Learning Italian

[Zanthorus]

The Bordiga archive on Sinistra.net is mostly in French, German, Italian or some other crazy language. I tried google translate but it's shit, so in lieu of throwing my computer out the window, I've decided to learn Italian. Only problem is I have no idea how. Any advice would be appreciated.

[ed miliband]

Watch loads of awesome giallo films.

[Quail]

I would start by learning the alphabet and pronunciations, and some basic phrases to get you going. Then it's just a case of reading, noting down vocabulary, learning sentence structures/grammar, etc. It might help if you could find a free online course for beginners (I'm sure they exist because I looked one up for Spanish one day, although I never actually had time to learn any), or if you could get in contact with a native speaker. There also could be things like conversation groups or whatever in the town where you live, which might be good.

[Magón]

Rosetta Stone isn't too bad. My cousin bought their Dutch Language set, before she went on a trip to the Netherlands. She said it worked out really well, and was easy to learn and that conversation was pretty easy over there with what she knew.

Personally, I've never had an easy time learning a language that way.

[graymouser]

1. You need a good audio source. The US Foreign Service Institute put out some top-notch but somewhat dated materials during the 20th century, it's worth checking out. There are a few Italian courses on a free FSI course site, check them out (http://www.fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=Italian).

2. You need a good grammar book. Having learned the bit of Italian I know in college, I don't know of a good one that's not a college textbook. I would recommend something pretty thorough, and just note that I would stay away from the core Teach Yourself series. Italian's not so obscure that you can't find a good book that will work you through its grammar. And yes, pay for a book. You won't get the same quality online.

3. Flashcards. No reason for these not to be online. I've been digging quizlet.com (http://quizlet.com/) for Spanish ones lately but I would think there should be some good sets on there for Italian too. Or you can make your own.

4. Reading. You'll want to read stuff, probably Corriere della Sera (http://www.corriere.it/) or La Repubblica (http://www.repubblica.it/) but Italian comrades should be able to give you better suggestions.

5. Speaking. Get Skype and find a language exchange. Italian speakers want to practice their English, and you want to practice your Italian. Everybody wins.

Now, of course the best way to learn Italian would be to live in Italy for a while. But the above assumes that you don't have the time and money to do so. Plan to spend some serious time on it, but the multiple-track method is generally better than expensive programs like Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur, and costs a lot less money.

[Raúl Duke]

Ciao,
Parliamo in Italiano insieme

[Os Cangaceiros]

Watch loads of awesome giallo films.

this.

[HEAD ICE]

Find a way to obtain some Pimsleur tapes ;]

oh and when you are able to understand italian please translate this:
jOvwH9m-MCI
(if bordiga was to have theme music it would be whats played in the intro)

[Devrim]

Can you go to a night-class at a local collage?

Devrim

[F9]

i took italian for 2 years, and french for 4(or 3 i aint sure) and i can honestly say i dont know SHIT about those 2 languages:lol: i most probably know less right now, than before i took them, cause now i tend to really confuse the 2, and thats weird cause they dont connect.

[Zanthorus]

Thanks for the advice, kayl and graymouser :)


Rosetta Stone isn't too bad. My cousin bought their Dutch Language set, before she went on a trip to the Netherlands. She said it worked out really well, and was easy to learn and that conversation was pretty easy over there with what she knew.

Looking at the prices on Amazon, it's fairly expensive though. I'd like to not spend money unless I absolutely have to.


Can you go to a night-class at a local collage?

I'm pretty sure that neither of the college's near me do courses in Italian, unfortunately.

I think my biggest stepping stone here is that I'm going to be reading explicitly political texts in Italian, and specifically Marxist texts, the language of which isn't necessarily going to be everyday Italian. Although actually, comparing some of the texts of Bordiga translated into the original English with the Italian seems to help a bit. I know definitely know that borghesi is bourgeois, proletaria is proletarian and lotta is struggle... only a few thousand more words to go.

[ZeroNowhere]

I had heard that Marx's advice regarding Spanish was to read Don Quixote. I can't think of an Italian equivalent out of hand, so perhaps try reading... Calvino? I don't know. Perhaps reading Bordiga'll be alright as well, though.

[Devrim]

I'm pretty sure that neither of the college's near me do courses in Italian, unfortunately.

I'd take the time to check. I wouldn't be surprised if they do.

Devrim

[LeninBalls]

The Teach Yourself series (http://www.teachyourself.co.uk/books.aspx?isbn=9781444102116&maincat=Languages&subcat=) are really really efficient with regards to learning a language by yourself. Although I'm still at beginners level I learned a lot of my basic Russian this way. It's also not impossible to find a native Italian speaker. I live(d) in a small town of 20,000 and by simply asking around I found a Belorussian woman willing to help me learn Russian.

One good way is to go to a uni and put a flyer seeking someone to teach you Italian. There's bound to be at least one Italian speaker in a university in Britain.

It's either that or Rosetta Stone.

[Niccolò Rossi]

The Bordiga archive on Sinistra.net is mostly in French, German, Italian or some other crazy language. I tried google translate but it's shit, so in lieu of throwing my computer out the window, I've decided to learn Italian. Only problem is I have no idea how. Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm with Devrim on this one. I'm doing a beginners course in Italian at community college (they hold classes at night at high schools in the local area).

I would mention though that learning a language is a big investment and takes alot of commitment and persistant effort. Learning Italian with the perspective of studying the works of the Italian communist left is especially difficult because as you note, the language used is far removed from everyday Italian.

Is this your first attempt to learn another language?

What ever your decision, best of luck with it!

Nic.

[Achara]

why anyone would want to learn a language to read the staggered and painful writing of bordiga is beyond me, especially when the ones that aren't translated haven't been for a reason

[REVLEFT'S BIEGGST MATSER TROL]

Rosetta Stone is v. expensive, but seems to work well.

Rather than buy it I suggest you torrent it, just search "Rosetta Stone" on the pirate bay or something, then you get it for free and help fight capitalism too.

[Bilan]

What Nic and Devrim said.
Or, if you're at university, doing classes there is good.
I study French at my uni. It's very intensive and very good.

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

It's very simple to speak Italian, more so than anyother language, check this informative language teaching video:

9JhuOicPFZY

[Honggweilo]

It's very simple to speak Italian, more so than anyother language, check this informative language teaching video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhuOicPFZY

fucker! i was going to make that joke!

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

fucker! i was going to make that joke!

ha, beat you!

[The Fighting_Crusnik]

If anything, you can try out livemocha :p

[DecDoom]

I'll vouch for Rosetta Stone, I have the Russian version and can remember more from 1 month of that than from 2 years of Spanish in high school. I'm planning on getting the Swedish edition next.

Although, I'm not fluent in Russian, I don't understand much, but that's just because I'm lazy. :lol:

[Quail]

Also, I forgot to mention: children's books can be good to help learn languages, and newspapers and magazines.

[Zanthorus]

Is this your first attempt to learn another language?

For the first three years of secondary school we had to take German and French and I was pretty good at German. Also I went to Spain on holiday a couple of years ago and I went through some learn spanish CD's.


why anyone would want to learn a language to read the staggered and painful writing of bordiga is beyond me, especially when the ones that aren't translated haven't been for a reason

It's not just Bordiga, I've been looking to read Onorato Damen as well. And from what I gathered the reason Bordiga hasn't been translated into English is because the International Communist Party claims the copyright on Bordiga's work.

[black magick hustla]

arent you in college? just audit some italian lecture and do the homework. they dont give a shit but you wont get a grade, just ask the teacher.

or

if you are not in college, audit anyway just make sure to ask the teacher. they generally dont care, you just wont get credit.