Learn Italian: Ascoltandoti, voglio che tu curi la dizione e l'intonazione. - Listening to you, I want you to work on your diction and intonation.

In Italian, object pronouns like ti (you) must attach directly to the end of a standalone gerund (the "-ing" form, like ascoltando). Notice that unlike infinitives, where you drop the final "e" before adding a pronoun (e.g., ascoltarti), with gerunds you keep the entire word intact: ascoltando + ti = ascoltandoti.

How do we know who is doing the listening in the ascoltandoti clause?

By default, an Italian gerund shares the same subject as the main clause. The main verb here is voglio (I want), so its implied subject is io (I). Because of this rule, it's automatically understood that "I" am the one doing the listening. If the person listening were someone else, a different sentence structure would be required.

Why is the subject pronoun tu included in voglio che tu curi?

The phrase voglio che (I want that) expresses a desire, which triggers the subjunctive mood in the following clause. For regular -are verbs like curare, the present subjunctive forms for io, tu, and lui/lei are all exactly the same: curi. Because the verb ending alone doesn't tell us who the subject is, the pronoun tu is included to prevent ambiguity.

Doesn't curare usually mean "to cure"? Why is it translated as "work on" here?