Many of my readers are interested in learning Italian and often ask me is Italian difficult to learn? So, I’ve asked my friend Michele, the creator of Intrepid Italian to share her experience and top tips for learning Italian fast. In case you’d like to read about my own experience, have a read of how I learnt to speak Italian.
Learning Italian and putting it into practice (at any level) is an incredibly rewarding experience. From as simple as being able to order a gelato, sheepishly asking for directions to the bathroom, to unexpectedly making friends with Maria in a restaurant in Sicily, a total stranger who invites you over for afternoon tea. True story!
Wondering is Italian hard to learn? How challenging you find learning Italian depends on several factors, such as your prior experience with language learning, your learner type (are you visual, aural, verbal, or a kinesthetic learner? Find out here), and motivation.
How hard is it to learn Italian?
Whether you’re at the beginning of your language learning journey, or well into it, at one point or another you have inevitably asked yourself is it hard to learn Italian? Here are the main components of the language broken down by difficulty:
- Grammar: Areas that students of Italian typically find challenging at first stem from the amount of grammar there is. It’s not so much its complexity that’s challenging but rather there are just so many verb conjugations, tenses, and irregularities to learn. Mamma mia! However, with the right resources and consistent practice, it’s just a matter of time before they become second nature.
- Vocabulary: Learning Italian vocabulary is relatively straightforward, and many words are similar to their English counterparts which means having your first conversations will happen sooner than you would expect.
- Pronunciation: Unlike French, with all its silent letters, Italian is a phonetic language. You say it just as you see it. Every letter in Italian must be pronounced. This makes learning Italian pronunciation (plus reading and writing) relatively easy. The only hiccup might be learning how to roll your R’s. But even if you can’t, don’t worry, many Italians can’t do it either! So, it’s a non-issue.
Is Italian easy to learn?
Have you learned a foreign language before? Do you know another Romance language such as Spanish, French, and Portuguese? If so, this will definitely take the edge off learning Italian grammar. This is because when we learn our first foreign language, we also have to learn how the grammar in our native tongue works too. We also need to learn the names of grammatical terms, like what a direct object pronoun is, the past participle, what the subject, and the most challenging of all, what the subjunctive mood is. This all makes the initial learning curve steeper and (to be honest) where many aspiring learners give up.
How long does it take to learn italian?
So, is Italian a hard language to learn? The short answer…no, not really. In fact, according to the Foreign Service Institute or (FSI) who has 70 years of experience in teaching foreign languages to U.S. diplomats, they’ve worked out that there are four groups of difficulty for speakers of English to learn languages, and Italian falls into group one, the easiest group!
They estimate it takes just 24-30 weeks or 600-750 class hours.
3 Things that make learning Italian harder
Just because Italian isn’t hard per se, there are definitely contributing factors that make it harder than it needs to be. Here the are 3 most common:
- Not using language resources that resonate with you. Not every book, podcast, movie, course, teacher or language app is right for everyone. If you don’t enjoy it, there’s no shame in letting it go in and finding something that, in the words of Marie Kondo “sparks joy” in your language learning journey. Find out what your learner type is and find resources that complement it.
- Having a negative mindset. It’s never too late to get started and you’re never too old to learn. Regardless of what you may have heard, there is no credible evidence that proves that the older you get the harder it is to learn a language.
This belief stemmed from the theory on “brain development” in the 1960’s that taught that there was a “crucial period” (ie. before puberty) an individual had before the brain lost its “plasticity,” making learning a second language too difficult. (Lenneberg, 1967).
In fact, modern studies have shown that even though there are some differences between how a child and an adult learns a second language, the older learner has many distinct advantages.
First, an adult’s maturely developed brain has the superior ability to understand the relationship between semantics and grammar.
Second, the adult brain is more mature in its ability to absorb vocabulary, grammatical structures, and to make more generalisations and associations.
Third, an adult learner’s better-developed brain is better at putting together all the pieces with a more developed long-term memory.
- Learning without a goal. If you join a traditional language class, chances are there is no prioritization of how the grammar and vocabulary is taught. I remember learning items of clothing and the names of animals in my very first class. If your goal is to speak to locals when you travel or connect with your relatives, you need to follow a programme that prioritizes the essential grammar and vocabulary in order to achieve this. Otherwise, you’re wasting precious time, risk getting bored and ultimatively quit.
I get it. It all seems too much. But trust me, learning Italian is definitely do-able, at any age.
Here’s how…
Best way to learn Italian (from anywhere)
Even though my dad is Italian and born in a tiny village in Puglia, it wasn’t until I was an adult that I choose to learn Italian. It was a decision I made based on pride for my Italian heritage and passion to connect with my roots (and make my nonno proud, after who I’m named).
I grew up in Melbourne, Australia and it wasn’t until my late teens that I started taking lessons. I took loads of them. Several at a time. These were the days before Netflix, and no one knew was YouTube was. I binge-watched Italian DVDs, played Tiziano Ferro on repeat as I commuted to University and then to work after I graduated. I did this for several years until I reached a solid intermediate B1 level which is when I decided I wanted to move to Italy to improve my Italian further and take my C1 exam.
My journey to fluency in Italian was but by no means linear, cheap or the most efficient. I had plenty of false starts and hit several plateaus. Some language courses didn’t run the next level as there weren’t enough students and for days at a time I felt like I wasn’t making any progress.
What was missing was having a clear goal and focusing only on the grammar and vocabulary I needed to be able to achieve my goals.
Fast forward to today, I’ve turned what would otherwise be a costly and inefficient journey for my 1,000+ students who are learning Italian, into an enjoyable, affordable and fun experience that they have lifetime access to.
Using my unique 80/20 method, you can now learn Italian faster than before.
How to learn Italian fast with my 80/20 method
To help you learn Italian fast, I use the Pareto principle which states that 80% of your success or results comes from just 20% of your effort. This 80/20 rule applies to many areas of our lives without us realising it.
For example: 20% of shows on Netflix are watched by 80% of subscribers
The 80/20 principle was coined by Management consultant, Joseph M. Juran and named after the Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto who in 1896 showed that approximately 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population.
If you find yourself asking how to learn Italian quickly, the 80/20 rule can be used for higher efficiency when learning Italian too.
My method and approach is different from traditional methods because I teach you the most important 20% of the language right from the beginning so you can start to speak straight away.
I don’t waste your time teaching you colours, names of body parts, or even memorising phrases without a solid foundation first. Sadly, this is the typical experience you get in traditional language classes. But, not with Intrepid Italian, my series of online, self-paced video courses.
I give you practical building blocks. Each lesson builds upon and reviews what you previously learned, so you constantly learn, review, and progress.
After the first lesson with Intrepid Italian, you can start to speak and create your own sentences.
But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what Michele, one of my students from New York says:
And Kristy, from Florida
Why should you learn Italian?
Maybe your dream is to live in Italy and make new friends. Maybe you want to speak with your Italian partner and connect with them on a deeper level. Maybe you’ve got a trip to Italy coming up and want to enjoy authentic travel experiences that aren’t tainted by falling for tourist traps. Or, maybe you’re like me and want to connect with your Italian heritage and speak to your relatives.
If any of these scenarios ring a bell, I know exactly how you feel, because I was once in the same position as you.
Learning to speak Italian as an adult transformed my life. I’m proof it’s never too late to start.
I’ve experienced first-hand what learning Italian can do for you both personally and professionally and I want to help you reach the same level of success with your Italian.
With the right guidance, a clear pathway, interactive lessons, exercises and expert tuition what you get is a fun and inspiring learning experience.
Are ready to make your dreams come true? Join Intrepid Italian here and learn anywhere, anytime and on any device.
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Founded by Michele Frolla, The Intrepid Guide is a language, culture, and travel site featuring travel guides and videos, online self-paced language courses, language learning hacks, and travel phrase guides to help travel enthusiasts have more authentic experiences. Using her unique 80/20 method, Michele takes her students from absolute beginner to confident intermediate speakers so they can confidently connect and share meaningful experiences with the locals in Italian. Follow Michele on Instagram, and Twitter and Facebook and YouTube as she shares Italy travel guides and Italian language lessons.