Italian for Beginners

Italian for Beginners

You are about to enjoy a charming theatrical performance, and, while doing so, you will learn to understand and, eventually, speak Italian. As the play unfolds, you'll get a chance to see first hand how the language works. Plus, you will discover captivating nuances of Italian culture and experience the thrill of a theatrical performance in the language you are learning. Now, let's take a step back and devote a few words to the format of the show. An Italian teacher, Silvia, is about to meet Connor, her new student. Connor does not speak Italian. He only knows a couple words he learned as a kid from his maternal grandparents, who, as we'll see, are both very proud of their Sicilian heritage. Connor is really keen to start learning Italian. Why? Well, he has a special dream he wants to accomplish! The curtain is up now. Act 1 is about to begin (https://www.newsinslowitalian.com/series/guts/1/opening). Here's Silvia and Connor, sitting in a cozy room, sipping coffee. Many colorful books are lined up on a wooden bookcase. A map of Italy hangs from the wall. Looks like a language school. Well, let's see what happens...

Episodes

April 15, 2015 19 mins

- Personal Pronouns: The Combined Forms

- Relative Pronouns: che, cui, il cui, etc.

- Conjunctions: perché, siccome, perc...

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- Ne
- The futuro anteriore
- Adverbs: già and non...ancora
 
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- The Future

- Irregular Verbs in the Future

- Idiomatic Phrases Expressing Need

 

Expression: Mosca bianca

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- the passato prossimo and the imperfetto together

- Modal Verbs in the passato prossimo and the imperfetto

- Si impersonale

 

Expression: Spada di Damocle

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- the gerund

- ci (di luogo)

- chiedere and domandare

 

An Italian Tradition: l'aperitivo

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- indirect object pronouns (mi, ti, le, gli, ci, vi, gli)

- personal pronouns and the verb Piacere

 

Everyday idiomatic expressions: Dai, Meno male, Da morire.

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- the imperfect

- the imperfect of essere, fare, and stare

- special suffixes

Expression 1: Buona notte al secchio

 

Expression 2: Capitare a fagiolo

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- direct object pronouns and passato prossimo

- preposizioni da

- conoscere vs. sapere

Expression: L'arte di arrangiarsi

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- irregular participles in the passato prossimo

- reflexive verbs in the passato prossimo

- rooms in a house

 

Expression: Prendere il toro per le corna

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- il passato prossimo (ausiliare essere e avere, participi regolari)

- accordo del participio col soggetto

- avverbi di tempo (la settimana scorsa, due giorni fa, ieri, oggi, domani, fra due giorni, la prossima settimana)

Food and idiomatic expressions - Part II

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- adverbs of frequency (tutti i giorni, sempre, spesso, qualche volta, raramente, mai)

- vorrei

- irregular nouns

 

Food and idiomatic expressions - Part I

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- il partitivo

- prepositional phrases

- seasons

- date (month, year, day, etc.)

 

Expression: Alle calende greche

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- reflexive verbs

- modal verbs

- personal pronouns with prepositions (con me, per te, a lui/lei, con noi, per voi, con loro)

Expression: Volere è potere

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- preposizioni articolate

- present indicative of venire and dire

- capitalization

- time

 

Expression: Non vedere l'ora

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- possessives

- direct object pronouns (mi, ti, lo, la, ci, vi, li, le)

- present indicative of andare and potere

- colors

- double consonants

 

Idiomatic Expressions with Colors

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- verbs in the third conjugation

- questo/quello

- molto

- diphthongs

- vowels

 

Expression: Il dolce far niente

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- verbs in the second conjugation

- present indicative of fare and sapere

- sounds /k/, /g/, /tf/, /dz/

 

Expresson: Fare bella e brutta figura

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- verbs in the first conjugation

- definite articles

- alphabet

 

Expression: Assolutamente

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- avere

- idiomatic expressions with avere

- ce l'ho and dov'è

 

Expression: In bocca al lupo

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- indefinite articles

- c'è/ci sono

 

- numbers and idiomatic expressions

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