Italian Racism

"Corriere della Sera" publishes today a very interesting article by Antonio Stella. It describes some reactions to Mario Balotelli, a black Italian soccer-player.
A videochat with Stella is scheduled at 4:30 PM (Italian Time).
The last book by Stella is titled Negri, Froci, Giudei & Co. L’eterna guerra contro l'altro.

Let's Speak Italian

Parliamoci chiaro, an e-Learning project by ISMU, offers courses at different levels.

Becco Giallo Publishing

Becco Giallo is an innovative publishing house. It has been established in 2005. The name was taken from that of a satirical magazine founded in the twenties by Alberto Giannini. The house name and work refer as a sort of tribute to that magazine, whose use of the comic idiom was a way to tell, to criticize, to discuss.

From the beginning the house decided to publish non fiction graphic novels. They tell about historical and social events.

Authors are among the most promising young Italian drawers and talents from the world of comics.

* EdizioniBeccoGiallo's Channel [You Tube]

Radio Arlecchino

"Arlecchino, Pulcinella and other masks of the Italian Commedia dell'arte will help you learn the subtleties of Italian grammar, one zany episode at a time.

Podcasts are built around dialogs that explain the Italian grammar behind communicative language functions – functions like describing and comparing, recommending and expressing opinions, recounting the past, expressing likes and dislikes, hypothesizing, and talking about the future.

You can download pdf files to read dialog transcripts and learn more from additional grammar and cultural notes. You can even ask questions on the discussion blog."

Radio Arlecchino is produced at the College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin.

Fumetti Podomatic

Fumetti - Improve your Italian with fun listening and reading!

"This is a podcast for intermediate or advanced Italian language learners. You can expand your vocabulary by listening to spoken Italian while you also read the transcript and study the words that are unfamiliar. The best part is that you'll have a lot of fun in the process! "Fumetti" are Italian comic books. The podcasts are comic books that were originally dramatized for Italian radio (RADIO 2).

This podcast will focus mainly on three comic book characters that are incredibly successful in Italy: Tex, Diabolik and Dylan Dog. The podcasts and other materials on the website will show you how deeply the characters have entered the consciousness of contemporary Italian society.

Transcripts are available for download."

You can send comments and suggestions at fumetti@podomatic.com.

ItalianoBlogo - Un blog per imparare l'italiano

On the website ItalianoBlogo "you'll find audio and video files that you can listen to while reading the script of the spoken words at the same time. There is an index of the available titles when you follow the link that says "Titoli Disponibili" [Available Titles]. A glossary of some of the more difficult words has been provided along with an online dictionary. This should make it easy to learn new words in the context of authentic Italian. The recordings have been put into beginning, intermediate and advanced categories so that you can start at a level where you're comfortable and over time you can work on more advanced material. [...] As you advance to higher reading levels you'll find excerpts from some classic literature as well as music videos."

Symposium on Italian (Boston, May 9th, 2009)

Symposium "A Sequential k-12 Curriculum for an Advanced and Updated Approach to the Teaching of Italian Language and Culture"
Boston Public Library - May 9th, 2009 - 9:30am

L'Italiano da sapere

L'Italiano da sapere offers exercises to sustain or improve your Italian

Useful webite for teachers!

Here is a website with online (and printable!) activities and worksheets for your students on a variety of topics:

Quanto conosci la lingua italiana?

The Dante Alighieri Society offers the chance to evaluate you skills in Italian. Levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2

Italian Verbs Conjugator

The italian verbs conjugation has many difficulties like all the neo-Latin languages due to their abundance and different uses of verbal forms. But now, the conjugation of Italian verbs isn't longer a problem, thanks to a free Italian verbs conjugator.
An Enrico Olivetti Communication leading high quality production, containing more than 12,000 Italian verbs only considering the active form. With the reflexive verbs the total reaches more than 20,000 verbs.

All you need is to key in the tense, either in the active form (i.e.: amare, temere, finire, noi siamo, io vado, che tu sappia) or in the reflexive (pronominal) form (i.e.: lavarsi, vestirsi, io mi lavo, tu ti pettini) and the conjugation table will be immmediately displayed.

Online quizzes, games

Students sometimes look for extra practice or exercises to do outside of class which provide them with some kind of feedback. Languages Online works well for students in the first level of Italian. The site is divided into topics, beginning with "saluti" and ending with "la casa", as well as three separate grammar units. Students are able to take quizzes related to the different topics and receive instant feedback. There is also a listening component and a section devoted to games. This could be an effective supplement to an Elementary Italian course.

Language games

For some extra vocab drills, languagegames.org offers word searches, crosswords and hangman by category, from colors to animals to the weather. These games are effective for students of all ages to reinforce vocab.

Tongue twisters

A great way to warm up a class and work on pronunciation is the use of tongue twisters. The BBC languages site offers some particularly challenging ones.

The Screening Room's top 10 Italian films

LESSON IDEA: Students, especially younger ones, tend to know relatively little about Italian cinema. When starting a thematic unit featuring film, brainstorming and google searches can be effective methods of creating a base of knowledge. This CNN.com article (and others like it) on the top 10 Italian films of all time according to a Rome-based film critic could be useful supplementary reading material to make students begin to put the history of Italian cinema into context.

Letteratour

An excellent resource for students of Italian literature, the website Letteratour provides a comprehensive foundation for all levels and areas of interest. Analyses of texts ranging from songs to poems to excerpts from larger works are featured, along with clear definitions and examples of the most prominent literary theories and narrative styles. It is, as the site notes, a "tour" into the world of literature and truly offers a wealth of pertinent information. Upcoming readings and literary discussions around Italy are also listed, and the site offers everything from children's reading activities to word games for the advanced adult.

Shortcuts to Italian resources online

The University of Toronto's Italian at Erindale website offers shortcuts to a wide variety of Italian resources online. Websites for other universities as well as links to fashion, sport, newspapers, libraries and literature resources are just a click away.

America Oggi

America Oggi is an Italian language newspaper published daily in the United States. LESSON IDEA: This could make for an interesting lesson in comparing and contrasting newspapers published in Italy and those published in the US. Students could confront America Oggi with other Italian daily newspapers such as the Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica, looking at the content covered, journalistic style and general structure. Are Italian speakers living in the US interested in different topics than those living in Italy? How is this reflected in the structure and content of the newspapers themselves? If there are few apparent differences, what does this say about culture, both American and Italian? This lesson would be appropriate from the intermediate level up, as this type of discussion requires a high level of communication ability.

Online grammar and pronunciation guide

ProfessorGio.com is a helpful website for students of Italian looking to reinforce what they've learned in the classroom. There are grammar and usage explanations in English, as well as an audio pronunciation guide and games to practice vocabulary. Students are often looking for extra exercises and practice, and this is a good place to send them to reinforce the basic concepts of the Italian language.

Italiano Lingua 2

Italiano lingua due is a website where migrants could find linguistic help. It could be interesting for students of Italian abroad.