ITALIAN AS A SECOND/THIRD LANGUAGE

Hello everybody,

Today the article I am going to talk about is very interesting at my advice because we will consider the Italian learned as a second or third language.

I’ll explain myself better: here in Oslo there is an Italian association through which teachers and academic grades teach Italian to children, whose parents are or Italian or half Italian-half Norwegian. So, it is very interesting to watch them study and observe how they learn a second or third language. Their native language is Norwegian and at school they are also learning English; one day per week for two hours they study Italian (as I wrote before it is their parents’language). Some of them are lucky because they listen to Italian all day long even at home but for others it is difficult because they just listen to Italian during class. We all know that it is very easy for children to learn a target language because they don’t have so much information in their brain as we do, for this reason they are faster and better than us to learn new things as a new language.

If some of you are asking yourselves or are curious about why today I chose to write about this specific subject… well, it is because I have been selected as one of the Italian teachers from this association and I must teach children of 3rd, 4th and 5 grades. Yuppy!!!

So, it is very fascinating to be a part of a system where I can see their progress and the ways they use to learn my own language!!! They are cute Norwegian children who try with their Norwegian accent to pronounce Italian words. I love to hear them!!! Also, it is curious how they use their imagination and creativity also in another language which is not the native one. We had just four online classes so far and even if it is difficult because of the lack of contact, I try to let them have a great time learning Italian through instructive games.

We watch cartoons, we read fairy tales, we do origami through some YouTube videos, we talk about the difference between the Italian and Norwegian culture, we play some games, as we try to study Italian grammar in a very light way, etc.

What I am trying to understand is how much of Italian they know so far to find the best class they could have and the best way to teach them this beautiful language. It is a big but funny challenge for me, because for the first time I can teach Italian as a second/third language to children. I hope to teach live soon because I think it is easier to teach a language in person and not on the PC, also it may help them overcome the boredom of not being able to have a direct contact with others.

What do you think?

Let’ s see how it goes, meanwhile wish me good luck!