CF6 Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 We lived in Italy for a while and our oldest boys attended our local Italian school. As a result, they both picked up the language and speak it well. Sadly, we're getting ready to move from this amazing place, so I'm wondering if there is an Italian language program (other than Rosetta Stone) that would help them retain and practice their Italian language skills. If anyone has heard of an Italian language course, then I'd love to hear about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 I love Italian from the little I had in college and would dearly love to study it some more. It's not the same as having other native speakers, but my son is learning Italian with DuoLingo. He started with Mango Italian, but it doesn't give feedback the same way that DuoLingo does. DuoLingo has a thing where you can practice translating articles; DD is doing Spanish that way and learning a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad S Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Can they keep in contact with friends in Italy via Skype? Since it sounds like your sons already speak Italian pretty well, the best thing would be if you could find some Italian speakers where you'll be living. There's nothing like the real thing. You could try to watch movies, videos, or TV shows in Italian too. Websites in Italian might help a lot. Books can help too. If they're already speaking well, and they might be fluent after 10-20 months, depending on their ages, some of the standard programs might be below their level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 My Italian class used the Parliamo Italiano! textbook by Branciforte, the 3rd edition. According to my Italian professor, who teaches at U of Chicago and Northwestern, it is used at Harvard. You should be able to find the teacher's edition and other resources on the internet. The beginning would probably be very easy for your children but it does get progressively more difficult. Some of my classmates grew up speaking Italian at home and even they begin to struggle a little at some point. The book is set up so that the chapters correspond to learning about each of the regions of Italy while also studying grammar and vocab. For practicing speaking you can find native speakers here in the US who will Skype with students if you don't mind doing that. If you live near a city you might also be able to find Meetup groups to practice speaking Italian. A friend of mine meets with native speakers at lunch and practices speaking in Italian. We also have wine and cheese groups where you can do this but your kids are probably too young for that, yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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