language tips Tag

  Buongiorno a tutti! Questa settimana ripassiamo i nostri “helper verbs” ed i nostri “full verbs” Our next helper verb is potere (to be able/can). Before you look at the chart you can probably guess that the “io” form will end in “o” (it always will). You could also guess that the “noi” form will end in “iamo” (it always will). Potere (to...

  Buongiorno a tutti. I hope that you have been practicing the helper verb dovere (to have to/to need/to “must”). Our next helper verb is volere (to want/desire). Volere (to want) I want (io)voglio  You (informal) want (tu) vuoi He, she, you [formal] want(s) (lui, lei, Lei) vuole  We want (noi) vogliamo You (plural) want (voi) volete They want (loro) vogliono Here are some more Full Verbs: aspettare = to...

Buongiorno a tutti! The first thing we will go over is an extremely useful shortcut to understanding and using verbs. Most of what we say in any language has to do with one of the following three situations: necessity, desire, permission/ability (dovere, volere, potere, respectively). We call these Helper Verbs because they help out so much of your expression. The first Helper...

It seems one can hardly mention the topic of language-learning without Rosetta Stone being brought to the forefront of the conversation. It's as if it somehow unlocked a major secret allowing anyone, anywhere, to master a language. But there are a few things you should be aware of before you go spending your money. Here are some pros and cons: Pros: Rosetta...

Learning a new language can be one of the most enriching experiences. Multilingualism offers a ton of advantages, from professional gains, to mental agility and memory, to problem solving ability. But choosing a language can be a tough decision. With a language, comes a major time commitment. It is crucial that you choose one that fits your personal needs. Here are...

Learning French: The following movies are contemporary classics, all of which are available on Netflix. They are also all movies without too much dialect. If you are a beginner or low-intermediate student of French, you should probably watch them with subtitles first and then watch them again without subtitles. If you are a high-intermediate or advanced student of French then you...

I'd like to write about some of the ways linguists talk about motivation in language learning.To break it down into the two main categories, we have: integrative motivation and instrumental motivation. Of course, these two types of motivation can exist in the same person but in order to separate them in your mind, here are their traditional definitions: Integrative motivation: when you...

If you are a beginning or intermediate student with a new language, pick up a newspaper or magazine in the target language, and choose one article that looks interesting. Slowly work on reading that article and learning the words that you didn’t know. Similar to my points in other posts about movies or music, choose a style of magazine or newspaper...

Listen to music in your target language.  Whatever your favorite style of music, it is practically guaranteed to exist in your target language. Invest some time researching your preferred style of music in the language you are learning and you will find an artist or two that you like. Once you start listening to their music (and reading their lyrics), the...

Language Learning Tips: Watch movies, and try to watch them at least twice each.  It is very important to suspend your total comprehension. You won’t understand everything, but you will absorb valuable expressions from every movie you watch. Once you are somewhat familiar with the cinema industry in your target language/target country, you will have favorite actors/directors to look for. And...