i know, i know...kindof a silly question but is there a song for the Italian alphabet like there is in English? I've found several childrens' CDs for sale that teach songs for numbers, letters, colors, etc. But is there a general song that is sung? - is there an audio file online anywhere?

There are a few songs based on the alphabet, but none of them is particularly popular. Generally speaking, I do not remeber using many songs or rhymes as memory aid as a child. The only two that stuck to my mind are "Qui quo qua l'accento non ci va" and "Ma con gran pena le reca giù" to remeber the names of the various parts of the Alps.

I'm curious about the song too. I have recently learned that rather than saying the names of the letters "A", "B", "C" - kids are taught to use the sounds of the letters when refering to them... like "A"="ah"...

I've got a first grader and I have heard no alphabet songs yet, but I'll ask her tonight...

quote:

Originally posted by efe:
I have recently learned that rather than saying the names of the letters "A", "B", "C" - kids are taught to use the sounds of the letters when refering to them... like "A"="ah"...

How else do you learn them?!

Well, English isn't really phonetic, and we learn the names of the letters. In Italian, there is no name for the letter, just the sound, which makes sense as Italian is phonetic.

English Letter Names (trying to translate this to understandable Italian sounds)
A = Ei (long a as in Lei)
B = Bi
C = Si
D = Di
E = I
F = Ef
G = Gi
H = Eici (one syllable)
I = Ai (as in mai)
J = Giei (one syllable)
K = Chei
L = El
M = Em
O = Ow
P = Pi
Q = Cyu
R = Ar
S = Es
T = Ti
U = Yu
V = Vi
W = double Yu
X = Ex
Y = Wai
Z = Zi or Zed

This is of course not how all the actual letters sound in words...

italian letters also have names. To indicate a "f" we do not make a "fffh" sound, like a cat, we say "effe". And we learn them, that's all. It is true, though, that often in prima elementare chidren are taught only the sounds, but that's because usuallya child gets to prima elementare already knowing the alphabet!

I was beginning to think I was the only one who thinks that the Italian alphabet is simply pronounced differently even though it shares many of the same characters as the English alphabet, but then I saw Alice's post. Alice, I think this is what you mean by the letters have names, right?

The first thing I *tried* to learn was how to say the Italian alphabet; I never really thought of the letters as the "sounds the letters make," but just as Italian letters. This especially makes sense to me when you get to the letters that Italian has incorporated mostly for foreign words...like "kappa," since a K certainly does not make the sound "kappa."

Incidentally, I've failed miserably at trying to remember the Italian alphabet, because I still have trouble spelling anything over the phone. Unlucky for me, my last name starts with a K and ends with a Y...but at least I don't have a J in the mix!

quote:

Originally posted by AliceTwain:
italian letters also have names. To indicate a "f" we do not make a "fffh" sound, like a cat, we say "effe". And we learn them, that's all. It is true, though, that often in prima elementare chidren are taught only the sounds, but that's because usuallya child gets to prima elementare already knowing the alphabet!

From my daughter's prima elem. class, I get the sense that they are not just avoiding the "names" of the letters because the kids already know them, but because the teachers really want to concentrate on how the letters sound instead. Since italian is so phonetic I think concentrating on the sounds of the letters is much more productive for them - why confuse the issue with the "names"...

On the other hand, the school has no problem with working with capital letters, lower-case letters and script all at once!

Yes, we were taught them at once too. I clearly remeber doing tasks where I had to associate a drawing of something whose name started with the latter that I was writing and adding whole rows the letter in of caps and small caps in both "stampatello" and cursive:

quote:

Mucca
M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M
m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m
M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M
m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m.

haha Alice! I looked at your quote before I read what it meant, and all I could think was a cow (dancing) singing "Mmmmm" like something tasted good!

You're right of course Alice. I guess I just think many of the Italian letter names sound a lot more like the actual letter that the ones in English do.