I am thrilled that, after two semesters of Italian study at Emory, I feel as if I have a solid grasp on basic grammar, pronunciation, and comprehension of the Italian language. Nevertheless, I know I have miles and miles to go. While reviewing my tests, quizzes, and homework from Italian 102, it is evident that there are particular facets of the course with which I struggled. For instance, I often had difficulty remembering to ensure that my descriptor agreed with my subject, as in the examples below:
(From Quiz#2):
MY STATEMENT: Il braccio destra è in altro.
ERROR: the adjective, "destra," should agree with the male subject, il braccio.
CORRECT STATMENT: Il braccio destro è in altro.
(From Test#2):
MY STATEMENT: Gino glieli ha dato.
ERROR: "dato" should agree with the plural subject.
CORRECT STATMENT: Gino glieli ha dati.
Furthermore, I often struggled with contractions, forgetting to change "glielo ha" into "gliel'ha" and "lo offre" into "l'offre," or so on. In addition, I occasionally had difficulty with the utilization of prepositions; several times, I used "della" when I should have used the more general "di," and periodically I mixed up the prepositions-- for example, using the phrase "la pizza a pranzo" instead of "la pizza per pranzo." However, I consistently found that my greatest conflict in Italian 102 concerned dialogue. Because I get tremendously anxious when asked to speak in class, I struggled with dialogue exercises, presentations, and oral exams. During my oral exam, I became flustered and had to resort to English in the beginning. Despite such errors, however, that I felt these exercises actually helped to improve my language skills most. After my group presentation, for example, I felt that both my speaking and comprehension skills had become stronger, more natural, and more intuitive. I will continue to compel myself to practice speaking, as I believe this is the best way for my Italian skills to improve.
(From Quiz#2):
MY STATEMENT: Il braccio destra è in altro.
ERROR: the adjective, "destra," should agree with the male subject, il braccio.
CORRECT STATMENT: Il braccio destro è in altro.
(From Test#2):
MY STATEMENT: Gino glieli ha dato.
ERROR: "dato" should agree with the plural subject.
CORRECT STATMENT: Gino glieli ha dati.
Furthermore, I often struggled with contractions, forgetting to change "glielo ha" into "gliel'ha" and "lo offre" into "l'offre," or so on. In addition, I occasionally had difficulty with the utilization of prepositions; several times, I used "della" when I should have used the more general "di," and periodically I mixed up the prepositions-- for example, using the phrase "la pizza a pranzo" instead of "la pizza per pranzo." However, I consistently found that my greatest conflict in Italian 102 concerned dialogue. Because I get tremendously anxious when asked to speak in class, I struggled with dialogue exercises, presentations, and oral exams. During my oral exam, I became flustered and had to resort to English in the beginning. Despite such errors, however, that I felt these exercises actually helped to improve my language skills most. After my group presentation, for example, I felt that both my speaking and comprehension skills had become stronger, more natural, and more intuitive. I will continue to compel myself to practice speaking, as I believe this is the best way for my Italian skills to improve.