|
 |
Moving from A2 in a language | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| DarrenDaka Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4585 days ago 28 posts - 31 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 1 of 5 22 May 2013 at 12:25am | IP Logged |
|
Hey guys, I know I have posted a similar post before. I am just wondering how to move
from A2 in a language. I have a basic grounding in Italian grammar and vocabulary but I want to move on from an A2 level now because eventually I want a C1 level in Italian. Edited by DarrenDaka on 22 May 2013 at 12:29am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Paco Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 4088 days ago 145 posts - 251 votes  Speaks: Cantonese* | Message 2 of 5 22 May 2013 at 1:33am | IP Logged |
|
If you are at A2, I think the followings should be most beneficial.
Further Textbook studies with audio: This should be the core of your learning at this stage. I believe textbooks plus audio support can bring your passive understandings up to the level you desire. I cannot recommend any specific textbooks or manuals as you only provide limited information about yourself. Examples of popular methods are "Assimil", "Pimsleur" and "Teach Yourself". Graded readers: If you think textbooks alone are dry, graded readers are perfect companions to your studies. These readers are specifically designed for learners at respective levels, which allow you to read real stories early on. But if you enjoy textbook studies, I suggest you turn to readers later, after you finish at least 1 or 2 thorough textbooks. As regards active skills, the only way to enhance speaking and writing is to speak and write. lang-8 is an ideal place for beginners to intermediate learners to practise writing. This online platform is designed for learners of any languages. On one hand, you can write something (preferably short texts) and get corrected by native speakers. On the other, you can help other learners to learn languages you know well by correcting their texts. Besides, you should seek out and create conversational opportunities. Ask your Italian friends if they are willing to help you out. If you can, find some Italians or advanced Italian learners to practise speaking. If you cannot find anyone to speak Italian in your area, another way to do it is to find a tandem to converse on Skype. After all these, you should be able to start reading easy native materials, or you will have a different perspective about your learning and realise what you have to do. Edited by Paco on 22 May 2013 at 4:03am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5343 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 5 22 May 2013 at 2:40am | IP Logged |
|
There's a lot of different ways to get through the B1/B2 levels starting from A2. Some people will tell you it's important to speak as early as possible. Other people will tell you to wait until your passive comprehension is so good that the words pour out of you almost automatically (see the first comment from Khaztumoto below the article). Some people study grammar intensively; others occasionally look stuff up when they're confused. Some people memorize lists of vocab; others mostly just read or make sentence cards in Anki. And happily enough, pretty much all of these methods work for somebody!
For me, the big challenge of the intermediate levels was doubt. I had no idea what I should do, or if I could ever reach a decent level. So I tried a bunch of stuff, including doing lots of reading, listening to Internet radio, watching several seasons of a dubbed TV series, writing every day on lang-8 for a month, working with a tutor on Skype, looking stuff up when I was confused, and so on. You can find the whole story in my log. And in the end, the details didn't seem to matter too much—as long as I was doing something in French, and I was actively trying to get better, it all worked out in the end. So there's really no one true way to learn a language, as far as I can tell. But when you're at A2, that doesn't necessarily keep you from feeling lost. But if you do feel lost, here's some good news: you don't need to discover the One True Way to learn a language. You just need to find a road map that you like, follow it until you get bored or it stops working, and then find a new road map. Or make up your own. Here are some things which seem to help, speaking broadly: 1) Lots of semi- or mostly-comprehensible input. Nearly everybody here at HTLAL who spends a lot of time reading and listening to native materials makes significant progress. 2) Attention to detail. Sooner or later you've got to get the prepositions right, and all the other fiddly stuff. :-) 3) Focusing on specific goals. If something bothers you, work on it. Also, it's important to have fun studying. The number of people who make it from A2 to C1 on sheer willpower is rather small. So look for study methods that will tempt you to spend too much time with Italian. Edited by emk on 22 May 2013 at 1:11pm 9 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4820 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 4 of 5 22 May 2013 at 6:35am | IP Logged |
|
At A2, there should still be monolingual textbooks with audio that could help. Such
awesome structured resources usually end at B1/B2 level so you are still within the target range of the publishers. Look at amazon.it, they should have a good selection. Graded readers (the best come with audio) are a nice companion or you might be able to chew your way through something real you are trully excited about, either original or translated. I read my first English book when I was approximately A2, perhaps even less. (It was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. My English was horrible by then, I didn't understand most details but I just soooo didn't want to wait for the translation!) If there is anything you are trully passionate or excited about, you might have a good chance. A useful thing is a grammar exercise book. At A2, you have surely encountered a lot of common grammar and this base might be worth solidifying and building upon. Some gaps in basic things can unnecessarily hinder your progress in many areas later. Perhaps a tv show in Italian with English subtitles and later Italian subtitles might be good for you already. But only if it is something you enjoy, otherwise it might burn you out quite easily at this point. Perhaps you might like Italianpod101. I tried their German one and it wasn't bad and isn't even that expensive. Perhaps some of the Italian learners around will know better sources of listening material. Lang-8 is one option for getting corrections to your writing. I prefer italki. It is mostly a matter of personal taste. :-) And the most important thing. Congratulations on getting so far! I'll think of you when eating spaghetti next time. :-) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 5962 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 5 of 5 22 May 2013 at 10:30am | IP Logged |
|
If you are confident that you're at A2, I would recommend using Espresso 3. This course is written entirely in Italian and is intended for classroom study. You should pick up the associated teachers book, also entirely in Italian, for the answer keys. It's quite easy to misjudge your level. If you're not a strong A2 I'd recommend you look at Espresso 2. If you learn Italian through Italian, you'll start thinking in the language at a much earlier stage.
2 persons have voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
