Film Critiques

Chantal, Italian tutor extraordinaire, has an excellent activity that gets her students watching and discussing Italian cinema. Here's how she explains it:

I have students print out the trailer poster of a movie they like or have seen and research everything they can about the movie. They then bring it to class and give a brief synopsis of the movie in Italian, of course. The other students will carry on asking questions about the movie, i.e. about the sound track, reviews written, where were these published, by whom, etc.

So, the students learn about Italian cinema outside of class as they watch and research Italian films. They then use the language both in a presentation, as they give a synopsis and some information about the film to their classmates, and then conversationally, as they respond to their classmates' questions.

What a great activity. Wonderful job, Chantal.

Spectacular Classes: Draw a Card

Some of our amazing language tutors have agreed to let us film parts of their classes, generously sharing their ideas and techniques! So, without further ado, I welcome you to the Spectacular Classes Series!

In this video, some of Adesi's Italian 1001 students sit before a pile of index cards. Each card has a word or short phrase written on it, in Italian, but the cards are face-down, so that students cannot read them ahead of time. One by one, students draw a card and read the phrase aloud. The student is then challenged to say as much about the word or topic in Italian as they can. Watch how it works:

Notice some of the great techniques Adesi puts to use:
1. She encourages the student with nods and smiles, showing she understands and is engaged in what the student is saying.
2. She conducts the practice all in Italian.
3. When a mistake is made, Adesi corrects the mistake and has the student repeat the proper phrasing. Adesi does not let a mistake become a distraction, nor does she embarrass the student. Correction, repetition, and then the activity continues - fast-paced and fun.
4. When the student starts to pause between phrases, Adesi asks some related follow-up questions.

Great work, Adesi!

P.S. - You might have noticed the music playing quietly in the background. Adesi is also trying a technique in which instrumental music with a defined rhythm is played quietly during the class. The music is intended to help students focus, and to make connections with the rhythms of the language. She'll let us know how the experiment goes, and will share more information if it proves to help students.

Sample Lesson Plan: Italian 1001

This sample lesson uses Italian for its examples, but could be adapted to any language.

I. Questions and Answers Warm-Up (about 15 minutes)
A. Greet the students in Italian and have them respond appropriately
B. Ask students a series of basic questions based on the material they’ve already studied, and have them respond in Italian. Jump from student to student unpredictably, so that all must pay attention. Briefly correct the students’ mistakes by modeling proper responses, but keep the exchanges quick and positive. Encourage the students to use the Italian they know even if they make mistakes. Don’t slow down for grammatical explanations, and use only Italian.
C. Have students write four original questions to ask their classmates and four questions for you, using vocabulary they already know. Walk around the room and help them if they need it, but speak to them in Italian only and ask them to use Italian like ‘Come si dice…?’ and ‘Come si scrive?’ with you.
D. Have students practice asking and answering questions with you and each other.

II. Dialogue Practice and Presentation (about 35 minutes)
A. Choose a dialogue related to the material the students have studied for class and have them listen to you and repeat it, mimicking your pronunciation and intonation (like the one on page 56).
B. Have students practice and present the conversation in pairs
C. Model the vocabulary or grammar point presented along with the dialogue, and have students repeat
D. Have students work in pairs to write their own dialogue, using the new vocabulary or grammar point and the original dialogue as a model
E. Students present their original dialogues for the class