23 April - Studying Day

A major hurdle in learning a language (at least for us) is that we measure what is correct in English by whether things sounds right, not because we are considering any grammatical rules.  However, it is these rules that provide a framework into which you can plug your foreign language learning; if you can’t sort your indirect object pronouns from your direct object pronouns and you’re vexed by reflexive and transitive verbs then you are not making life easy for yourself. 

After two weeks of school we knew we would want a change of pace in our studies so this week we start working with a private tutor who will visit the flat.  This keeps us engaged in some formal learning. But we are also trying to be disciplined about daily private home study.  We have been learning a set number of new verbs every day and practise these in our Italian with each other.  We pick on some aspect of that grammar we so poorly understand so that those pronouns, whether possessive or direct or indirect or personal or… (I think you get the point), become clearer.  Sad to say that in exploring this area we are learning as much about how we use English incorrectly as we are about Italian.  And we also try and spend an hour in the day watching television to help get our ears tuned to the language.  The news is good as the pictures help you follow the story but any mindless daytime telly is helpful.  The other day it was ‘Cronache Animale’ (which is Animal Chronicles in English - a bit like Animal Magic back home but without the magic). 

It’s a slow business but and it does seem that we are understanding more when we speak to people even if that understanding falls dramatically short when they are in full flow….