Rarely does a student of Italian have writing as one of their goals. This is a skill often considered less important than speaking or reading. But this is not the case.
The fact that most students want to “talk” is not surprising because it is one of the most important activities in everyday life and the one that allows us to relate to others. But increasingly, with texts, emails and social media, it is important to know how to write!
First, to write well in Italian you need to read a lot! Literature and newspapers offer many linguistic use and help us expand our comprehension skills. There is great satisfaction when one is able to express thoughts and comments using new vocabulary and more complex grammatical forms
from preparation to writing
Reading a lot will help us learn grammar unconsciously and expand our vocabulary. The mental exercise of writing, the ability to synthesize our thoughts into one or more sentences will make the process of understanding and mastering the language more complete and definitive.
One exercise to start with is to participate in some discussion on social media, without fear of making mistakes! You can also try to write short texts to comment on newspaper articles, movies, and books that you have read. This can be an interesting practice because it will allows you to see your mistakes and correct .
It is interesting to compile lists of words you intend to use and try to put them in the text by contextualizing them: this kind of effort will also make the learning and memorization process faster and deeper.
Writing in Italian means thinking in Italian
Writing in Italian means thinking in Italian. “Seeing” a sentence taking shape in your head and putting it on paper. It challanges us and hones our ability to use the proper verbs and sentences so that we are communicating effectively.
Over time, as we do this, we will be able to see the progress we are making. We can look back and smile at mistakes that we don’t make anymore. We can see some simple sentences we expressed earlier can be enriched. Writing will make us be more precise and it certainly has a positive effect in other language skills such as listening and speaking.
correctness is important but….
Correctness is important because a sentence with many errors can make comprehension very complicated. That said, the concern for correctness should by no means stop you. The person you are writing to, even an imaginary person, can understand you even if the sentence is not perfect. And if you can’t find a verb or word, don’t stop. Look for a synonym or other words and work out another way to still write down what you are thinking.
Having a journal, thinking up short stories, participating in some online discussion on current issues, and sending messages to friends you meet in your Italian classes, are simple and very useful ways to keep your Italian alive, to not forget new terms you have learned and to use the phrases, idioms, and proverbs you know.
All of this can be a lot of fun, and it is certainly very useful in learning Italian.
