Although Italian is not among the most spoken languages in the world, it is certainly one of the most loved.
The reason why people study the Italian language is often because they have a passion for Italian food, fashion, cinema, literature etc.
The English speakers who approach Italian sometimes find it challenging because of the structures and the pronunciation. Students are often intimidated by engaging in conversations with native speakers, so I always start my school year with a lesson that has the objective to demonstrate to my students that:
- Italian and English are closer that they think
- There is no reason to feel intimidated by speaking Italian
- Learning Italian will enrich their own language
In order to make my point, I created a lesson in which I explain:
- Reasons to study Italian
- Cognates & Borrowings
- False friends
- Latin-root words in English
At the end of the presentation, students usually feel more confident as they change their perspective about learning a new language. Feel free to use a copy of my presentation. I hope that it will reveal as effective as it does with my students.
PDF:
Cognates & Borrowings English
Cognates & Borrowings Italian
