Answers
Aug 28, 2013 - 07:31 AM
I would definitely buy another level of Fluenz Italian, but I don't see that happening. I hope you stick around the commons, your posts have been quite helpful!
Aug 28, 2013 - 01:51 PM
I also want to try Fluenz French 3-5; I'm surprised Fluenz hasn't released more Mandarin levels considering what a large population speaks it. Well, one thing at a time; I am excited to know what Fluenz will tackle after Portuguese!
Aug 31, 2013 - 02:39 AM
Aug 31, 2013 - 08:06 AM
Aug 31, 2013 - 03:16 PM
I started with Essential; it was 90% review for a Fluenz 1-5 Italian graduate. Majority of beginner work outs and lessons; I did learn some more expressions that use fare/avere and some verbs that fluenz didn't cover and of course, some alternate and new vocabulary. It took me 2 days to breeze through it like I said was great review.
I am now 50% in with Intermediate Italian; so far of what I have done maybe 35% of it has been review but there's more vocabulary,verbs,expressions.
The biggest issue I have with Living Language is sometimes their translations are not exact for the word; for example we know 'Magari' as "Maybe" but it can also be taken as, according to them, 'I wish!" It's not wrong in the context but if I was a beginning student and saw "Magari" as " I wish!", I would start thinking why isn't it following verb conjugation, is Magari from a verb, you know what I mean? They should address that it's a word with multiple meanings and give some of them.
And the other minor issue is when doing online review games; let's say it is asking you to type "I live in Rome"; if you type "Abito a Roma" sometimes it says you are wrong because they are looking for "Vivo".
All in all, I think it's a great supplemental product...I can see the program picking up the pace and difficulty. It is great and I am glad I also picked up the French and Japanese editions. Fluenz and Living Language together is a match made in heaven, in my opinion...just stay away from RStone!
It also taught me a great way to say Good Luck/Break a Leg... Tired of saying "Buona Fortuna", say "In Bocca Al Lupo!" (lit: in the mouth of the wolf)
Sep 01, 2013 - 07:59 AM
Does the Living Language include other verb tenses too? Thanks again for the future tense, I've been hearing that more and more. I will certainly check it out. Let me know how the advanced level goes.
Sep 01, 2013 - 05:15 PM
Yes, the tenses used is the obvious Present/Future, Past (Essere/Avere verbs), the Gerund. Imperfect, the Present Subjunctive, the Past Subjunctive, Informal/ Formal Imperative, the Present Conditional/Past Conditional, Future.. and of course reflexives and the wide array of pronouns! Those pesky pronouns have made a return!
The learning of other tenses begins towards the middle of the 2nd level 'Intermediate' and is in full force in the 3rd level 'Advanced'... infact, when I looked ahead at the chapter index for Advanced, I couldn't believe just how much (I know this will sound silly) but Advanced material there actually is!
Sep 01, 2013 - 06:23 PM
Sep 01, 2013 - 11:23 PM
Another great way to watch scenes of Disney or other films is youtube; even if it is for the songs because the people who upload also attach the subtitles with it. Start checking the back of your DVDs/Blurays and see if it offers Italian. A lot of older releases may only offer Spanish and French but I am noticing that more and more releases have an array of languages. I know one of my blu rays offers at least 10 language tracks ranging from Italian to Korean.
Also with youtube, try entering Italian titles or 'italiano' / italian
For example, "The Little Mermaid" Italiano or "The Little Mermaid" italian.
You may get better results if you enter "La sirenetta" (Italian: Little Mermaid) or the Italian tile of a move you like.
Sep 02, 2013 - 03:35 PM
Sep 02, 2013 - 05:52 PM
Buona Fortuna!
Sep 06, 2013 - 12:34 AM
I will tell you what they are all about below!
Mando un pacco a mia madre. Pacco is the direct; Madre is the indirect. Both objects can be replaced by the double object pronoun.
To form:
"I" endings change to "e". "Gli,le,Le" change to "glie". The word "Ne" also behaves like a direct object in this case. The past agrees to gender and number.
Mi + Lo = me lo.
Mi + La = me la.
Mi + Li = me li.
Mi + Le = me le.
Mi + Ne = me ne
Ti + Lo = te lo
Ti + La = te la
Ti + Li = te li
Ti + Le= te le
Ti + Ne = te ne
Ci + Lo = ce lo
Ci + La = ce la
Ci + Li = ce li
Ci + La = ce la
Ci = Ne = ce ne
Vi + Lo = ve lo
Vi + La = ve la
Vi + Li = ve li
Vi + Le = ve le
Vi + Ne = ve ne
(Unlike the previous, the Gli, le, Le become one word together)
Gli + Lo = glielo
Gli + La = gliela
Gli + Li = glieli
Gli + Le = gliele
Gli + Ne = gliene
le/Le + Lo = glielo
le/Le + La = gliela
le/Le + Li = glieli
le/Le + Le = gliele
le/Le + Ne = gliene
Some examples:
Piu' tardi ti racconto una storia. Me La puoi raccontare subito.
Hai dato la mela a tuo zio? No, non gliel' ho ancora data.
Vi siete ricordati di comprare il libro? Si padre, ce ne siamo ricordati.
Sep 06, 2013 - 07:42 AM
Sep 06, 2013 - 10:44 AM
My issue is it not coming as natural to me yet..I'll have to pause for less than 5 seconds and then I'll know which double to use. It has a 'weird' order when you think about it. Me + It, or You + Them, etc
I must enjoy the torture...I'm starting Japanese today too! haha
Sep 06, 2013 - 02:29 PM
Sep 06, 2013 - 02:34 PM
Sep 06, 2013 - 03:39 PM
Sep 06, 2013 - 03:43 PM
Yes, Fluenz def. provided that strong base. I just did the chapter on Direct Object Pronouns... amazing how this book just helped click it all together now. The more and more exercises I do, the more and more sense it makes. Now that I remember that direct is "me, you, etc" and indirect is "to me, to you, to her, etc" it makes a lot more sense but they are probably one of the hardest aspects of italian grammar.
My biggest issue with these McGraw Hill or review books is they use vocabulary or verbs that a student may or may not have studied yet. While that is good, at the same time, I hate having to figure out the meaning or go look it up haha
Did you tackle those doubles yet? ;)
Sep 06, 2013 - 06:52 PM
Sep 06, 2013 - 07:49 PM