Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Learn How to Ask Questions in Italian

Learn How to Ask Questions in Italian:"

Learn the different question words in Italian. There are different words for who and how, why and what, how many and where. We show which words to use for what questions, and differences in formation of the questions.

Introduction

Asking questions is an important part of spoken language. In Italian, the key is learning the different question words. We will go over each of the different question words in Italian, and how to form a question with each word.


Chi?

Chi means “who” and can only be used when referring a person. For example:

-Chi è quello ragazzo? (Who is that boy?)

-È Carlo. (That's Carlo)

Chi can also be used to mean “whose” when prefaced with the word di. Literally, di chi means “of who?” The response to a di chi question also needs to have di before the subject to indicate ownership. For example:

-Di chi è questo libro? (Whose book is this?)

- È di Isabella. (It is Isabella's book)

Che Cosa?

Che cosa means “what” and can only be used when referring to an object. For example:

-Che cosa mangiamo oggi? (What should we eat today?)

-Vorrei una insalata. (I would like a salad)

However, we can use che or cosa in lieu of che cosa. The sentence we had in the example (che cosa mangiamo oggi?) can also be:

-Che mangiamo oggi? Or

-Cosa mangiamo oggi?

Quale?

Quale means both “which” and “what” in Italian; in plural, quale becomes quali. For example:

-Quale libro stai leggendo? (What book are you reading? or Which book are you reading?)

-Quali libri stai leggendo? (What books are you reading? or Which books are you reading?)

An alternative to quale is che. For example:

-Che libro stai leggendo? (What book are you reading?)

Quanto?

Quanto is used when we want to ask “how much” or “how many.” Quanto can be used as either an adjective or a pronoun. An example of quanto being used as an adjective:

-Quanti amici hai in Italia? (How many friends do you have in Italy?)

Notice that quanto becomes quanti: it matches the noun's gender and quantity. Now an example of when quanto is used as a pronoun:

-Quanto costa la tua nuova vespa? (How much is your new Vespa?)

When quanto is used as a pronoun, its form does not change.

Come?

Come means “how” in Italian, and can be used in two manners: how something is done or how someone feels. For example:

-Come va? (How are you?) ← an example of “how someone feels”

-Come sei arrivata? (How did you arrive?) ← an example of “how something is done”

Perché?

Perché is used to ask “why” in Italian. For example:

-Perché non si vai a scuola oggi? (Why did you not go to school today?)

Perché can also be used as a response:

-Perché sono malata. (Because I am sick)

Quando?

Quando is the question word used to ask time. For example:

-Quando sei tornata? (What time did you get back?)

However, if we need to ask the specific time, we use che instead:

-Che ore sono? (What time is it?)

An alternative is che ora è, which is appropriate when it is a singular hour, such as one o'clock (l'una), midnight (mezzanotte) and noon (mezzogiorno).

Dove?

Dove means “where” in Italian. For example:

-Dove sei andata? (Where did you go?)

When we add da in front of dove, it means “where from,” and is used to ask a person's origin. For example:

-Da dove vieni? (Where are you from?)

-Dagli Stati Uniti (I'm from the United States).

To respond to a da dove question, it is da + the appropriate definite article, then the country. Here are the combination da prepositions:

da + il = dal

da + lo = dallo

da + l' = dall'

da + la = dalla

da + i = dai

da + gli = dagli

da + le = dalle

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Friday, November 20, 2009

Individual Italian Courses for Foreign Students - SBWire

Individual Italian Courses for Foreign Students - SBWire

Learning Italian language with an individual Italian course. The Italian Language school for foreigners Leonardo da Vinci offers individual Italian courses in order to meet all students’ needs.

Florence, Tuscany -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/20/2009 -- Often people choose to learn a foreign language attending an individual course instead of a group standard course, in order to better reach their goals.

It is well known that everyone has a different way of learning. Some need theoretical explanations, a lot of grammar, schemes and written drills. Some, on the contrary, learn by experience, playing situations and making conversation. Others prefer a combination of the two. If students identify their most appropriate learning method and can structure their schooling plan on it, they will learn much quicker and in a much more efficient way.

This is the reason why individual lessons are surely the best choice for learning quickly and are suggested especially for those students who wish to learn according to their own rhythm, interests and personal needs.

Many people study a foreign language for professional reasons and will use it in particular situations, sometimes using a specific vocabulary. Some need to know the language of finance or bank, others of law, marketing, tourism, medicine or even gastronomy. In all these cases individual lessons are fundamental, as a teacher can be at students’ disposal to plan and tailor their course.

Scuola Leonardo da Vinci (http://www.scuolaleonardo.com/index.html) is an Italian language school for foreign students with 30 years of experience. The continuous teachers’ training and updating make it possible to run a broad variety of courses, often combining language and culture too. Many students actually attend a group course in the morning and have 1 or 2 extra individual lessons in the afternoon to deal with their own difficulties, personal doubts, and professional or special requests.

If students enroll in an individual Italian course (http://www.scuolaleonardo.com/Italian-language-private-tuition.html), they can choose any starting date, any number of lessons and give suggestions about their needs and the goals they intend to reach. The school can offer any language level at any time of the year, from beginner to advanced levels.

If participants want to sit an international exam of AIL (Accademia Italiana di Lingua) and they enroll in a AIL Preparation Individual Course, the school can arrange the examination date at the end of their course and they will be able to have their exam at Scuola Leonardo da Vinci.

The school also offers the chance to have lunch with the teacher in order to keep on practicing the language in an informal environment.

By choosing an individual Italian course (http://www.scuolaleonardo.com/Italian-language-private-tuition.html), probably students will be able to take the maximum advantage from their lessons and make a big step forward.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Individual Italian Courses in Rome, Milan, Florence and Siena

Individual Italian Courses in Rome, Milan, Florence and Siena

(OPENPRESS) November 19, 2009 -- Often people choose to learn a foreign language attending an individual course instead of a group standard course, in order to better reach their goals.

It is well known that everyone has a different way of learning. Some need theoretical explanations, a lot of grammar, schemes and written drills. Some, on the contrary, learn by experience, playing situations and making conversation. Others prefer a combination of the two. If students identify their most appropriate learning method and can structure their schooling plan on it, they will learn much quicker and in a much more efficient way.

This is the reason why individual lessons are surely the best choice for learning quickly and are suggested especially for those students who wish to learn according to their own rhythm, interests and personal needs.

Many people study a foreign language for professional reasons and will use it in particular situations, sometimes using a specific vocabulary. Some need to know the language of finance or bank, others of law, marketing, tourism, medicine or even gastronomy. In all these cases individual lessons are fundamental, as a teacher can be at students’ disposal to plan and tailor their course.

Scuola Leonardo da Vinci is an Italian language school for foreign students with 30 years of experience. The continuous teachers’ training and updating make it possible to run a broad variety of courses, often combining language and culture too. Many students actually attend a group course in the morning and have 1 or 2 extra individual lessons in the afternoon to deal with their own difficulties, personal doubts, and professional or special requests.

If students enroll in an individual Italian course, they can choose any starting date, any number of lessons and give suggestions about their needs and the goals they intend to reach. The school can offer any language level at any time of the year, from beginner to advanced levels.

If participants want to sit an international exam of AIL (Accademia Italiana di Lingua) and they enroll in a AIL Preparation Individual Course, the school can arrange the examination date at the end of their course and they will be able to have their exam at Scuola Leonardo da Vinci.

The school also offers the chance to have lunch with the teacher in order to keep on practicing the language in an informal environment.

By choosing an individual Italian course, probably students will be able to take the maximum advantage from their lessons and make a big step forward.

Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the most important Italian language schools for foreigners in Italy, and organizes Italian courses since 1977. It is present in the most beautiful cities of Italy (Florence, Milan, Rome, Siena), and each year the company welcomes thousands students from 60 different countries in the world.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Learn a language for free : Grow Your Green

Learn a language for free : Grow Your Green: "If you want to broaden your horizons, but don’t have a lot of money, there are ways to do this. For example, you can learn a foreign language for free at some websites:
The BBC posts free lessons in seven languages (Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish) at http://www,bbc.co.uk/languages. This site also includes essential phrases and/or other mini-lessons in at least 36 languages.

More exotic languages (including Farsi, Swahili, and Tagalog) are available at www.freelanguage.org."

Review Of Rocket Italian

I assume you’re reading this because you’re interested in learning Italian and you’re looking for a reputable online source to do just that. This review is of Rocket Italian. I am sure that you will find it most helpful.

The company that has put Rocket Italian together have done similar products for many other languages including Spanish, French and German. Quite honestly, there is nobody on the Internet who puts together a language product like theirs. Now, I could probably end this review right there and tell you, “Please go get this course, you won’t be sorry” but instead, I’ll just tell you some of what you get with this monster of a course.

First, you get a 31 lesson interactive audio course. Quite honestly, this is the best way to learn and in my opinion, is the best part of the whole course, not that there’s anything bad in it. The lessons are solid and very easy to follow, even if you’re just starting out.

You also get grammar and culture lessons where you really will understand the Italian culture. This goes far beyond just the language itself as it teaches you how to use the language in a conversational manner. This is extremely important.

The software learning game is absolutely addictive and fun and is a great way to help you learn the language. My complaint is that you might spend too much time with it and not enough time on the more important features.

On top of that, they have their own forum and support area. In other words, you are not on your own learning this. You’ll get all the support that you need. Kind of like having your own private teacher. This alone is worth the price of the course.

Look, I could go on and on. Just go to the site and see what you get with this package, which would cost you a thousand dollars or more if you went to a private college or university to learn this stuff. I’m dead serious. You’ve never seen anything like this. And as much as I love to say something bad about everything I review, I can’t do it here. There is nothing about this product that isn’t 100% professional and top notch.
Here is the site where you can get the info.