Italiano! Che bello!

L’autunno e` una stagione bellissima. Autumn is a beautiful season. Le foglie cadono – il giardino e` un tappeto di rosso, arancione e giallo. The leaves are falling and the garden is a carpet of red, orange and yellow. Fa fresco di mattina ma i giorno sono belli e soleggiati, almeno per ora. The mornings are cool but the days are beautiful and sunny, so far at least.

Term 2 has started well. We are focussing on positive behaviours, using our good manners words: per favore, grazie, prego, scusi, scusa mi. Foundation students are continuing to learn the basics of Italian through games, songs, stories and role-plays. Grades 1/2 are learning about the body and the senses. Grades 3/4 are reviewing many aspects of vocabulary and grammar through viewing the Muzzy program. Grades 5/6 are learning about Italy and will be using their ICT skills to design a brochure advertising a region or city of Italy.

Italian at Ripponlea 2018. Benvenuti tutti!

Getting to know the students, staff and some parents during Term One has been bellissimo! The focus for the term was Identity. We learned all about Italian Greetings and Introductions, we reviewed commonly used words and especially focused on using per favore, grazie and prego when asking for and receiving something.

So, why Italian you may ask yourselves?

According to Dianne Hales, author of La Bella Lingua, the Italian language is beautiful, fun and cool. No other language is more romantic, everything sounds better in Italian, and you can use your hands in dialogue. While there are only an estimated 60 to 63 million native speakers (compared to a whopping 1.8 billion who claim at least a little English), Italian barely eclipses Urdu, Pakistan’s official language, for nineteenth place as a spoken tongue. Yet Italian ranks fourth among the most studied languages – after English, Spanish and French, which Italian now rivals as a language of culture and refinement. more of Diane Hales reasons in support of Italian are online at:

Website: www.becomingitalian.com

Blog: www.becomingitalianwordbyword.typepad.com

A presto

Patrizia Kelly