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Italian in 4 months

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18 messages over 3 pages: 1 2
vogue
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4260 days ago

109 posts - 181 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish
Studies: Ukrainian

 
 Message 17 of 18
26 June 2013 at 9:11pm | IP Logged 
So I'm terrible at updating logs, but I felt in light of a milestone I should do some housekeeping in this log
and really make sure to stick with it so I can see what I've done in the future for when I tackle my next
language (I'm already eying French). However, as I'm now consistently testing at B1 on CEFR practice tests, I feel
an update is in order.

Pimsleur: My level grew too high for pimsleur, and the lessons became boring. I realized when I could produce
the sentences before I was told how to it was time to move on to a new program. I got to level 27 of Pimsleur II.

Assimil: I did, indeed, abandon this one as well. However, I may very well try Assimil again when I move onto my
next language. (French, Hebrew, Farsi, Russian... so many choices).

Easy Reader: I read a few of these, but then got bored (I am noticing a theme). I stuck to Harry Potter and finished
books 1 and 2. I now have several native materials that I'm slowly working through (i quattro canti di Palermo and
Fimmine Ribelle). I am also reading some translated material on the side, because I find it easier to get through (I
switch between 1000 Splendidi Soli and the Hunger Games).

Anki: LOVE THIS PROGRAM. I finally shelled out the $25 for the ipad/iphone app as well - though I wasn't happy
about that price. It's wonderful, and I did stick to learning 100 new words a day until my deck of 2000 was
empty. I retained many of these words. Right now I'm on 50 "new" words a day. I don't think this is for everyone,
but more importantly it's not for every language. If I were studying a more difficult language I think this number
would be 10.

My current weaknesses right now are grammar, and writing. I have an ever increasing passive knowledge, but my
active skills are lacking. Reading EMK's log has convinced me to start writing on lang-8. I'm already overwhelmed
with the amount of writing I need to do, but so be it. My goal is a modest 50-100 words a day. I do, however,
understand 'ne' much better and can use it!

My new "show" to watch in Italian is "Catfish." There aren't many episodes available, but I understand it
enough to ENJOY watching it. I think when I'm done with it I'll move to more trashy MTV, because the
language is not exactly academic. I need to try 16 and Pregnant again, but I watched it briefly when I first
arrived and only understood some conversations - not nearly as much as with Catfish. That was 3 weeks
ago in a semi-immersion enviroment, so it's possible now I'll be stronger.

I also enjoy watching Italian dubbs of "Peppa Pig" with the girl I au pair for. I understand almost all of it in
Italian, but I struggle with kids shows in general because of the strange voices. There's a Bert & Ernie
cartoon here that I don't understand at all because of the weird voices.

I still do not understand much of native media, but I'm getting better with dubbed materials - sometimes up to
100% comprehension on simple things. For example, I watched X-Factor USA last night in Italian with my
hosts, and I don't think I'd had to ask any questions about what was being said. However, we watched a
native Italian MTV documentary in Italian and I did need to ask for clarification multiple times. We also
watched 'Tutta La Vita Davanti' and I only understood main points of conversations. Most intricacies were
lost on me.

One of the most enjoyable things I do is go out and speak Italian with people my age, students and camp
counselors. It's wonderful, and the people are also wonderful!


Edited by vogue on 27 June 2013 at 12:44am

1 person has voted this message useful



vogue
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4260 days ago

109 posts - 181 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish
Studies: Ukrainian

 
 Message 18 of 18
22 July 2013 at 9:08am | IP Logged 
I bought 50 Ways to Improve your Italian after much hemming and hawing, and I have to say, I'm pleasantly
surprised. I try to get through at least 1 chapter a day, but often times I go through more if I'm already quite
comfortable with the concept presented (such as capitalization, or timing).

Also, I placed into my university's Intermediate Italian II class today. The 4th out of the 5 levels offered. I am happy.

Edited by vogue on 22 July 2013 at 9:25am

1 person has voted this message useful



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