Revision again

I have to admit that I didn't do much revision today, as I have lots of assignments to hand in this week. What I have done today is to briefly review the vocabularies that I have learned so far from day 1. It was frustrating, as I have forgotten almost half of them already...I wonder what I should do in order to let the words stay in my mind for a longer time.

Revision

Today I didn't learn anything new because I found that I have accumulated a lot of vocabularies that I need to practice more on. The focus of my revision was put on the ways of telling the time. Again I make up some time for myself to write out the Italian expression, and it seems that I still need to spend some more time on that.

Months + revising numbers from 1-100

I have found a new website which I find useful for me to learn vocabularies topic by topic: http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/italian/vocabulary/months.asp

I have learned the months of the year from this website today:

 

I think the spellings are a bit weird and some of them are totally different from that of English, so I will spend the next few days trying to remember them all.

After learning the months of the year from the website, I have revised the numbers from 1-100 by giving myself dictation again. I had a hard time getting all the spellings correct!!

Tomorrow I will continue to learn some new vocabularies as well as revising how to tell the time.

Telling the time more precisely

Yesterday I have learned how to tell time, but it was just limited to 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, etc. Today I have learned more precise ways to tell time using this video:





(Video taken from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS2U5wYz59Q&feature=channel)

Generally speaking, it is quite easy to follow and similar to English, it's also easier than the German way of telling the time, but for the 'a quarter past' and 'a quarter to', I still need more time to practice using them.

Telling the time

Before learning something new, I've spent some time revising the Italian numbers from 1-100, and I must admit that I have forgotten many words already...so need to keep on revising tomorrow!


Today I am learning how to tell the time.



(video taken from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9WdnyR5GB4&feature=channel)

The way that Italians tell time is quite similar to English, so I don't find it very hard to learn at this stage. The most importatnt thing is to learn how to say the numbers!

I will continue learning how to tell the time tomorrow.

Counting from 20-100

Today I continued my mission of counting from 20-100 in Italian using the same video that I used yesterday. In fact it is even easier than counting from 11-19. The patterns are easy to be seen, and it is very similar to English, only with a few exceptions for numbers ending in '1' and '8' because of the vowels.

I am still struggling with counting from 11-19, as the patterns are a bit different. I will continue to memorize it!

Counting from 11-19

I decided to take a break from Italian Steps, so I started exploring the resources in youtube. I found this video that teaches me how to count from 1-100. As I have learned 1-10 before from Italian Steps, I started from 11 until 19, and I will continue learning 20-90 tomorrow.

But comparing this video with the one that I used to learn the days of the week, I like that one more, because the teacher repeated the same words many many times so that I could remember easily. Perhaps I should stick to that video lesson series.

Shopping for food + days of the week

For today's programme, I began with the Italian Steps, which is about 'shopping for food', and then I continued with the video about the days of the week which I started yesterday. Here are the vocabularies for today:

I regretted not using this video earlier. I like its slow pace, and the constant repetition of the words!! It is really good for those who have bad memory like me.

Talking about food + What day is today?

Today besides learning from Italian Steps "Talking about food", I also learned the days of the week from a youtube video:



Che giorno è oggi? (What day is today?)
Oggi è...(Today is...)
Lunedi (Monday)
Martedì (Tuesday)
Mercoledì (Wednesday)
Giovedi (Thursday)
Venerdì (Friday)
Sabato (Saturday)
Domenica (Sunday)

I think the pace of this video is really suitable for beginners like me, so I find it quite easy to follow. It's good to have some variety besides only sticking to Italian Steps...I will continue to learn other ways to ask for the day from this video tomorrow.

Italian menu

Finally I have a chance to dine at Fat Angelo's in Causeway Bay. Of couse, besides enjoying the food there, I also take a look at the menu to learn some Italian food names:

aglio e olio=garlic and oil
Fettuccine=noodles
farfalle=butterflies
penne=pens
ribs alla roma=ribs to Rome
formaggio=cheese

Today I have also spent some time to revise all the things that I have learned so far...and I found that I have already forgotten most of the words!

Eating out!!

Finally I can learn how to order food! But before that, I have to learn how to ask for a table first, and also something to drink. I am going to find an Italian menu and see how much I can understand tomorrow. Below are the vocabularies for today:

I've decided not to look at the grammar for the time being. I think if I know enough vocabulary, then I should be able to understand a sentence......

Am I being too optimistic??

Having an aperitif

I am still following Italian Steps. I completed the 'challenge' exercise for 'meeting people' and my result is quite good! (16 out of 20)

After completing the 'challenge', I started to learn the topic that I am most interested in: ordering food. However, I haven't started ordering food yet, I am now just 'having an aperitif'. Here are the vocabularies for today:

 

I didn't learn the grammar for today because I felt so frustrated about not understanding the grammar in the previous days...

By the way, besides learning a new Italian word, I am learning a new English word as well. To be frank, I don't recognize the word 'aperitif' at all! So I checked what 'aperitif' means, and by checking out the word, I came across other sites introducing the kinds of aperitif in Italy as well! (http://www.yourguidetoitaly.com/italian-drinks-liquors.html)

I found that I have actually seen an aperitif before, I just didn't recognize it's an aperitif.

Saying what you do + Italianissimo

This time the Italian Steps is about saying what you do, and here are the vocabularies that I learned:

The grammar for today is how to say what you do and where you work.

Sono dottore (I'm a doctor.)

But for the others, I really don't understand. For example, when to use lavoro, lavora and lavori (all are verbs meaning 'to work'). I still couldn't do well in the translation exercise. I'll try to find more information on that from other sources.

Besides learning vocabularies and grammar from Italian Steps, I also learned some cultures of Italian. I read something interesting from the factfile:

New rules are being introduced to determine business hours. They're usually 8.30am to 12.45pm and 3pm to 6.30pm, with many businesses open on Saturday morning, though this can vary from region to region. Businesses often operate summer timetables, opening from 7am - 1pm, and closing for the rest of the day. 

(quoted from http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/lj/cultural_notes/work.shtml)

Life is good in Italy, isn't it?

I have been following Italian Steps for many days already, and that makes me feel a bit bored, so I explored other activities from the BBC Italian site, and I found Italianissimo (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/issimo/greetings/), which is a TV series cut into 20 clips. The clip that I watched today is about greetings.  


At the moment, I could only hear phrases like ciao, buongiorno, buonasera and arrivederci. I could also hear something about asking people for names, but I couldn't catch exactly how they do so...I will continue to work hard tomorrow...

Friends and family

Today in Italian Steps, I learned some vocabularies related to friends and family. This time after checking out the key words, I didn't look at the English translation when going through the slideshow. I tried my best to guess the meaning of the sentence by using the limited vocabularies that I have...but it is very difficult to do so, therefore finally I have to rely on the English translation again...

Here are the vocabularies that I learned:

The grammar for today is about how to say 'my':
mio - masculine e.g. mio fratello (my brother)
mia - feminine e.g. mia sorella (my sister)

If you're not talking about an immediate member of your family, add 'il' or 'la' in front of 'mio' or 'mia'
e.g. Ecco il mio passaporto (Here is my passport)
       Ecco la mia casa (Here is my house)

Lastly, I also tried to do some translation by myself from English to Italian...but it seems that there's something wrong with my translation. I need to practice more!!

I learned another way to introduce myself in Italian:

Mi chiamo Jenifer. (My name is Jenifer)

Piacere. (Pleased to meet you.)

Where you come from?

Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentine's Day!!
Today is such a busy day :)

As usual. I continued my Italian Steps 'Where you come from?', and here are the vocabularies that I learned:

The grammar focus for today is 'I am...' and 'Are you...?'

I am = Io sono

Are you =  Tu sei? (used with people you're on first-name terms with e.g. children) / Lei è? (for all other occasions)

In daily conversation, people usually leave out 'I' and 'you', so 'I am' becomes 'sono' and 'Are you..? becomes 'sei...?' or 'è...?'

I have a breakthrough today!! I can finally write sentences to introduce myself, although I am not sure whether it is grammatical or not...

Sono Jenifer (I am Jenifer.)

lo parlo un po' di Italian. (I speak a bit of Italian.)

Sfida (Challenge)

As mentioned yesterday, I am going to start learning the grammar rules. But before that, I need to consolidate what I have been learning in the past few days, so I completed the 'Challenge' in Italian Steps, and unexpectedly, I did quite well :)

The thing that I think is the most problematic for me (except the pronunciation) is listening. There are a few questions in the challenge in which I have to choose the correct answer after listening to what that person said. One of the problem is the speed, and the other problem is I can't identify the words that I've learned when it is used with other words in a sentence. This is an area that I have to improve on.

After completing the challenge, I started 'Spelling your name' in Italian Steps. The vocabularies are very useful for tourists. I wish I can use them in Italy one day :)

OK, time for grammar........

I've learned when to use the article 'a'. Like many other European languages, Italian has both masculine and feminine words. Masculine words usually end with -o (e.g. cappuccino), while feminine words usually end with -a (e.g. cioccolata). For other endings, we have to check from the dictionary. The article 'un' is usually for masculine words (e.g. un cappuccino), and the article 'una' is usually for feminine words (e.g. una cioccolata). However, for feminine words which start with a vowel, 'una' will be shortened to un' (I'm not sure if un'acqua is an example...)

For 'the', similar rule applies. We use 'il' for almost all masculine words (e.g. il centro), and we use 'la' for almost all feminine words (e.g. la piazza). For words which start with a vowel, il' is used (e.g. il' indirizzo?)

I think the grammar notes from Italian Steps are quite interesting and straight forward, at least it is simple enough for me to understand. What's more, the exercises are quite useful and fun to do.

Numbers (1-10)

This is the fifth day of learning Italian and I think this is a good time to have a dictation to revise all the words that I learned. I remember most of the words, but not all...

After the dictation, I continue with my Italian Steps. This time the topic is 'local transport', so the vocabularies that I learned are about numbers...

I realized that so far my learning only focuses on vocabularies and their pronunciations, so I decided to start learning some grammar as well in the holidays...I hate grammar but I feel that I have to force myself to learn some :(

visita turistica (sightseeing)

This is the blog entry for 11 Feb.

I have revised the vocabularies that I learned in the last few days on the way to school, and again did a mental dictation as well. This time I have mixed up the words 'Scusi' (excuse me), and 'Scusa' (sorry) because of their similar spellings.

Before having dinner in Mong Kok at night, I saw a restaurant with an Italian name in Langham Place, and I decided to check the meaning of the words:

da = from
dolce = sweet, dessert
gelato = ice-cream

As the name suggests, this is a restaurant which specializes in Italian dessert and ice-cream.

When I got home, I continued with the BBC Italian Steps, and started 'Sightseeing'. It is so interesting that the recording is about sightseeing in  Verona, the city where the Romeo and Juliet play was based on.
Here are the vocabularies that I learned today:

Giorno tre (Day 3)

While waiting for the class to start today, I revised the vocabularies that I learned yesterday from the BBC website, and did a 'mental dictation' by covering up the Italian terms and only looking at the English translations. I got most of them correct, but I mixed up some words like 'buonogiorno' and 'buonasera' because of the similar spelling. I also mixed up 'prego' and 'prego?'. I will try the dictation again tomorrow.

After class when I got home, I continued with the Italian Steps in the BBC website, and this time I did 'Getting Breakfast'. These are the vocabularies that I learned today:

A few days ago I was in TASTE and I found something interesting: Hello Kitty Cocoa Biscuits which is MADE IN ITALY!!

I bought it home and began learning the ingredients in Italian...and here are the words that I learned:

Since I began learning Italian, whenever I go to the supermarket, I began to search for Italian products...haha :)

Buongiorno!

Today I have spent about 5 minutes revising the alphabet that I learned yesterday, then I started using the BBC Italian website to learn some basic phrases in Italian. I have completed 'Top ten words' under 'Flying visit' in 'Italian Steps' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/lj/handy/), and I learned 11 vocabularies through watching the slideshow. I have followed the recordings to practice my pronunciation, but I think the recordings in the website are a bit fast, so for some  difficult words with 3 or 4 syllables (e.g. arrivederci), I have to repeat the recording again and again for almost 10 times to get the pronunciation right.

I have started a vocabulary notebook to write down the vocabularies that I learn every day. Hope this can keep me from forgetting all the words!

Un giorno (Day one) - Italian alphabet

Today I have learnt the Italian alphabet from this video. They are basically similar to English, except that some of the pronunciations are a bit different from English. Also, Italian does not have 26 alphabets. It has only 21. It doesn’t have ‘j, k, w, x, y’. They are only present in loan words from English. What’s more, ‘h’ is pronounced as ‘acca’ in Italian, but when ‘h’ is in a word, it is silent, e.g. hotel.



At first I thought the pronunciation of the alphabet should be the same no matter which websites/videos I watch. However, I found some inconsistency between different websites/videos concerning some of the alphabets (e.g. ‘v’,‘y’). But this should be a minor problem for me because this is just the way that letter is pronounced in isolation. I think the most important thing is that I can pronounce the word when these letters are combined with other letters in a word.

I also encounter difficulty in pronouncing the ‘r’ sound in Italian. I can only use the English way to pronounce it but not the Italian way. I guess I need to practice more on that.

Italian here I come!!

Ciao!! (Hi!!)

I am so excited to start learning Italian!!

The reason that I choose to learn Italian is that I have been always fond of Italian culture, especially Italian cuisine!! But every time when I dine in an Italian restaurant, most of the time I couldn't read the menu, except some common words like 'pasta', 'spaghetti', 'pizza'...

My target:
1. to learn the alphabets
2. to be able to have simple conversations(e.g. Hello, How are you, Thank you etc.)
3. to be able to read the menu in restaurants
4. to be able to recognize some Italian brand names

To get started, I have been searching for materials on the internet in the past few days, and I really like the BBC - Italian website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/). This site basically includes everything that I need. I am going to follow 'Italian Steps' as my main learning material, which is an online course for beginners.

Besides using the BBC - Italian website, I will also look for other supplementary materials that I need, like the alphabets, the numbers, how to say the time etc.

Buon divertimento! (Have a good time!)