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Friday 25th of August 2023, a very important day for all Irish students who were waiting for their Leaving Certificate results. But an important day for me, too. I have been preparing students for their Italian Leaving Cert for thirteen years. Working with them every school week, teaching, seeing their improvement and boosting their confidence. On call 24-7 in March (oral part of the exam) and June (exam papers). Waiting and waiting for their results in August. It is a cycle and a rollercoaster of emotions!
The secret for success really shouldn’t be a secret at all: start early! We cannot cram excellence in a language and be able to use it proficiently in a year. If students start studying Italian at 12 or 13 years of age and they keep it up every week and every day with games, watching Italian cartoons and books, they will have most of the work done early and effortlessly.
Students don’t need to be Italian in order to get H1 as long as they start early. One of my Irish students (no Italian relations whatsoever) texted me on Friday about her H1 in ITALIAN “Carolina, we are so extremely delighted.” She wrote it in capital letters. She hoped, we hoped, but we know that it is hard to get H1. She started studying with me when she was in first class of secondary school. We had a class per week with some homework for 6 years. As soon as she consolidated enough grammar and vocabulary we started working on the Leaving Cert itself. As we had so many years ahead, her oral preparation was completely stress free and fun. Her oral had been ready since she started her 5th year. We just perfected her grammar, enriched her vocabulary and got her even more confident and natural. By then, our lessons were mostly in Italian. During the last two years we worked on the prescribed book, all the possible subjects for a possible essay and very hard comprehension texts… We worked in person and online (very convenient, especially when we know each other so well).
And now here we are with such a fantastic reward for all her work and time. She is ready to go to the University of Oxford to study architecture this September. I have also arranged for her to do an internship with an architect I know in Lake Como, Italy. Which will be ideal as she is now completely fluent in Italian.
All my students did very well this year as they have in all the previous years. Almost all have gotten either a H2 or a H1!
The other advantage of starting early is that when it comes time for the exams, these students can concentrate on their other subjects and just maintain and fine tune Italian. They can also take the Italian exam with little stress because they have been ready for so long and I make sure they know how ready they are going in full of confidence.
What about students who are a little older, what can be done for them? I do sometimes take students who are going into 4th or 5th year also who have already studied Italian in school or independently (or are already fluent in a romance language). However, in these cases, the student needs to have a reasonable level of Italian already and the willingness to work to prepare on a shorter schedule. But I have had great success with these later arrivals too.
In both cases, the importance of working with a qualified Italian teacher like myself (Irish teaching council number: 224790) who understands the exam process and how to maximise results while teaching the language and fluency at the same time is vital to success in the leaving cert. But also in giving these young people the fluency to be able to converse fluently enough to travel in Italy for studying, culture or fun!
Well done to all my students, I am very proud of you all…
And now it’s time to go again 😉
Here some messages from this year:
I just got my results a few minutes ago and I got a H2 in Italian! I cannot thank you enough for all of your help over the past few months!! I.
Grazie mille!!! You were an amazing teacher! 🙂 M.
Ciao Carolina, spero che tu stia bene! Ho preso H1 in Italiano, grazie per il tuo aiuto 😉 A.
H1 in Italiano per E.;-) E.
Hi Carolina, very happy with my results overall! I got the H2…. Thanks so much again for all your help. A.
‘Formaggio vaccino, caprino, pecorino, venite alla macchina dei latticini locali (come to the car of our local milk products)…’ shouts the man in the white van around Botricello’s lanes, our small Calabrian village. What a great idea: here in the south of Italy shops are on wheels and they come to your house!
Negozi ambulanti, shops on whiles in the South of Italy!
Ma, cosa significa formaggio (what does formaggio mean)? You all know, of course: cheese!
Surely, all of you love formaggio italiano, so let’s get ready to approach the man in the white van or the bancone del formaggio (cheese counter;-) in the supermarket.
I am almost sure that you all know about Pecorino. You can easily find it in Irish supermarkets nowaday. In Ireland, it is known as a hard type of cheese and it’s often grated on pasta. Ma (but), what does formaggio pecorino mean?
In order to fully understand the meaning, we have to go back to the word (la) pecora. Pecora significa (means) sheep. Therefore, formaggio pecorino is cheese made using sheep’s milk! And there are hundreds of types of it with different texture, consistency and taste: from the softest ricotta to the hard Pecorino cheese.
La pecora (sheep), la capra (goat) e la vacca (cow)
Back to the man in the white man: Formaggio vaccino, what does vaccino mean?
Let’s go back to the word (la) vacca. Vacca significa (means) cow. Therefore, formaggio vaccino is cheese made using cow’s milk! And there are thousands of types of it around the world.
You might know that we do have another word for cow in Italian: (la) mucca. This is a newer word and probably comes from the sound that the cow makes (mu) or from the verb mungere (to milk).
Finally, the man in the white van or in the ‘Macchina dei latticini locali’ (car of the milk products) advertises also ‘Formaggio Caprino’. We already know the drill
Capra significa (means) goat. Therefore, formaggio caprino is cheese made using goat’s milk! We also have several types of formaggio caprino.
Now we are ready to get our formaggio priorities in order when we approach the man in the white van. Just be sure that the back of the van is a refrigerator full of great cheese (vaccino, pecorino or caprino) like the one in the picture ;-)))) and enjoy!
Cosa significa (what does this popular Italian saying mean) ‘Volere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca’?
Literally, this Italian proverb is telling us that we cannot have the barrel full (of wine) and the wife drunk! In fact, if the barrel is full, the wife is sober and probably alert and watchful for her husband’s mischief… But, if the wife is drunk, the husband is free to make trouble without her under his foot… But, he won’t have any wine to drink because the barrel is empty as the wine has been all drunk by his wife…
Osvaldo arrived very late, but his wife isn’t sleeping!
The corresponding English saying would be: You can’t have your cake and eat it too!
Of course, they mean that we cannot have all we want and that every choice precludes some others.
Just wondering: maybe the wife and the husband of the Italian saying could share the wine barrel and enjoying it together. If it is true that ‘Mal comune mezzo gaudio’ (A burden shared is a burden halved), the day after they would have only half a hangover each. As usual: la virtù sta nel mezzo (as always: virtue is in the middle)!
Italian Beginners classes have been running online for over a year and have been very successful: small groups, a conversational approach in a fun and relax environment are the keys for this success. Finally you can learn and enjoy our classes from everywhere in the world from the comfort of your home!
Full course description:
Fancy learning Italian? Whether you are planning a trip to Italy or you have decided to learn this beautiful, musical and colourful language for fun, let’s start with our Beginners course. In fact, we will learn how to introduce ourselves, to talk about ourselves, our likes and dislikes, and so much more. Grammar is immediately implemented in practical and useful conversational tasks, such as booking a table at a restaurant and placing an order. It will also give you good foundations if you decide to progress with your Italian and join our next course. Booking your place is essential, and remember that this course is for a small group in order to allow students to fully participate and get the best learning experience.
Italian Beginners classes have been running online for over a year and have been very successful: small groups, a conversational approach in a fun and relax environment are the keys for this success. Finally you can learn and enjoy our classes from everywhere in the world from the comfort of your home!
Full course description:
Fancy learning Italian? Whether you are planning a trip to Italy or you have decided to learn this beautiful, musical and colourful language for fun, let’s start with our Beginners course. Practical conversation is included from our first class and, during our lessons, we will learn how to introduce ourselves, place an order at the restaurant, ask for information and so much more. Grammar is immediately implemented in practical and useful conversational tasks, but it will also give you good foundations if you decide to progress with your Italian and join our next course. Booking your place is essential, and remember that this course is for a small group in order to allow students to fully participate and get the best learning experience.
This class is aimed at those children or tweens (6-11 years of age) who have a little bit of Italian and that understand Italian. It is not a large class, but more like Private Tuition designed to learn how to read in Italian and work on Italian grammar foundations.
Your children will be invited to their first lesson (please get in touch with me, 087 9588375). If we are all happy with their work and they want to continue with classes, then you can enrol them for the course.
Please get in touch to let me know if you are interested as places are very limited.
I have been preparing students for their Italian Leaving Certificate for 11 years and it is very rewarding to see that all of them got very high marks and their ‘first choice’ course at college.
Unfortunately or fortunately, the demand is higher than the time I have in my hands. This is one of the reasons why we started Gruppo Studio. It is usually impossible to even pair students for the Italian Leaving Cert preparation as they all have different levels.
By starting preparing students when they are younger, we will get them all to the same level in a short time and they will be ready for their Italian Junior Cert and Leaving Cert while enjoying thier Italian and without needing grinds or risking falling behind in a big class. That way they can focus on other subjects knowing their Italian is prepared well in advance.
The other reason is to ensure the company of peers so that they can feel the support not only from the teacher, but also from the group. It will be very handy to be able to practise conversation skills with other students and not only with my old self!
Therefore, we are finally ready with our programme, timetable and the book we will be using for this exciting new class.
Gruppo Studio will be held on Fridays from 4.30-5.30 pm
This class is aimed at children, tweens and teenagers (10-15 years of age) who speak Italian (it doesn’t need to be perfect or accurate), read in Italian (they don’t need to be fast readers) and, very important, understand Italian (they need to be able to ask for help in Italian: non ho capito, cosa significa). It is not a large class, but more like Private Tuition designed to learn grammar, how to write in Italian and practice reading. You don’t want your children to struggle with their Italian Junior Certificate and you’d like them to be ready for their Italian Leaving Certificate well in advance, so that they can focus on other subjects.
Your children will be invited to their first lesson (please get in touch with me, 087 9588375). If we are happy with their work and they want to continue with classes, then you can enrol them for the course.
In Italy local cheese, salumi (salami) and affettati (cold meats) are like local dialects: they are completely different from one area to the next one. They are also the pride of the local farmers and producers: allora, per favore do not miss out!!
Some of these local products, such as Parmigiano (from Parma) or Pecorino Sardo (from Sardinia) or Pecorino Romano (from Lazio) crossed the Italian borders and became renowned all over the world. Therefore, we can find them in almost every supermarket as they are produced on a large scale.
But, if you go to Italy, I would highly recommend trying the ‘real stuff’–> the local products. Every geographic area has their own, as I mentioned above, and many will be new to you.
To mention a few from Calabria, the region where I am right now:
Have you ever heard about Pecorino Fresco (it’s a type of Pecorino, younger and softer than the one we grate on pasta)? Burrata (a wonderful mozzarella, but much creamier (like burro (butter) inside), Sopressata (a special spread that looks like salami) or nduja (a spicy spread or salame)?
If you go to Torino, it is a must to try il fritto misto alla piemontese or i tomini or the agnolotti… and many more local products!
Allora, when you go to the local supermarket, don’t get cheese and cold meats from the frigo (refrigerated) section, as they are full of preservatives and they aren’t local! Please don’t be shy … dare asking the experts at the cheese counter and let them recommend something for you to try, according to your taste buds and try the taste of the Italian area you are visiting. Enjoy your beautiful experience fully, food included!
If you are in the South, you might even come across ‘la macchina dei latticini locali’ (the car of local dairy products). This is a van that goes from house to house and sells all local cheeses and cold meats! You won’t even have to leave your house!
If you are interested in your child attending Italian classes in a peer group during the school year 2022/2023 let me know.
I am putting together a small group of students who already speak and understand Italian. They don’t need to be accurate or fluent, but they have to understand and be able to ask for explanations in Italian (the explanation can be given in English if necessary).
The aim of the class is to work on Italian grammar (starting from the foundations), writing and reading in Italian. This is being done to give students a good foundation in Italian that will be valuable for them if they wish to take the Junior or Leaving cert or visit, live or work in Italy at some point where being able to read and write in Italian (not just speak and listen) is crucial.
Classes will be carried out by myself (I am a qualified Italian teacher, with a masters degree in education and am certified with the Irish Teaching Council and fully garda vetted).
Topics will be approached in visual, interactive and practical ways through presentations, role playing and songs (whenever possible), but students will have to work and do some homework to consolidate what they learn between classes. We will also be using a Grammar school book. Classes will be held in person in our classroom in Blackrock.
Please let me know if you are interested as soon as possible and let me know which weekdays/times would suit (we will do our best to accommodate). These classes will be held once a week and lessons are an hour long. As I mentioned above, these classes are aimed at a small group of students and not a full sized class.
I prepare students for Italian in the Junior Cert and Leaving Cert several afternoons a week, while after 6 pm I have online classes for adults. So I will do my best to accommodate people’s availability requests but as my availability is limited and each of you may have different availability, I cannot guarantee everyone can be accomodated
If some of them are asking about their children who don’t have the requirement to take part in this group
I know some of your children/teens had attended Piccolitalia’s classes in the past and some of you have been asking about them. At the moment I am working with very small groups of children and That seems to be working very well. Let me know if you are interested and I might be able to put you in contact with other parents who have children with the same level of Italian to create a small group (time permitting).
