Italian in 4 months (Language Learning Log) Language Learning Forum

Italian in 4 months
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18 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3 Next >>

vogue
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4256 days ago
109 posts - 181 votes

Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish
Studies: Ukrainian

Message 1 of 18

11 April 2013 at 6:30pm | IP Logged

Adventures in Italian:

MILESTONE:

04-08-2013: Leave italy

-------
So, I've decided to embark on a journey of hitting a B2 level in Italian in 4 months. This might be an
ambitious goal, as I would describe myself as having reached 'B2' in Spanish only after years of poor
Spanish classes in school, living in Spain, and 5 months living and teaching in my TL. Were it not for forced
immersion I'd probably have dropped Spanish altogether.

However, I think if I study, I can do it better with Italian especially given the closeness of the two languages
- which may also work against me at time. Starting from zero I understood the main 'concepts' when I
heard Italian people converse (I.E the general topic of discussion, and the tone of the discussion).

At this point, after a few weeks of study, I am conversing with Italians in a Spanish-Italian mix. However,
I'm understanding them better than I was before I began studying. I'm encouraged by my small gains right
now, as my Italian acquaintances are being very encouraging and speaking slowly and clearly until I
understand.

Here's my current strategy:
Listen to Pimsleur I-IV (maybe stop at III). Right now I'm comfortably getting through
1-2 lessons a day, having to repeat a less maybe once in a week if I wasn't paying enough attention the
first time through. I will be going to Italy on the 19th of April, and by then I want to be done with level I
and start on level II (I'm on L21 of U1 right now). Not that this is overly helpful it'll at least allow me to ask
Italians on dates apparently. I hope to finish them all within 2 months before my next trip...

Work through my Easy Italian Reader within the next month - this might be too ambitious, but I will have
to see as I progress. Of course looking up and adding any unknown words to my anki "book"
vocabulary.

anki - I have a lot of flash card lists on anki. Perhaps this isn't the best technique. I have my "easy reader"
vocab, and then 'nouns,' 'verbs,' 'adjectives,' and 'other.' I think I might also add a 'phrases' set for those
full phrases I'm just dying to remember.

Practical practice - my living situation brings me in close contact with Italians, and
when I see them I will make it a point to practice. I also am going to Italy next week and while there I will
speak as much Italian as possible - and as Im going to visit an Italian friend he should also speak Italian
with me. If strangers default to English I'm going to pretend I do not speak it or something. Also, I'm
applying to be an au pair this summer in Italy, and it looks like I may potentially get a position for 1-3
months. Although I'd likely be speaking English while working I could use my free time to practice. This
last bit could definitely push me up if I hit an A2 or B1 before going home depending on how much
practice I get.

Assimil - I'm considering getting assimil and working through it. I am unsure.

Reading - I will be picking up Harry Potter book 1 next week, and I hope to finish that by June or July.

Challenges:

If I push too hard I may be burnt out, or more likely, I've maybe set my expectations
too high.

Other languages:
My Arabic and Hebrew are on the backburner, unfortunately for them. My Spanish is still
regularly worked (a majority of my friends are Spanish speakers). By the end of the year though I'd like to
finish reading La Siciliana in Spanish.

Edited by vogue on 22 July 2013 at 10:56am
2 persons have voted this message useful

vilas
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Italy
Joined 6962 days ago
531 posts - 722 votes

Speaks: Spanish, Italian*, English, French, Portuguese

Message 2 of 18

11 April 2013 at 7:02pm | IP Logged

Italian and Spanish have a lexical affinity .
When spoken slowly a certain degree of mutual intelligibility.
You have to study the "false friends" between the two languages .
There are more "true friends" indeed .

http://hyperpolyglotte.com/aprende_italiano/voca_fa_it_es.ph p
1 person has voted this message useful

renaissancemedi
Bilingual Triglot
Senior Member
Greece
Joined 4360 days ago
941 posts - 1309 votes

Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, English^C2
Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew

Message 3 of 18

11 April 2013 at 7:06pm | IP Logged

Welcome. I have also started a similar journey and I am very optimistic. I am sure you'll progress in no time at all!
1 person has voted this message useful

vogue
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4256 days ago
109 posts - 181 votes

Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish
Studies: Ukrainian

Message 4 of 18

11 April 2013 at 8:11pm | IP Logged

I have already seen some false friends for sure, and sometimes my expectations of what should be right is wrong.
As it turns out you can JUST Italianfy some words facil > facile or andar > andare, but I've also discovered that
definitely doesn't work with everything! Though, even then you can sort of here the two languages came from the
same roots with some words. I.E ser and assere.

Unfortunately the link doesn't work though.

And good luck renaissancemedi! I'm sure you will too.
1 person has voted this message useful

vilas
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Italy
Joined 6962 days ago
531 posts - 722 votes

Speaks: Spanish, Italian*, English, French, Portuguese

Message 5 of 18

11 April 2013 at 9:33pm | IP Logged

Sorry
try again these links or go to google and write "falsos amigos Italiano espanol"

http://hyperpolyglotte.com/aprende_italiano/voca_fa_it_es.ph p

http://www.inspagnolo.it/2013/02/i-principali-falsos-amigos- spagnoli.html
1 person has voted this message useful

JohannaNYC
Bilingual Triglot
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4454 days ago
251 posts - 361 votes

Speaks: Spanish*, English*, Italian
Studies: Croatian, Serbian, Arabic (Egyptian)

Message 6 of 18

11 April 2013 at 10:16pm | IP Logged

Depending on your Spanish level and how much time you have to study, 4 months should be
more than enough. I started studying Italian in December and I'm already at B2 for
speaking/understanding.
I would suggest doing Paul Noble first so you can start answering to your friends in
Italian right away. Unfortunately, the female providing the answers in Italian is
obviously not a native speaker so you'll have to fix your pronunciation and accent with
Assimil and Pimsleur and of course with your friends. And then you can go back to Arabic
in no time :)

Edited by JohannaNYC on 11 April 2013 at 10:18pm
1 person has voted this message useful

vogue
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4256 days ago
109 posts - 181 votes

Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish
Studies: Ukrainian

Message 7 of 18

14 April 2013 at 3:20am | IP Logged

Well today, just to see where I was after 25 lessons of Pimsleur, and some other Italian studying, by taking a
quick and unofficial test online that grades on the CEFR scale.

I flew through A1 - though I could tell there were many words not in my active vocabulary, but I understood in
my passive vocabulary. I then took a beginner test on the BBC which analyzed my speaking, reading,
writing, and listening scores which was interesting. Here are the percents of correct answers:
Reading - 75%
Listening - 85%
writing - 40%
speaking - 79%
I think there were only a few writing questions, but I found that although I knew the word I wasn't QUITE sure
how to spell it. So I definitely need to focus on improving those skills.

I decided to try a harder level of listening, which I got a 100% on. That makes sense, because at the
European bookstore today I understood a lot of what the two cashiers were saying to each other. I also
understood a bit of what the two girls at H&M were saying as (no surprise) the majority of the conversation was;
"those are pretty." or "How much?"

So basically, it's clear I need to start moving some of what I "understand" (which is almost certainly from Spanish)
to what I can use.

Edited by vogue on 14 April 2013 at 3:22am
1 person has voted this message useful

vogue
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4256 days ago
109 posts - 181 votes

Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish
Studies: Ukrainian

Message 8 of 18

14 April 2013 at 4:07am | IP Logged

vilas wrote:

Oh great, thanks! This is a big help!

I actually remember my Spanish friends (who are friends with my Italian friends) explaining the confusion over
olio/aceto/vinagre/aceite.

1 person has voted this message useful

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