When you are learning a new language, one method that can be very effective for learning and retaining vocabulary is using flash cards. I’ve used flash cards to increase my vocabulary with Japanese, Italian, and Spanish, and it works well in some cases but not so well in other cases.
The method itself of using flash [...]
Language Tips
Using flash cards to learn foreign language vocabulary: pros and cons
Language Tips
Announcing italian-slang-dictionary.com!
A while ago, I created an ebook on Italian slang that I have been offering here. I’ve decided to open up the contents of the ebook and share them with everyone, for free. The new site can be found at http://www.italian-slang-dictionary.com.
One of the most interesting things (to me, at least) about learning a new language [...]
Italian Culture
Musica Italiana: Laura Pausini
In this post, we’ll look at a couple of songs by Italian artist Laura Pausini. Laura comes from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and has been called the “Queen of Italian pop.” She has recorded music in five different languages (Italian, Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese) and she has sold over 45 million records.
Glenn, who [...]
Italian Culture
Musica Italiana: “Evidentemente” by Negramaro
As I mentioned in my last post, I want to start a series of posts looking at songs by Italian artists, and this is the first post in the series. The goals are to help people discover these great Italian songs and to help people learn Italian in a fun and entertaining way. I will [...]
Italian Culture
Popular Italian Music, old & new: Adriano Celentano and Negramaro
Through my journey of learning Italian, I have discovered some Italian musicians that I absolutely love, and I want to share two of my favorites here. Following these artists and studying their lyrics has been an enormous help in my learning Italian. My goal is to start a regular series of posts where I share [...]
Italian Culture
Guide to Modern Italian Cinema
I want to preface this guide to modern Italian cinema by saying that I am in no way a cinema expert and this list is not exhaustive. I simply enjoy watching good movies and want to help others discover them. There are probably a number of good films that are not in this guide simply [...]
Language Tips
Helpful “Utility” Words in Italian
When I got to an intermediate level in my Italian studies, I started making a list of words that I had a real hard time remembering and had to look up continuously. These were words that meant things like “however,” “although,” therefore,” etc. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t remember what the words by themselves [...]
Language Tips
Italian TV reporter has an Anchorman moment
Want to get a feel for swearing in Italian? Check this guy out:
Reminds me of Will Ferrell in Anchorman. Definitely some good ones in there. Porco Dio, for example, literally means “Pig God.” What else can you pick out?
Language Tips
Tips: Free podcast, using music to make learning Italian more fun
I came across two great tips for those interested in learning Italian:
Jessica at ich estudio langues wrote a post on limiting your language resources to avoid becoming overwhelmed, and mentioned a free podcast by Radio Lingua that she uses for Italian pronunciation and listening comprehension. I just subscribed and will try it out because it [...]
Learn Italian
Learn Italian: Street Slang: Italian
Not only is learning how to swear and use slang in Italian a lot of fun, but it also adds to your fluency and can help you sound like a native speaker!
I wrote this ebook because learning these words made studying Italian very entertaining and fun. The words and phrases in this ebook, which you [...]
