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.