Mastering the English pronunciation is not a daunting task once you understand how English works and which dynamics are involved and for that you need and experienced teacher. Take the pronunciation of the “th” combination, the bane of Italian speakers trying to tackle the English language. Student are generally asked to imitate the teacher’s pronunciation without however being told why and under which conditions to use one pronunciation instead of another. A simple, concise explanation will clear up all doubts once and for all: “Th” has 3 possible pronunciations: 1- At the beginning of a word, it’s /θ/ (The internet is full of sites that tell you where to place your tongue to pronounce the sound correctly but none of them tell you why it must be pronounced that way). If instead you are dealing with a function word (a grammatical term such as the article “the”) the “th” acquires its second pronunciation /ð/ 2- At the end of a word, barring a few minor exceptions, you say /θ/. 3- In the middle of a word its pronunciation is determined by its origin. If the term comes from Latin (it sounds like Italian), you say /θ/ as in [cathedral]. If it’s Germanic (It doesn’t sound like Italian), then you say ð/ as in [brother]. 4- In proper nouns it is pronounced like in Italian /Temz/ (Tamigi) As you can see, English pronunciation is not as mysterious as it looks once you understand the intricacies of the language. If you contact me, I will be more than glad to clarify for you any other point that you may find baffling. PATRICK

L'avverbio di tempo di tipo frequenza va prima del verbo. Se però abbiamo a che fare con to be, may, can, must, will e would, l’avverbio va dopo. Se avere è seguito da un participio passato, l’avverbio va dopo (I have never been to Spain), altrimenti va prima (I never have breakfast).

Mastering the English pronunciation is not a daunting task once you understand how English works and which dynamics are involved and for that you need and experienced teacher. Take the pronunciation of the “th” combination, the bane of Italian speakers trying to tackle the English language. Student are generally asked to imitate the teacher’s pronunciation without however being told why and under which conditions to use one pronunciation instead of another. A simple, concise explanation will clear up all doubts once and for all: “Th” has 3 possible pronunciations: 1- At the beginning of a word, it’s /θ/ (The internet is full of sites that tell you where to place your tongue to pronounce the sound correctly but none of them tell you why it must be pronounced that way). If instead you are dealing with a function word (a grammatical term such as the article “the”) the “th” acquires its second pronunciation /ð/ 2- At the end of a word, barring a few minor exceptions, you say /θ/. 3- In the middle of a word its pronunciation is determined by its origin. If the term comes from Latin (it sounds like Italian), you say /θ/ as in [cathedral]. If it’s Germanic (It doesn’t sound like Italian), then you say ð/ as in [brother]. 4- In proper nouns it is pronounced like in Italian /Temz/ (Tamigi) As you can see, English pronunciation is not as mysterious as it looks once you understand the intricacies of the language. If you contact me, I will be more than glad to clarify for you any other point that you may find baffling. PATRICK

L'avverbio di tempo di tipo frequenza va prima del verbo. Se però abbiamo a che fare con to be, may, can, must, will e would, l’avverbio va dopo. Se avere è seguito da un participio passato, l’avverbio va dopo (I have never been to Spain), altrimenti va prima (I never have breakfast).