Sure, to start with, check out "tarantella" on YouTube. It's traditional dance and singing from the South of Italy. Let me know if you like it. I would strongly recommend going to Italy to learn tarantella!
If I am not mistaken, the singing is part of it, too. Many years ago, when I worked at the Third Age University, we had a group of Italian folk educators from Puglia teach us tarantella: it was both dancing and singing. It was just great! If you experience it in Italy, it must be even better.
Grazie, Katarzyna! E la Puglia è la mia preferita regione italiana! Sono andata in anno scorso e mi sono innamorata di questo bellissimo paese… devo googlare questo.
My knowledge of Italian comes from (1) expression markings in musical scores and (2) Italian opera ! Lots of opera recordings are available (including excerpts of favourites of course) and the majority of well-known opera libretti are freely available on the web (for example: http://www.operafolio.com/list_of_opera_libretti.asp).
Thank you for sharing, John, for opera lovers like myself, it's a wonderful way to learn! Although the language can be a bit different from modern Italian :)
I often recommend using songs to my English learners too. I think it’s great for making vocabulary stick in your head, as you mentioned. The only downside is that there’s a bit of non-standard language in English songs and I worry about learners not being able to recognise that fact. But as long as they’re careful and aware, I think it’s OK. Would that be true for songs in other languages too?
Katie, please excuse me, I haven't seen your comment before. It's exactly the same in Italian. Plus, there are some words and expressions from dialects, too. But I think it's ok to learn them, we teach (and learn) communication, not sterile language from a book 😉
Yes, many student enjoy learning the slang and the dialects. I think it’s fine to teach them too. I guess I was thinking more about the learners who use songs as a way to learn English on their own, without the guidance of a teacher. They might not be able to distinguish between the standard and non-standard language and therefore might use something from a song in the wrong situation.
Yes, I see your point, and of course, it can happen. On the other hand, I sometimes learn a new word in my native language, Polish. A word used by the younger generations with a different meaning than I know, for example. And I use it in the wrong situation! I guess it's inevitable. Personally, I believe in trial and error. I hope the people I talk to or my students talk to will understand the type of error and explain :)
I can reccomend an app "Lyrics Training". It contain a lot of music in different languages. You can fill the gaps during listening a song. 3 songs a day are for free :) And there are levels from begginer (about 15 words) to advanced when you can listen and write whole song.
That's how I learned as a teenager. M generation is called Generation X, also known as the MTV generation. I studied English in high school and spent a year in the U.S. as an exchange student, but songs were a big part of my learning.
I can definitely relate! Thanks for sharing. I remember trying to "catch" a song to record it on a tape ahahaha People born when Spotify was already here will never know the thrill! :)
if not opera, then italian folk songs such as my all-time favourite https://youtu.be/vKPvT-8cqkU?si=OJk9-pSVCF2_x-qW by Angelo Branduardi
Amazing song, thank you for sharing 🙏
I love singing and would like to learn italian traditional and folk music. Can you recommend any websites where I could find them? TIA! 🙏
Sure, to start with, check out "tarantella" on YouTube. It's traditional dance and singing from the South of Italy. Let me know if you like it. I would strongly recommend going to Italy to learn tarantella!
Tarantella is a traditional dance, I have seen Performances. Interesting idea that never crossed my mind before… 🤔
If I am not mistaken, the singing is part of it, too. Many years ago, when I worked at the Third Age University, we had a group of Italian folk educators from Puglia teach us tarantella: it was both dancing and singing. It was just great! If you experience it in Italy, it must be even better.
Grazie, Katarzyna! E la Puglia è la mia preferita regione italiana! Sono andata in anno scorso e mi sono innamorata di questo bellissimo paese… devo googlare questo.
My knowledge of Italian comes from (1) expression markings in musical scores and (2) Italian opera ! Lots of opera recordings are available (including excerpts of favourites of course) and the majority of well-known opera libretti are freely available on the web (for example: http://www.operafolio.com/list_of_opera_libretti.asp).
Thank you for sharing, John, for opera lovers like myself, it's a wonderful way to learn! Although the language can be a bit different from modern Italian :)
Ohimé!!
I often recommend using songs to my English learners too. I think it’s great for making vocabulary stick in your head, as you mentioned. The only downside is that there’s a bit of non-standard language in English songs and I worry about learners not being able to recognise that fact. But as long as they’re careful and aware, I think it’s OK. Would that be true for songs in other languages too?
Katie, please excuse me, I haven't seen your comment before. It's exactly the same in Italian. Plus, there are some words and expressions from dialects, too. But I think it's ok to learn them, we teach (and learn) communication, not sterile language from a book 😉
Yes, many student enjoy learning the slang and the dialects. I think it’s fine to teach them too. I guess I was thinking more about the learners who use songs as a way to learn English on their own, without the guidance of a teacher. They might not be able to distinguish between the standard and non-standard language and therefore might use something from a song in the wrong situation.
Yes, I see your point, and of course, it can happen. On the other hand, I sometimes learn a new word in my native language, Polish. A word used by the younger generations with a different meaning than I know, for example. And I use it in the wrong situation! I guess it's inevitable. Personally, I believe in trial and error. I hope the people I talk to or my students talk to will understand the type of error and explain :)
I can reccomend an app "Lyrics Training". It contain a lot of music in different languages. You can fill the gaps during listening a song. 3 songs a day are for free :) And there are levels from begginer (about 15 words) to advanced when you can listen and write whole song.
Thank you Anna, is it this one? https://lingoclip.com/?
Yes!
Great, I'll check it out, thank you so much!
That's how I learned as a teenager. M generation is called Generation X, also known as the MTV generation. I studied English in high school and spent a year in the U.S. as an exchange student, but songs were a big part of my learning.
I can definitely relate! Thanks for sharing. I remember trying to "catch" a song to record it on a tape ahahaha People born when Spotify was already here will never know the thrill! :)