well.. here goes..

you can find a real brief look at my Italian experience here
http://istitutoatrium.blogspot.com/2...1_archive.html

and if you're interested in learning italian in italy
www.istitutoatrium.com

I hope to get to know some of you better!

Here is a link to help speed up the process of learning Italian
http://www.michelthomas.co.uk/italian.htm
Don't spend a lot of money on systems like Rosetta Stone, they cost way too much and to difficult to learn and they don't compare to Michel Thomas's system. Buy the 10 CD beginners about $70-$80 package not the 2 CD begginers package $25-$30 dollars the 10 CD case has the first 2 which you will go through in a few days, You will be amazed how fast you can pick up the language.

What helped me learn Italian before I moved to Italy 5 years ago was MUSIC!

Yes, I was taking Italian in college, but besides basic grammar outline, I would make a play list of my favorite songs and have a word by word translation.

Then hear the songs over and over again until you are familiar with what each word means and before you know it, things start to come together!

Listening to music and singing along practices two important parts of conversation:

#1 recognizing what others say
#2 improving your pronunciation

Plus, it's not so boring!

Movies and CD courses are great, too... but there is only so much grammar a day I can take, and movies are incredibly long to follow sentence by sentence if you're new to the language, so music allowed me to pass my evenings improving my Italian and by the time I arrived to Italy I had no problem with the language

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Farfallina

...a roam to Rome!
http://candletocandle.blogspot.com

I do this too, Farfallina, and it helps a lot. And I can multi-task when at the gym or the grocery mart, because I am learning and listening to Italian all that time. Here are the lyrics of one I am listening to nowadays, is kind of catchy in a slow, laid-back way. I wish I knew how to upload the MP3 file I have....

Toto Cutugno: L'italiano


Lasciatemi cantare
con la chitarra in mano
lasciatemi cantare
sono un italiano

Buongiorno Italia gli spaghetti al dente
e un partigiano come Presidente
con l'autoradio sempre nella mano destra
e un canarino sopra la finestra
Buongiorno Italia con i tuoi artisti
con troppa America sui manifesti
con le canzoni con amore
con il cuore
con piu' donne sempre meno suore
Buongiorno Italia
buongiorno Maria
con gli occhi pieni di malinconia
buongiorno Dio
lo sai che ci sono anch'io

Lasciatemi cantare
con la chitarra in mano
lasciatemi cantare
una canzone piano piano
Lasciatemi cantare
perche' ne sono fiero
sono un italiano
un italiano vero

Buongiorno Italia che non si spaventa
e con la crema da barba alla menta
con un vestito gessato sul blu
e la moviola la domenica in TV
Buongiorno Italia col caffe' ristretto
le calze nuove nel primo cassetto
con la bandiera in tintoria
e una 600 giu' di carrozzeria
Buongiorno Italia
buongiorno Maria
con gli occhi pieni di malinconia
buongiorno Dio
lo sai che ci sono anch'io

Lasciatemi cantare
con la chitarra in mano
lasciatemi cantare
una canzone piano piano
Lasciatemi cantare
perche' ne sono fiero
sono un italiano
un italiano vero

Lasciatemi cantare
con la chitarra in mano
lasciatemi cantare
una canzone piano piano
Lasciatemi cantare
perche' ne sono fiero
sono un italiano
un italiano vero

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Visit My Writing Blog: Amlokiblogs

this is such a good tip! I've noticed the same thing when listening to Andrea Boccelli, but I'm ready to branch out! What are some other good song to get in Italian?

Well there is always pop music from Italy, but I can't seem to get a hold of much.

If you YouTube search you can find some good Italian music videos, that may help you out too. It is easier to read it though.

Lasciatemi cantare Let me sing
Con la chitarra in mano With the guitar in my hands
Lasciatemi cantare Let me sing
Sono un italiano I’m an Italian

Buongiorno Italia, gli spaghetti al dente Good morning Italy, the spaghetti al dente[1]
E un partigiano come presidente And a partisan for president[2]
Con l’autoradio sempre nella mano destra With the car radio always in the right hand[3]
E un canarino sopra la finestra And a canary over the window

Buongiorno Italia con i tuoi artisti Good morning Italy with your artists[4]
Con troppa america sui manifesti Too much America on the posters[5]
Con le canzoni, con amore, con il cuore With songs, with love, with heart
Con più donne sempre meno suore With more women less and less nuns[6]

Buongiorno Italia, buongiorno Maria Good morning Italy, good morning Maria[7]
Con gli occhi pieni di malinconia With eyes full of melancholy
Buongiorno Dio Good morning my God
Lo sai che ci sono anch’io You know that I’m here too[8]

Lasciatemi cantare con la chitarra in mano Let me sing with the guitar in my hand
Lasciatemi cantare una canzone piano piano Let me sing a song softly softly
Lasciatemi cantare perché ne sono fiero Let me sing because I’m proud of that
Sono un Italiano, un Italiano vero I’m an Italian, a real Italian

Buongiorno Italia che non si spaventa Good morning Italy that is not afraid at all
Con la crema da barba alla menta With the mint shaving foam
Con un vestito gessato sul blu With a gessato dress in blue[9]
E la moviola la domenica in TV And the moviola on Sunday on the TV[10]

Buongiorno Italia col caffè ristretto Good morning Italy with espresso coffee
Le calze nuove nel primo cassetto New socks in the first drawer
Con la bandiera in tintoria With the flag in the laundry[11]
E una Seicento giù di carrozzeria And a Seicento with an old bodywork[12]

Buongiorno Italia, buongiorno Maria Good morning Italy, good morning Maria
Con gli occhi dolci di malinconia With sweet eyes of melancholy[13]
Buongiorno Dio Good morning my God
Lo sai che ci sono anch’io You know that I’m here too

Lasciatemi cantare con la chitarra in mano Let me sing with the guitar in my hand
Lasciatemi cantare una canzone piano piano Let me sing a song softly softly
Lasciatemi cantare perché ne sono fiero Let me sing because I’m proud of that
Sono un Italiano, un Italiano vero I’m an Italian, a real Italian

Lasciatemi cantare con la chitarra in mano Let me sing with the guitar in my hand
Lasciatemi cantare una canzone piano piano Let me sing a song softly softly
Lasciatemi cantare perché ne sono fiero Let me sing because I’m proud of that
Sono un Italiano, un Italiano vero I’m an Italian, a real Italian


[1] Spaghetti al dente means Spaghetti not very cooked; in Italy it is a long standing issue the problem of how long to cook spaghetti. In the south it is preferred to boil them not very much, while in the north they are boiled for a lot of time (spaghetti scotti).
[2] In the 80’s the president of the Italian Republic was Sandro Pertini; he was a partisan against the fascism during the Second World War.
[3] In the nouveau riche Italy of the 80’s the car radio was a status symbol.
[4] It is well known that Italy is the country of saints, poets, and sailormans...
[5] The first of a series of verses full of political criticism: after the Second World War the Italian culture was invaded by the American myth, il mito Americano.
[6] There are two different meanings of this verse. The first one is related to a social analysis: in the modern Italy the number of nuns decreased due to secularization of the society. The second one is moral: women of our times forgot the holy principles of the ancient society; note that in Italy is usual to call suora, nun, a girl that doesn’t go with a man if he doesn’t have serious intentions (marriage).
[7] Maria is la Madonna, the mother of Christ.
[8] This is the key of the interpretation of the text. The Author, with eyes full of melancholy for seeing Italy in so bad conditions, is frightened of God having forgot him.
[9] Gessato is an elegant suit.
[10] Moviola is the replay of the relevant moments of the football matches of the day, on Sunday evening. Football matches were played on Sunday but it was not possible to see them live on television, so Moviola was very popular.
[11] Another political verse: patriottism was not common in Italy after the fascism.
[12] Seicento (600) was a very popular small car produced by FIAT Auto, the symbol of Italian industry (now in deep crisis). The fact the auto has an old bodywork is another symbol of the moral decandence of Italy in the 80’s.
[13] Very poetic.
[14] Full of desperation, Toto didn’t find words to express his thoughts.

Hi Villa.
Thanks for the translation of the song. Have not seen you by the pool. Hope you are doing well.

To learn Italian:
I found that memorizing the common verbs in the present tense; parlare(to speak), andare (to ggo), fare(to do/make), dire (say),venire (come), sapere (know)etc... and the memorization of the most common prepositions and adjectives will help you to start understanding simples sentences. See if you can get your hands on Italian romance journals (which are very corny but fun to read. This is how I taught myself Italian when I first started. Immersing yourself amongst Italian friends as others have suggested is also the best way.
Most importantly, make sure you are having fun no matter what way you choose to study the language.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

If you want to learn Italian check out the many posts
by Villa on how to learn Italian.