Italian- what's next?

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acorngalaxy
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Italian- what's next?

Postby acorngalaxy » Sun Oct 17, 2021 5:58 pm

I'm comfortably nestled in the intermediate-advanced plateau, which, of course, is a double-edged sword - I am proficient enough to be able to write and talk about a wide range of topics without much difficultly and enjoy a wide variety of texts, but I feel like something's lacking in my Italian journey- a direction.

My daily Italian learning routine consists of READING 2-3 chapters of a book, LISTENING to a 30-40 min podcast, WRITING a 200-250 word essay + a weekly 45min SPEAKING practise lesson with a tutor. I am definitely learning new words and learning from my mistakes everyday, but sometimes I wonder- when can I call it a day? Or should I ever call it a day?

This journey has no doubt been thrilling- Italian is an incredibly beautiful language. It's the language that I find the most interesting out of the 5 that I've learnt/ am learning (sorry Spanish, but like I've said before, I feel that every single Italian word has some sort of weight or magical charm to it), but alas life is short and there is a whole ocean of other languages out there to explore and learn, right?

I feel like I'm lacking something- a goal perhaps? I feel like my Italian learning journey is akin to exploring in Minecraft- everyday you find new land but the world is infinite- it keeps expanding and expanding forever. Silly, I know, but yeah. I'm writing this at 2am in the morning (who knows how many mistakes I've made while writing this post- I'm finally going to get some shut-eye now),- probably getting too philosophical.

Anyway, what I want to say is- what are some goals that I can perhaps set for my Italian learning journey? I've been thinking of swapping out my conversation lessons for more structured lessons, so that I can at least have, well, a structure. I don't know if that's a good idea though. I've been thinking of improving on formal writing skills as well (eg. filing a letter of complaint, analysing statistical data etc.), but likewise, I have no idea where to start.
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CardiffGiant
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Re: Italian- what's next?

Postby CardiffGiant » Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:29 pm

I would say that I am in a similar place as far as learning Italian especially in terms of your routine (albeit at a bit lower level than you) but the advice I would give myself is that same I should give to you, and that is: better define what you want to do with the language. What is the most important skill to you out of the ones that you listed? If you had to choose the most important skill would it be speaking fluently? I take an Italki lesson every week that focuses on grammar, but is that improving my ability to speak? Maybe somewhat, but perhaps another activity, such as oh I don't know SPEAKING MORE, may be a more effective use of time for me. Maybe reading complex books completely unaided by other resources is more important to you or even developing your writing to a level that would allow you to write an article for an Italian newspaper? If you are learning the language solely for the intellectual challenge, then maybe moving onto a different language is what would be best for you. Another thought would be to take a certification exam, like the CELI or CILS, which would force you forward in your learning. Good luck!
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lusan
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Re: Italian- what's next?

Postby lusan » Tue Oct 19, 2021 1:21 am

Since I study Italian tambien, I would like to say that I understand you. What to do? That's a question that is, secondo me, very import to address from the start. Why to give a large part of our lives to learn a foreign language? Personally, I chose Italian because my wife likes it. Then I realized that it is full of beautiful sounds, melodies, and wonderful expressions. It is just beautiful. It happens that I love reading novels, so I read Italian novels and watch films. There is no end to it... I hope so. After knowing my goal, studying became just a stepping stone. I have no uncertainty.

My current Italian routine includes:

Anky cards ~ 70 min
Reading aloud ~ 30 min
Writing ~ 30 min
Films ~ 90 min
Read ~ 90 min
plus
1 hour/weekly of Italky conversation

It seems that I fool around with Italian a large part of my waking hours.... I cannot even see/want an end to it. Why should I? B1-B2 is is just a door to enter into another culture/people. Then the journey starts.

I think that if you reflect about your objectives with Italian, it might help you to clarify your next step. You are the only one who knows the answer.
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BeaP
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Re: Italian- what's next?

Postby BeaP » Tue Oct 19, 2021 1:22 pm

I don't know what you'd need to do, but I'll gladly tell you what I usually do when I reach this level in a language. Maybe you'll find something you'd like to try.
I choose a relatively long newspaper article that I'm interested in, and print it out. I work through the text thoroughly, highlight new phrases, look everything up online. Then I try to summarise the text by speaking out loud. First I usually can't speak fluently at all, so I go back to the text, read it again, and try summarising as long as I feel that I've sounded decent. (You can record yourself, if you want, to keep track of the improvement.) My goal with this exercise is to achieve a level when I read a text and I'm able to summarise it immediately and fluently. If this goal looks too big or far for you, you can limit yourself to one topic, choose 5-6 articles within the topic, and set their fluent summary as a goal. In this first stage I try not to rewrite the text, but give back the important parts almost word by word.
In the next stage my goal becomes being able to summarise the texts using different vocabulary and constructions from the writer's, maybe changing the register from informal to formal. When I start this second stage, I already have a lot of chunks memorised from the first one. I don't think I'm just solidifying mistakes. For me advanced language knowledge is when things come to my mind automatically, and by drilling chunks (3-4 words connected) with the help of this exercise, I feel I can improve a lot.
The other thing I find especially useful at this level is going through an advanced grammar book. I don't know why but it also helps things become more automatic. So it's basically controlled practice in any form, that I find most beneficial when I'm B2.
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Cavesa
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Re: Italian- what's next?

Postby Cavesa » Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:18 pm

I'd say the Super Challenge might be a wonderful long term goal for you, to quantify your input a bit and give you a better sense of progress.

Podcasts are nice, but are they really at your level? If not, then try something more challenging. Movies and tv series are very good and the originals in Italian can be rather challenging and affected by regional variants a lot. So, if you are too good for dubbings or podcasts, exploring Italian as it is spoken in the original media and how it is spoken in various regions, that could be a solid challenge with extremely useful results.

CILS/CELI is a wonderful idea too.

And even without such exams, I think a well made advanced coursebook or grammar book is very useful too and its completion is another nice middle/long term goal. And it might satisfy your need for more structured learning and push you out of the comfort zone. There are several series going up to C1, so perhaps some of them could help.

As to writing, I have yet to really look for resources on Italian writing, but perhaps there are some and could give you more of a guidance and challenge than just "essays". If you cannot find any for learners, perhaps something for native highschoolers might help.

But overall, you are bound to progress with your current plan too, you are doing great! But you're right that bigger plans are sometimes very helpful indeed.
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Monty
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Re: Italian- what's next?

Postby Monty » Fri Oct 22, 2021 11:48 am

You're still in learning mode. Stop listening to podcasts. Get a VPN and watch the hell out of RAI. Read whatever the hell you like or don't, without following any set routine.

Do as natives do.
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