Class of March 10th

This was an interesting class, although it was very long. All students brought a lot of food to share and one of them even brought visitors to see the presentations.

My favorite presentations: the one about wine and the one about Capri. As a wine lover, the wine presentation was i think the best, and Nancy's presentation about Capri was very sweet and it made a point about the island. I thought they were fun and informative and throughly enjoyed them. Some other presentations relied too much on youtube, even though I consider youtube a great tool, I come from a school were showing youtube videos was not allowed for presentations so maybe i have that against it already. Also, at times they were just too long. However, most presentations gave me a better cultural insight of what Italy is all about.

In regards to my presentation. I concentrated on being short and informative. As I went last after 10 people I think  most students were tired and my presentation seemed very short in comparison to some 50 minute presentations that took place. I left a little unsure on whether I did good or bad but some classmates told me they liked it. Finally, what is important is that I feel that I learned during this class and I am sure next semester will be better since I should have more personal time to invest in it.

Ciao!

Adriana

Class of March 3rd 2012

I knew my test was going to result on a bad grade, and I got the worst grade ever in my school history. Our teacher gave us an opportunity to make it up in an innovative way. We gathered in small groups and got a mentor, who was one of the students who did good in the test. The mentor walked us through the exam and errors. Afterward, we took a test without books, but it was in groups. I felt a little uncomfortable sharing my grades with other students but the opportunity was much better than a bad grade. Also, it was nice to see how others learn.

Class of Saturday February 25th

Missing class last week was not a good idea! After being sick all week I went to my test not knowing anything. I will try to use this as the lowest letter grade to drop. Besides the exam the class was interesting, it was funny to learn everything i had to know for the exam, after the exam. Now I think it could have been so easy!! The rest of the class was intense, we learned a lot of grammar and practiced the verb Avere (To have). It is interesting how in Italian they say "I have hunger" instead of saying "I am hungry" or "I Have cold" instead of "I am cold". This concept is the same than Spanish, so it is not so hard to grasp.

Saturday February 11th 2012, Italian Class

Buon San Valentino Everybody!

Italian is getting complicated. There are so many little details to remember but I like it more and more as I learn it. I often say things when I mean something else. For example, I want to say Ci sono (there are) but I say C'e (there is) or viceversa. The test was not as difficult as I expected it to be but we will see what happens next week.

I wanted to share my love for Italian singers. This is a song by Laura Pausini an Italian singer and it belongs to the first CD I ever owned when I was 13 :) The song Gente (People) talks about a new generation that will be a good influence and change the world. I copied the lyrics, so enjoy!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujdTByDUGTo&feature=related

LYRICS - GENTE
Si sbaglia sai quasi continuamenteSperando di non farsi mai troppo maleMa quante volte si cade
La vita sai è un filo in equilibrioE prima o poi ci ritroviamo distantiDavanti a un bivio
Ed ogni giorno insieme per fare solo un metro in piùCi vuole tutto il bene che riusciremo a trovare in ognuno di noi
Ma a volte poi basta un sorriso soloA sciogliere in noi anche un inverno di geloE ripartire da zero
Perché non c'è un limite per nessunoChe dentro sè abbia un amore sinceroSolo un respiro
Non siamo angeli in volo venuti dal cieloMa gente comune che ama davveroGente che vuole un mondo più veroLa gente che incontri per strada in città
Prova e vedrai ci sarà sempre un modoDentro di noi per poi riprendere il voloVerso il sereno
Non siamo angeli in volo venuti dal cieloMa gente comune che ama davveroGente che vuole un mondo più veroLa gente che insieme lo cambierà
Gente che vuole un mondo più veroLa gente che insieme lo cambierà
Insieme lo cambierà, proveràGente che proveràLavori lo cambierà, riuscirà . . . 

Italian Class February 4th

I cannot believe I got an 82 on my quiz, I was expecting like a 42 . . . Speaking Spanish is also a factor that helps. However, I think that it is confusing at times so I will try not to rely too much on the Spanish.

Today's class was full of grammar, I LOVED learning the verb to be in Italian. I think Italian sounds so good that it makes everything sound good. Also, I could not help but to notice that the Spanish Argentinians speak has a lot of Italian in it. I have many Argentinian friends who have a particular way of speaking Spanish and as I learn the idiomatic expressions in Italian and the way they speak I find similatiries. For example, the book said "gli amici" as in "the friends", Argentinians refer to "the friends" very ofen. I found this interesting. Also, Andrea Bocelli is starting to make a little more sense.

I look forward to my next class but not to the exam.

My first class. Well really number two, I missed the first class :/

I missed the first class because I was out of town and the teacher was nice enough to still allow me in the class. As soon as I arrived there was a quiz...needless to say I had to guess the entire two pages. Still, I think I did ok for not having been in class. For some random reason I have had Italian bosses many times in my life or have worked with Italians. Even though I am not confident making full sentences I understand some words and have an idea of the culture itself.

After the test we learned some numbers and went over how to say "there is" and "there are". I had flashbacks of learning English. Having learned a language in the past helps, because I know the components I am looking for in the language. There is a typical process for learning languages and no matter what language it is, the process seems to always be similar.

I left my first class very satisfied. I am glad I decided to take Italian!