How about practicing written Italian

Hi all;

I have a far-from-innocent question: how many members do we have that are fluent, or almost fluent, in Italian?

Just in case you're wondering, I'm asking because I've come across quite a few posts from people admitting to their difficulties with the language, especially in order to accomplish daily tasks such as shopping, utility contracts, dealing with officialdom etc. Of course, they all then converge into this forum and happily continue using English, which doesn't do any good to their resolution of learning Italian.

So, here is my suggestion: use this forum to post all your queries (of whatever nature) and replies, in Italian. No matter how broken your sentences, you should feel free to post so that, eventually, we may just get a forum in more-or-less broken Italian. From my part, since Italian is my mother tongue, I'll try to post a few corrections, now and then, as the need and opportunity arises and provide help when requested. :roll: By the same token anyone else who's sufficiently fluent, should feel free to contribute corrections. All in a good spirit, of course.

And, just to see if this idea can fly, let's have a poll about it.

ciao

Yep, I thought it may happen! The poll utility doesn't seem to be working: didn't get posted.

ciao again

[Lynn]

Ciao G, questa e' la prima volta che scrivo qui in italiano. E'una buon'idea ma e' un po' difficile scrivere le cose cioche si pensa. Ci viole molto tempo.

Lynn

complimenti eglian..buon'idea
ci parliamo in italiano tutto il tempo. studio italiano da due anni e adesso non c'e male. se la mia testa sta funzionando ,poi scrivero'in italiano.
ciao a tutti
kev

Ciao Elgian:

È una buona idea scrivere in italiano. Trovo che è più facile da leggere e scrivere in italiano che parlare italiano. Dove è la vostra famiglia nell'Italia?

Janet

Ciao a tutti;

d'accordo, allora. La prossima cosa da richiedere al webmaster sara` di aggiungere il dizionario Italiano alla finestra dell'editore. :twisted:

Ken e Lynn, naturalmente, non dovete preoccuparvi: e` tutto solo questione di esercizio e nessuno vi verra` ad arrestare per gli errori fatti.

Per Janet, la risposta e` che ho ancora due fratelli a Torino.

In ogni caso, piuttosto di inviare le vostre risposte da questo forum, suggerisco che ci si trasferisca tutti sul "thread" (filo) equivalente del forum "chit-chat" e continuiamo li` il filo del discorso.

Cheers

Giancarlo

In ogni caso, piuttosto di inviare le vostre risposte da questo forum, suggerisco che ci si trasferisca tutti sul "thread" (filo) equivalente del forum "chit-chat" e continuiamo li` il filo del discorso.

Ciao a tutti,

Grazie per la suggerimento di parlare in Italiono da questo forum, e mi dispiace se io sbagliato ma parlo la lingua solo con i parenti in Calabria al'telefono! Io bisogno di pratica l'italiano di piu, specialiamente i verbi e la grammatica (anche altre cose!) Quando in Italia, impararo molto, ma per la piu in Calabrese. Allora, il dizionario e un amico di me!
Penso e un buona idea di comminciare un "thread" nuovo, si? Perche è al contrario difficile affinchè la nuova gente capisca o da ottenere le risposte alle loro domande quando osservano il filo. :? (L'ultima frase è la cortesia di Babel Fish - il resto è il mio proprio - e la verita!) :wink:
Tante grazie e spero di parlare un altra volta.
Ciao,
Francesca.

The idea of having a section in Italian seems a good idea but shouldn't it be kept separate and under one heading? I thought the idea of this site was that it was for English speakers, and particularly those who speak little or no Italian. Also who's going to correct the 'pidgin' Italian (equiv of Franglais) that's bound to be posted - when neither English or Italian speakers will understand anything? Just a thought.

Originally Posted by Margaret

The idea of having a section in Italian seems a good idea but shouldn't it be kept separate and under one heading? I thought the idea of this site was that it was for English speakers, and particularly those who speak little or no Italian. Also who's going to correct the 'pidgin' Italian (equiv of Franglais) that's bound to be posted - when neither English or Italian speakers will understand anything? Just a thought.

Hi Margaret,
I hope I've said something similar in my previous post (I hope!) I think the idea is to have a separate thread (which I think you will now find on the "chit-chat" forum), so that those who would like to practise Italian can do so. Then those who speak little or no Italian can talk on the other threads, along with the usual posters. I do believe there are some native speakers of Italian on here, so we should be quite safe - it will certainly be better than mine, that's for sure! I don't think it will affect other forum viewers if there is a separate thread.
Kind regards,
Frances.

Hi Bella_ciao. That seems a good idea. Guess I didn't get what you meant first time round. Was just wary of English, Italian and pidgin getting mixed up all over the place and no-one understanding anything! But if it's separate then nessun problema! Merde, sto faccenda la stessa cosa! Anyway with the rate Italian seems to be adopting English words maybe if we wait long enough.....No, guess it's not time to throw away the dictionaries just yet. Also, guess it'll be a while before Calabrese becomes anglicised! Ma....!

Hi Margaret,
I guess this bears out what I said in my previous post about my Italian leaving something to be desired! :lol: The problem is, like so many other people, finding the time to study it properly is definitely an issue for me, and then I have to try and help my non-Italian-speaking hubby to grasp the gist of it! I tend to view the forum while working on the internet - a few minutes grabbed here and there (good job I only have to answer to myself!) - so it's an opportunity to brush up and improve on my general language skills. Other than that, I am restricted to talking to the relatives over the 'phone, and then it is mostly in dialect, so it's helpful to see Italian written how it should be. Provided there is a genuine Italian-speaking moderator for the thread, we should be OK!
Ciao,
Frances.

Originally Posted by bella_ciao

Hi Margaret,
I guess this bears out what I said in my previous post about my Italian leaving something to be desired! :lol: The problem is, like so many other people, finding the time to study it properly is definitely an issue for me, and then I have to try and help my non-Italian-speaking hubby to grasp the gist of it! I tend to view the forum while working on the internet - a few minutes grabbed here and there (good job I only have to answer to myself!) - so it's an opportunity to brush up and improve on my general language skills. Other than that, I am restricted to talking to the relatives over the 'phone, and then it is mostly in dialect, so it's helpful to see Italian written how it should be. Provided there is a genuine Italian-speaking moderator for the thread, we should be OK!
Ciao,
Frances.

Right! My sentiments, exactly.

In altre parole, se hai domande da fare e la voglia di farlo, invia i tuoi interventi in Italiano. Anche se e` pieno di errori, quel che conta e` di avere fatto lo sforzo: cio` aiuta ad imparare piu` in fretta. Qualche frase in Inglese non rovina mica le cose. Then, as I said in a previous post, I'll try to post some corrections/suggestions, whatever.

Ad esempio, non avevo risposto al primo intervento di Francesca perche` attendevo un chiarimento. Ora il chiarimento e` arrivato (dopo uno scambio di un paio di messaggi tra Margaret e Francesca) e, quindi, posso contribuire la correzione. The first confusing thing, and that was simply because of the choice of words, was "... cominciare un thread nuovo." That threw me because the thread had already been started and I couldn't quite picture why and how we should start a new one. So, I'd have just said "... mantenere la discussione in un 'thread' separato.". Using the term "thread" is no real pidgin: it's an IT neologism so, very few languages would have a sensible translation other than a literal one and most would resort to the use of the term in the original language. Now I can make out what you meant with the next sentence, which would have worked out better as: "Altrimenti sara` difficile, per i nuovi arrivati, capire come fare domande solamente dalla lettura del filo."

Visto?

ciao

Giancarlo

Ciao di nuovo;

Ora forse, trovo il tempo e l'occasione di inviare una domanda delle mie.

Vorrei sapere se qualcuno ha immagini dei posti meno conosciuti della Baia del Carpino. Purtroppo Elaine ed io non abbiamo avuto tempo, durante la nostra unica visita a Scalea, di guaradrci attorno per bene. Pero`, vorrei scoprire se ci sono strade che portano dalla Baia del Carpino a San Nicola. A quanto capisco, l'unico modo per andare da Scalea a San Nicola in macchina, e` di usare la SS18. Eppure, sono certo che ci sono sentieri per andarci a piedi. Questi, se capisco la mappa, dovrebbero incominciare dalla Baia del Carpino e portare a San Nicola passando lungo il mare. Se c'e` qualcono che conosce questi sentieri o che ci e` gia` stato, per noi sarebbe bello vederne le immagini pubblicate su Scaleainfo.

ciao

Giancarlo

Ad esempio, non avevo risposto al primo intervento di Francesca perche` attendevo un chiarimento. Ora il chiarimento e` arrivato (dopo uno scambio di un paio di messaggi tra Margaret e Francesca) e, quindi, posso contribuire la correzione.

Giancarlo,
Grazie per il suo messagio anche per le correzione. Mi scusi se io continuare in Inglese, ma non ho il tempo di scrivere in Italiano al momento.

Thank you for your message and for the correction (of my conversation). Please excuse me if I continue in English but I don't have the time just now to write in Italian (takes to long and I have to log off!)
This seems to show why some conversations (other than anything basic) can get quite complicated and confusing when talking to Italians in their language, although I have to say that the family are very patient and will repeat things until I've "got it". However, I want to be able to make myself better understood, so the only way forward is to practise (and practise some more) and I must say that learning by your mistakes is also very helpful, so thanks again for the advice.
Tante grazie, e molto gentile.
Ciao,
Francesca.

Hi Frans;

va benissimo cosi`. The important thing is not to be forced to do something: if you have no time or find it too exhausting, then just post it in English. You'll make the effort another time. Ma almeno, facendo cosi` uno si sforza e, alla fine, impara. Ad esempio, la lingua Inglese io non l'avrei mai imparata se non mi fossi sforzato ad usarla per la sopravvivenza quotidiana.

ciao

Originally Posted by elgian

Hi Frans;

va benissimo cosi`. The important thing is not to be forced to do something: if you have no time or find it too exhausting, then just post it in English. You'll make the effort another time. Ma almeno, facendo cosi` uno si sforza e, alla fine, impara. Ad esempio, la lingua Inglese io non l'avrei mai imparata se non mi fossi sforzato ad usarla per la sopravvivenza quotidiana.

ciao

Giancarlo,
Back again for the evening shift!
Your suggestion is very wise - it's easy to get so bogged down with the verbs and grammar that you cease to practise conversation, which is, after all the way a child learns language. Once it becomes a chore, it ceases to be enjoyable and it's all too easy to give up. When I am with the relatives in Calabria, I am forced to speak the language without any interpreter, and yet I am able to make myself understood most of the time - given six months in the country (I wish!), maybe I'd become quite fluent. So I'll continue to absorb what I can and make the most of opportunities to converse and write in Italian - maybe starting with listening to the CD again for a few minutes a day (a good way to start with the self-discipline!) :wink:
Thanks again.
Ciao,
Francesca.

Ah, si. Che corso di CD usi?

ciao

Originally Posted by elgian

Ah, si. Che corso di CD usi?

ciao

Giancarlo,
Hugo CD Corso di Lingua - Italiano nelle tre mese (o tre anni, in questo caso! :lol: )

The Hugo CD Language Course - Italian in three months (or three years, in my case! Lol!)
It's a very good course - I started tying to teach hubby with it, whilst also schooling myself (I took a basic course about 13 years ago) but the going was somewhat laborious. Still, we may well have another go at it before we go to Italy in May - we should, really. Time is, as always, in short supply, so we need to make a start soon!
Please feel free to correct my tiny piece of Italian dialogue! :lol:
Ciao,
Francesca.

P.S. Tying = trying. At least I'm able to correct my own English mistakes! :lol:
It's my tongue that's tied!
- F.

Originally Posted by bella_ciao

Giancarlo,
Hugo CD Corso di Lingua - Italiano nelle tre mese (o tre anni, in questo caso! :lol: )
Francesca.

in tre mesi. Don't feel bad. Anche Elaine ha questo problema. Ma, ogni volta che riprende, impara qualcosa di piu`. Ed io mi dimentico qualcosa in piu`.

Anyway, one gets the feeling that you've learned all you can from the course. It's now time to start using the language.

ciao

Giancarlo