Pro Tips on Learning Italian as a Second Language
From an Italian major who studied la lingua di Dante in Italy
Italian is a beautiful language — and often, for new learners of the language, a challenging one at that.
But it doesn’t have to be.
As a native English speaker who majored in Italian at university and once did an Italian course at a language school in Italy, I certainly don’t consider myself a great Italian speaker by any means. In fact, the mere thought of writing this article gives me a strong sense of imposter syndrome, which I really struggle to shake off.
However, through a process of trial and error, I do feel I’ve picked up some hacks that make the task of learning Italian that little bit easier. So if you’re anything like me and feel perpetually insecure about your language skills, you’ve come to the right place.
So let’s dive right in. Buona lettura!
1) Start with listening
At the start of every Italian study session, spend at least ten minutes listening to Italian. Consider it as a warm-up exercise: while listening to Italian, you’re training your mind to hear new words and ways of speaking. And you don’t even have to pay attention. Even if you just have the radio on in the…
