Speak Italian, Confidently and Accurately
Am I the only language student who finds modern teaching methods unsatisfactory? The endless promises of "instant" learning and the implicit - if not explicit - message that grammar is for old bores both irritate and depress me. I'm thankful that at least one language school agrees with me More on this later.
My 1980s schooling gave me a good grasp of French. The verb tables that I learnt off by heart, agreement of adjectives, the various ways to form a question I have forgotten none of these things, because they were clearly explained and made sense.
While I am not suggesting that language-teaching methods were perfect in those days, I do believe they were more effective than what is generally on offer today. My major criticism of the way I learnt at school is that the emphasis was so heavily on writing and reading. It's great to be able to do both of those things in a foreign language but it's even more useful, particularly at the beginning, to be able to speak and to understand what someone says back.
Modern methods focus on speaking and listening, which is good, but what I find difficult and annoying is that the grammar is rarely presented in any systematic form. We tend to have the word(s) for "I am" on page 2 and "She is" somewhere further in. What I want is to see the whole of the present tense of the verb To Be conjugated in all its persons, in one table.
In a culture that demands immediate gratification, I can understand why the trend is to promise Italian in 7 Days (or less). The problem is, a course like this can only skate over the surface. You will emerge with some set phrases, some vocabulary and only the haziest idea of how to construct a sentence. In certain circumstances, this may be all you need, but not if your goal is to converse in the language.
The first two or three weeks or so are a grind. We have to accept that. Committing to memory all those endings, not confusing verb endings with noun endings, getting to grips with genders and all the different words for "the" It's hard work. But it is SO well worth it!
After the first few weeks, it all gets more interesting but it's really no good trying to skip that initial phase. If your Italian has not got firm foundations, it will be shaky for ever. However, if you put in the effort at the beginning, you will develop into an accurate, confident speaker of this beautiful language.
Teaching materials, then, should provide clear explanations of how the language works, as well as lots of practice exercises, so we can check we have understood as we go along.
I highly recommend Italian for Beginners, an ebook written by a language school in Manchester. I bought it 3 or 4 months ago and have now just finished working through it. I've still got some way to go before I can discuss politics in Italian, of course, but I feel very secure about what I've learnt and I know I've got a solid base on which to build further. Sono molto felice!
Article Source: http://www.search-raven.com
About the Author
To find lots of useful facts and advice about Italy and to download Italian for Beginners, visit italy-info.co.uk.
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by: HenriettaLaurenston
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