The Best Way to Learn Italian
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Unless you are very lucky and/or experienced, it can be difficult to learn a foreign language. I struggled for years before I found the system that worked for me. I’m happy to say, I now speak Italian pretty well, but I had many false starts and frustrations before I really got going. These are some of the lessons I learnt the hard way.
The main thing is that you really need a teacher. While teach-yourself materials can be useful as back-up, they are no substitute for someone to talk and listen to you, to correct your mistakes and to explain why you should say it this way and not that. I spent a couple of years with a book and CDs but I didn’t get to grips with the language until I enrolled on a course (or rather, the right course).
If you want to know about science, maths or the history of art, books and lectures will take you a long way. It’s not the same with a language: you learn a language best by speaking it. For this reason, you need a very small class or, even better, one-to-one tuition.
I attended an Italian evening class for about 18 months. I had fun and I made some new friends but I learnt very little. There were too many of us and most people didn’t take it seriously, coming more for the social side than the actual study.
When I discovered a language school that specialises in one-to-one courses, I decided to give it a go - and I’m so glad I did! In just over a year, I’ve reached a level I never dreamed I would. The course goes at my speed and we talk about things I’m interested in, not just whatever is in the next chapter of the book.
Apart from the fact that it’s the most efficient way to learn, a one-to-one course is also much more convenient because you can arrange the lessons for times that suit you. With my childcare and work commitments, I really like this flexibility.
It’s brilliant having the teacher to myself and nowadays we speak Italian almost the whole time I’m there. I’ve learnt to paraphrase and to be resourceful about making myself understood, which has given me confidence to start speaking even if I haven’t rehearsed exactly what I’m going to say.
The best way to learn Italian, then, is to have one-to-one lessons with a native speaker who is also an experienced teacher. Stop struggling by yourself, don’t bother with a big class. You and the right teacher, that’s the way forward. I’ve surprised myself by making such quick progress and you might too!
Tags: Hobbies
Popularity: 9% [?]
Sphere: Related Content