News in Slow ...

Italian for Beginners Language Theatre

Cambridge, MA (USA), March 2015 - The makers of News in Slow Italian announce the release of Italian for Beginners Language Theatre, a comprehensive program that teaches Italian grammar, vocabulary, and conversation in the form of theatrical dialog.

In each light-hearted language learning podcast, learners listen to a one-on-one lesson between a teacher, Silvia, and her student Connor. They begin with Act 1, where Silvia and Connor use basic Italian words and phrases mixed with English to talk to each other. As the acts progress and Connor's knowledge of Italian expands; the conversations contain less English and more Italian. By the final act, Act 22, the conversation is almost entirely in Italian.

Each act accompanies a lesson that covers two or more topics of Italian grammar. The acts contain three dialogs: two addressing grammar topics and one about an expression in Italian. A transcript that features highlighted vocabulary words with a translation in English is available for each dialog. Vocabulary and grammar exercises, online quizzes, and flashcards accompany each act.

Silvia's educational technique encompasses the rules for her students:

  1. Complete the assigned lesson on the website and memorize new vocabulary on the flashcards before coming in for one-on-one studies.
  2. Students can talk about anything, as long as they employ grammar introduced in the lesson.
  3. Don't be afraid to switch to English if you don't know how to say something in Italian - but switch back to Italian as soon as you can!

Italian for Beginners Language Theatre is made and distributed by Linguistica 360, makers of News in Slow Italian, News in Slow Spanish, News in Slow Spanish and News in Slow French. The "News in Slow" series consists of weekly language-learning shows with discussions of current events -- read at a pace to aid listening comprehension. The hosts are native or fluent speakers. Listeners can choose to hear the language learning podcast spoken more slowly, or speed it up, depending on their comfort level.

Linguistica 360 also produces French for Beginners Language Theatre, as well as Spanish for Kids, videos that teach Spanish in a kid-friendly format.

By the time a student is finished with Italian for Beginners, he or she should be ready to move on to News in Slow Italian.