Episode 1: Narrating in the past – passato prossimo vs. imperfetto
Learners of Italian sometimes have a hard time picking the right verb tense when they are narrating past events, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. Today’s episode, when Arlecchino visits the king, will help you understand the difference between the passato prossimo and the imperfetto. Events that occur in a sequence that move the plot forward are expressed by the passato prossimo. Events that give descriptive details or background information are always in the imperfetto.
Here comes Arlecchino – let’s tune in and listen.
PODCAST LINK: Episode 1
Hi, this is the first comment on Radio Arlecchino. Welcome, and please join our community by contributing your thoughts and words.
Comment by s.palomino — March 11, 2007 @ 10:02 pm
The first episode of the Italian grammar and culture podcast, Radio Arlecchino, is now on the air.
Episode 1: Narrating in the past – passato prossimo vs. imperfetto (Arlecchino visits the King).
Congratulations to Antonella Olson and Eric Edwards, faculty developers from UT-Austin’s Department of French and Italian. And from UT-Austin’s LAITS, thanks to Suloni Robertson (artist), Mike Heidenreich (audio engineer), and assistants – without whose professional work, this project could not have been initiated.
It’s taken awhile to get here, but we’re happy with the direction of the project. Radio Arlecchino is the first TLTC venture that fully integrates our production capabilities with those of our sibling organization, Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services. The project has represented an interesting division of labor, and for that aspect alone, it’s been good experience.
Now, on to more podcasts!
Comment by s.palomino — March 26, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
I just listened to the first lesson, way cool, thanks. This is just the perfect level for me to try to figure out what ya’ll are saying in the story. The mix of explanation, drama, language, and examples are just right. Thanks,
Orlando
Comment by Orlando Kelm — March 26, 2007 @ 7:23 pm
That’s great, Orlando, and thank _you_ for tuning in!
We’re looking forward to continued mixing of those four key ingredients… and to continued improvements in the recipe.
A presto,
Eric
Comment by Eric Edwards — March 27, 2007 @ 1:08 pm
Caro Orlando,
Thank you so much for your comments and for all the fun inspiration of Tá Falado!
I hope you become a regular listener of Radio Arlecchino.
Arisentirci!
Antonella
Comment by Antonella Olson — March 27, 2007 @ 2:36 pm
Ciao, Antonella and Eric,
Just wanted to tell you and the others who are doing this website how much I’m enjoying it. I stumbled upon the site yesterday in doing a search for the imperfetto and I’m so happy I found Radio Arlecchino. The podcasts are so clear (audio-wise) and are really entertaining, but not too simplistic. The way you explain things makes things easy to understand and I really like having a transcript in PDF form that I can print and follow along with. The music and drawings are great, too. Although I’ve been studying Italian for quite awhile, sometimes there are certain things on which I just need more clarification and your podcasts are really helpful — often textbooks don’t provide enough examples, or enough examples in context. I’m looking forward to listening to more episodes and am going to forward your website to my other friends who are studying Italian. Really, you’re doing a great job! Thanks again.
Comment by Michele Garcia — April 24, 2007 @ 10:56 pm
Ciao, Michele,
Thanks for your message and your kind words! We’re very glad your stumbling brought you to our podcasts.
We’re very fortunate to have a stellar group of folks working on the project, web designers, graphic artists, sound designers and technicians.
Since we’ve just begun, it’s great to know that you are finding the site useful — we hope you’ll continue to tune in and let us know how we’re doing!
Arisentirci!
Eric
Comment by Eric Edwards — April 25, 2007 @ 10:47 am
Grazie mille, Michele!
It was wonderful to read you comments. Knowing that there are enthusiastic listeners like yourself
makes all of us at Radio Arlecchino even more eager to keep recording.
Continua ad ascoltarci.
Cari saluti,
Antonella
Comment by Antonella Olson — April 26, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
I just listened to your podcasts! Very cool. I’ve been studying Italian for years, but I always have issues from time to time with the imperfect/passato prossimo. Your site really helped me. I’m going to place a link to it so that others find it too. I hope that you do some podcasts on other grammar areas too!
Grazie!
Keith
Comment by Keith Preble — July 11, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
Thank you, Keith! It’s great to know our Radio Arlecchino helped your understanding of the past tenses
I hope the other podcasts will continue to assist you …. subjunctive mood…
Cari saluti,
Antonella
Comment by antonella olson — July 13, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
Come siete simpatici! Veramente divertente. Ascolto spesso i podcast fatti apposta per insegnare l’italiano e quanto mi piace questa spiegazione del passato prossimo e l’imperfetto. Non l’avevo mai sentito detto cosi’: the imperfetto sets the scene and the passato prossimo moves the plot forward. Excellent. I have always had great difficulty explaining that to translate the phrase “I wanted to ask you something”…un italiano direbbe “Volevo chiederti una cosa” mentre una persona di madre lingua inglese vuole sempre tradurre la frase: “Ho voluto chiederti qualcosa”. Secondo me, scegliere tra l’imperfetto o il passato prossimo sia una delle cose piu’ difficili da imparare e da insegnare! I’m a subscriber. I can’t wait to listen to the other podcasts. GRAZIE!
Comment by Cinzia — August 4, 2007 @ 11:12 am
Ciao, Cinzia! I’m so glad the podcasts are both helpful and fun for you — they are certainly fun for us!
I agree that this perfect-imperfect distinction is tough for both learners and teachers, I guess that’s why we started out with “Narrating in the past.”
Thanks for listening and for saying hello!
Buon insegnamento!
Comment by Eric Edwards — August 6, 2007 @ 8:37 am
Grazie, Cinzia, dei tuoi commenti positivi ed incoraggianti! We hope that teaching some of the most complicated grammatical structures with podcasts will make learning them easier. We never thought that teaching grammar could be so much fun!
Continua a seguirci, anzi a sentirci…
Un caro saluto,
Antonella
Comment by Antonella Olson — August 13, 2007 @ 4:06 pm
I just came across your site and am very pleased with the explanation for a very difficult topic for us learning Italian. I meet with a small group on a weekly basis to practice our Italian. Your PDFs are great for helping us.
Thank you for your effort.
Comment by Dennis Cantoni — October 30, 2007 @ 9:24 pm
I wanted to thank you and the team for putting together Radio Arlecchino! It is so wonderfully helpful, funny and informative. I’ve put off my Italian studies for a while now, but this is really making me want to dive back in! Thanks again!
Comment by Emelie — January 18, 2008 @ 7:48 am
Ciao, Emelie,
and thanks for your note! We’re glad it’s helpful and it’s always fun for us!
Buoni studi!
Eric
Comment by Eric Edwards — January 18, 2008 @ 11:02 am
Grazie mille a te, Emelie, per i complimenti!
We are happy you are studying Italian again and that Radio Arlecchino has
encouraged you to do so!
Un caro saluto,
Antonella
Comment by Antonella Olson — January 21, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
Wow,I am so glad I stumbled across this site! I have been trying to understand when to use imperfecto and P.P for a quiz i have in my Italian class and I havent been able to grasp it untill I listened to your pod cast and now it totally makes sense! Thank you so much for this it was a trat to listen to.
Comment by Katie — June 1, 2008 @ 9:41 pm
Ciao, Katie,
We too are glad that you “stumbled” your way here! And we hope that you will continue to find Radio Arlecchino helpful. Antonella is in Italy now, but when she returns in the fall, we will be working on some new episodes. Buon’estate e buoni studi!
Eric
Comment by Eric Edwards — June 4, 2008 @ 6:46 am
Ciao a tutti
Grazie per il vostro sito. Studio l’italiano qui in Canada. Ho trovato il tuo sito su “I-tunes” oggi.
Mi piace perchè non ho l’opportunità ascoltare l’italiano spesso e cerco sempre per i siti dove posso ascoltare.
Parlate nè troppo più nè troppo piano per me da capire. Sopratutto mi piacciono le favole per imparare la lingua. (Ho letto Pinocchio recentemente.)
Mi dispiace. Non scrivo molto bene ma devo provare qualche volta.
Ascolterò il vostro podcast ogni giorno d’ora in poi.
Mille grazie.
Lee Smith
Comment by Lee Smith — July 31, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
I love your show – it is so much fun, not to mention informative! I’m 53 and just bought my first iPod, so I can listen to Radio Arlecchino while walking the dog. You both have a great sense of humour, and the grammar really makes sense to me when you explain it in your quirky way! Grazie mille!
Comment by Tiuzza — November 17, 2008 @ 11:51 pm
Congratulazioni! Il vostro sito è perfetto. Vi ho trovati per caso e, con il vostro permesso, vi indirizzerò i miei studenti.
Cordiali satuti,
Patrizia Miller
Comment by Patrizia Miller — February 12, 2009 @ 4:25 pm
Grazie mille, Patrizia! Hai senz’altro il nostro permesso: indirizza pure i tuoi studenti
al nostro sito, saremo ben felici di averli come ascoltatori. Facci sapere cosa ne pensano.
Buon lavoro,
Antonella
Comment by antonella olson — February 12, 2009 @ 8:41 pm
Ciao, tutti! Il vostro sito è meraviglioso, userò per i miei studenti. Grazie mille!
Comment by Susan — March 1, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
Ciao, Susan! Siamo contenti che tu abbia trovato il sito e speriamo che i tuoi studenti lo trovino utile e divertente! Buon ascolto e buoni studi!
Eric
Comment by Eric Edwards — March 2, 2009 @ 3:28 pm
HI! I’M STUDYING ITALLIAN, AND THIS RADIO ARLECCHINO IS WONDERFUL
THANK YOU.
GREETINGS FROM A BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN MEXICO “TABASCO”
Comment by ana laura — March 19, 2009 @ 4:21 pm
Ciao a tutti. Studio italiano qui a Washington DC. Ho appena preso tutti gli episodi da iTunes. Tante grazie per Radio Arlecchino. E’ perfetto per aumentare i miei studii d’taliano.
Comment by Carl — October 8, 2009 @ 5:35 pm
Thank you for these wonderful podcasts
I have them on repeat/shuffle on my mp3 player
They’re really helping me to improve my Italian particularly my listening skills
thanks again!
Comment by Squeaks — November 10, 2009 @ 7:39 am
Ana Laura, Carl, Squeaks…
grazie dei vostri gentili commenti!
Speriamo che Radio Arlecchino continui ad aiutarvi con il vostro studio della lingua e che vi divertiate con le avventure di Arlecchino e compagnia!
Buon ascolto e buono studio!
Eric
Comment by Eric Edwards — November 11, 2009 @ 9:34 am
You folks at Radio Arlecchino are incredibly creative. I want you to know how much I appreciate your whole new way of learning a very frustrating subject for me, i.e. Italian grammar. I am not a good student, but I love learning via the podcasts. I drive a nasty urban commute and improve my Italian with this goofy but very intelligent cast of characters. Mille Grazie.
Comment by Neil in Harlem — December 7, 2009 @ 9:43 pm
Ciao, Neil,
grazie del tuo messaggio! We’re glad that you find Radio Arlecchino helpful and that you have joined the elite ranks of those who find our senso dell’umorismo simpatico!
Stay safe on that commute e buon ascolto e buona fortuna con il tuo italiano!
Eric
Comment by Eric Edwards — December 8, 2009 @ 9:45 am
We are so glad that Radio Arlecchino is making your commuting more pleasant! Thank you for your support.
Keep putting energy and enthusiasm into learning Italian; the eyes of Arlecchino and Arlecchina are upon you
Forza e coraggio e buoni studi!
Antonella
Comment by antonella olson — December 8, 2009 @ 12:12 pm
Hello,
I wanted to express my sincere gratitude for all the effort it must have taken to create this multi-session Italian learning experience. I’m thrilled at the content and clarity which is used in the material.
My question: Can you tell me the best source for gaining preliminary Italian language skills? I travel to Italy on average every 2 years. I’ve got all the tourist training materials but they just don’t help you build a more substantial vocabulary.
Grazie per suo assistenza
John Harper
Laguna Niguel, CA
Comment by John Harper — June 5, 2010 @ 2:44 am
Buon giorno John, grazie!
Or wait for Eric’s new project online…
Thank you for your positive comments on Radio Arlecchino.
My suggestion for you: come to UT-Austin and take one of our classes for beginners
If you cannot come to Austin or cannot wait, then you should get a first-year Italian textbook (for example, In giro per l’Italia; is simple and easy to follow) and meet a private tutor for conversation once a week. Also get comic books in Italian (Diabolik, Tex, Topolino, etc.) and/or a collection of short stories; reading is the best way to build vocabulary.
Buona fortuna e a presto,
Antonella
Comment by antonella — June 8, 2010 @ 2:35 am
Salva Antonella,
Molto grazie suo informazioni.
Your recommendations were great and I’ll proceed to secure those resources. I do have a separate question, why does the blog seem to stop after December 2009? Did you lose funding? I’m excited to know more about what Eric is creating for online access. Online and podcasts are a great way to learn.
Ciao.
John Harper
Laguna Niguel, CA
Comment by John Harper — June 26, 2010 @ 4:47 pm