Ragazzo Ragazza, Ragazzi

[Philip]

Please help me. I have been roped into teaching Italian at a High School in Australia even though my Italian is rather poor.

The previous five teachers so far this year have fled in horror. Even though their Italian was good, they had no classroom control, which I have in abundance. Sono alto e forte. Purtroppo, il mio Italiano è povero.

The previous Italian teachers took all of their worksheets and books and notes All I am left with is an Electronic whiteboard, which I am unable to operate and some battered dictionaries.

I am in the process of preparing worksheets for my students so that I can get through the next few days, and suddenly I find the weak spots in my italian. So here goes. My first question of you good folk. There may be many to follow.

Un ragazzo = A boy OK?
Una ragazza = a girl OK.
I ragazzi = children. OK????

So what is the plural for boys and what is the plural for girls?

I regazzi, and Le regazze?

Help!

[Geoff]

Yes Philip, that's correct: i ragazzi and le ragazze. Also, if you have a mixture of boys and girls, you use the masculine form: i ragazzi. This is a general rule. And good luck!

[Philip]

Thanks Geoff. It's amazing how preparing a worksheet sorts out the weak points in one's grammer. I have to have 200 copies ready tomorrow morning, and they have to be perfect.
Another question.... Can someone possibly proof read this for me????
Sorry about the layout, I lost all the tabs on the copy and paste.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two important irregular Italian verbs you must learn.

ESSERE To be

(io) sono I am
(tu) sei you are informal singular
(lui/lei) è (s)he is polite
(noi) siamo we are
(voi) siete you are plural
(loro) sono they are

Sono un ragazzo (I am a boy)
Sei una ragazza (you are a girl)
È un ragazzo (He is a boy)
È una ragazza (She is a girl)
Siamo ragazzi (We are boys)
Siete ragazzi (You are children, boys and girls)
Sono ragazze (They are girls)


AVERE To have

(io) ho I have
(tu) hai you have informal singular
(lui/lei) ha (s)he has polite
(noi) abbiamo we have
(voi) avete you have plural
(loro) hanno they have


Ho un fratello (I have a brother)
Hai una sorella (you have a sister)
Ha un figlio (You have a son)
Ha una figlia (You have a daughter)
Abbiamo uno bambino (We have one child, male)
Avete una bambina (You have one child, girl)
Hanno due bambini (They have two children)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[lockettpots]

Hi Philip

You might find these sites useful

http://www.episcopalacademy.org/htm/Uni ... talian.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/9994/index.html

John

[Philip]

Thanks John, but all the resources of Mrs. C.B. Putnam,Episcopal Academy, 376 N. Latches Lane ,Merion PA 19066 would not last 30 seconds in my classroom.

Good luck to her. I have to deliver 5 one hour lessons to classes of 30 students tomorrow. In each class there are, Vietnamese, Macedonians, Croatians, Serbs, Afghanis, Pakistanis, Philipenese, Malays, Iranians, Iraquis, Lebonese, not a single one interested in learning Italian, Also there will be Anglo Australians, Indigeonous Australians, second generation Greek Australians, South Africans, all of which are hostile to learning Italian

I need a proofreader!

Phil.

[Peter]

It kind of begs the question : why bother to teach the students something they clearly have no interest in? It seems totally bizarre.

You have my best wishes, Philip, and my sympathy!

[Geoff]

Philip, I am sorry that I am probably a bit too late with this reply as far as your class is concerned but I can confirm that what you have is basically correct. My only issue is with the lui/lei forms where you say "polite". It is important to understand that in this form we have:

lui - he
lei - she, you (polite)

So "ha un figlio" could mean "he has a son", "she has a son" or "you have a son", depending on context. "lui ha un figlio" only means "he has a son" and "lei ha un figlio" means either "she has a son" or "you have a son".

[Philip]

Thank you Peter and Geoff for your comments.
Today, ninety six students failed to find an error in my worksheet, so I recon that I have survived anotther round.

Peter. you asked why should I bother to teach them something they have no interest in? That is a very good question.

The answer is simple, it's because I am a teacher. It's what I do.

Phil.

[umberto]

Hi Philip,

what a task! Just a question: why do your students study Italian? I mean, is it a compulsory subject?

[Peter]

Peter. you asked why should I bother to teach them something they have no interest in? That is a very good question.

The answer is simple, it's because I am a teacher. It's what I do.

Phil.

Phil

Sorry, but it was supposed to be a rhetorical question, based on what you said in your earlier post. It was not aimed at you but at what appears to be the system. Umberto has asked the same question really. I cannot see that learning Italian is compulsory, particularly with the United Nations of students you have there, many of whom I would venture to suggest still have a few problems with English?

[umberto]

I was wondering that because Italian isn’t a “vehicular” language: it’s useful neither for business nor for tourism (unless you come to Italy!), that’s why I can’t figure it as a compulsory subject in a primary or a high school… Anyway, if you need help, just ask!

[Roby]

Philip,

I see that you are covering the nouns, definite, indefinite articles , and plurals

Check out this link for some help

http://impariamo.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=10

Check out the Free lessons section for additional help

http://impariamo.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=8

[Geoff]

I was wondering that because Italian isn’t a “vehicular” language: it’s useful neither for business nor for tourism (unless you come to Italy!), that’s why I can’t figure it as a compulsory subject in a primary or a high school… Anyway, if you need help, just ask!

I suspect that Philip's class would be hostile to just about any subject, not just Italian. It is unlikely to be a compulsory subject although the school may have a policy that students have to take at least one language other than English. Many Australian schools offer Italian because we have so many Italian migrants here.

[umberto]

Many Australian schools offer Italian because we have so many Italian migrants here.[/quote]

I used to know that in Australia lots of Italian migrants live, but I thought they didn’t feel the need to regain their language. Do they expect any legitimization? I mean, is this something that involves politics or is it just folklore? Do you know any bibliographical or electronical references to get information about it? Thanks!

[Philip]

Geoff, You are correct LOTE (Languages Other Than English) is a compulsary subject at High School here in West Australia, at least for grade 8 and grade 9. The students at our school have the option of learning Japanese or Italian. I'm not sure how these languages were selected as other schools offer Indonesian , French or German.

It will come as no surprise that the bright kids select Japanese, and the rest are dropped into the other compulsary LOTE course...Italian.
Therefor, The Italian teacher gets the dreggs. I guess that 20% are actively hostile to any learning. That is why there has been a high turnover of experct Italian teachers here.

Still I plod on, I've competed my third day of teaching here, and believe it or not, I am enjoying every moment.


Phil