Learn Italian online. My experience of learning Italian

I have always been fascinated by people who speak several foreign languages. By the way, I never dreamed of becoming a polyglot. However, when traveling to countries where English is not a native language for most residents, the "foreigner" factor comes into play.

You, most likely, will be perceived primarily as a tourist who came to gawk at their country and only visits strictly defined places of interest in a particular city.

The "foreigner" factor suggests that you will perceive information only in your native language / English, with absolutely no understanding of what is happening around. The likelihood of getting into stupid situations, cheating and limiting information also increases by an order of magnitude.

But if you know the language of the country where you are going, the attitude towards you will become noticeably warmer: you will understand more and better, you will be able to communicate about anything and, most importantly, you will learn how and how the people of this country live.

For me, the main point of learning a language is not the translation of “mom washed the frame”, not passing exams, not cramming tests, but communication.

Motivation

So I decided to learn Italian. Italian, IMHO, is a very beautiful and melodious language: one merger of prepositions with articles is worth something. But Italian also has difficulties in learning, first of all, conjunctions, articles, verbs. However, any other language has its difficulties.

My experience of learning Italian started about 3-4 years ago. Although this course was informal, that is, the emphasis was not on academic study, but on informal communication, I was defeated. First, I was embarrassed to speak. Second, I misunderstood the rules. Thirdly, at the initial stage, I spent too much time studying grammar. But one plus still remained - I learned the alphabet, learned to read and learned how the endings of the verbs of three conjugations change.

Benny Lewis
An Irish polyglot who travels the world and learns new languages. He sees his mission in showing people that languages can be learned quickly and effectively.

It wasn't long before I got the idea to learn Italian again. I bought some textbook, and it lasted me exactly five days, after which I threw it on the far shelf, where it gathers dust to this day. I was devastated by endless boring exercises and rules, so it's no surprise that Italian became a pipe dream for me.

This summer, I was browsing the Amazon site and came across a book by an Irish polyglot Fluent in three months, where he shared his methodology. After getting acquainted with his story, in which he tells how he learned eleven languages, I took out the main idea for myself - a method in which there is no place for conversational practice from the first day of training is, by default, complete garbage and a waste of time.

Another signal of fate I received when I read the book "The exit point of the language or how to quit a foreign language." I boldly recommend this small but very useful book to those who have suffered during the courses and are still embarrassed to speak a foreign language.

Elena Shipilova
Creator of distance language courses Speak As Soon As Possible and website speakasap.com, whose mission is to make people multispeakers.

What motivated me? The idea that on a trip to Italy I can easily talk with the staff of the hotel, restaurant, cafe. That I can read and understand what they write about. And that if I succeed with Italian, in the future I will be able to swing at French, since they are similar. Motivation is difficult to maintain, but it is possible. After about 10-12 days of realizing and following your goal, a sincere interest in the language appears.

Benny Lewis claims that a foreign language can be learned in 90 days, which is exactly the period available to Americans who come to Europe as a guest. My goal was more modest - to understand the principles of the Italian language, learn to speak and explain myself in 90 days.

My experiment started on June 6th. Did I succeed? Yes, no doubt. During those 90 days, I learned a lot of things that would not have been given to me in expensive courses. And most importantly, I can speak!

General rules and guidelines before starting to learn the language what I understood in these 90 days

You won't know the language 100%

Yes Yes exactly. That's why you quit studying it, because under your vague wording "I want to know ... the language" anything is hidden: grammar, reading, fluency in phraseological units ... Surely you vaguely understand what it means to "know the language perfectly" , but are aimed at the result of C1 / C2, which in the European competence of language proficiency means "advanced level".

But you will never know the language perfectly, because the language changes and you have too little time. Wanting to master the language immediately, completely and completely, you will spend a lot of effort, and you will get scanty benefits. Much more important is to learn the basics of grammar and learn a lot of words that will definitely come in handy in communication and reading.

Therefore, at the very beginning, discard such motivation as "knowing perfectly." Let your goal be to "actively use the language"

Need to set a deadline

Parkinson's First Law states: "Work fills all the time allotted for it." Accordingly, if you have a blurred time frame when you should begin to speak more or less tolerably, you will most likely never use it. Instead, you will continue to study more and more textbooks and techniques.

Therefore, make only two decisions about the timing:

I will use the language for 90 days, and there it will already be easier and there will be genuine interest.
I will speak the language from the first day of training.

Your goal is to get the point across

The use of language is, first of all, communication. No matter what it is: personal or virtual. If you are learning a language to only translate or to read and never to communicate, you can continue to learn the language the traditional way.

As Benny Lewis emphasizes in his book, you should be able to speak the language you are learning from day one. Here you can succumb to panic and stop studying anything at all: “I can’t do anything at all and I don’t know!”.

You're right. You Bye know nothing. But let's understand why speaking is more important than the ability to read, translate and write fluently in a language. You probably know people who have studied the language at school or university or in courses for several years, but when they meet a native speaker, they become speechless. No wonder. After all, speaking a foreign language is almost never taught in our educational systems.

It is through conversation that most of the communication takes place - conveying your thoughts, opinions or questions to the interlocutor. It is through conversation that you feel the language, and it is through conversation that you instantly apply a language that is not taught in textbooks. Therefore, strive to talk as much as possible from the first day of study.

Be a child

Dear mothers, please remember how you taught your child to speak? Remembered? I give Bonk's textbook to cut off that you didn't stick Rosenthal's reference book or Ozhegov's dictionary under his nose so that he learns to speak.

How does a child learn a language? He just uses familiar words. He has no idea about cases, genders, compound and complex sentences, participles, verbs or tenses. So how can he speak Russian at the age of three, and by the age of four or five his questions make his head spin? 25 frame? Ilona Davydova?

Correctly! He just speaks. He speaks without paying attention to mistakes. Adults correct him, and he remembers what is right. He speaks every day. He asks the meaning of the words. Thanks to the absence of fear, complexes and embarrassment (“What if that little girl from the third floor laughs at me for saying “palahod” incorrectly?”), The child begins to use the language. The sooner he begins to read, at least in syllables, his vocabulary will inevitably be enriched. Then - conversation plus reading, and now the child already speaks the language quite well. But when our hero has already grown up, teachers intervene and turn him into a “literate person” (although, judging by how many spelling and punctuation errors you see on social networks, there is a suspicion that this did not help everyone).

So, you must drop all fears and embarrassment when you speak the language you are learning. If the process of reading and writing is more introverted, then communication inevitably leads to contact with another person. Therefore, you should not be shy. Two more rules follow from this principle.

Talk shitty

The first corollary of the "Be a child" principle is that you should speak without any hesitation and as badly as possible at the beginning. Don't worry, you won't be perfect the first time. Most likely, in the beginning your speech will be a scream, a grunt, simple words and a bunch, a bunch of mistakes! But it's great!!! After all, it is thanks to mistakes that a child, and other people, learn.

Your success and progress in speaking is directly proportional to the number of mistakes. The more you do them at the beginning, the easier it will be later. First you memorize how this word is said, how it is used at that time, and then with each time the learning curve will tend to rise. Your memory will simply get angry at these mistakes and, in the end, it will remember how to speak correctly.

Fuck the rules (only at the beginning)

While talking, you will convulsively remember this or that rule that needs to be applied in a conversation. But at the beginning of training, this should not worry you. The rules are necessary, but only after you have already “talked”, that is, after 5-6 conversational lessons, you will already be able to learn the simplest grammar rules.

At the beginning, you can always learn the simplest words, pronouns and constructions, such as: “I”, “you”, “he”, “how are you”, “hello”, “good”, “I work”, “my name is”, "what's your name", "how old", "I'm studying", "I like" and feel free to use them. Then, when the confidence comes to you that speaking is not scary, you can immerse yourself in the fascinating world of simple grammar (at first, only simple present, past and future tenses).

There is always time

"I don't have time" is the best excuse. But there is always time. I learned the language in the evening, “stealing” 30 minutes from social networks and when I returned from work on the bus. When you study remotely with a native speaker and at the same time pay him, you willy-nilly find time for this.

Use the time you spend in transport, in queues. Less facebook, games and empty time, and time, as if by magic, will appear.

Instruments

In fact, any book will be useful after second week of speaking practice. You should choose a book in which the grammar is explained as simply and intelligibly as possible. Everything else can be burned and forgotten. Study from the book one lesson a day, memorize the words. If you don't understand, write it down and ask your teacher.

This site has ready-made lessons that will allow you to get a small base in seven lessons. Also, language marathons are regularly held there, which in a month will allow you to learn and study a lot.

I studied grammar one lesson at a time, so I tried not to dwell on difficult topics or complex grammatical constructions. I took the basic principles, did the exercises, and asked my teacher what I didn't understand.

Application for learning words. Gives reminders of a word with its translation. Available as an extension on Chrome. A nice bonus: if you're reading on your phone and see an unfamiliar word, you can highlight it and Biscuit will instantly translate it into English and save this card for you to study it.

English-Italian dictionary (via in-app purchases). I liked the fact that all the tense forms of the verb are indicated there.

Application for keeping a diary. Around the end of my mini-test, I started journaling in Italian in order to improve my writing skills.

Songs

Of course, the Italian stage is very well known to the older generation, primarily from Celentano and Toto Cutugno. Of the modern ones, we can recall Bocelli, Ramazzotti and a couple more. But when you discover the world of Italian pop music, you simply listen to it.

But it's good to listen. To do this, print out the words of your favorite song and try to translate it. Avoid the temptation to immediately copy-paste the whole song in Google Translate. First, read the text thoughtfully, then find familiar words and grammatical structures, and then start translating.

If this song is your favorite, then hum it, so you will automatically memorize the words and grammatical constructions.

Italian language is one of the most beautiful and romantic languages in the world. One has only to listen to the speech of the Italians, and immediately peace of mind comes, the heart is filled with joy and peace.

How to start learning Italian?

To begin with, I propose to determine for yourself why you need the Italian language.

For tourism. Everything is much simpler here. You can only learn elementary level , i.e A1-A2. You will take all the necessary vocabulary (“Acquaintance”, “What do you do in life?”, “How did you spend your vacation?”, “Shops”, “In the city”, etc.). Of the grammar topics you study present time (il presente indicativo), completed past tense (il passato prossimo), Future tense (il futuro semplice). You can take another past L'imperfetto (descriptive past tense). And you can safely go to Italy.
"Just" , that is, you just want to start learning a language. Perhaps you chose Italian because of its beauty and simplicity, as many believe. and then decide if you like it or not.
You are a polyglot. Learn the structure of the language and have fun!
Studies. On the website of many Italian universities you can find information on what level is needed. Basically, the minimum level IN 2 and higher. There is a lot of preparation ahead of you. Grammar in Italian is far from simple. You have to study a lot, read a lot, write a lot and talk a lot. You may need to find an experienced teacher.

Learn Italian online on your own

If you decide to learn the language on your own, then you probably have a question “Where to start learning Italian?”. Looking for the right channel Youtube or buy some books from scratch. If you're lucky enough to find the right material the first time, you'll find the learning process easy and you'll be happy to continue learning this beautiful language.The main thing is not to stop there, constantly strive to improve the acquired skills.

Where I prepare step by step video tutorials with exercises.

Introduce language into your life!

Join various conversational Italian clubs.Spend at least 15 minutes a day practicing the language.

The advantage of this method is that you can find pen pals with any level of Italian proficiency. This approach will be of particular interest to those who do not have the opportunity to personally observe the life and way of life of Italians.

Italian online or with a tutor?

Individual lessons in mastering the language are of great benefit. Contact a tutor to quickly understand a new speech. Do not underestimate the value of even a couple of lessons a week.

Both a teacher from a linguistic university and a student who speaks the language at a sufficient level can become your tutor.

The help of a tutor online will not be superfluous. Lessons with a teacher are possible via Skype or other messengers.

Benefits of Italian media resources

Films in Italian, which you will watch first with subtitles and then without, will help you improve your speech and improve understanding.

The best motivation is that the sooner you understand the language, the sooner you will know what the actors want to convey to you.

Language practice in Italy

As you know, for better language acquisition it is necessary to stay in the native country as much as possible.

Find out everything about student exchange programs from your school.
If your profession is related to the arts or agriculture, you can learn Italian while working in the country.
While in Italy, try not to speak English, even if native speakers are willing to give in to you. Good practice is the key to successfully overcoming the language barrier.

Italian language - what is its peculiarity?

Italian differs from other European languages primarily in that it leads in terms of the number of speakers. However, it is officially recognized as the main one only in Italy.

In addition, the Italian language has an intuitive word formation, students quickly learn the rules of division into gender, the formation of tenses, and conjugations.

Once you learn Italian online and put your skills into practice, you will be free to talk about your life and hobbies. See for yourself that talking to Italians is much easier than it might seem!

When I arrived in Italy, I did not know a word of Italian. Comforting myself with the fact that studying in the magistracy is in English and the Costa Smeralda is an international resort, for the first weeks I did not even bother to study the language of the great Dante in any way.

After a while I realized thatItaly and English practically incompatible with each other. From that moment my acquaintance with Italian began. I started to say hello and goodbye in Italian, learned the names of some of the drinks I usually ordered at the bar (all my friends still remember my "Due birre grandi, per favore!". And no, I'm not an alcoholic), learned how to ask for a package in the store . On this "knowledge" I held out for several more months.

I realized that I urgently needed to learn Italian when it came time to look for a place to do my summer practice. I won’t say that they didn’t want to take me anywhere, after all, knowledge of English and Russian is very much appreciated here, but ... why does the company need an employee who can’t even call a taxi if necessary?

Initially, in the secretariat of the University, I said that I wanted to do an internship at the Airport. And not simple, but in the golden General Aviation (the so-called terminal for private aircraft). I came to the first interview with the director in full confidence that I would be hired right away - I was so cool, I studied so much and I speak two languages fluently ...

They gave me two weeks. No, not even probation. Two weeks to learn the language and return for a second interview in Italian. It was probably the most exciting and at the same time the most beautiful two weeks of my life.

During these two weeks I walked a lot. Just like that, through the streets. Walked and listening to what people are saying trying to pick up familiar words.
Watched movies in Italian (or rather, I already reviewed those that I had seen before in translation into Russian in order to understand the essence of the picture).
Went for a walk in the park with Italian music in headphones. I listened to holes ten of the same songs in order to learn them by heart. Language turns, grammar, set phrases - everything is in music!
Spending time on the beach with Italian textbook or a fashion magazine to boot. Back in Russia, I bought the "Practical Italian Language Course" from the author Dobrovolskaya. A very good edition in my opinion.
I asked all my Italian friends talk to me only in their native language, both in person and over the phone.
If you are not physically in Italy, I advise you to find some pen pal on the Internet for language practice. I heard that this method is very popular now.

All these actions have borne fruit. No, of course, I did not speak Italian as "native", but I began to understand people, the fear of communication disappeared, I could answer elementary questions and created a good basic dictionary in my head.

At the second interview, they still gave me a place. Small but successful, isn't it?)

Work has begun. And here one indisputable thing helped me a lot - there was not a single Russian-speaking person in my environment! Not at work, not at home. I plunged into conditions where the only Russian interlocutor was my mother on Skype for 5 minutes a day. My work colleagues, wonderful guys who were fluent in English, tried to give me as much Italian language practice as possible. I made phone calls to various Italian institutions with a prepared speech on a piece of paper, I worked with Italian-speaking crews, answered all letters without exception .... And it paid off! By September 2014, I already expressed myself quite fluently (it happened with small grammatical errors), periodically fell into a stupor if I did not know a certain word (after all, I still thought in Russian in my head).

If you have an idea to learn one of the most romantic and beautiful languages in Europe, then you should not neglect it. Learning Italian is absolutely not difficult, the main thing is to know where to start and what to strive for. In this article, we will talk about the rules for learning Italian and their application.

Rule one: Take a test drive

A lot of material has been written about how to learn grammar, alphabet and vocabulary correctly, but almost no one pays attention to one obvious thing: you can only learn Italian well when you are imbued with this beautiful language. Almost every method of learning Italian quickly does not take into account your attitude towards the language, it seems to imply that you are ready to give all your strength to learning and have a huge motivation to learn Italian. But, as practice shows, this is not always the case and people begin to learn a language without even having an idea of what it is, which often leads to disappointment and conclusions in the spirit of: "I am not capable of languages."

To avoid such devastating conclusions and deep disappointments, take the step of the horse: test drive the language. This means listening, watching and trying to speak (repeat) Italian for several weeks. Listen to Italian music, download audio lessons or try reading the Italian press with a translator. In 1-2 weeks you will not only have a basic understanding of the language, but also form your own opinion about Italian and be able to make a more informed and thoughtful decision about learning Italian.

A sure sign that you need to continue learning Italian is the pleasure and excitement you experience while learning. If after 2 weeks you have not lost your fuse and are still determined to learn Italian, then there is no need to put it off indefinitely - start learning on the same day.

Rule Two: Lay a Strong Foundation

Once you have decided and are ready to learn, it's time to talk about the order of learning. In the first couple, it is very easy to get confused and start developing something that is not what you need. Learning Italian, first of all, you need to start with the basics: the alphabet, the correct pronunciation of sounds and simple words and phrases. Conventionally, training can be divided into three stages:

1. Foundation: simple words, phrases, alphabet and pronunciation; minimal grammar.

2.Designs: great attention to vocabulary and grammar; gradual increase in hours of practice.

3. Finishing work: a lot of practice, work on the accent.

Why is it important to lay a strong foundation? Because without it you will not be able to learn Italian fully. The more responsibly you approach learning the basics of the language, the less problems you will have in the next steps. So, for example, if you pay enough attention to the pronunciation of Italian words, then it will be much easier for you in a live conversation. It's the same with grammar: the more you put into it, the less problems there will be with writing texts, letters, statements.

To form the foundations of the Italian language, I would recommend learning the language in the following sequence:

1.Alphabet and pronunciation of letters

2. Simple words and expressions

3. Greetings and other everyday phrases

As mentioned earlier, at this stage you do not need to climb into the jungle of grammar or learn 100 words on the topic “Work”, it is important to learn a minimum, but very high quality, since the rest of the study of the Italian language will be built on it.

Rule three: Don't skimp on designs

The most complex and costly, in terms of time, stage is the formation of structures. During this period, you must learn a huge number of different topics, link them with grammar and learn to apply it all in practice. Although the stage is difficult, it is he who decides how well you learn Italian.

On your own or with the help of a tutor / courses, but you will have to work very hard and very hard, since the construction period is a period of accumulation of a critical amount of knowledge that will help you to use the language fluently in the future. Spare no effort and time to learn Italian, be prepared that the language will take you all your free time: you will wake up and go to bed with it, you will go to work/study with it, and it will become your leisure time for learning.

But despite all the difficulties, the reward for this titanic work will not keep you waiting. And after 3-6 months you will already be able to correspond or even communicate on everyday topics with Italians. And in a year you will already speak and even think in Italian perfectly. It’s like with a train: the most difficult thing is to move it, so don’t skimp on building structures, devote yourself completely to learning the Italian language.

Rule Four: The facade must be beautiful

Strange as it may seem, but often people forget that there is the last stage in learning the Italian language - the development of communication experience and the correct accent. Many people think that learning Italian means knowing grammar and vocabulary, as well as being able to start and maintain a conversation, and it doesn’t matter how you speak, it is important that you are understood. It is very appropriate to compare this understanding of learning Italian with housing: you can live in a room where there are only walls and a roof, but it is much more pleasant and comfortable to live in an equipped, well-maintained house.

Same thing with language. It is not enough to learn all the rules and be well versed in Italian vocabulary, it is important to have a rich language base and not get lost in non-standard situations. And for that you need a lot of practice. The best way to do this is to go to Italy and live there. When you get a job, you will not only learn a lot of professional vocabulary, but also gain invaluable experience in solving non-standard tasks and a huge number of hours of language practice.

The complexity of this stage lies in the fact that in order to complete it and learn the Italian language for real, you need real actions related to changing the usual course of affairs, up to moving to Italy. After all, this is how you can use the maximum of the knowledge gained and get the maximum benefit. Even spending half a year in Italy will help you develop a huge number of non-standard situations, gain invaluable communication experience and even get rid of your accent (if you try hard).

Therefore, find an opportunity to go to this beautiful and romantic country for at least six months to consolidate all the knowledge and skills you have received. Take finishing work seriously and then you will be able to say with confidence: “I learned (a) Italian!”, and, however, it is not even necessary to say this: your speech will say it for you.

Good luck learning Italian and all the best!

Italian is not the most common language - it is spoken mainly on the Apennine Peninsula, but it is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful. This is a very melodic, rhythmic and harmonious language, which is usually spoken expressively and emotionally (remember how Italians like to gesticulate). If you have no problems with gestures, but there are gaps in Italian, it's time to download the learning app to your mobile device and devote your free time to your favorite language.

HelloTalk

The application allows you to choose 1 of 100 foreign languages in which you will communicate directly with a native speaker of this language. No theory, just practice. A fellow teacher can instantly correct your grammar, syntax, pronunciation, and more. You can learn multiple languages at the same time.

Duolingo

You'll find Duolingo in every one of our language reviews. And all thanks to its popularity and effectiveness, which has already been tested by more than 150 million people. According to the developers, "34 hours spent with Duolingo are equal in efficiency to a semester at the university." This is achieved by learning in a playful way, where there is no place for boring lectures, but there are games, interactive tasks, video tutorials and short exercises to consolidate knowledge.

iTalk

The application offers to record your voice and improve your pronunciation every day. You will be able to independently analyze your successes and work on your mistakes. Every day you will learn not a single word, but whole phrases from real life. At the end of the lesson, you can answer questions in the form of a quiz to test your knowledge.

hello pal

Mobile application for communication with native speakers from all over the world. Two forms of communication are available to users: correspondence and audio messages. There is a call function. Even if you do not speak Italian, but really want to communicate, built-in translators and phrasebooks will come to the rescue.

Babbel

Application for replenishment of vocabulary. The student is offered three ways at once: enter the word into context, repeat phrases after the speaker, or write it down using the suggested letters. The downside of the application is that there is paid content. The free package includes only 8 core themes.

Busuu

Busuu offers to learn the basics of the language the old-fashioned way - through dictionaries and grammar lessons, completing interactive tests and listening to correct Italian. Completed tasks for testing can be sent to a native speaker, who are happy to help students improve their knowledge.

Nemo

A personal tutor in your pocket that helps you learn new words and phrases, offers different tasks for your level, and also monitors your progress and offers to consolidate your knowledge by throwing up learned words to check.

easy ten

Initially, it was an application for learning only English. Now it is 10 languages, among which there is Italian. The program offers to learn 10 new words daily, which is 3650 new words per year. There are 4 types of test used to test memorization. There is a system of rewards and rating among friends. There is paid content.

Learn Italian Phrasebook

Learn Italian is an easy to use mobile Italian phrasebook. It will be a great travel companion. All words were recorded by native speakers, so you will hear authentic pronunciations and be prepared to understand emotional Italians in advance.

Memrise

You can learn languages not only by memorizing words, but also by playing an exciting space game. Yes, you heard right. Memrise offers a fun way to learn foreign languages. There are several difficulty levels for students. But in any case, you will enjoy a creative approach to learning.

Download application for , for

This is our list of useful mobile apps to help you learn the beautiful language of Dante. But remember, the main thing in studying is regularity. Don't be lazy and don't put off until later what you can learn right now.