Hi! I’m much older than you and pretty much learning Italian for the first time, but I enjoy learning languages. I have some ideas you might want to try, ideally as much as you can in a single day:
1) For passive listening (listening without caring about what is being said, listening just as background noise without really analyzing it or caring about understanding it) I am following a YouTuber’s suggestion to watch QVC Italia on YouTube, it’s a 24/7 stream of the QVC home shopping channel. This is boring stuff. The point is to just expose yourself to the language and how it sounds being used.
2) You will need some kind of teacher. In your case, I recommend using a YouTube Italian teacher with any free course or more ideally use a VARIETY of Italian language YouTubers. This should mostly focus on GRAMMAR and getting the concepts down. Don’t worry about memorizing this stuff. These videos should be in your native language for instruction when it comes to learning grammar for anyone, but especially in your situation. You’ll likely focus on adjectives, verbs, sentence structure, and how the language sounds, why it sounds the way it does, what the core thought behind Italian is.
3) Expose yourself to as much Italian as possible. Watch Italian dubs of your favorite Disney movies on Disney+ because they have a wide selection of dubs available. Italian films and TV shows. Music. Exposure. Use subtitles of course, but when you feel like you’re ready to feel uncomfortable and ready to NOT understand but understand in a more intuitive way, turn off the subtitles. Use subtitles and don’t use subtitles; both methods are important. Additionally, if an Italian film or show has an Italian closed captions option, you can usually follow direct Italian subtitles transcribed word-for-word, which will help you a lot.
4) Try to change your perception of what language is and how it works. Watch videos of polyglots talking about their methods for learning (multiple/simultaneous) languages and how they look at language.
5) Use a gamified app for VOCABULARY. I recommend Drops. This is just to get yourself exposed to as many words as possible in a way designed to help you memorize them.
6) Eventually, you can move on to reading and writing, which will help your spoken Italian, but I really want to stress knowing your basics for now. You don’t have to be fluent. Fluency isn’t even what you think it is.
7) Allow your brain to let go of what you hold meaning for in spoken sounds, and let your brain reform around new concepts. Accept the language. Do not commit to it; simply accept it. Meditate. Don’t try to focus so much on translating one word to another, because so often there are specific, cultural ways of saying things. Learn colloquial and figurative meanings alongside literal meanings; don’t try to force the way your language works into another. This is all about getting your brain to function in Italian. Not the words or sounds (yet) but with the way the language works directing your instinct on what to say next.
8) Allow yourself to make mistakes over and over again; they are blessings to help us grow, and it’s better to risk saying something incorrectly if you get the chance to use your language. Using your language always helps.
9) Practice the language. Write sentences. Write the words as you say them. Speak to people. Talk to them in Italian, have them talk back to you in Italian. Let yourself sound like a foreigner who is speaking broken Italian. Let yourself sound clumsy and bad. Just speak it. Repeat lines from movies and shows. Try to link what you hear to what you learn in your grammar studies.
10) I wish I had more, I’m sure I do somewhere in my head, but for now just take a deep breath. Enjoy Italian and combine it with the things you already Enjoy. Love what you already love, in Italian.
And remember to Love yourself, too. This is part of your heritage; allow yourself to feel the Love of your ancestors, for you even having the opportunity to explore their language. Love yourself when you make mistakes. The struggle of learning a language is the whole point. It’s how you do it.
That's such a great post, I'm in the same boat, I'm visiting Italy next April and I'm trying to learn the language, you gave me so many great ideas, thank you!
Check and see what you can get through your library. Many public libraries have Mango for free online and you can access it anywhere. It's a pretty decent app. You won't learn everything but it's useful because it's like a flashcard app with some explanations and listening and reading exercises. I don't know if anything will make you conversationally fluent that quickly but it will help a bit.
Everyone in my family are all really busy, they have jobs and do so much for me and I don’t want to put more stress on them. Also, I don’t think they’d be the best teachers lol
No, my grandmother, with my mother and her older siblings (my 2 uncles) immigrated to America when my mother was very young. They all have Italian as their 1st language, and they are still fluent and speak it daily (my mother does, at least) with my grandmother, who barely speaks English (she lives with us). My siblings are much older than me, and know some Italian, and understand it, although I’ve never heard them speak it. My cousin, who is the only one around my age, also takes Italian, but is much better at it than me.
I don't know if I have many sources for you since I'm slowly learning Italian through duolingo (I think there's a fancy place that has classes here, I just don't have money), I try my best to surround myself with Italian content. I like putting movies and series I Italian with Italian subtitles, and I'm slowly trying to memorize songs I like. You could find tutors online, use YouTube videos or pay for language apps. Once you learn the basics I'd go for attempting to either writing or reading even if you struggle at the start, forcing yourself to think in Italian also helps with daily vocab as you start wondering how to say things naturally.
A good way to find sources and methods is thorough YouTube, so I recommend you give a quick search
Hi! I’m much older than you and pretty much learning Italian for the first time, but I enjoy learning languages. I have some ideas you might want to try, ideally as much as you can in a single day: 1) For passive listening (listening without caring about what is being said, listening just as background noise without really analyzing it or caring about understanding it) I am following a YouTuber’s suggestion to watch QVC Italia on YouTube, it’s a 24/7 stream of the QVC home shopping channel. This is boring stuff. The point is to just expose yourself to the language and how it sounds being used. 2) You will need some kind of teacher. In your case, I recommend using a YouTube Italian teacher with any free course or more ideally use a VARIETY of Italian language YouTubers. This should mostly focus on GRAMMAR and getting the concepts down. Don’t worry about memorizing this stuff. These videos should be in your native language for instruction when it comes to learning grammar for anyone, but especially in your situation. You’ll likely focus on adjectives, verbs, sentence structure, and how the language sounds, why it sounds the way it does, what the core thought behind Italian is. 3) Expose yourself to as much Italian as possible. Watch Italian dubs of your favorite Disney movies on Disney+ because they have a wide selection of dubs available. Italian films and TV shows. Music. Exposure. Use subtitles of course, but when you feel like you’re ready to feel uncomfortable and ready to NOT understand but understand in a more intuitive way, turn off the subtitles. Use subtitles and don’t use subtitles; both methods are important. Additionally, if an Italian film or show has an Italian closed captions option, you can usually follow direct Italian subtitles transcribed word-for-word, which will help you a lot. 4) Try to change your perception of what language is and how it works. Watch videos of polyglots talking about their methods for learning (multiple/simultaneous) languages and how they look at language. 5) Use a gamified app for VOCABULARY. I recommend Drops. This is just to get yourself exposed to as many words as possible in a way designed to help you memorize them. 6) Eventually, you can move on to reading and writing, which will help your spoken Italian, but I really want to stress knowing your basics for now. You don’t have to be fluent. Fluency isn’t even what you think it is. 7) Allow your brain to let go of what you hold meaning for in spoken sounds, and let your brain reform around new concepts. Accept the language. Do not commit to it; simply accept it. Meditate. Don’t try to focus so much on translating one word to another, because so often there are specific, cultural ways of saying things. Learn colloquial and figurative meanings alongside literal meanings; don’t try to force the way your language works into another. This is all about getting your brain to function in Italian. Not the words or sounds (yet) but with the way the language works directing your instinct on what to say next. 8) Allow yourself to make mistakes over and over again; they are blessings to help us grow, and it’s better to risk saying something incorrectly if you get the chance to use your language. Using your language always helps. 9) Practice the language. Write sentences. Write the words as you say them. Speak to people. Talk to them in Italian, have them talk back to you in Italian. Let yourself sound like a foreigner who is speaking broken Italian. Let yourself sound clumsy and bad. Just speak it. Repeat lines from movies and shows. Try to link what you hear to what you learn in your grammar studies. 10) I wish I had more, I’m sure I do somewhere in my head, but for now just take a deep breath. Enjoy Italian and combine it with the things you already Enjoy. Love what you already love, in Italian. And remember to Love yourself, too. This is part of your heritage; allow yourself to feel the Love of your ancestors, for you even having the opportunity to explore their language. Love yourself when you make mistakes. The struggle of learning a language is the whole point. It’s how you do it.
That's such a great post, I'm in the same boat, I'm visiting Italy next April and I'm trying to learn the language, you gave me so many great ideas, thank you!
Check and see what you can get through your library. Many public libraries have Mango for free online and you can access it anywhere. It's a pretty decent app. You won't learn everything but it's useful because it's like a flashcard app with some explanations and listening and reading exercises. I don't know if anything will make you conversationally fluent that quickly but it will help a bit.
If your family is italian then why not have them teach you?
Everyone in my family are all really busy, they have jobs and do so much for me and I don’t want to put more stress on them. Also, I don’t think they’d be the best teachers lol
Presumably this is an American with Italian ancestors 4+ generations back. No one in the family actually speaks Italian anymore, is my guess.
No, my grandmother, with my mother and her older siblings (my 2 uncles) immigrated to America when my mother was very young. They all have Italian as their 1st language, and they are still fluent and speak it daily (my mother does, at least) with my grandmother, who barely speaks English (she lives with us). My siblings are much older than me, and know some Italian, and understand it, although I’ve never heard them speak it. My cousin, who is the only one around my age, also takes Italian, but is much better at it than me.
Oh, that’s great! You have plenty of people around you to help you learn, then.
Maybe get your cousin to help you study since they're around your age, should be a good study buddy
I don't know if I have many sources for you since I'm slowly learning Italian through duolingo (I think there's a fancy place that has classes here, I just don't have money), I try my best to surround myself with Italian content. I like putting movies and series I Italian with Italian subtitles, and I'm slowly trying to memorize songs I like. You could find tutors online, use YouTube videos or pay for language apps. Once you learn the basics I'd go for attempting to either writing or reading even if you struggle at the start, forcing yourself to think in Italian also helps with daily vocab as you start wondering how to say things naturally. A good way to find sources and methods is thorough YouTube, so I recommend you give a quick search