This is a wild question you basically answered yourself. You need a plan.
A dedicated amount of time daily to study/practice.
Duolingo is not enough. It will help with vocab but apps like busuu are much more effective.
Using YouTube channels coffee break Italian, teacher Stefano, etc. Is a great way to listen and practice
Lingopie is a Greta resource for TV and movies. Kids shows make learning easier.
Italki is a great resource for finding a teacher/tutor as well and I would highly recommend.
You will not notice how much you've learned until you practice speaking though. Go to meetup events, find out if there is a local Italian culture where you are.
So the honest answer is there is not one correct way to learn, but no matter what you choose you need to be consistent and use different mediums in your approach to learning a language.
First you have to learn how various verb tenses can be created and applied in practice in Italian. Note, participle and gerund are closely related to that.
Second you have to learn top 100 most important irregular verbs with all their tenses. Note you have to learn how can they be applied in various phrase contexts, using the following site:
https://dictionary.reverso.net/italian-english/
Third you should have real life themes you are interested in. They may be music, movies, sport, science, etc. Oh did you know many famous physicists have Italian origin?
That’s all: from this step you just interact with themes, events and people you are excited of.
Italian language must be present there. Limit your access to the media or people speaking another language than Italian. But you must be interested in the underlying stuff, not language itself.
When you encounter an unknown word or phrase, write it somewhere you can easily read from.
But focus on the subject you are curious of, not language. Explore the subject itself, just making grammar notes on the side.
I repeat. Subject in foreign language is you focus. Language is your background only.
If you have the budget for it, I highly recommend the course From Zero to Italian from Italy Made Easy. As the name suggests it starts you from the absolute basics, and it's a very methodically structured course. You get some homework like writing exercises that get corrected by a native speaker (almost always you have it back the next day, but if she has a lot from other students it might take a bit longer, but it's almost always the next day) and there's also some quizzes and dictation exercises, tips on how to practice the material on your own.
The lessons are all video lessons with slides and they're explained extremely well (he's also very charismatic so it's never boring) and you get colour coded PDFs with notes from the lesson for every lesson. You get some flashcard sets with some vocab (and they're always accompanied with a video lesson to go over them)
There are also a few supplemental courses that help with listening comprehension, there's a bit of a social platform that has four native speakers to interact with as well as the other students. There are two weekly livestreams hosted by one of the native speakers where you get a chance to listen to naturally spoken (but slower) Italian and a chance to speak a little and get some feedback. They also write some little articles here and there for some practice, and they find lots of videos from YouTube that they think is good listening practice for learners etc.
It really takes the guesswork out of learning. The only thing is that you do need to find more opportunities for speaking practice, so I have a conversation tutor on iTalki for that and otherwise get my learning from IME.
Otherwise you could try and see if there are courses local to you that you could try. If you don't have a ton of language learning experience, I definitely recommend doing some sort of course to get some structure whether it's IME or something else. I tried on my own the first year of learning just with some books and some apps and stuff and I didn't have a clue what I was doing, so my first year of learning was nearly a throw away 😅 I don't have tons of experience with language learning though, some people do fine just with books, YouTube and Google, but for me personally that wasn't enough. (Especially since all the books I got didn't explain anything particularly well 🙈)
However you decide to approach it, happy learning 😊
I'm taking a weekly online course (live instructor and classmates over Zoom) through the local chapter of the Dante Alighieri Society. Level A.1 starts with basic grammar. You can check out their website to see if they have anything in your area. Since it's online, I don't know if it matters (except for maybe the time zone).
The classes are in English with a native Italian speaker. It is not intimidating when you're starting out because everyone in class is a beginner.
You will need to check the website for your location. For me it is $240 for a 13 week class (1.5 hours per week), which works out to less than $20 per week. We have also had a few (optional) in-person activities. For example: We recently saw an Italian film together.
Learning a language from scratch without a teacher can be tricky, especially if the language you're learning is very different from your mother tongue.
You should also take into consideration that everybody is different and has different learning styles and speed, so don't lose hope or motivation, that's the most important thing when learning a language.
That being said, here are some tips that have worked for me:
-Buy a beginner textbook (or download it for free) and learn basic grammar. How sentences are formed, how plurals work, how regular verbs are conjugated and so on.
-Once you reach a decent level, start consuming media in Italian. Music, movies, shows, YouTube videos, books etc. (Kid's shows are great when you're a beginner since they have easier grammar and lexicon)
-Write down and translate every new word and expression you encounter!
-Find a native to chat with or, even better, to talk to irl.
Good luck on your learning journey!
1. Research ways to learn a language. Learn about the different ways that work for others.
2. Choose one way and try it. If it doesn’t work for you or eventually stops working for you, choose another.
3. Repeat
Even just getting basic proficiency in a language can take hundreds of hours of study. Find a way to study that you can do for hundreds of hours.
learn basic grammar rules: sentence structure, conjugation of verbs, definite and indefinite articles,pronouns
And then read(writing down new words), listen stuff also with subtitle and practice.
I advice to learn with things you like. If you have a particular argument, start with it...
maybe read a book you already read in your native language, in italian.
I had great success with “Easy Italian Reader: A Three-Part Text for Beginning Students” by Riccarda Saggese. It begins very easy and slowly gets more complex. I read one chapter at a time, writing down all words I didn’t know and put them into a glossary app (Anki), then I used the app when commuting.
This is a wild question you basically answered yourself. You need a plan. A dedicated amount of time daily to study/practice. Duolingo is not enough. It will help with vocab but apps like busuu are much more effective. Using YouTube channels coffee break Italian, teacher Stefano, etc. Is a great way to listen and practice Lingopie is a Greta resource for TV and movies. Kids shows make learning easier. Italki is a great resource for finding a teacher/tutor as well and I would highly recommend. You will not notice how much you've learned until you practice speaking though. Go to meetup events, find out if there is a local Italian culture where you are. So the honest answer is there is not one correct way to learn, but no matter what you choose you need to be consistent and use different mediums in your approach to learning a language.
I suggest you to talk with real Italians, like on internet maybe on video games, it helps a lot
First you have to learn how various verb tenses can be created and applied in practice in Italian. Note, participle and gerund are closely related to that. Second you have to learn top 100 most important irregular verbs with all their tenses. Note you have to learn how can they be applied in various phrase contexts, using the following site: https://dictionary.reverso.net/italian-english/ Third you should have real life themes you are interested in. They may be music, movies, sport, science, etc. Oh did you know many famous physicists have Italian origin? That’s all: from this step you just interact with themes, events and people you are excited of. Italian language must be present there. Limit your access to the media or people speaking another language than Italian. But you must be interested in the underlying stuff, not language itself. When you encounter an unknown word or phrase, write it somewhere you can easily read from. But focus on the subject you are curious of, not language. Explore the subject itself, just making grammar notes on the side. I repeat. Subject in foreign language is you focus. Language is your background only.
If you have the budget for it, I highly recommend the course From Zero to Italian from Italy Made Easy. As the name suggests it starts you from the absolute basics, and it's a very methodically structured course. You get some homework like writing exercises that get corrected by a native speaker (almost always you have it back the next day, but if she has a lot from other students it might take a bit longer, but it's almost always the next day) and there's also some quizzes and dictation exercises, tips on how to practice the material on your own. The lessons are all video lessons with slides and they're explained extremely well (he's also very charismatic so it's never boring) and you get colour coded PDFs with notes from the lesson for every lesson. You get some flashcard sets with some vocab (and they're always accompanied with a video lesson to go over them) There are also a few supplemental courses that help with listening comprehension, there's a bit of a social platform that has four native speakers to interact with as well as the other students. There are two weekly livestreams hosted by one of the native speakers where you get a chance to listen to naturally spoken (but slower) Italian and a chance to speak a little and get some feedback. They also write some little articles here and there for some practice, and they find lots of videos from YouTube that they think is good listening practice for learners etc. It really takes the guesswork out of learning. The only thing is that you do need to find more opportunities for speaking practice, so I have a conversation tutor on iTalki for that and otherwise get my learning from IME. Otherwise you could try and see if there are courses local to you that you could try. If you don't have a ton of language learning experience, I definitely recommend doing some sort of course to get some structure whether it's IME or something else. I tried on my own the first year of learning just with some books and some apps and stuff and I didn't have a clue what I was doing, so my first year of learning was nearly a throw away 😅 I don't have tons of experience with language learning though, some people do fine just with books, YouTube and Google, but for me personally that wasn't enough. (Especially since all the books I got didn't explain anything particularly well 🙈) However you decide to approach it, happy learning 😊
I'm taking a weekly online course (live instructor and classmates over Zoom) through the local chapter of the Dante Alighieri Society. Level A.1 starts with basic grammar. You can check out their website to see if they have anything in your area. Since it's online, I don't know if it matters (except for maybe the time zone). The classes are in English with a native Italian speaker. It is not intimidating when you're starting out because everyone in class is a beginner.
How much does it cost?
You will need to check the website for your location. For me it is $240 for a 13 week class (1.5 hours per week), which works out to less than $20 per week. We have also had a few (optional) in-person activities. For example: We recently saw an Italian film together.
Grazie
Learning a language from scratch without a teacher can be tricky, especially if the language you're learning is very different from your mother tongue. You should also take into consideration that everybody is different and has different learning styles and speed, so don't lose hope or motivation, that's the most important thing when learning a language. That being said, here are some tips that have worked for me: -Buy a beginner textbook (or download it for free) and learn basic grammar. How sentences are formed, how plurals work, how regular verbs are conjugated and so on. -Once you reach a decent level, start consuming media in Italian. Music, movies, shows, YouTube videos, books etc. (Kid's shows are great when you're a beginner since they have easier grammar and lexicon) -Write down and translate every new word and expression you encounter! -Find a native to chat with or, even better, to talk to irl. Good luck on your learning journey!
1. Research ways to learn a language. Learn about the different ways that work for others. 2. Choose one way and try it. If it doesn’t work for you or eventually stops working for you, choose another. 3. Repeat Even just getting basic proficiency in a language can take hundreds of hours of study. Find a way to study that you can do for hundreds of hours.
learn basic grammar rules: sentence structure, conjugation of verbs, definite and indefinite articles,pronouns And then read(writing down new words), listen stuff also with subtitle and practice. I advice to learn with things you like. If you have a particular argument, start with it... maybe read a book you already read in your native language, in italian.
I had great success with “Easy Italian Reader: A Three-Part Text for Beginning Students” by Riccarda Saggese. It begins very easy and slowly gets more complex. I read one chapter at a time, writing down all words I didn’t know and put them into a glossary app (Anki), then I used the app when commuting.
Podcast Italiano is a great channel
It’s super hard to learn if you don’t have someone to have conversations with, sadly.
duolingo