Best way to learn Italian?

[Aemma]

Okay I thought I'd ask, well, here! :D

So what is the best way for a Canadian to learn Italian so she and her husband can go to Italy and then Cres and Beli one day?

Please help me learn this gorgeous language! :)

[Chronos]

Okay I thought I'd ask, well, here! :D

So what is the best way for a Canadian to learn Italian so she and her husband can go to Italy and then Cres and Beli one day?

Please help me learn this gorgeous language! :)

if you need someone in person, a community college class is a good way to get the ball rolling. Youtube videos also help. An Italian friend is the only way to maximize your learning, probably (e.g. fastest).

[Comte Arnau]

Just learn Italian the way people learn English all around the world: with cheesy songs!! :p

Lesson 1: the days of the week. :)


60BD3CX6y6g

[Peyrol]

Okay I thought I'd ask, well, here! :D

So what is the best way for a Canadian to learn Italian so she and her husband can go to Italy and then Cres and Beli one day?

Please help me learn this gorgeous language! :)

For you, as french canadian, wouldn't be difficult.

Conversation with a native language speaker would be a good option, plus....listen many songs, watch italian tv, read newspapers, comics, etc...



Leggere e postare nella sezione italiana di Apricity potrebbe anche essere una buona opzione, non credi? :D

[Aemma]

For you, as french canadian, wouldn't be difficult.

Conversation with a native language speaker would be a good option, plus....listen many songs, watch italian tv, read newspapers, comics, etc...



Leggere e postare nella sezione italiana di Apricity potrebbe anche essere una buona opzione, non credi? :D

^ Uh oh! Je dois utiliser Google Translator pour ceci! :D

Thank you Tribuno. :) Yes I'm thinking that it should not be terribly difficult for me to learn. I did take Spanish in high school and I didn't have difficulties with it either. I am so looking forward to starting something/somewhere though. So thank you very much for the suggestions. :)

There is some Italian television programming on Sunday mornings that we get here in my city but which originate from Toronto. The problem with this, I understand from Italians who are not Italian Canadians, is that it is not very authentic Italian however. :shrug:

But I will try to get immersed as best as I can! Thank you!

Ciao! :D

[Corraidh]

Watching Italian TV is a good idea.

I got most of my French from watching Habs games on RDS.:laugh:

[Mordid]

Rosetta stone demo.

[Padre Organtino]

I agree with Trubuno. When I went to Italy I was able to understand some stuff just due to knowing French (and my Frenc is teerribly far from perfect). So I think you can accomplish that without much difficulty.:thumb001:

[BiałaZemsta]

Berlitz intensive immersion. I have taken it for Polish, (for about 2 years) and I am now at the point where I understand everything when I hear it spoken. I can also speak fluently. Give it a try. Also it is important to note that I was in a course one on one with an instructor. Worth all the money.

[Aemma]

Watching Italian TV is a good idea.

I got most of my French from watching Habs games on RDS.:laugh:

WOOT! Another Habs fan! DR will be happy! :thumbs up

Thank gods you're not one of those hideous Maple Larfs fans! :D

[Radojica]

Important is that your trip don't turn into something like this :D

JAFQFvSPhQ8

[Corraidh]

WOOT! Another Habs fan! DR will be happy! :thumbs up

Thank gods you're not one of those hideous Maple Larfs fans! :D
:D

My father is a Laughs fan. Last Saturday was a fun night!:laugh:

[Radojica]

Rosetta stone demo.

/Serbian mode on/
I have Rosetta stone and use it for Russian and Spanish... I downloaded it using torrents and have the site of it
/Serbian mode off/

I think you Westerners have something called copyrights so I rather won't post it :o

[Aemma]

Important is that your trip don't turn into something like this :D

JAFQFvSPhQ8

I laughed so hard I thought I was gonna peace my pants! :D

[poiuytrewq0987]

/Serbian mode on/
I have Rosetta stone and use it for Russian and Spanish... I downloaded it using torrents and have the site of it
/Serbian mode off/

I think you Westerners have something called copyrights so I rather won't post it :o

Using a VPN to hide your online identity helps. Either ipredator.se or hidemyass.com :laugh:

[Peyrol]

^ Uh oh! Je dois utiliser Google Translator pour ceci! :D

Thank you Tribuno. :) Yes I'm thinking that it should not be terribly difficult for me to learn. I did take Spanish in high school and I didn't have difficulties with it either. I am so looking forward to starting something/somewhere though. So thank you very much for the suggestions. :)

There is some Italian television programming on Sunday mornings that we get here in my city but which originate from Toronto. The problem with this, I understand from Italians who are not Italian Canadians, is that it is not very authentic Italian however. :shrug:

But I will try to get immersed as best as I can! Thank you!

Ciao! :D

Umh...no, italian spoken by italian canadians is very far from modern standard italian (i had some "bad" experience with italian-canadian speech both in summer 2006 and winter 2008 in Montreal :laugh:)

You should, perhaps using streaming online, watch italian TV programs produced by italian television networks.

Another option would be watching movies in french with Italian subtitles, could be very useful.


Ah, don't forget the regional variations of the italian language (i'm not talking about dialects, but the minimal variations of the language in different places)...for example, i'm used to say "tombare" to say "to fall", while in standard italian the word is "cadere". When i'm in Lombardy, in my mom's native village and i say tombare, nobody is able to understand me.:p

[supergiovane]

leave your husband and flirt with an italian guy like me?
no seriously, watch subbed italian movies. unfortunately present day italian films are bad, the golden age of italian cinema was from 1950s to 1970s.

[Comte Arnau]

You should, perhaps using streaming online, watch italian TV programs produced by italian television networks.

Maybe listening to Hollywood movies dubbed into standard Italian would be better than watching shows with accidentally naked veline. Cosa ne pensi? :D

[Bard]

Umh...no, italian spoken by italian canadians is very far from modern standard italian (i had some "bad" experience with italian-canadian speech both in summer 2006 and winter 2008 in Montreal :laugh:)

You should, perhaps using streaming online, watch italian TV programs produced by italian television networks.

Another option would be watching movies in french with Italian subtitles, could be very useful.


Ah, don't forget the regional variations of the italian language (i'm not talking about dialects, but the minimal variations of the language in different places)...for example, i'm used to say "tombare" to say "to fall", while in standard italian the word is "cadere". When i'm in Lombardy, in my mom's native village and i say tombare, nobody is able to understand me.:p

Tombare is pretty close to the french word for "to fall" :D
I am wondering about which region speaks the best italian, I mean, the closest to the correct and standard italian.

[Bard]

Maybe listening to Hollywood movies dubbed into standard Italian would be better than watching shows with accidentally naked veline. Cosa ne pensi? :D

Yeah, italian television is pretty crappy. Have you seen any italian show?
I also agree on the hollywood movies idea, italian dubbing is excellent which is good for strangers but terrible for us, since we never watch a movie in its original language.

[Comte Arnau]

Tombare is pretty close to the french word for "to fall" :D
I am wondering about which region speaks the best italian, I mean, the closest to the correct and standard italian.

Tombare, tomber in French, tombar in Catalan... In Spanish, tumbar rather means 'to cause to fall'.

Standard Italian is theoretically based on literary Tuscan (Florentine), without the gorgia and other modern localisms. I guess that Romanesco might have influenced the present speech somehow, but I leave it for Italians to say.


Yeah, italian television is pretty crappy. Have you seen any italian show?
I also agree on the hollywood movies idea, italian dubbing is excellent which is good for strangers but terrible for us, since we never watch a movie in its original language.

I used to more than I do today. Maybe it's changed now, but I doubt it.

Dubbing is very good in Italy, Catalonia, Spain, France and Germany. I know dubbing is harshly criticized by many, specially by actors themselves, despite the fact that often dubbers improve their original voices and can make a bad movie look a bit decent. :D

[Chronos]

My mother was watching Hungarian cartoons yesterday, so this reminded me:

Watch Italian cartoons (for kids). Its one of the best ways to learn/remember a language quite fast if you know the basics.

[Flintlocke]

Cartoons, movies, songs, but you must keep a notebook and write down words, or buy an Italian learning method somewhere. The best is those big TV shows, very hot girls too ;)

[King Fingolfin]

You should attend a class in a school of Italian language (like e.g. the Goethe Institute for German language) or take private lessons from a teacher. Anyway, if you are really motivated to learn Italian you could self-teach it with the aid of a person already know the language. Anyway a grammar book is a must. Concerning listening, Italian movies and movies dubbed into Italian.

[Aemma]

You should attend a class in a school of Italian language (like e.g. the Goethe Institute for German language) or take private lessons from a teacher. Anyway, if you are really motivated to learn Italian you could self-teach it with the aid of a person already know the language. Anyway a grammar book is a must. Concerning listening, Italian movies and movies dubbed into Italian.

Ahh a grammar book. Have you one to recommend please? :)

[Aemma]

Cartoons, movies, songs, but you must keep a notebook and write down words, or buy an Italian learning method somewhere. The best is those big TV shows, very hot girls too ;)

LOL Well gimme hot guys and we've a deal! :D :P

[Aemma]

Umh...no, italian spoken by italian canadians is very far from modern standard italian (i had some "bad" experience with italian-canadian speech both in summer 2006 and winter 2008 in Montreal :laugh:)

You should, perhaps using streaming online, watch italian TV programs produced by italian television networks.

Another option would be watching movies in french with Italian subtitles, could be very useful.


Ah, don't forget the regional variations of the italian language (i'm not talking about dialects, but the minimal variations of the language in different places)...for example, i'm used to say "tombare" to say "to fall", while in standard italian the word is "cadere". When i'm in Lombardy, in my mom's native village and i say tombare, nobody is able to understand me.:p


Ahh see! Tombare I would intuitively get since it sounds just like the French "tomber". Cadere I would have to think about a bit more but if I think of the word "cadence" it would make some sense. [Ahh see! I just looked at the etymology of the word "cadence" and I was right, from Latin meaning "to fall"--so my gut sense is working fine! :D]

Great ideas, Tribuno. Thank you! :)

[Aemma]

leave your husband and flirt with an italian guy like me?no seriously, watch subbed italian movies. unfortunately present day italian films are bad, the golden age of italian cinema was from 1950s to 1970s.

Well with a name like supergiovane, I don't see how a woman could resist! ;) :D

Hmm maybe I need to find some good Gina Lollobrigida or Sophia Loren movies. :) Who was that nice male Italian actor from that era? Do you guys remember?

[Magyar the Conqueror]

Watch Italian TV, listen to Italian radio stations while browsing the web, etc etc.
But of course, the best way is to live in that country, nothing else can compare. :)

A good way is to interact with the locals, go to some romantic little town/village and go for a walk with your husband :)

When I went to Italy, I interacted with a lot of friendly locals, etc etc, was quite nice. I don't know any Italian, only a bit of French, but after a while of arm waving I began to understand :D

[Peyrol]

Ahh see! Tombare I would intuitively get since it sounds just like the French "tomber". Cadere I would have to think about a bit more but if I think of the word "cadence" it would make some sense. [Ahh see! I just looked at the etymology of the word "cadence" and I was right, from Latin meaning "to fall"--so my gut sense is working fine! :D]

Great ideas, Tribuno. Thank you! :)

Italian spoken in Torino (my city) is full of francesism/provencalisms due to the piedmonteis and arpitan languages, not surprising.:D

(if you want hear piedmonteis, watch and listen this :D)

3UI-ImLwlnA



About the experiences with italian canadians...no, they weren't bad, it's only because they spoke a very old sounding italian, and many of them only an old sounding sicilian.
I'll don't ever ask information to italocanadians in rue Jean-Talon :D

[Aemma]

Italian spoken in Torino (my city) is full of francesism/provencalisms due to the piedmonteis and arpitan languages, not surprising.:D

(if you want hear piedmonteis, watch and listen this :D)

3UI-ImLwlnA



About the experiences with italian canadians...no, they weren't bad, it's only because they spoke a very old sounding italian, and many of them only an old sounding sicilian.
I'll don't ever ask information to italocanadians in rue Jean-Talon :D

LMAO! I suspect that a Frenchman would not ask a Quebecois either! :D

The Old World and the New World...never the twain shall meet! ;) :D

Oh and grazie for the above btw Tribuno! :)

[SaxonCeorl]

As far as Italian language films go, I've found these for free on the internet:

Roma, citta aperta: http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/tuner.php?channel=950&format=tv&theme=guide

Il Bidone: http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/tuner.php?channel=794&format=movie&theme=guide

If you have Netflix, they have:

(Fellini) Satyricon (really weird :p)
8 1/2

[Aemma]

As far as Italian language films go, I've found these for free on the internet:

Roma, citta aperta: http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/tuner.php?channel=950&format=tv&theme=guide

Il Bidone: http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/tuner.php?channel=794&format=movie&theme=guide

If you have Netflix, they have:

(Fellini) Satyricon (really weird :p)
8 1/2

Ahh! Fellini in his native tongue! Now even more reason to get Netflix! Thx Sax. I hadn't thought of that! :)