How to Learn Italian, Properly

I can't be the only person trying to learn Italian who is frustrated by how superficial a lot of language courses are - am I? Since we don't learn a second language in the same way we learnt the first, we need a bit of structure (I mean, grammar) to help us make sense of it all. Just when I was about to give up, I discovered a course that sees things my way.

When I was at school, in the 1980s, I was taught French and German grammar. We learnt verb conjugations off by heart, we understood adjectival agreement, we knew what an indirect object pronoun was. And it has stayed with me.

The traditional methods were not ideal, of course, and they were mistaken in their emphasis on writing and reading over oral communication. However, the thoroughness of the approach made it much more effective, in my opinion, than the lightweight courses available today.

The strength of modern methods is the concentration on speaking and listening. The weakness is the sloppy attitude to grammar. Yes, making yourself understood is what matters but if you don't learn the correct forms in the early stages, it will be almost impossible for you to speak the language smoothly later on.

In a culture that demands immediate gratification, I can understand why the trend is to promise Italian in 7 Days (or less). The problem is, a course like this can only skate over the surface. You will emerge with some set phrases, some vocabulary and only the haziest idea of how to construct a sentence. In certain circumstances, this may be all you need, but not if your goal is to converse in the language.

To learn Italian well, you have to be dedicated. It's not very exciting at the outset, memorising verb endings, sorting out nouns and adjectives, getting your mind around the different words for "you". But the investment you make in doing this will pay enormous dividends when you reach the next level.

After the first few weeks, it all gets more interesting but it's really no good trying to skip that initial phase. If your Italian has not got firm foundations, it will be shaky for ever. However, if you put in the effort at the beginning, you will develop into an accurate, confident speaker of this beautiful language.

Teaching materials, then, should provide clear explanations of how the language works, as well as lots of practice exercises, so we can check we have understood as we go along.

Browsing the internet one day, I came across an ebook, Italian for Beginners, which is exactly what I was looking for. Three and a half months on, I like to think I speak Italian quite well!

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

If you are interested in Italy and want to learn Italian accurately, visit Italy Info and download Italian for Beginners. You can get a unique content version of this article.

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License, which means you may freely reprint it, in its entiretly, provided you include the author's resource box along with LIVE links (without "nofollow" tags).

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated