How to Learn Italian
Learning Italian is not as difficult as you may think. With the right tools, motivation, and sufficient study, you will have no problem learning Italian to sufficient degree. You will be able to speak fluently with the natives, listen to and attend Italian operas, discuss great food and wine, watch Italian films, and anything else you can imagine, all with ease.
So, how does one learn Italian successfully? First, there are a few tools you need. A book of grammar lessons (boring, yes, but needed), a dictionary, phrase book, newspaper or magazine, student reader, and an audio course. And, to be complete, let’s throw in a language exchange, and if you can afford it, a trip or two to Italy.
To keep you motivated and to serve as an informal guide to learning Italian, Barry Farber’s How To Learn Any Language: Quickly, Easily, Inexpensively, Enjoyably and on Your Own is wonderful. It’s inexpensive, and full of great information that’s worth having around while you’re learning Italian.
These recommended Italian language learning tools are all that you need to learn Italian successfully. You will be able to speak, read and write with good command of the language after studying these materials thoroughly. Get to studying!
New to JustAJot Language? Please visit How to Learn Any Language and Needed Tools. These pages will get you started and aid in your understanding of the philosophy of JustAJot Language.
Basic Textbook
To begin learning Italian, it’s helpful to know a bit of grammar to get you started. Olga Ragusa’s Essential Italian Grammar concise guide to Italian grammar will do just that and more.
The front of the book cover says it all: “All the grammar really needed for speech and comprehension, without trivia or archaic material, clearly presented with many shortcuts, timesavers…self-study or class use, for a beginner, as a refresher…an ideal supplement to phrase study…the most efficient system for adults with limited learning time.” And to make it even better, the price? Around $6 dollars.
Student Reader
A student reader is a wonderful tool to have. Luckily, for students of Italian, dual-language books exist and are easy to obtain. For Italian language learners, Italian Stories (Dual-Language) is an excellent tool. 11 great stories in original Italian with vivid, accurate English translations on facing pages, teaching and practice aids, Italian-English vocabulary, and more. Chronologically arranged stories by Boccaccio, Machiavelli, d’Annunzio, Pirandello, and Moravia, plus significant works by lesser-knowns.
Newspaper / Magazine
After learning enough grammar to get you familiar with the language, you’re going to need a newspaper or magazine, or some other source of accessible Italian reading material for practice. I suggest La Repubblica, an online newspaper with a variety of content and multimedia features, all available for free.
Dictionary
The first time you try to read real-world content, you’re not going to understand most, if any, of what is written. That’s where a dictionary comes in handy. You’ll need one that is dual-language, offering definitions in both languages. The Collins Italian Concise Dictionary, 4e will serve you well. It offers up-to-date coverage of contemporary Italian, from avian flu to PDA. It also comes with bonus features, such as special entries that highlight aspects of Italian life and culture, as well as an Italian in Action supplement that teaches how to speak and write in fluent, natural Italian.
Phrase Book
Memorize your part in conversations with a phrase book. Lonely Planet produces fine phrase books for a number of languages, Italian being no exception. The Italian: Lonely Planet Phrasebook works well for the self-learner, providing a variety of situations with well translated phrases to learn and parrot.
Audio Course
The Pimsleur method is a well-regarded, effective, and efficient method for the serious learner of Italian (and most other major languages for that matter). For Italian, it is certainly one of the better audio courses available for the Italian language. While expensive, you will be speaking Italian from the very beginning just like a native.
Pimsleur Italian I includes 30 lessons of essential grammar and vocabulary — 16 hours of real-life spoken practice session — plus an introduction to reading. Upon completion of the Level I program, you will have functional spoken proficiency with the most-frequently-used vocabulary and grammatical structures. For a list of what you will be able to do after successful completion, visit Pimsleur Italian I.
Pimsleur Italian II builds upon the language skills aquired in Level I. Increase your spoken and reading language ability with Level II. This course includes 30 additional lessons (16 hours), plus readings.
Pimsleur Italian III offers another 30 additional lessons (16 hours) to build upon language skills acquired in Level I and Level II. Increase your spoken and reading language ability with Level III of the Pimsleur Italian program.
Language Exchange
Try italki first at italki: Italian. It’s free and has a growing community. If you are unable to find a good Italian language partner at italki, try My Language Exchange: Italian. My Language Exchange charges a nominal fee, but is more established.
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This page was last updated on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008.
