Hi! I'm Italian....?

Question

...and I want to improve my English, what do you advise me to do?
I'm going to take my CAE, what do you think about it? Is it useful?

CAE : "Certificate in Advanced English" by Cambridge ESOL

x tomo: I live in Rome

x Scelifron: Non è che conosco la Turci come se fosse una mia amica, affatto...solo che il padre è uno dei migliori amici di mio padre e sono cresciuti insieme, poi mio padre ha fatto lavorare presso il suo studio il fratello di Paola per alcuni anni e ancor oggi si sentono, non solo x motivi di amicizia, ma anche x lavoro....lei io personalmente l'ho vista poche volte quando ero piccola, ho visto molto di più il fratello...com'è questa curiosità?

Answer 1

Hi, I have taught all the Cambridge exams as well as TOEFL. The CAE is less well known than FCE and CPE but follows the same format covering listening, reading, writing, grammar use and speaking.

What do you need English for? If you are looking to get into university or get an English-speaking job, you may want to look at the specified requirements as they may want TOEFL. (This is an American exam which gives you a numerical score and is valid for 3 years)

Personally, I have found TOEFL to be a passive exam. Answers are multiple choice apart from the writing, making language production minimal. The Cambridge exams are a lot more thorough and if you are looking to improve your language skills, they will give you the best opportunity to do so. CAE is a good stepping stone between FCE and the, in my opinion, quite extreme CPE (many native speakers would have difficulty with that particular exam).

Finally, where are you? If you are in Italy and have Sky, why don't you switch over the audio to English. Also, read, read and read. Choose things you are interested in, there's no point forcing yourself when you don't like the subject. If you are in an English-speaking country, integrate as much as you can, try not to mix with only Italians as you really won't help your language at all.

Good luck

Answer 2

movies and tv will help improve your understanding of English, especially accents and dialects, and someone to write to in an English speaking country will improve your reading and writing in English,obviously books and newspapers etc, but to really improve your conversation you need to TALK!
My sister went to live and work in Italy almost 30 years ago and arrived there unable to speak a word of Italian. Within a year she was almost fluent - out of necessity! now she's really fluent by increasing her social circle to include people of all walks of life. Conversation with waiters differs to conversation with lawyers and doctors in any language! If you can visit somewhere where English is widely spoken - or find a group of ex-pats willing to help you out - then make the most of it! It's the only way anyone improves at anything - practice!

Answer 3

I'm not sure what CAE means. However, Read alot, play lots of board games like Scrabble. Try to converse in english. Use the dictionary. Watch Tv.

Answer 4

i be responsive to some astonishing Italians on solutions Italia! i'm English by how, merely in case you weren't particular :) ... deliver me an e mail via my profile in case you prefer to rearrange a talk ... it feels like we can't have any inquiries to answer right this moment! Ciao!

Answer 5

Reading modern english novels, listening to english radio. One hour a day of this activity will be great (half an hour is still valuable).
If you get the chance, speak to english speakers.

Answer 6

get english frends. read english books, write letters in english, perhaps get a penpal
have daily conversations.
try n translate daily phrases into english
put a new phrase/ word up on the wall evryday and use it atleast five times a day in context! :)

Answer 7

hi im scottish and lived over in italy for 6 yrs...i found just listening to the radio or television very helpful and obviously mingling with the locals..why dont you come to britain for a little while and just throw yourself in the deep end? good luck x

Answer 8

where are you in italy?
i'm english in the province of salerno
my wife has a relative here who is taking english at uni but her spoken english isn't great.... practice practice...
after one year here my italian is'nt very good.. i understand 80% if no dialect is spoken but can only speak a little..
watch english spoken films or tv but with the english sub titles, i do this to try and help with my italian... try and find a pen friend in england who can send you letters and magazines or newspapers... it all helps..
in bucca lupo

Answer 9

TOEFL test is more efficient
use the study guide to the TOEFL from a library
*test of english as foreign language

Answer 10

Well if you want to improve your english the best way is to talk to a native english speaker so if you want i'll talk to you and even learn you some words of glaswegian,e-mail me if you want