Italian speaking practice and grammar tutoring
Two weeks ago I wrote a blog post focusing on the Italian nouns that derive from books and theatre plays, today I am exploring the same topic but with a focus on adjectives.
I couldn’t sleep, a few nights ago, and I started thinking about our (ex)Prime Minister – not exactly the right thought to go back to sleep, I know – and I said to myself: “È proprio un azzeccagarbugli“. This weird word comes from Alessandro Manzoni’s I promessi sposi and made me think of all the Italian words that have similar origins.
I have seen many students struggle with this topic. In some cases, they were even advanced students who could use the congiuntivo quite confidently, for example, but would still stumble upon the choice of when to use imperfetto or passato prossimo.
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this sentence. This is what a lot of people tell me when they contact me for speaking practice but it is also what I am told by my students and what I read in comments and messages here and there.
I am blessed with many students and passionate followers and this means I am frequently asked for general advice about studying Italian or for tips and ideas to make language practice more effective.
Even when it was only used to share photos, it was a great way to learn new words, improve vocabulary, or practice reading comprehension. Nowadays, with Instagram Stories, Ig Tv, and Reels, it is literally packed with useful content you can use to improve your language skills.
I have decided to do it because, while answering emails requiring more information about the service, I have realized that some of the tips I gave can be applied to language learning in general, and I thought they might be useful for all students.
It just takes some time to memorize all the different pronouns but their use is very straightforward. The same can be said for indirect object pronouns but things become a bit more complicated when you need to figure out whether to use one or the other.
Some of you may remember the Italian writing challenge, back in February. It was a challenge I created to encourage students to practice their writing skills in Italian by doing some daily tasks.
Fluency in a foreign language doesn’t happen overnight, unfortunately, but it takes years and years. In most cases, it takes all your life to master a language, and actually, that process never ends.
