Improving Your Italian With Podcasts

Podcasts are a great way to improve your Italian because you can take them with you when you leave your house and listen to them. I drive a lot to and from work so I can plug my Ipod (or any other mp3 player) into the car and listen to them through my car's sound system. Or if you're like a lot of people, you take a lot of public transport. You can listen to them to help pass the time. Or you could also listen at your desk at work. There's lots of ways to listen to podcasts. Just remember that you don't need an Ipod or any other mp3 device to listen to them. You can even listen to them on your own computer. Some programs can even burn them to a CD so that you can listen to them in a regular CD player on your computer, car or CD player.

I like to classify podcasts into two types:

1. educational/teaching podcasts
   
   
2. other

Educational/teaching podcasts are podcasts in which you learn a particular something about Italian. It could be a lesson or a grammar point illustrated with the podcast. One of my favorite sites for learning Italian on the go is Learnitalianpod.com. This site has tons of podcasts which feature a beginner's program, intermediate program as well as advanced lessons and audio phrasebooks. They also have a supplement to their podcasts where for a small fee you can have access to the audio transcripts, exercises and more. I find their site to be very comprehensive, and I listen to their podcasts all the time, especially when I'm at work.

The other is everything else and mostly includes previously aired Italian radio or television programs. This is a great way to keep in touch with Italian news and culture. You can see a list of various programs and offerings in the list of podcast links. If you're looking for a podcast that will keep you in the know, check out one of my favorite radio programs, Radio Anch'io, which is produced by RAI. Radio Anch'io is an audio program where issues in Italy are discussed and then people can call in and their reactions are then responded to by experts or people familiar with a particular area or problem.

Princeton Dante Project

There are a lot of resources on the web when it comes to the work of Dante.

One of my favorites is the Princeton Dante Project.

There's a tutorial if you want to learn how to best navigate the site. Click on 'Enter' to begin using the site.

One of my favorite things about this site is that you can listen to the entire Divina Commedia while reading along with the text. You can have the Italian and English versions side by side which make reading this wonderful work a true pleasure. If you've ever struggled to read the entire Divina Commedia, this site will certain make it more fun.

There's also an English language reading of the site, but it is not yet complete.

You can start the work from anywhere you wish as well as search the text -- quite a useful resource!

You can also read (no audio, yet) other works by Dante online too. There is also a plethora of links and other resources on the site that are worth checking out, such as lecture, bibliographies, images and other forms of multimedia.

BBC Italian Steps

If you're new to the language, and you want to learn the basics at a speed that is comfortable for you, check out BBC Italian Steps, a multimedia and interactive online based language program. Hosted on the BBC's web site, Italian Steps follows Giovanna Vaccaro through 24 lessons in six self-contained units. Each unit addresses various grammar principles as well as vocabulary building exercises along with opportunities to practice your speaking and writing.

Each lessons starts off with a short conversation between Giovanna and various people she encounters on her trip to Italy. The conversation is presented in small segments. You can listen to the Italian and repeat each sequence if you don't understand. There are options to read the Italian and English while listening or simply listen alone to the dialogue. At the end of each dialogue, there's an option to hear the entire dialogue uninterrupted. At the end of some dialogues, there will be a multiple choice question. After listening to the last small segment of the conversation, you have to guess what was said.

After that, there's opportunity to practice the new vocabulary that you have encountered. A flash program will help you to practice speaking the words and expressions aloud and hear them being spoken. You can repeat the word or expression as many times as you wish, and then you will be presented with three choices. Choose the correct word that matches with the word or expression shown. It's simple but effective!

Each unit has sections on grammar, and then you are given the opportunity to respond to the dialogue as well as practice speaking -- that is, saying what you would have written. And finally, there's an important fact file which teaches you something relevant about Italian history, culture, customs, etc.

The program is geared for beginners, but it can also be a fun review for more experienced learners. There are glossaries and other helpful tools that accompany Italian Steps. Check it out!

NB: I find that Italian Steps works best with Internet Explorer. With other browsers, you may encounter bugs or other strange oddities.

Che Tempo Che Fa

Che Tempo Che Fa is sort of like the late show in the United States (with David Letterman or Jay Leno, etc). Hosted by Fabio Fazio, he interviews various guests from Italy and abroad about things that they are doing, things that they have written or things that they have said.

The show recently was host to a bit of scandal when Marco Travaglio was a guest on May 10th. Travaglio made some comments about a certain Italian politician and his link to the mafia and organized crime. People from both sides of the spectrum weighed into the debate and leads to further criticism that the media in Italy is free to do as it wishes without the government chasing their heels. More disturbing, at least in my opinion, was that the next day, the show's host and producer both apologized to the audience leaving one to wonder how much pressure the government exerted on the show "to force" such an apology. Why should the host and producers of the show apologize for the beliefs of another?

Anyway, whatever you may think, the show is entertaining and informative. You can search the show's archive for specific interviews with specific people (the one with Roberto Saviano is worth watching). Some of the show's episodes are available as a podcast. The streaming video is quite clear and the sound quality is good. Will probably require at least an intermediate level of Italian to follow, but no matter what your level, you're bound to learn something new.

PS--If you want to watch the Travaglio episode but it becomes deleted, check out Youtube.

Al Cinema! -- Part 1

Here's part 1 of my list of recommended movies that I think that you will enjoy. The Italian, in my opinion, is pretty accessible and make for excellent practice opportunities. I'll list the titles in English when provided along with the original Italian title:

This movie, Facing Windows (La finestra di fronte), by Ferzan Ozpetek, is a strange love story about two people who always seem to be "two ships passing in the night". I don't want to talk too much about this movie because I don't want to give away the story, but I think that this is a movie that you will enjoy very much. The language is very approachable.

The movie is currently out of print in the US but readily available in Italy from Internet Bookshop Italia.



Another wonderful film that I'm sure you will enjoy is My Best Enemy (Il mio miglior nemico) which debuted at the Italian Film Festival in 2006 in Australia. This wonderful comedy features noted Italian comic, Carlo Verdone. If you wish to purchase this film, check out IBS or Palace Films as part of the Italian Film Festival DVD set. Palace Films operates out of Australia so be sure to check that any purchases made will work on your DVD player in your home country. The Palace Films version has subtitles.



Also from that same film festival comes the mystery (giallo), Quo Vadis, Baby? -- based on a book by Grazia Verasani of the same title. In the story, a private detective receives a strange collection of home movies of her dead sister and decides to find out once and for all the truth behind her sister's death. I haven't had a chance to read the book, but I found the movie to be compelling and arresting, and the story had several unexpected twists that I did not anticipate. You can purchase it from IBS or from Palace Films as part of the festival DVD set.


One of my favorite films of all time is Un sacco bello. This film you'll only find from an Italian vendor (I've given the link for IBS, but you can probably find it from another preferred vendor). This delightfully funny film features Carlo Verdone playing three different characters in three different situations in the film. From hippy, to playboy to the bumbling fool, Verdone pulls off this funny and quirky film. The language used can be a bit tough at times, but it's not impossible, and I guarantee that you will enjoy this film.