| Italian |
Indo-European:Romance |
ÐÐ |
| Many people rate this as the most beautiful
spoken language in the world, and I'm among them : speaking of opera, painting, design,
architecture, cooking, love or god in italian makes you feel you finally understood the
topic. Click for the pop-up window "10 reasons to learn italian" |
| Introduction
- ©www.micheloud.com |
Usefulness
definition |
Moderate, unless you
live in Italy. Italians abroad speak other languages, and most of the important books are
available in other languages. But if you live or travel in Italy, you'll realise that many
italians speak foreign languages not very well and are much more talkative in italian -
and talkative they can be ! |
Beauty
Definition... |
Probably the most
beautiful spoken language I know, chanting and colorful and yet every word is clearly
pronounced. Every language will chain neighbouring words in speech (je te = chte in
french), but which one, like italian, will write stamattina for questa
mattina, col for con il ? |
Chic factor
Definition... |
Except for french
speaking Switzerland, speaking italian fluently is seen as very smart : allying beauty,
culture and relative unusefulness makes it an favorite among upper class people from all
over the world. |
Speakers
Definition... |
About 65 mio of mother
tongue speakers world wide. |
Countries
Definition... |
Italy, Switzerland and
two joke states : San Marino and the Vatican |
Regional
variations
Definition... |
Wide regional
variations, but almost everybody can speak in "national" italian. Italy is a
country that unified very late and whose regional identities are still strong. The
standard, "national" italian that you hear on the TV actually comes from
Tuscany, and people there like to say about Romans : "Lingua toscana in bocca
romana", Toscan tongue in roman mouth. |
Travel
Definition... |
Travelling in Italy is
intensely pleasurable, with about everything you can dream of : the richest historical
sites in Europe, with full roman ghost towns you can visit, cathedrals, circuses,
monasteries, paintings, sculptures. And for the present, one of the most attractive
cooking the world, beautiful and elegant people, world class designers. The main problem
when travelling in Italy seems either to be money or that you have to go back. |
Culture
Definition... |
As outlined above, for
roman history Italy can't be beaten, as for Renaissance painting. Litterature is also
immense if often overlooked. Many people dismiss italian TV channels like Rai 1 as
"bad quality" but if you look at them positively they are stupendous : italian
blond matronas prepare regional specialties in live competions, bearded cardinals in talk
shows, helicopters tour the most beautiful historical towns with a guide during Sunday
afternoon, you really get the feel of the country. |
|
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| Difficulty - ©www.micheloud.com |
Phonemes
Definition... |
Phonemes are very easy
with the minor exception of the rolled r. But intonation is quite irregular and must
imperatively be learned with audio means (tapes, TV, radio, girlfriend, ...). If you dont'
speak with the right intonation, people won't understand you and you will miss half
of the fun. |
Syntax
Definition... |
Similar to other
romance languages, a little less difficult than french but definitely more complicated
than spanish. |
Vocabulary
Definition... |
Not special
difficulty, but it helps to speak french or latin. |
Orthograph
Definition... |
More difficult than
spanish but simpler than french. |
Overall
difficulty
Definition... |
I rate this language
as ÐÐ, that is, easy to learn, at least for speakers of other romance
languages. The language has all the dificulties of romance languages, especially the
subjunctive, but otherwise is pretty easy. |
Time needed
Definition... |
6 months to a year for
normal people studying less than one hours a day is a maximum. Speakers of french should
aim for 3 to 6 months, which is entirely possible. I emphasize the trap of speaking at
once without caring too much for the differences with french : too easy and people won't
like talking to you. |
|
m |
| Learning
material - ©www.micheloud.com |
Books and
tapes
Definition... |
The only package with
enough tapes I found was Pimsleur Read and Speak Essential Italian, which I then lent to
half a dozen of my friends here in Switzerland with great success. You can buy them from Simon and Schuster who bought Dr Pimsleur's business
(about 800$) , but it's cheaper from Amazon :
.
For grammar books, these old but excellent books are the best
I have found :
Katerinov, La lingua italiana per stranieri, 1985,
Guerra : Perugia, Italy, 3 vol.
Chiuchiù, Le preposizioni, 1982, Guerra : Perugia,
Italy
(no, I neither work for Pimsleur nor for Guerra) |
Schools
Definition... |
Take a school in
Italy, and beware of the place where you're going to learn that language : I first wanted
to go to Napoli, but they really have a strong accent, even if the lessons were much
cheaper. Of course, everybody has an accent, but some are better than others for
foreigners to have. |
Links
|
http://www.yahoo.it |