What to do if (when) the listening exercise is too hard

Someone wrote to me this week and mentioned that the B2 listening exercise she received by email was too hard.

Could I please send something easier?

OK, OK, perhaps I didn’t explain myself very well…

Here at OnlineItalianClub.com we commission young Italian teachers to produce exercises and so on, and publish them, one by one, three times a week. Every week of the year.

If you’re a member (that means you’re on our mailing list), you’ll get an article like this one via email on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with a link to each new exercise.

But get this: suppose we’re publishing something advanced, like today. Well, clearly, that’s not going to be suitable for a lot of people, is it?

No worries, as our Australian members might say. The regular, 3-times a week stuff, is simply our way of:

1. keeping you interested, and
2. adding to our VAST library of materials, all of which you can access any time you want!

So, today we’re doing a C1 (advanced) exercise. But there’ll be a link to the already published material at different levels, so if you are a beginner or an intermediate level student, you’ll be able to click right through to something more suitable for you.

See?

Let’s practice that. Imgine you just started reading. This is what you’d normally see:

Buongiorno a tutti!

Here’s our latest Italian listening exercise, and boy, this is a toughie!

The level is a good C1 (today we’re starting a series of 8 C1 – Advanced exercises), so don’t freak out! In any case, it’ll be good practice, and there’s a transcript provided, so even if you can’t understand a word the first time you listen, you can always listen again while following the transcript…

Remember too that, as you might have heard, Italians tend to speak quickly and use plenty of words you’re not familiar with.

So better get used to it here, amongst friends!

All right, ready to give it a go?

• Click here for today’s exercise

• Find materials at other levels here

 

OK, got that? That’s how the typical email goes.

Saw the links to today’s exercise? And the ‘all levels‘ link?

Then you’re ‘a posto’, as Italians would say.

Buono studio, and good luck with the C1 exercise!

P.S.

Don’t forget that Monday should see the launch of our new easy Italian reader ‘Ladri di biciclette‘. We’ve got a bit of a glitch with the audio, but should have it sorted for you by then…

In the meantime, check out our online shop. Remember, revenues from your purchases are what fund our new materials. Virtuous circle: you spend, you get, you get some more!