Italian Easy Speaking Practice - Can You Do It? — Transcript

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1. 0:01Today, we'll practice some Italian. Make
2. 0:03no mistake, you're not going to study
3. 0:05Italian. You're not going to read a
4. 0:07grammar textbook or fill in the blanks
5. 0:09or write pages and pages of notes like
6. 0:11it's midterm week. Leave that to the
7. 0:13forever students. Today, you're going to
8. 0:16practice being speakers of Italian.
9. 0:19In this video, I'll show you how to
10. 0:21practice one specific structure so you
11. 0:23can use it comfortably in real everyday
12. 0:26speech.
13. 0:28Direct pronouns are essential. Every
14. 0:30intermediate speaker should be able to
15. 0:32use them comfortably. You're not a fully
16. 0:34intermediate speaker if you cannot use
17. 0:36them almost fluently. To get there, you
18. 0:40need to practice the right way. And the
19. 0:42right way is by speaking, not by
20. 0:45writing, not by thinking, speaking.
21. 0:48But we do need one minute of theory. And
22. 0:51I really mean one minute. just enough to
23. 0:53understand theoretically what pronouns
24. 0:57are and avoid getting lost. So, here's
25. 0:59what you need to know. A pronoun
26. 1:02replaces a part of the sentence you
27. 1:04don't want to repeat. Simple as that.
28. 1:06Different pronouns cover different
29. 1:08grammatical functions. If you're
30. 1:10replacing the subject, the one doing the
31. 1:12action, you use a subject pronoun. If
32. 1:15you're replacing the direct object, the
33. 1:16one receiving the action, you use a
34. 1:19direct object pronoun. And here's the
35. 1:21important detail. A direct object has no
36. 1:23preposition between the verb and the
37. 1:25thing receiving the action. That's it.
38. 1:28One minute. Here's a table with the
39. 1:31direct object pronouns. I've included
40. 1:33the subject pronouns just for comparison
41. 1:35and context.
42. 1:40me
43. 1:41to t
44. 1:47le
45. 1:50no
46. 1:52vo v l lo l lo l lo l lo l lo l lo l lo
47. 1:54l lo l lo l lo loro le le for the
48. 1:56masculine le for the feminine. Now,
49. 2:00everything I just told you in the last
50. 2:01minute, completely useless,
51. 2:05rubbish.
52. 2:07I'll tell you why. You're going to
53. 2:09forget what direct object pronouns are
54. 2:11within 20 minutes, unless you know your
55. 2:14grammar. But if you're not familiar with
56. 2:16a concept, you might forget what
57. 2:18pronouns are all together by dinner
58. 2:20time. Yes, all of them.
59. 2:24But it doesn't matter because if you
60. 2:26don't forget, there isn't much you can
61. 2:27do with that information anyway. Unless
62. 2:30your goal is to speak Italian in the
63. 2:31real world and not in a classroom
64. 2:33vacuum.
65. 2:35Unless
66. 2:38you practice the right way, the way that
67. 2:40leads you to speaking comfortably,
68. 2:42confidently,
69. 2:44like you mean it. And that's where
70. 2:46today's practice comes in. All you need
71. 2:47to do is listen, absorb, and use. We'll
72. 2:51start with a simple listening practice.
73. 2:53You'll hear a few sentences, each one
74. 2:55containing direct pronouns. When the
75. 2:58section ends, pause the video and try to
76. 3:00repeat some sentences from memory.
77. 3:02Doesn't have to be perfect, but it has
78. 3:03to be from memory. No notes, no
79. 3:05dictionary, just you and your voice. And
80. 3:07this is very important. You need to hear
81. 3:09yourself saying these structures, and
82. 3:11it's not just about pronunciation. This
83. 3:13helps you metabolize these structures in
84. 3:15sound form. And it has to come from your
85. 3:17voice first. Moreover, that's how your
86. 3:19sound organs start building
87. 3:21automaticity. So sit back, relax and
88. 3:24listen. And after that we'll move to the
89. 3:26speaking practice.
90. 3:41for
91. 3:51Mario.
92. 4:23Now you get to speak. I'll ask you 10
93. 4:25yes no questions and for each question I
94. 4:27want you to answer out loud with a full
95. 4:29sentence. If you just say C or no, it's
96. 4:32a little bit too Italian for my liking.
97. 4:35When you answer, you're going to use a
98. 4:36direct pronoun for the part you don't
99. 4:38want to repeat. But how do you know if
100. 4:40you're answering correctly? Let me show
101. 4:42you a simple example first. If you want
102. 4:44to be absolutely sure, leave some of
103. 4:46your answers in the comments. I'll check
104. 4:48them myself and get right back to you.
105. 4:51Antonio
106. 4:53and a possible answer would be
107. 4:57or no.
108. 5:01We don't use contractions today. I know
109. 5:03that usually we say something like see
110. 5:06no but not today. Okay.
111. 5:10You don't need to think for too long.
112. 5:12It's a yes or a no. The pronoun is the
113. 5:14star of the show here. If you're ready,
114. 5:17I am. Just pause the video after each
115. 5:19question. answer out loud and then keep
116. 5:21going. No need for a three volume
117. 5:22autobiography. Just keep it tight like
118. 5:24in the example.
119. 5:50Baby,
120. 6:08legiso.
121. 6:19To learn a structure, you need to
122. 6:20rehearse it and you need to use it.
123. 6:22There's no shortcut, no magic trick.
124. 6:25Unfortunately, you have to go the whole
125. 6:26nine yards. But today, you did both. You
126. 6:30rehearsed it and used it. And I hope I
127. 6:33was able to give you a glimpse of how
128. 6:35foreign language ought to be practiced.
129. 6:36Not in theory, but recreating the
130. 6:39conditions of real life conversation.
131. 6:42And remember, Italian isn't studied,
132. 6:46spoken.
133. 6:47I'm Mr. Paloney. Be well and speak well.