16 Ott

Exercises to improve your writing skills in Italian

Writing in Italian, some tips to follow

 

Exercises to improve your writing skills in Italian

 

Hi, I’m Brunella, Italian teacher at Ellci Milano. Today we will talk about…Italian writing practice!

Writing is one of the language skills that, in general, is not given the attention it deserves because in class everybody prefer to speak and communicate with the other classmates. As a teacher, I too prefer to let students speak in the classroom also because often, at home, they speak only in their mother tongue and, if they speak, they complain that no one corrects them. This is why I almost always leave “the task of writing” at home and, most of the time, the task is not done because “we forget” or, in lack of time, we prefer to privilege the grammar exercise, because it is considered more helpful. Many times students say they have no ideas or imagination when I ask them to make up a story. But we must think that writing is something we always do in our mother tongue and for this reason knowing how to write in Italian from level A1 is important. We start by simply writing down the things to buy:

1. A kilo of potatoes
2. A liter of milk
3. A bottle of red wine
4. A packet of cookies
5. A box of chocolates

Or if we want to register in the gym or in the pool we must necessarily fill out a registration form (which of course is not in English!) And it is important to understand what and where they ask us to write it.

Piscina Milano Sport

Nome:……………………………… Cognome:………………………………………………………

Luogo di nascita:……………………… Data di nascita:…………………………………………

Sesso: M F Nazionalità:…………………………………………………………………………………

Indirizzo:…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Città:…………………………… Provincia:…………………………… CAP:……………………………

Cellulare:…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Come hai conosciuto la nostra piscina? ………………………………………………………

And also if an Italian friend sends us a message on Whatsapp to invite us to the pizzeria, we must be able to accept or decline an invitation without fear of making a mistake or not knowing what to write:

Ciao Martin, viene a mangiare una pizza con noi stasera? (Hi Martin, do you want to enjoy us for a pizza tonight?)

To accept:

Sì, grazie, volentieri. Dove andiamo? (Yes, thank you, i would be glad! Where do we go?)

To refuse:

No, non posso devo studiare italiano!!! (No, I can’t have to study Italian!!!)

Going forward it will be possible to do other exercises that will help you write well, for example by rearranging the given words in disorder:

 

A, UN, MILANO, ABITO, DA, ANNO, VIVO, E, CON, STUDENTE, IN, APPARTAMENTO, CINESE, DI, STANZE, TRE, UNO

VIVO A MILANO DA UN ANNO E ABITO IN UN APPARTAMENTO DI TRE STANZE CON UNO STUDENTE CINESE. (I HAVE LIVE IN MILAN FOR A YEAR AND I LIVE IN A THREE-ROOM APARTMENT WITH A CHINESE STUDENT.)

Other ways in which it is possible to learn to write is for example by completing a text and then following a ladder to write a similar text in turn:

 

Cara Luisa, come stai?

Lunedì…parto…per Parigi…e…torno a…casa…

Mi dispiace…finire…il corso e…lasciare…i compagni e gli…insegnanti…perché sono stati tutti molto……gentili…con me.

Ho imparato a…conoscere…la città ed…usare…i mezzi pubblici. I milanesi sono sempre… di……fretta ma ti… aiutano.. se…hai. bisogno.

…TI……scriverò tutti i giorni perché sei stata una cara amica.

Grazie.

Fabienne.

(Dear Luisa, how are you?

Monday … I leave … for Paris … and … I go home …

I’m sorry… to finish… the course and… to leave… my classmates and… teachers… because they have all been very …… kind… to me.

I learned to… know… the city and… use… public transport. The Milanese are always … in a hurry but they help you … if … you have. need.

… YOU …… I will write every day because you have been a dear friend.

Thank you.)

casa, finire, gentili, usare, hai, conoscere, ti, parto, e, lasciare, di, insegnanti, aiutano

There are other techniques that you can use: matching words, puzzles of words and much more. The important thing is to write, practice, observe the teacher’s corrections and rewrite them correctly. When in the higher levels it will be necessary to write more “free” and unguided texts such as those that were proposed in the lower levels, it will be done without being afraid and above all without saying “I have no imagination” because, we must remember, the imagination comes writing!

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