Italian--It's a Mystery to Me

Pietro Sermonti

Still finding it very difficult to locate TV shows and movies in Italian with Italian subtitles, I've been watching 'Nero Wolfe' in Italian on YouTube.  For some reason this character, based on the detective novels of Rex Stout, seems to be very popular in Italy.  There is both an old black-and-white version of the series (perhaps from the late 50's or 60's) and a newer one (maybe from the 90's?), which is the one I watch.  Archie Goodwin, Mr. Wolfe's right-hand man, is the handsome and elegant Italian actor (he's older in this Wiki; he looks more like the picture on the right here in the series) Pietro Sermonti. The plot lines are genuinely exciting and the show is very nicely produced and directed.  I find that the Italian seems to be spoken for the most part very clearly and a tiny bit slower than in the more contemporary Italian TV shows.  I'm convinced that people are talking faster these days--in fact, they're doing everything faster :).


I ordered a cheap used copy of Agatha Christie's C'e Un Cadavere in Biblioteca a while back, but it hasn't arrived yet. I find that Christie's books are perfect for beginning language learners because 1) they've been translated into just about every language ever known, and 2) they usually use relatively easy vocabulary and grammar.  It does get tiresome having to interrupt one's reading every few minutes to consult the dictionary,but language learning takes time and effort.


Also continuing with the Pimsleur all-audio programs for Italian.  Some criticize Pimsleur for spoon-feeding language, ladling out new vocabulary and structures at an extremely slow pace, but I find that works for me.  It teaches you all you need to know for a very simple conversation in Spanish and then drills on these phrases over and over.  Even when you advance to another level, you still get drilled on material you learned previously.  With all that repetition and with replaying the MP3's over and over, certain common phrases become very ensconced in the brain and can be reproduced very quickly without going through the thinking process that slows you down when speaking.  I find the program very helpful also, in that it's all audio.  I don't have to put my earbuds down to do some written exercises every few minutes, which means the program is perfect for using when exercising or doing some other activity.  It actually makes my morning walking routine much more pleasurable.  Now, we'll see if I'm making measurable progress as I advanced through the first 30 units of the Beginning set.

A presto....