Buondì.
“Tu sei portato per le lingue?” is one of the conversation prompts in the latest addition to our ‘Free Materials for Italian Conversation Lessons‘ series.
Today’s new page of interview-style questions is on the topic of ‘Imparare una lingua straniera‘, ‘learning a foreign language’.
That’s something of interest to everyone reading this, I should imagine!
And the question “Tu sei portato per le lingue?” means, of course, “Are you good at languages?”
Personally, I believe that no one is born more, or less, able at learning foreign languages.
I’m convinced that acquiring communication skills in another tongue is a function of opportunity and time.
Simple as that.
Over the decades I’ve been teaching English as a foreign language, I’ve met very, very few students who were noticeably more able than average.
And almost no one who couldn’t learn if they were minded to.
For me, the ‘language learning app’ is just one of the pre-installed bits of software that come with the human brain.
You may never use yours, just like I never open the irritating social media apps that Android insists on installing on my smartphone.
But if you do, you’ll figure out how it works, and gradually get more expert at it.
But what do YOU think?
See how that might make an interesting basis for a conversation in Italian, whether online or otherwise?
And there are other fascinating questions to explore, too.
See the full list here.
And/or view the other conversation topics, here.
N.B. To find these materials again when you need them, go to the club website and look for the ‘Conversation’ link in the menu.
P.S.
Yesterday (giovedì) I did the final proof-reading for our newest Italian easy reader.
And listened to it all the way through, which took a while as this is quite a long one.
It’ll be available in our online shop from Monday, at the usual special launch price.
But, I liked it so much, I couldn’t resist giving you a preview.
This one’s called ‘Le italiane’, and if you look at the cover image you’ll see why.
There are eight chapters, each telling the story of a well-known, or perhaps less-well known but noteworthy anyway, Italian woman.
Included are actresses, singers and TV personalities, but also a resistance fighter, one of the first female doctors, a victim of the Mafia, a sports star and an astronaut.
Like I said, you can’t buy it yet.
But I thought I’d sneak you the link to the free sample chapter (.pdf) .
Chapter 1 isn’t my favorite from the book (I liked the reistance fighter, the woman who stood up to the Mafia, and the sports star best…)
But it’ll give you an idea of the level of the material, which is quite hard.
Plus, the audio for the ENTIRE BOOK is already available free on line, so if you fancy trying your hand at listening to all eight chapters, at absolutely no cost whatsoever, be my guest!
The link for the audio is at the top of the first page of Chapter 1 in the free sample chapter download.
Wait, you didn’t have plans for the weekend, did you?
Sorry…
Here’s that link for the free sample chapter (.pdf), once again.
The full version will be available to buy on Monday.
Buono studio, buon ascolto, e buon fine settimana!
A lunedì.