Learning Italiano Part II

Sorry for the huuuuge absence; I’ve been travelling, celebrating my birthday and just getting on with life here in Rome! This is the complementary post to the previous one about learning Italian.

As you all know, I’m very passionate about languages and chose to come to Italy primarily for the culture (which I knew I would LOVE) and the language. Having a background in Spanish helped me learn Italian and now it’s been over six months since I’ve been in Italy and I can now say that I have a very good level of Italian 😀 I can understand almost everything everyone says, but talking is harder. It often feels like the more I learn, the more exasperated I become what I have yet to learn, but someone told me that feeling frustrated like this is normal as it means you’re breaking through to the next stage! 😀 so I will just choose to believe this! I’ve jumped from A1 to B1 in the past six months and I hope to leave B2!

For anyone interested in learning Italian, this is what I’m doing right now:

• Watching films like La Grande Belleza, La Vita è Bella, Il postino. I try and watch without subtitles as I’d not be able to concentrate on the language properly otherwise
• Watch the TV series, Boris. It is HILARIOUS and more like English comedy
• Listen to Jovanetti and other Italian artists. I’m less interested in music and more in TV, film and books, though
• I’m currently reading Io E Te by Niccolò Ammaniti
• Exchanging languages in person and online through TheMixxer.org
• Using a flashcard software programme like Anki on my phone which I normally flick through waiting for the bus or any other free minute
• Old school eavesdropping has worked a treat; whenever I see anyone on the phone in Italy (basically all the time, they are always on the phone) I listen in to see if I can understand

I think it’s important to try and immerse yourself as much as possible in the language. I have yet to take official language lessons, as I don’t think they’re very helpful, but the Comenius Assistantship allows me to spend €300 on language learning, so why the hell not!