June 2017 – Word Wide Web

Learning Italian and the power of listening

This person here has always been a grammar addict.

Someone who has always wanted to know all grammar details when learning a language, and someone who was utterly convinced that her favourite way of learning a language involved quite a lot of rationalisation and methodical grammar study. This did not involve learning grammar per se, but learning and then trying to apply this new structure when speaking or writing. This was not a bad method, and the said person managed to learn quite a few languages following it. Of course, this person is me, and notice that I wrote the last sentences in the past.

I had always been suspicious about those methods that claim to make you learn a language without making you learn grammar (e.g. Duolingo and Memrise), because I have always felt that rationalisation only improves the learning process. While I haven’t totally discarded my previous theories and beliefs, I have recently started to think somewhat differently (though I’m still not a fan of either Memrise or Duolingo).

I started learning Italian two years ago (a short course of about 20 hours), but I had never been really able to say more than a couple of sentences. However, it was my New Year’s decision to reach B1 level in Italian in 2017, and at the beginning of April I decided to spend Easter in Rome. So about ten days before travelling, I started to learn Italian. First, I used a YouTube channel that I found really useful (One World Italiano) and I must have carefully watched about 15 lessons before going to Italy. I took some notes, but not too many.

To my surprise, I could communicate in Italian from the beginning. Of course, with some Spanish words whenever I didn’t know how to say something in Italian, but I was really happy that I could have a conversation with elderly ladies on the bus stop! Check the video to see how I was speaking right after I came back.

When I got back, I decided that I would return to Italy for an extended period in August, and I continued watching videos on YouTube. This time I found Alberto from Learn Italian with Italiano Automatico. He emanates a very positive vibe, but at first I wasn’t quite buying into his theory that you can learn a language practically only by listening to the same text repeatedly, without studying any grammar. I had serious doubts about it, but I liked his videos, so I kept on watching and listening to them. I was so tired at the time, that I was too lazy for studying grammar at the end of a working day, but it was quite pleasant to listen/watch his videos at least 30 minutes every day, while cleaning, eating, or right before going to bed. I didn’t follow Alberto’s advice of listening to the same audio file several times, because I liked his videos so much, that I was curious to watch the next one. He talks about interesting and varied topics and, on top of that, he is a solar, positive and inspiring person. He practically never talks about grammar, but he does explain some typical Italian expressions (“porco cane”, “essere fuori come un balcone” or “oca giuliva” :-D).

At the end of May I found someone who I could practise Italian with (my dear Valentina!), and although I make a lot of mistakes and still have so much to learn, I was impressed that I could actually say a lot in Italian! I think that it’s quite interesting that, to some extent, I could use verb tenses that I had never formally learnt. By listening to Alberto using them naturally in his videos, I was able to develop a feel for them.

In the meanwhile, I’ve started to learn grammar, although I don’t do any grammar exercises. I go to the website One World Italiano, and they have a lot of information on grammar. I copy the rules to a notebook, and sometimes I have a look at them, especially when I feel that I’m failing to correctly use a certain structure. Besides, now that I’m aware of grammar, I pay so much more attention to linguistic structures when someone is speaking Italian! It has improved the learning process for me.

To conclude, I had never thought that simply listening could have such an impact on fluency. Still, I think that learning some grammar can be quite useful for a lot of people. I think that a good amount of listening coupled with some grammar-awareness may be the ideal approach for me.

Here is my list of resources: (not so many!)

– One World Italiano: website and YouTube

– Alberto Italiano Automatico (he also has a podcast!)

– ItalyGuides.it on YouTube (since I’ll be travelling in Italy in the summer, I get to know more about what I’ll be visiting while improving my Italian at the same time. I found it a couple of hours ago, so I’m not sure how good the channel is linguisic purposes)

– A nice Italian with whom I can practise the language on a weekly basis (Valentinaaaa <3).

Convidados da Suécia

Autor: Yves

Na semana passado passei uns dias maravilhosos com dois amigos da Suécia. Já tinha conhecido um deles na Suécia há um ano e meio quando estava aí de viagem. Ele veio aqui com o seu esposo que eu nunca tinha visto antes. Chegaram na segunda-feira e passaram o primeiro dia sozinhos na cidade a passear e a bronzear-se. Na terça feira fomos juntos às montanhas fazer trilha. Fomos a um cantão que se chama Appenzell, fica um bocadinho longe de Zurique, mas vale a pena ir. Tomamos o comboio de Zurique até uma aldeia pequena, descemos e subimos a montanha. O caminho era muito escarpado e foi cansativo, mas depois de uma hora e um bocadinho mais chegamos a uma pequena cabana onde vendiam bebidas. Pedimos três sumos mas o que a dona trouxe foi vinho de maçã, com o resultado que depois andei meio bêbado. Mais meia hora depois chegamos até à estalagem Äscher que é muito famosa pelo seu lugar particular ao lado dum penhasco. Já que estávamos com muito fome, comemos um prato típico suíço que se chama Rösti. Em princípio não é nada mais do que batatas douradas com muitíssimo queijo, mas é delicioso, sobretudo quando se está com tanta fome.

Depois de termos comido, demos um passeio e tiramos algumas fotografias. A seguir, descemos outra vez mas desta vez por outro lado, e depois de termos caminhado por uma hora ou mais chegamos a um lago dos Alpes com água azul turquesa. Como fazia muito calor neste dia fomos ao banho. Embora a água estivesse gelada, foi muito refrescante e gostamos muito.

Depois de termos demorado um tempinho e de termos tirado algumas fotos, caminhamos até outra aldeia onde finalmente apanhamos o comboio para voltar a Zurique. Foi um dia verdadeiramente espetacular, mas surpreendeu-me muito que no dia seguinte não tivesse dores musculares! Nestes momentos tenho sempre de me lembrar de uma expressão idiomática chinesa que diz: “Se um amigo vem de longe, não é a alegria maior do mundo?” Acho que é verdade. A seguir, estão algumas fotografias que tirei. Se queres também te posso mostrar este lugar quando vieres à Suíça algum dia:-).

A minha decisão de melhorar o meu francês (verão de 2016)

Autora: Inês Carvalho

No verão passado decidi que era altura de desenferrujar o francês! Queria dedicar-me a uma língua, mas não sabia por qual começar, então optei pelo francês… O que me levou a escolher o francês? O glamour da língua francesa? O facto de ser uma das línguas mais faladas? Continue reading A minha decisão de melhorar o meu francês (verão de 2016)