Many people believe that if you study enough Italian grammar, learn enough Italian words, you’ll be able to speak Italian.
Guess that’s because of the way languages used to be taught in schools, with little focus on communicative skills like listening and speaking.
This conviction tends not to persist long though, especially once you start an Italian course or self-study program.
It becomes obvious quickly that understanding spoken Italian is NOT just a function of knowing grammar and vocabulary. You also need experience dealing with the rapid stream of strange sounds (and concepts!) And of managing the ebb and flow of conversation, switching from understanding what the other person is saying to replying appropriately.
An essential, but often neglected, component of learning to ‘speak’ a language is listening practice. You’ll need lots of it, literally hundreds of hours of new material, assuming you want to reach a level in which you are able to chat away autonomously about day-to-day subjects.
Which is why OnlineItalianClub.com focuses on providing fresh new listening practice material, like today’s intermediate level exercise.
It’s quite a tough one, even for students with an intermediate level, so be willing to listen a few times before scrolling down to the transcript to check your answers.
P.S.
Listening is half the battle, and you can get that part sorted with our free materials, or with easy Italian readers (which have audio too.)
For the other half though, you’ll need someone to practice speaking with, ideally a native-speaker. Better still if that person is an experienced teacher of Italian as a foreign language!
You’ve probably realised where I’m heading with this – visit our shop for more information about online Italian lessons!
