Il teatrino italiano – The Little Italian Threatre

Buongiorno tutti!

I am sorry it has been a while since my last blog. I am so excited about two of my lessons this week I just had to share them with you! On Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening my intermediate groups truly excelled themselves! Not only did they manage to get their tongues round some difficult Italian words they became real thespians and really got into the spirit of the activity. For those of you who were there and took part I would like to say “Mille grazie siete stati fantastici!” For those of you who were not there let me explain what we did.

Using a short play in Italian, entitled “Il Ballo in Maschera di Carnevale”, the students read through the script checking any vocabulary they did not understand. The various parts were allocated.Due to numbers some students had to play two different parts (bravi!) and then we recited the play as a group, each person reading their own part(s). In pairs the students then practised their roles and developed their individual characters! As learners of Italian I am sure you can appreciate how difficult it is to simply read out loud in Italian focusing on pronunciation, intonation and flow let alone adding in characterisation! Some students even used accents! A big shout out for the performance of Pulcinella yesterday evening!

The characters included:

as well as the Narratore and the Organizzatore della Festa .

To help get into their roles, and so we could identify each other, the characters were provided with a picture to pin onto their clothes. I was extremely impressed with all the performances and above all the ability to perform in Italian!

Not only was this a great activity which involved some challenging Italian it was great FUN! Whether you are a beginner or have been learning Italian a while the key to successful learning is ENJOYMENT! (please see my previous blog https://modernlanguageschool.co.uk/ten-ways-to-help-you-learn-italian-by-vicky-addy/.html )

Buon divertimento!