No time to read this? Why not find something to study instead? A1 – Beginner/Elementary | A2 – Pre-Intermediate | B1 – Intermediate | B2 – Upper-Intermediate | C1 – Advanced | C2 – Proficiency | What’s my level? | Italian level test
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Buondì.
For club members who are following the FREE Summer Series of articles with audio, since Sunday there are three more episodes for you to read/listen to. Click this link to find them, then scroll right down to the bottom of the page. The grey non-links are the yet-to-be-published episodes, the red ones are live and ready to read/listen to.
E così.
I’m a bit pushed for time this week, what with one project and another, the usual daily bits and pieces to attend to, and Bug to ferry to the petting zoo. Not to mention cooking his meals, cleaning the splatters off the wall and debris from the floor, washing up, sterlizing bottles, and so on. Feels like it never stops.
So I was pleased when one of our reliable correspondents posted a comment/question on last week’s article, “Scared of having to choose?” She was asking about listening skills, and specifically what she feels to be her defecit in that area, despite years of trying.
I haven’t asked her permission to quote her (though I don’t expect she’d mind), so I’ll summarise our exchange, which basically went like this:
Q. Why can’t I understand spoken Italian when I hear it?
A. You probably can, just not as well as other things you can do, such as reading. Why not evaluate your level (objectively) in each skill area, then decide how to proceeed?
Q. I’m A2/B1 in listening, but B1/B2 in reading.
A. So focus on listening. Use graded material, starting at or below your level, and step up half-level by half-level as you improve. Do the listening first, before looking at the written texts. That should fix it!
That’s a super-short version, and doubtless not very accurate, but do check out the full exchange here. You’ll find my tips and links to things that might help you understand how better to improve your own Italian.
See? Isn’t it useful when club members contribute? I think so, anyway, and it’s MUCH MORE USEFUL when done publicly, so others can read it.
I’m trying to discourage people from just emailing me their thoughts and problems. Not only is it time-consuming to respond but it’s also feels like a waste for me to write privately to people when there might be hundreds or thousands of others with the same issue.
We currently have over eighteen thousand people on the club mailing list, and experience suggests that many learners experience identical doubts and problems.
Got a question? Then ask it by leaving a comment on this (or any) article. It’s likely that I or someone else will reply. Like a conversation, and one that others can benefit from too.
To leave a comment, visit the club website and locate the article you want to commnent on. The most recent one is shown on the homepage. Click the title to visit the dedicated ‘article page’ then scroll down to the bottom, and type what you want to contribute in the comments form.
Your email address is required, but won’t be published. And anyway, if you’re reading this in an email, we already have it. For the privacy-obsessed, you could just make up an email address (and a name, and a whole new biography), but that way the system wouldn’t be able to notify you if I or someone else replies.
Another useful thing is to look at the club website’s homepage, in the ‘sidebar’ (which on my screen is on the right-hand side, but may display differently on your tablet/phone etc.) where it says ‘Join the conversation!’
That’s quite a long way down the page, but the ‘Join the conversation!’ widget shows you the latest comments, and where they can be found. Click the links to read them. Then join in, if you have something to add.
COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE by clicking on that link, scrolling down to the bottom, and filling in the comments form.
N.b. Comments aren’t normally visible immediately, as we get loads of automated spam, stuff you wouldn’t want to see, which I weed out manually each day. But all genuine comments will be published, even if it takes a few hours or a day or so, even if they’re daft.
Now, ask a question or have your say by COMMENTING ON THIS ARTICLE.
Gotta go scrape pasta off the wall. Alla prossima settimana!
Ebook of the Week, ‘Le tante facce del futuro (B1/2)’, £4.99
This week’s half-price eBook ‘easy reader’ offer is the B1/B2 (intermediate/upper-intermediate) -level ‘Le tante facce del futuro‘, eight short stories based on the use of the Italian future tense.
A politician, a prisoner, a child in hospital: a cast of characters imagine what the future holds for them in these eight short stories based on the use of the Italian future tense (plus, a riddle to solve!)
- .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
- .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
- 8 chapters to read and listen to
- Comprehension questions to check your understanding
- Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
- Suitable for students at intermediate level and above
- Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
Remember, this week ‘Le tante facce del futuro‘ is 50% discounted, so just £4.99 rather than the usual ‘easy reader’ ebook price of £9.99!
Buy ‘Le tante facce del futuro‘ just £4.99! | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Catalog
Find more ebooks, organised by level, then type: A1 | A1/A2 | A2 | A2/B1 | B1 | B1/B2 | B2 | B2/C1 | C1 | C1/C2 | C2
How do I access my ebook?
When your order is ‘completed’ (normally immediately after your payment), a download link will be automatically emailed to you. It’s valid for 7 days and 3 download attempts so please save a copy of the .pdf ebook in a safe place. Other versions of the ebook, where available, cannot be downloaded but will be emailed to people who request them. There’s a space to do that on the order form – where it says Additional information, Order notes (optional). If you forget, or if you have problems downloading the .pdf, don’t worry! Email us at the address on the website and we’ll help. Also, why not check out our FAQ?
P.S.
And of course, don’t forget to read/listen to yesterday’s bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news, a fantastic, FREE way to consolidate the grammar and vocabulary you’ve studied, as well as to improve your Italian reading and listening comprehension skills!
Better still, subscribe (also FREE) and so get all three text + audio bulletins of ‘easy’ news emailed to you each week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Just enter your email address on this page and click the confirmation link that will be emailed to you.
Or visit their website and get started immediately!
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OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | Shop (ebooks) | Shop (online lessons)
Felice says
Just a thought. Next time an offer on Native Speaker Teachers comes around, how about an article on getting the best results from a conversational lesson (i.e. like those you take for Swedish)? Mea Colpa if you’ve already done one; you can just add a hyperlink instead. Grazie
Daniel says
I’ve done things like that, but not specifically for conversation, as not everyone wants that.
Start me off, Felice. How would you define ‘best results from a conversation lesson’?
I can think of lots of different critea, so what are yours?
Julie Morris says
Hello, I live in Italy and I find understanding spoken Italian very difficult. I listen to the language almost every day in one way or another. (radio, tv or ‘live’) so I completely understand your correspondents struggles.
I don’t have an answer or even advice, I only wanted to say that it’s a common difficulty but one that I will overcome, one day!!
Daniel says
Your determination is admiral, Julie, but it’s certainly not the case that all ‘migrants’ end up with native-speaker-like listening comprehension skills. In my experience, people just get used to not understanding, so stop noticing it.
For what it’s worth, I’ve lived in Italy for more than 25 years and at a certain point – comparatively recently – started feeling fairly at home listening to the language. However, that also conincided with getting a little deaf, spending more of my time speaking Italian to small animals, and having a stroke.
For whatever reason, I still find myself not getting what’s being said, and asking the speaker to repeat, even with my wife and with one of my kids, who speaks quietly and slurs. And I virtually never hear/understand what my brother-in-law is saying. But listening to the radio in Italian isn’t any harder than in English. Go figure…
Diane Horban says
Ciao Daniel. Patricia’s August 30 comment and your reply gave me the boost to reevaluate my Italian learning routine. I was stuck in a repeating loop using free Duolingo as one of my varied language learning tools. After reading “Lacune” , which is very similar to my Italian learning, I moved forward. Instead of my morning routine to use a repeated Duolingo lesson, I’m continuing my listening learning with the Easy Readers I bought from you and the summer series. Today is day 2 of my new routine and I am challenged by this change but will persevere. In addition, I’ve downloaded your amazing free offer of the BEST OF EIN to use for my Italian language learning. With appreciation.
Daniel says
Perhaps you saw this, Diane?
https://onlineitalianclub.com/ciao-ciao-little-owl/
It’s about learning a language by reading, and Duolingo features – both the pros and cons…
Good luck with your new approach, but if it doesn’t work out for you, change something. What above speaking? Are you doing any live speaking? It doesn’t have to cost money, and makes a world of difference.
Diane Horban says
Ciao Daniel, Thanks for the link to the little owl site which I reread. Their use of competition with others or oneself is addictive. When my consecutive day number of lessons used reached 365 days, it was very difficult to sever ties. But I am 2 days FREE and focusing on listening skills which is more difficult than reading Italian. Yes, I speak weekly with my cousin in Italy who is very patient with my language skills; she only speaks Italian. I rediscovered the RAI radio link you suggested in one of your newsletters – https://www.raiplaysound.it/ This is replacing Duolingo. So a heartfelt thank you for your words of wisdom and boatload of materials to learn the Italian language. Grazie mille. Diane H.