i'm italian,
and live in italy so i can't get well acquainted to EN culture nor language, unfortunately!!
so just give me some god tips while studying on my own!!!!!!
Thnx everybody
2007-03-28 10:51:26 · 18 answers · asked by ? 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
hi R.E.M.E.
really pleased u like IT coz i find old and "heavy"but it's a matter of taste!!!!
anyway u gave me some good tips, and the others too...
Ciao!see u
2007-03-28 11:05:39 · update #1
It's not a difficult language, but u really DO HAVE TO MANY WORDS!!!! ;)))))))
Kidding,
i love England (and US) very much and all the people too
(exept when you "eat" the words!!!)
:))))))
Thank u a lot, you're helping!
2007-03-28 11:10:50 · update #2
4 Andy K: i guess WHO's got to go to school
i bet i can speak better than u pretty jabberman
2007-03-28 11:14:09 · update #3
Thnx Cosimo and sorry for my SMS lingo but u know it's faster (and it makes more "American"!!! Ahahaha
I'm joking but your tips are really useful, and ur Italian is such a good to suggest me you're maybe italian??!!Anyway don't study it, coz it's useless!!!
Ahahaha i'm kidding anyway
ps: u're right about dan brown!!
Thanks everyone too
2007-03-29 09:20:37 · update #4
Ciao!
There are loads of good suggestions here. The BBC World Service is really good for students of English as a Second Language - you can receive it on Italian satellite TV if you don't have a radio. BBC Radio 4 (what the English used to call "the Home Service") is also excellent - you can listen to it on the internet, see this link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/
and click on "listen now".
These days, I am sorry to say, English TV is absolute rubbish (much worse than Italian TV, there are no decent current affairs programmes like "Annozero" and "Ballaro'") - films are probably a better bet. Make sure you watch mostly English films though, not too many American ones, because there are some very significant differences between British and American English. "Tea with Mussolini" is a good film - also any film with John Cleese (like "Clockwise").
If you are interested in finding out about English culture, you should try to obtain the DVDs of some classic TV comedy series from the good old days when English TV was worth watching - "Fawlty Towers" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (both with John Cleese), and "Blackadder" (starring Rowan Atkinson, whom you will know better as "Mr Bean") are incomparable and very funny. They will teach you an enormous amount about English society and the way English people think.
The thing that's helped me most of all with improving my Italian (language and culture) is reading novels ... and there are hundreds of really decent modern novels in English (but not Dan Brown!). If you do this though , I would advise you not to read them in Italian translation also ... you should try to immerse yourself completely, as far as possible, in your target language.
It's obvious your English is pretty advanced already ... you've got a really good grasp of idioms. If you will permit me to give you one piece of advice though, I think it would help you develop your skills if you wrote words out in full, rather than using that awful SMS-speak. I know young people everywhere think it's cool (or whatever word they use nowadays) ... maybe I'm just getting too old and grouchy.
Ti auguro buon proseguimento di studio, potresti sempre chiedermi aiuto qualora ne avessi bisogno.
Cosimo
2007-03-28 14:08:51 · answer #1 · answered by Cosimo )O( 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you can receive bbc on television or radio watch and listen. reading English literature will help with sentence construction and grammar. Watch DVDs in English. Listen to songs in English and sing along to them. Go onto SKYPE and find people to talk to on your PC. Take a holiday in the UK (Scotland is best - but I'm biased - Edinburgh is a fabulous city). Try finding someone locally who is an English speaker who wants to improve their Italian and meet them for a coffee. Spend time speaking in each language. Good luck.
2007-03-28 11:07:20 · answer #2 · answered by coffee 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A good idea is to listen to good english programs preferably by the BBC, then repeat each sentence aloud again after your hear them. Best is to use a program that has been recorded so you can rewind and listen again if its too fast or you have missed something.
Also you can use a dictaphone to record yourself speaking and you can compare how you pronounce and articulate your words compared to the speaker on the program.
You can also find a penpal from UK who won't mind giving you a call from time to time to speak with.
I hope this helps
Moona
2007-03-28 11:09:32 · answer #3 · answered by moona 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
BBC World Service is a good place to start. If you want to improve your conversational English why not get in touch with the person studying Italian and see if they want to chat on Yahoo IM?
2007-03-28 11:00:55 · answer #4 · answered by Kes51 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Ciao
Come Stai?
The easiest way for someone like yourself is to watch English Language films or listen to English music ...... you soon pick up sentences and phrases and although it's a complicated language it's a good place to start for the basic understanding of the way words are pronounced.
Arrivederla!
2007-03-28 11:01:59 · answer #5 · answered by Smarty 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I lived in France and had to learn french from scratch. The best way to learn is to practice as much as possible and watch loads of DVD's and television!! Try to see if there isn't a group of English students near you. When I was in France there were these groups that people set up so that they could practice.
2007-04-03 09:02:49 · answer #6 · answered by happy 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Listen to the radio (Radio 4 - good pronounciation), Watch News in particular, interviews. Watch comedies with the subtitles on. Listen to audio books while reading the printed book - this will help greatly with pronounciation as reading and speaking go hand in hand.
2007-03-28 11:02:05 · answer #7 · answered by Aslan, reborn 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am English, but I love the Italian language.
A good tip would be to watch films in English, on tele or get some dvds. That is a good way. Buon giorno Italia.
And get some simple easy to understand cds, or ipod, and join in he songs!
2007-03-28 10:57:17 · answer #8 · answered by R.E.M.E. 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Someone refered me to www.sharedtalk.com and you can sign in for free and find others to practice with. Like an english speaking person that is trying to learn italian. Most of them have microphones so you can talk to them through the internet, or you can just chat online. Hope it works for you, i love it.
2007-03-28 12:33:53 · answer #9 · answered by Mesha 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Try to find some english cds, tv programmes, films ect. Listen to /watch them then repeat the words aloud, recording yourself. You can then compare the pronouciation.
2007-04-04 08:03:45 · answer #10 · answered by rumpleteazer04 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋