A top first lesson from you, Claudio. I liked your effort and application from the off, and the way you really threw yourself into it and experimented with the sounds. You showed some very good awareness of the tongue movement (not many students can perceive that, so well done), but overall awareness of mouth musculature could be better (normal at this stage, so don't worry!). Most importantly, you were able to reproduce the sounds accurately. I was very pleased with your front /u:/ (you got it straight away) and schwa /ə/, although schwa took a bit more prompting on my part (remember the whisper-technique, which will help you to hear the sound and feel that the sensation of the sound is from the top of the throat and not inside the mouth). Anyway, as I said, the idea is not to be perfect with all the sounds at the moment, but to just develop a deep awareness about the sounds. So, try to spend some time (a little but often is the best way) before the next lesson practising the sounds we covered, and really exploring your mouth and how we make the transition from one sound to the next. Always remember that pronunciation is physical, and it's important to create connections between the brain and what the mouth muscles are doing. Especially focus on /ə/, which is a high priority sound, and front /u:/, which will also be an important sound. Use your Italian /i/ (viso), /u/ (usi) and /e/ (etto) sounds as guides to help you get those two sounds that Italian doesn't have. Have fun with that, and you know where to find me if you need anything at all!

Die Grammatik Fragen konntest Du wirklich gut beantworten. Du bist ein Profi!

Elena, du machst es richtig toll! Wir schaffen das, ich freue mich auf die nächste Stunde.

Thank you very much!!