A couple of months ago, I launched a challenge called Pausa Caffè.
The goal of the challenge was to get people to speak a little Italian every day, in order to help them improve their speaking skills and their self-confidence. In fact, many students not living in Italy have multiple opportunities to work on their reading, listening, and comprehension skills but not very many chances to speak the language.
Since this a very common problem for students and something that makes them really frustrated, I have come up with the idea of creating a challenge that gets students to speak Italian every day, forcing them – gently, of course! – to say something in Italian on a daily basis.
So I have created Pausa Caffè, a month-long challenge to help students of Italian overcome their fear of speaking the language and become more confident when they have to use it.
The challenge took place in February and that’s how it worked: students who signed up received a daily video from me with a question they had to answer. For each answer I received, I gave them feedback or corrected some errors, if needed.
Questions were really simple conversational ones, exactly the type of questions you may need to use if you are chatting with a friend or somebody you don’t know. I wanted to keep things simple and easy, so that students wouldn’t find it too difficult to reply every day. After all, the main goal of the challenge was just to speak, nothing else.
When the challenge was over, at the end of February, I received a lot of positive feedback from students who participated. Some of them told me that it was a great opportunity for them to speak Italian every day, which they had always found hard to do, and that by speaking they started feeling more confident.
A student told me she was very surprised at how better she felt about having to speak Italian at the end of the challenge. Some other student was happy because the question she received every day made her think in Italian all day, while she was getting ready to answer.
Some other person recently told me he misses having to speak Italian every day and is already feeling a difference. All this positive feedback and the fact that some students asked me to continue with the challenge made me decide that it was time for a new edition of Pausa Caffè!
So, this is all to say that your chance to speak Italian every day is back! I have created a new program and tried to make it interesting both for recurring students and for new ones. So you can participate if you have already attended Pausa Caffè in February but also if you are totally new to the challenge.
As it was for the first edition of Pausa Caffè, it is a way to make you practice Italian every day but at the same time, it will be easy and short to avoid any pressure or anxiety, so that you can approach your speaking fears, if any, in a calm and relaxed way.
As you may already know, the challenge is called Pausa Caffè because a coffee break doesn’t last more than ten minutes and this is exactly the amount of time you need to work on this challenge daily. As a matter of fact, each video you’ll get won’t be more than two minutes long and that’s also the maximum length of your reply. But let’s see things in detail.
How does it work?
It’s super easy: you sign up to Pausa Caffè and you get a video every day for one month. Each video will contain a question for you and an idea for a possible answer. You have to reply to that question – in audio or video form – with your answer. I will then watch the video and send you an audio file with comments or suggestions. Some days you won’t get a question yet some other content – it is a way to give you a little break during the challenge.
When does it start?
It starts on Tuesday, April 6 and ends on Sunday, May 2. In that period, you will get an email every day with a video recorded by me. Each video will never be more than 2 minutes long, so that it will super easy and quick for you to watch it. I will use VideoAsk, which is a platform that gives you the chance of chatting via asynchronous videos.
How much does it cost?
It’s 45 USD, which is more or less 37 Euros, just a bit more than the cost of one coffee a day.
What will you get?
– the chance to speak Italian consistently, every day
– a safe and relaxed environment – your own home – where you can speak freely
– tips and recommendations to improve your speaking skills
– a bit more confidence when speaking Italian
Let’s summarize:
– Pausa Caffè is a challenge to make you speak Italian daily, for a month
– it begins on April 6 and ends on May 2.
– every day you get a video with a question that you need to answer with a video or audio file (some days you won’t get a question yet some other content – it is a way to give you a little break).
– for every daily answer you send me, you will get an audio reply from me with a comment or a suggestion
– it costs 45 USD, which is just a bit more than the cost of a daily coffee for a month, here in Italy
– it won’t be back again soon, so grab it while you can!
You have time until April 3 to sign up. If you have questions or need more information, just send me an email at cinzia@instantlyitaly.com. [The challenge is now closed, it will be back soon].
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