Italian speakers

I love watching Montalbano. It's great for learning a few naughty Italian words.

Badenkate We think our actors are great if they can munch a scotch egg whilst acting ( Broadchurch) but in Montalbano, everybody is either slurping coffee or eating something or drinking wine all the time ! Those Italians, eeh?

J'ai obtenu un diplôme en français à l’université
il ya quarante ans, et puis rapidement oublié, quand je me suis marié et a eu des enfants. Je n'ai pas aimé, car c'était surtout la littérature de Balzac, Camus etc. Très peu de travail oral.

Quinze ans plus tard, je suis devenu instituteur, mais il n'y avait aucune possibilité d'enseigner le français.
Lorsque le français a été introduit dans notre localité dans toutes les écoles primaires, j'ai été jeté dans la profondeur, comme peu de professeurs parlent français. Très temps pour un rafraîchissement rapide.
Au début, c'était très simple, mais le temps que je me retirai, j'enseignais avoir, faire et être aux enfants.
Le rythme rapide a pris une partie de la joie de l'enseignement et l'apprentissage, alors j'ai réussi à obtenir des fonds et me suis emmené à Lyon pour un cours pour améliorer mon enseignement. Quelle joie !
J'ai complètement changé ma manière d'enseigner.
Autant que possible, j'ai enseigné à travers les chansons et le jeu et You tube une grande source de matériel.
Mon chanson favorit:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjSAMIYrvEA.

S'il vous plaît ne me demandez pas de conjuguer le temps du subjonctif ou de structures grammaticales compliquées, elles sont profondément enfouies dans ma mémoire défaillante, avec Madame Bovary et L'Etranger!
Bonne journée, collègues linguistes. Aujourd'hui Je n'ai aucun devoir d'enfant. Temps de refroidir!

Ladies, there will be lots of errors, please forgive. my brain is mush! That's my excuse anyway!

I just want to be able to shrug and say 'Eeh' in an Italian way like they do on Montalbano.

Ciao Hypericum. Habitavo in Italia molti anni fa and mi ricordo un pochino. Come sta? Oggi il tempo fa molto bello. Il cielo e azzurro and no c'e vento. La mia suocera si trove vicino a Pisa e il marito e italiano. Lei soltanto un figlio and lui a 22 anni. Siamo andato a casa sua da molti anni. Spero que ho scritto bene.

Non fa niente, Hypericum. L'italiano e una lingua che perdona tutto, anche gli errori!
Buona giornata! Per mettersi completamente nell'ambiente, perchè non ascoltare( e cantare) una canzone italiana con le parole su youtube? Try Toto Cutugno "L'italiano" or "Felicità" by Al Bano & Romina Power.

Marydoll Bravo pour vos études du français. Les chansons des chanteurs-poètes français ( sur youtube, avec texte) sont une merveilleuse façon d'améliorer son français...et de passer de bons moments de joie en chantant avec eux! Cela fait aussi comprendre davantage la culture française. Essayez "Douce France" de Trénet" ou "Boum" Vous dancerez et chanterez à la fois!

There are so many songs in both languages that would make a wonderful learning experience. As a lover of art, I particularly like "La Boheme" by Charles Aznavour. So evocative and romantic. Ecoutez-la avec texte.

And for Italian AND French, listen to the two versions by the French-Italian poet and singer, Serge Reggiani, called "L'Italien" in French and "Il Francese" in the Italian version. It is the story of an immigrant who returns to his home town after many years, but there is no one there to welcome him. It sums up the essential sadness of never being able to return to one's roots.
The late Lucio Dallo's "Caruso" is on the same theme and tells the story of the famous tenor who returns to Italy to die. Or, of course, there is "Con te partirò" by the lovely Andrea Bocelli!

We could do a course using songs alone! So many: tant, tant de chansons/ tante, tante canzoni. Sorry for going on so; it is a pet topic of mine!!

J'habite près de Glasgow dans le sud-ouest. Je suis écossaise. In fact, I've just realised, I'm a big bit rusty!

Oh dear just seen my typos Rinouchka - apologies.

Marydoll, clearly you are enjoying your retirement and that's what is important. Are you in the south-east?

Certainement, mais je n'ai pas lu tout le français depuis que j'ai pris ma retraite de travail- or something along those lines. I'm a wee bit rusty.

"Tu faiS", Hypericum not "fait" . Don't forget the cedilla on the "c" in "français" either.

Moi aussi je parle français! Est-ce que tu fait la lecture en francais?

Grazie mille, Hypericum I have never heard of it, but will give it a try. My DH has gone way beyond my level and needs a challenge.
However, I am streets ahead of him in French. You would never think we were competitive!

Marydoll
My husband and I use Yabla which is very good for bitesize chunks of Italian at different levels if difficulty.

Buono sera Rinouuchka! Comme va? Piachere!

Buongiorno Hypericum! I speak Italian.

Hypericum I don't know if you have heard of a computer program called "Duolingo" www.duolingo.com/
It allows you to learn and practise a variety of foreign languages both orally and grammatically at your own pace. If you slack off for a few days, it reminds you to keep trying.
Both my husband and I use it to improve our Italian. You can also choose to track someone else's progress, if they allow you, (in my case my DH's, as we are very competitive!)
I also use it to improve my French and German, if we are going on holiday.

Does anyone know of any theatre clubs in Berkshire?

I love all sorts of music, but my husband is playing some Haydn and I am thinking how beautiful this music this is. Often I think wouldn't it be lovely to share our favourite pieces of music with others? What do other people think?