How to Learn Italian
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Gerrit du Plessis
I'm one of the partners of Top Audiobook Downloads and I'm also helping people speaking foreign languages the easy way at my Rocket Language Courses site. By Gerrit du Plessis
Published on March 23, 2009
Learning the Italian language is not as difficult as you might think. Read this article and discover how you can easily learn to speak Italian fast.
How to Learn Italian
There's something about the Italian language that arouses a sense of passion and romance in all of us. It's so musical, so lyrical, that speaking it just seems like magic. "I wish I could sound like that," you sigh. "But I have no idea how to learn Italian." Don't worry, learning to speak Italian is not magic at all! In fact, it starts with an activity you've been doing since you were born listening.
Amazingly, research shows that listening is pretty much all you have to do. Children learn from listening to their parents. In the beginning we listen as babies to the sound our parents make when they speak their home tongue; we don't understand the individual words, but we sort out the sounds that belong to our language from all other possible vocal sounds. Eventually we begin to attach meaning to certain sounds we hear; our parents say "Where's your nose?" and we touch our noses. Finally we begin to try making some of those sounds ourselves. If our Father or Mother understands our speaking attempts, they will respond joyfully and will reward us verbally. If not, they don't respond, and we try again. This is exactly how to learn Italian too!
But suppose you don't have Italian parents, or even a neighborhood Nonni. It's not too late. If there is a nearby school, university, or community center that offers Italian classes, consider taking advantage of the opportunity. But if there's not, or classes don't fit into your schedule, choose a good audio-based language program to learn Italian. Make sure it's audio-based; you won't get a good accent out of a book. It is a good idea to learn Dostoyevsky by reading it, however when it comes to learn the Italian language then it is not such a good idea!
After you've acquired a sense of the sound of the language and learned some basic words and phrases, seize as many opportunities as you can to hear Italian spoken and to speak it yourself. Try to watch as many Italian DVDs as you can with subtitles in the beginning and then without. Go to see an Italian opera, and try to understand what they're singing about. Visit your closes Italian restaurant and find out if anyone there spoke Italian; they probably do, and would be happy to chat in their native tongue. If your community has a civic association or an Italian-American club, make new friends. They will be more than delighted to teach you how to learn Italian.
Italian is a dynamic, living language, the language of Dante just as much as it is the language of the Godfather. Learning it will give you a window on not only a beautiful country (which you may sometime want to visit), but on a wonderful culture made up of vibrant people. As you discover how to learn Italian, you'll find you've opened the door to a whole new world.
Gerrit owns the popular foreign language learning site Rocket Language Courses. Do YOU want more ways to learn Italian fast? Visit the Rocket Italian review page for more information and grab your 6-day Free Italian lessons.
Amazingly, research shows that listening is pretty much all you have to do. Children learn from listening to their parents. In the beginning we listen as babies to the sound our parents make when they speak their home tongue; we don't understand the individual words, but we sort out the sounds that belong to our language from all other possible vocal sounds. Eventually we begin to attach meaning to certain sounds we hear; our parents say "Where's your nose?" and we touch our noses. Finally we begin to try making some of those sounds ourselves. If our Father or Mother understands our speaking attempts, they will respond joyfully and will reward us verbally. If not, they don't respond, and we try again. This is exactly how to learn Italian too!
But suppose you don't have Italian parents, or even a neighborhood Nonni. It's not too late. If there is a nearby school, university, or community center that offers Italian classes, consider taking advantage of the opportunity. But if there's not, or classes don't fit into your schedule, choose a good audio-based language program to learn Italian. Make sure it's audio-based; you won't get a good accent out of a book. It is a good idea to learn Dostoyevsky by reading it, however when it comes to learn the Italian language then it is not such a good idea!
After you've acquired a sense of the sound of the language and learned some basic words and phrases, seize as many opportunities as you can to hear Italian spoken and to speak it yourself. Try to watch as many Italian DVDs as you can with subtitles in the beginning and then without. Go to see an Italian opera, and try to understand what they're singing about. Visit your closes Italian restaurant and find out if anyone there spoke Italian; they probably do, and would be happy to chat in their native tongue. If your community has a civic association or an Italian-American club, make new friends. They will be more than delighted to teach you how to learn Italian.
Italian is a dynamic, living language, the language of Dante just as much as it is the language of the Godfather. Learning it will give you a window on not only a beautiful country (which you may sometime want to visit), but on a wonderful culture made up of vibrant people. As you discover how to learn Italian, you'll find you've opened the door to a whole new world.
Gerrit owns the popular foreign language learning site Rocket Language Courses. Do YOU want more ways to learn Italian fast? Visit the Rocket Italian review page for more information and grab your 6-day Free Italian lessons.