Italian Listening Practice: Test Your Comprehension #1

In this new series, I will read quotes, excerpts from books, verses from songs, and more. Your task is to test your comprehension. Each post will feature three levels: one for beginners (read slowly), one for intermediate learners, and one for advanced learners.

The transcriptions, translations, and answers to the exercises are available to premium subscribers at the bottom of the post.

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Beginner Italian (A1-A2)

From the song, Fatti mandare dalla mamma by Gianni Morandi.

Q1: What is the speaker asking the listener to do?

a) Ask their mom to cook dinner
b) Ask their mom to give them milk and cookies
c) Getting milk from the store
d) Tell him a secret

Q2: Who is hungry?

a) The speaker
b) The listener
c) Nobody

Q3: What does the speaker want to talk about with the listener?

a) The two of us (speaker and listener)
b) Milk
c) The listener’s mom
d) The speaker’s mom

Intermediate Italian (B1-B2)

From the song, La Verità by Brunori Sas.

Q4: What does “te ne sei accorto” mean?

a) Be careful
b) You are shrewd
c) Are you being careful?
d) Did you notice?

Q5: What does “scalare le montagne” likely symbolize in this song?

a) Climbing literal mountains
b) Pursuing personal goals
c) Going on a vacation
d) Going for a hike

Q6: What do you think the line “ti fermi al primo ristorante” means metaphorically?

a) You are gluttonous
b) You give in to food temptations
c) You give up too easily
d) You prefer the convenience of a restaurant over climbing

Advanced Italian (C1-C2)

From the song, Sembravi by Niccolò Fabi.

Q7: This excerpt uses the subjunctive form “scegliessi”. Why does the speaker use the subjunctive mood here, and what does it tell us about their emotional state?

Q8: Does the past conditional “avrei voluto” imply that his desires are unlikely to be met in reality?

Q9: What does it mean to be chosen “malgrado come sono” rather than “per come sono”?