Was It Something I Said?

If I were teaching Italian 3, I think I would give everyone a basic pronunciation test the first day of class. Those who couldn’t pass would be sent back to Italian 2. By the time one has completed two semesters of Italian, one should understand the difference between ci and chi, and that “e” in Italian is not pronounced like “y” in Spanish. This test would eliminate about a third of the people in class, which would make the whole thing run more smoothly.

Italian For Beginners: The description on the box describes this as a “romantic comedy”, but that’s an outright lie. The picture on the cover is also misleading, as only the very end of the film takes place in Venice. This dreary Danish soap opera about lonely losers who take an Italian class was produced like a student film, with a hand held video camera. The description claims that it has an “original language track in Danish and Italian” but in fact it’s almost entirely Danish. This film is useless for anyone who wants to learn or listen to Italian, and it’s too boring to watch for any other reason.