Italiano SL2

My Second Life Experiences

I tried Second Life for the first time with my italian professor and class. I am not a very avid gamer on computers and was worried that I would have a hard time getting familiar with how to work second life. I didn't find Second Life too intimidating to get to know, but I did need a lot of instruction at first on how to use the basics of the program. After learning how to use the program I found second life to be a very fun and interactive way to learn about italian culture.

We got to create avitars and personalize them. There was also fun gestures other things you could make the avitars do like sit, pick things up, etc. This was a way to customize your second life experience and express individuality. I liked that. My favorite part of second life was the guided tours that we did with our italian professor Giorgio. He would teleport us all to one location and lead us about the "cities" telling us information about the city and its culture. This was a twofold learning experience because we were speaking (or typing I should say) in italian the whole time, so I feel that it is also a great tool to enhance your language skills as well.

Overall, I had a really great experience with second life and think that I would be an excellent addition to the classroom. I wish Second Life was a part of our curriculum this year.

Overview of Second Life

Although I didn't have much time to put into learning to navigate Second Life and I also have zero skills with this sort of computer activity, I can see its potential for giving students a no-stress way to practice real-time Italian. Managing my avatar while trying to type conversation was tricky, but I'm sure that gets easier with practice. I plan to go back and learn more about how to use it. It's certainly a novel and contemporary way to help students learn a language. I agree with other bloggers that the anonymity of the experience reduces the stress of making mistakes.

This was my first experience doing a class-related activity that involved a game such as Second Life. As a matter of fact, I've been a veteran of Second Life for about one and a half years before we started using it for class. I figured I'd already seen it all when it came to the world of Second Life, but this proved me wrong. Almost every week during the semester, we visited simulations of Italian cities that stunned me with their beauty and size; this was especially amazing considering the many limitations that Second Life has on complex things. Since we visited these cities voluntarily and out of class time, there was an informal, relaxed aspect to these tours, which made it easier to enjoy and learn about the "cities" we were visiting. To make a long story short, this was the most fun I've ever had in a class-related activity.

With all that said, these Second Life tours can only help us learn so much. Giorgio, our professor, hinted that he might use Second Life activities for more of the course curriculum in the future. Speaking from my extensive experience with Second Life, I don't think this is the right time to make that step. The problem is that Second Life has serious flaws when it comes to reliability, the level of detail in the game, and the extent to which you can get immersed in it. The technology just isn't good enough to make it an important part of the course curriculum.

Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed everything that we did, and I'd be all too happy to do it again. It was a delightful break from the regular course curriculum and definitely put a little more fun in the class.

~Second Life experience

I can honestly say that I enjoyed learning how to use second life and what it has to offer. I would not say that I am incredibly tech-savy person but with only minimal confusion at the start of my use, I was able to walk around the virtual world with have fun with my new name and avatar! I definitely think that second life would be an interactive way to suppliment any intermediate italian course. Although I wouldnt say everything I visited was extremely realistic, I was still impressed by some of the recreations such as the church in Assisi and the city of Mantova. As long as the instructor knew where to go, it would definately be educational. I like the fact that avatars are able to converse because of course it is a great way to put those italian conversational skills to the test. People seemed just as interested to meet us as we were to meet them. We encountered some people who wanted to audio chat with us but I think that for class purposes communication should be limited to typeing. My concern is that there are definately some strange people in virtual communities and it could be kind of awkward to avoid random converations and people. However I will say that the times I was on SL it wasn't too much of a problem. I think that SL is definately something that I would like to become more familiar with in the future. The idea itself sounds a little scary (lots of technology, internet wierdos, etc) but once I started to figure out how everything works I realized that there are endless possibilities.

alcuni luoghi che ho visitato (inglese)

IBM Italia
This land was a little bizarre, very filled with elaborate buildings, but there were absolutely no people. It is amazing the amount of corporate effort that was involved in creating something that seems to be unused.

Monte Carlo Bay
The best thing about this place is the chance to randomly win Linden dollars. There are quite a few people, but the cultural value is small.

Italianieuropei
This seems to have some real promise. I suppose this is an island run by what we might call in the United States a "think tank". Events seem to be organized fairly often, but it is not a place to go simply to chat. However, it should present a somewhat neglected side to the Second Life adventure -- that is, a slightly more intellectual and serious one.

I went to a few other places. I do not recommend them:
La Cittadella
Lipari
ManetteMatte, University
Made in Italy, Galore
Lucky Florence, Italian Casino

Una lista completissima!

Nell'isola di Vulcano esiste una lista veramente completa di tutti (per ora) i luoghi italiani in SL. Ce ne sono circa 140. Questo e` l'indirizzo in SL:

slurl.com/secondlife/Vulcano/130/113/31

Nuovi luoghi da visitare

Questa e` una lista aggiornata di alcuni dei luoghi italiani piu` interessanti da visitare.

http://www.secondlifeitalia.com/wiki/Terre_italiane

Alcuni luoghi non sono delle vere simulazioni di citta` italiane, ma puo` essere interessante farci un giro.

Seconda Vita

La mia esperienza con Seconda Vita era molto interessante. È un’po difficile nell’inizio per controllare la avatar, ma dopo il tempo, era più facile. Sono visitato il Cinque Terre. Ci sono molte carrateristiche delle città italiane come la grande piazza, un mercato, e l’architettura, ma in generale, i luoghi d’Italia sono molti simili.

 Quando ho visitato il Cinque Terre, nessuno parlarebbero con me. Ma quando ho visitato a Parioli, ci sono molti conversacioni! Molte persone discuterebbero le tue vite come il lavoro, il viaggio, etc.

 Ho conosciuto un studente che studia l’arte. Lui è molto interessante e ha racommandato molti luoghi che può visitare quando visito l’Italia come un piccolo isole vicino a Sicilia. Questa un parte della nostra conversazione:

 

Katelin Benelli: quanti anni a fino che ti sei laureato?

[19:55] X: non sono ancora laureato

[19:56] Katelin Benelli: che fai tipo d'arte?

[19:57] X: un po di tutto.... pittura scultura disegno video...etc etc

[19:59] Katelin Benelli: interessante!

 

Ho parlato con Watereco per circa treinta minuti! Non era difficile per capire la nostra conversacione perchè ha parlato inglese anche e non ha usato “slang” molto.

 

I think this is a great program. It was so engaging and interactive: I spoke with someone from not only

Italy

, but also

Spain

and

France

. I think this is one of the closest ways you can get to speaking with native Italians without traveling there and really get to hear their point of view on things. What I really appreciated most about this program is how easily you can talk to anyone in the language that you want to practice. Many times in class students are embarrassed about not knowing a few words and therefore don’t speak; however, with Second Life, you don’t have twenty other people staring at you while you are trying to say a phrase. I think this would be a great tool for teaching languages!

Passeggiata a Mantova

Chatting and visiting the Mantova Cathedral.

Second life

A) Sono andato a Parioli. Era una piazza con molti negozi. Erano molti gente che mi posso a parlare. I negozi apparino come i negozi ai Stati Uniti. Le gente parlato di molte cose, ma di solito era comprare le cose al negozio.

B) Era molto difficile a capire le persone a Venice Island. Tutti vogliono comprare e vendere i vestiti. Parlano rapidamente. Non erano tanto persone quanto Parioli.

C.
[10:10]  You: ciao
[10:10]  X: ciao
[10:10]  You: non posso parlare italiano bene
[10:10]  You: e va bene?
[10:10]  X: e qua fet
[10:11]  You: anche me a nuovo in second life
[10:11]  You: ma e divertente d'accordo?
[10:11]  X: io sono dentro da 3 settimane
[10:11]  X: si divertente
[10:11]  You: buono
[10:12]  You: va bene, ho bisogno parlare con le gente per la mia classe
[10:12]  You: grazie
[10:12]  X: ma che costruire
[10:12]  X: gira e goditela
[10:13]  You: non capisco
[10:13]  You: poui usare parolino?
[10:13]  You: oh si, si giro e godimela! mi piace imparare l'italiano con gli italiani!
[10:13]  X: be conosci gente
[10:13]  You: mi dispiace
[10:13]  X: conosci persone è l'essenziale
[10:14]  You: chi?
[10:14]  X: lascia perdere masei spagnolo?
[10:14]  You: no
[10:14]  X: che lingua parli
[10:14]  You: english
[10:14]  X: aaaaaaaaaaaa
[10:15]  X: be che fai qua
[10:15]  You: si, sono imparare la lingua italiana
[10:15]  X: aaaaaaaaaa
[10:15]  You: adesso, devo andare
[10:15]  X: ho capito
[10:15]  You: grazie!
[10:16]  X: ma hai trovato uno che non sa un cazzo di inglese
[10:16]  You: tu parli inglese?
[10:16]  X: poco
[10:16]  You: va bene
[10:16]  You: ciao mosconi!
[10:16]  X: ciao

Final Reflection:
Overall, I really like the idea of second life as a teaching aid. Speaking with people who's first language is Italian forces you to think and type quickly, or they may become frustrated and leave. This isn't a problem, as we all understand the disadvantage we're at. The point is that Second life offers a 'no-stress' opportunity for conversation. It can be embarrassing to be at a loss for words in the middle of class, with Second Life, students can practice on their own time, without any fear at all. One thing I noticed in my limited time exploring was how many common words and phrases that are used almost constantly in everyday speech that we never learn in class. I feel like second life would be an invaluable tool for students to get 'on-the-ground' experience apart from the nuts and bolts of grammer lessons learned in class. This, I feel, would promote increased desire to perform. Basically, I wish we had to explore Second Life when I was taking Italian. I really feel like it would have helped me connect my studies to the real world, already it has helped me picture how I might fair if I went to Italy right now. I feel I need some more practice, but at the same time, I feel that coupled with my Italian courses, Second Life would give me all the other tools I would need. As a student who has completed 16 credits of Italian, I highly recommend Second life.