A Step or two more: Italian Stage 4
Di dove siete?
Learners are now two-thirds of the way through the course and may well be looking
forward to visiting Italy and putting their skills to the test. Many of them will be
travelling with a companion and will want to be able to say ‘we’ rather than ‘I’.
The simple preparation activities outlined below provide the opportunity to concentrate
on the 1st and 2nd person plural forms of verbs – the ones introduced in BBC Italian Steps
Saying where we’re from as well as a few other verbs which learners have previously
used in the singular. This is intended to reinforce the concept of verb endings, -te and –
iamo in particular. After the practice, learners take part in a short survey.
Getting ready
These activities are dependent on learners having worked through the online unit Saying
where we’re from, so it would be as well to email or phone them beforehand with a
gentle reminder!
Make copies on paper or thin card of the Saying where we’re from dialogue (reproduced
here on page 2 for convenience), cut each copy into a set of 14 individual strips, and
shuffle. You’ll need a set for each pair of learners.
For the main activity, copy the table of questions and answers onto paper or card. First,
make some copies of the questions in columns A and B and put to one side, then cut the
whole table into individual squares, making sure you keep the questions (columns A and
B) separate from the answers (columns C and D).
Getting them talking
1. For the preparation phase, learners work in twos or threes. Give them the 14
strips of dialogue and ask them to work together to recreate the dialogue from
Italian Steps Saying where we’re from.
2. The instructions given here for the matching activity are for a group of 12. In a
bigger group, it doesn’t matter if more than one person has the same question.
However, if the group is really large, consider splitting it into two for this activity.
Give everyone a question and an unrelated answer. They take it in turns to ask
‘their’ question, and whoever has the answer should read it out. Since several are
very similar, it will probably give rise to discussion. The aim is to match all
questions to answers.
Then remove the answer slips, give everyone the complete list of questions and
ask them to work in pairs to come up with the answers themselves.
3. You could then organise a short survey, where people answer questions as if on
behalf of two people. First, everyone makes up an identity, selecting i) a
nationality, ii) whether they’re on holiday or working, iii) a town in Italy where
they live, iv) a different town in Italy where they work. Give them a few minutes
to think of the 4 questions needed to elicit this information from the others, then
ask them to circulate and chat to others in the group.
© www.cheshirenetword.org.uk 1
A Step or two more: Italian Stage 4
Scusate.
Posso prendere lo zucchero?
Sì, sì, prego.
È una bella giornata
vero?
Bellissima.
Di dove siete?
Siamo di Venezia
ma abitiamo in Sardegna.
E siete qui in vacanza?
Sì, siamo qui in luna di miele.
Che bello!
Auguri e congratulazioni!
Grazie!
© www.cheshirenetword.org.uk 2
A Step or two more: Italian Stage 4
A
B
C
D
Dove lavorate?
Siete qui in
vacanza?
Lavoriamo a
Londra
Sì, siamo in
luna di miele
Dove abitate?
Di dove siete?
Abitiamo in
Sicilia
Siamo di
Napoli
Lavorate in
Sicilia?
Siete
americani?
No, lavoriamo
a Roma.
No, siamo
inglesi.
Parlate
italiano?
Siete
australiani?
Sì, parliamo un
po’ d’italiano
Sì, abitiamo a
Canberra
Parlate
francese?
Abitate qui
vicino?
No, non
parliamo
francese
No, abitiamo
in Germania
Siete inglesi?
Siete qui per
lavoro?
Sì, siamo
inglesi
No, siamo in
vacanza
© www.cheshirenetword.org.uk 3