Raison d'être

I've created this blog primarily to practice my Italian, which could certain use some!
I'm a beginner in Italian, but have an undergraduate degree in French and know a little Spanish. 

I suppose I want this space to be more about language learning in general than about Italian specifically.   I've learned the hard way, especially with French, that the standard methods of learning a foreign language in schools and universities just don't work.  They mostly train one how to write and read in the target language, but provide very little information and practice in speaking and, even more important, comprehensive of the spoken language in typical situations.  I've learned a few things as I plow through Italian learning materials and hope that other readers of this blog can share their experiences and add to the knowledge base.

I've had some success watching TV shows and films in the target language.  In the U.S. Spanish is the best for this, because there are hundreds of dubbed shows to watch on youtube and even exclusively Spanish TV channels in places like here in Florida.  But I've found episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and 'The Twilight Zone' and several other vintage American TV shows on youtube.  I've also discovered Bonanza episodes in French.  It's unnerving and kind of funny to hear Hoss Cartwright riding up and saying, 'Bonjour, mes amis.'  Westerns seem to sound more natural in Spanish: 'Buenos dias, mis amigos.'

Still, the problem with this method of practicing languages is that it is very passive.  Though it's pretty good for perfecting pronunciation and comprehending spoken language, you're not forced to think in the language or to form sentences that respond to what's being said.  On the other hand, you can talk back to the screen:  'Ça va, Hoss?'