement and “stretch” exercises, respectively).
Frequency-wise, I have lots of the exercises you’ve already created to work on (the A1 and A2 and possibly the B1s, too), so less frequently (for now) would be fine with me, e.g., once a week.
Again, thanks for all the useful Italian instructional material!
Daniel says
June 26, 2014 at 8:45 amHi Tom,
Thanks for commenting. Useful to know your level, and your preferences about mailing frequency.
Hope to hear from you again soon!
Daniel
Nina Rault says
June 25, 2014 at 12:03 pmHello and thank you for C1 number 2. But I have never received C1 number 1. May I have it please?
My current level is B1/B2. I’m retired, so am not interested in learning to write formal letters, job applications, etc. Your listening articles are wonderful, so I’m keen to see how much I will understand at Level C. Frequency ? For me, every two days would be perfect.
But first, please do send me article 1 of Level C1.
Daniel says
June 25, 2014 at 12:20 pmHi Nina!
Thanks for your comment.
If you don’t get one of the articles, there are two things you can do:
1. Check your spam folder. It might be there.
2. Go to ‘Articles’ page on our website (it’s in the main menu, or you can find it here) – there you’ll find ALL of the articles, in date order. Just scroll down until you find the one you are missing.
A presto!
Daniel