Italian study group

An area with study groups for various languages. Group members help each other, share resources and experience. Study groups are permanent but the members rotate and change.
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Sofia
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Re: Italian study group

Postby Sofia » Thu Jan 14, 2016 7:19 am

Would you be interested in getting some native support or is this team for learners-only? I used to be godmother on the former HTLAL Italian group, unfortunately between the forum crashes and some time demanding IRL events I had to step down.

Now that we have a brand new forum and my life has become a little less hectic I would be happy to help out again. I cannot guarantee to give my feedback on every single post you guys write as I'm still planning my own language study activities, both off-line and here on the forum, but I will try my best to check out your logs and this thread as frequently as I can :)
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garyb
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Re: Italian study group

Postby garyb » Thu Jan 14, 2016 10:25 am

Sofia wrote:Would you be interested in getting some native support or is this team for learners-only? I used to be godmother on the former HTLAL Italian group, unfortunately between the forum crashes and some time demanding IRL events I had to step down.

Now that we have a brand new forum and my life has become a little less hectic I would be happy to help out again. I cannot guarantee to give my feedback on every single post you guys write as I'm still planning my own language study activities, both off-line and here on the forum, but I will try my best to check out your logs and this thread as frequently as I can :)


Your help and corrections were certainly appreciated before and they would be again :). As I say it's not a formal team like the last one, it's just a thread for people to share resources and discuss Italian learning, and I'm sure that some native input would be useful.
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Sofia
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Re: Italian study group

Postby Sofia » Sun Jan 17, 2016 7:34 am

garyb wrote:Your help and corrections were certainly appreciated before and they would be again :). As I say it's not a formal team like the last one, it's just a thread for people to share resources and discuss Italian learning, and I'm sure that some native input would be useful.


Thanks a lot, Gary! If anyone wants to add me to their forum friends list or exchange Skype/AIM usernames feel free to send me a PM. Since there is neither an Italian TAC team nor a list of Italian learners (I could find only two in the TAC thread) I'll simply subscribe to the language logs of anyone I see posting here.
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rdearman
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Re: Italian study group

Postby rdearman » Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:25 am

If anyone is in the UK, and interested, BBC 4 are showing the second series of Il giovane Montalbano on Saturdays.

mi piace molto, Il giovane Montalbano. :)
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Sofia
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Re: Italian study group

Postby Sofia » Tue Jan 19, 2016 7:08 am

I am a huge Camilleri fan, but I had no idea a prequel to his popular TV series had been made. I actually discovered it just a couple of days ago, while browsing BBC's website. I think it may have something to do with me almost never watching Italian TV :lol:

If you enjoy crime series, don't miss this chance! I haven't watched the prequel yet, but if it's anything like the main series it is a truly well-done show. I usually don't speak highly of our TV programmes, but Montalbano is one of the rare exceptions. And since we are on a language-learning forum…did you know a lot of the actors had to learn Sicilian dialect? Which, despite its name, is more similar to a language than to a dialect due to its differences from standard Italian.

By the way, those who don't live in the UK can still watch the show using a VPN service.
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garyb
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Re: Italian study group

Postby garyb » Thu Jan 21, 2016 12:55 pm

Rdearman: thanks for pointing out the second series of Young Montalbano! I had no idea it was on BBC at the moment, and being able to watch it online and with subtitles is very handy - I'm not going to pretend I understand all the bits of Sicilian! I quite enjoyed the first series, although beyond the first couple of episodes I didn't think it was quite on the same level as the original.

Yesterday, a new video appeared on Learn Italian with Lucrezia (a YouTube channel I already mentioned in the resources post): My friends recommend Italian books, films, tv-series. Some recommendations that might interest people here, including some I didn't know about:

  • "Venuto al mondo" by Margaret Mazzantini (book and film): I've not read it; I've read and seen another one, Non ti muovere, which wasn't my favourite but I've heard her later books are better.
  • "Io non ho paura" di Niccolò Ammaniti (book and film): this was one of the first Italian novels I read, not the easiest but a gripping story.
  • "In Treatment": TV series about a psychotherapist and his patients. Not heard of it before but it sounds interesting!
  • "Tutto può succedere": New drama series, apparently based on an American series that I've also never heard of.
  • "Tutti Pazzi per Amore": this has already been mentioned on HTLAL, drama/comedy/romance; better than many shows of this genre, it's quite fun and watchable.

Sofia: I added you on Skype a while ago but you never accepted.
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Spoonary
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Re: Italian study group

Postby Spoonary » Thu Jan 21, 2016 3:18 pm

garyb wrote:
  • "Venuto al mondo" by Margaret Mazzantini (book and film): I've not read it; I've read and seen another one, Non ti muovere, which wasn't my favourite but I've heard her later books are better.

That reminds me, I was reading Mazzantini, wasn't I? :lol: I am still very much at the beginning of Splendore and I haven't read any of it yet this year, but I should be picking it up again soonish, now that my Spanish book about Ancient Egypt is done. I will be sure to post my opinions here when I get a bit further along in the story. And who knows, I might even decide to pick up one of her other books mentioned here.
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Sofia
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Re: Italian study group

Postby Sofia » Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:18 pm

garyb wrote:Sofia: I added you on Skype a while ago but you never accepted.

I'm terribly sorry about that. Could you give me your username? Feel free to send it via PM if you prefer. Ever since I posted my Skype username on another forum years ago I receive friends requests from random people so I may have seen yours and rejected it by mistake, not realising it was you :roll:
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Re: Italian study group

Postby Cavesa » Wed Feb 10, 2016 8:04 pm

Why have I not thought of this group earlier?

Could you please give me your opinions on my pronunciation? I recorded one minute of reading La Compagnia dell'Anello yesterday:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0XF7Yu1Imor

I've got one great critical response on reddit and one very supportive on my log.
The most important parts from the great reddit response: wrong consonants-single and double consonant distinction, and the intonation, which sounded Spanish in the opinion of the kind person who gave me feedback. There are some more mistakes but I was told these are the main ones. Anything else you consider important?

Any good pronunciation material? I thought about some drills, to learn the double vs. single consonant distinction
I usually use the FSI to learn the pronunciation of a new language with their drills but I heard some negative reviews about the Italian FSI courses. Should I still use it?
Anything else you can think of, to get my pronunciation in a usable shape?

About the intonation: I should perhaps repeat more after tv series characters, would you happen to know about tv series transcripts online? That would probably help. Or about other material to help me sound better?
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Jon
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Re: Italian study group

Postby Jon » Wed Feb 10, 2016 8:20 pm

Cavesa wrote:
Could you please give me your opinions on my pronunciation? I recorded one minute of reading La Compagnia dell'Anello yesterday:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0XF7Yu1Imor


It is absolutely understandable, every single word...good work! The main issue here is probably the rhytm (besides some intonation), and there are some words you connect that should have a longer pause.
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