The Italian language is one of the widely spoken languages in the world. Its descendants have scattered to all four corners of the world but most of them are now living in the United States. But still, many English speakers try diligently to speak the Italian language and it's interesting because despite the numerous Italian speakers, the struggle to speak the language is still there.
It's not a very difficult thing to do though. Learning the Italian language to speak it fluently and use it as a conversation tool in a daily basis can happen to anyone. But the attitude of wanting every Italian language lesson to be covered in, let's say, a matter of 6 months is extreme. Every person who has gone on learning Italian can attest that speaking fluently a foreign language takes years. And the anticipation to get it over with doesn't contribute to effective learning either.
When learning the Italian language, which also applies to other foreign languages, one has to be dedicated enough to learn and understand each area which comprises the language. Next to this is the undying trait a student should always have ? the willingness to practice.
Practicing takes you as far as you can go. You can learn the Italian language but it doesn't completely answer the question of being able to use the language for practical reasons. You will have to put everything you are learning to practical purposes, the sooner the better.
Think of it this way, if you are exposed to everything Italian everyday, you will definitely be able to get a good understanding of the language. But don't forget, your interest should always be there. If you are not interested in pursuing how to learn Italian, studying it in the first place will be completely useless.
Remember, the more you know about the Italian language, the easier for you to adjust to it. The idea is to absorb Italian essentials everyday. If you learn Italian for hours during every weekend, it'll be difficult to retrace the previous lessons. Don't try to hurry up on things. It's more important if you take a few minutes of your time everyday to learn 2-3 Italian words and apply it throughout the day. Practice, practice, and practice makes a lot of sense.
Am I the only language student who finds modern teaching methods unsatisfactory? The endless promises of "instant" learning and the implicit - if not explicit - message that grammar is for old bores both irritate and depress me. I'm thankful that at least one language school agrees with me More on this later.
When I was at school, in the 1980s, I was taught French and German grammar. We learnt verb conjugations off by heart, we understood adjectival agreement, we knew what an indirect object pronoun was. And it has stayed with me.
Of course, old-fashioned language-teaching methods have their faults but, to me, they are more effective than the dumbed-down courses that keep tumbling on to the market every day. The principal drawback to the traditional system is the emphasis on reading and writing; oral communication should be encouraged first.
Modern methods focus on speaking and listening, which is good, but what I find difficult and annoying is that the grammar is rarely presented in any systematic form. We tend to have the word(s) for "I am" on page 2 and "She is" somewhere further in. What I want is to see the whole of the present tense of the verb To Be conjugated in all its persons, in one table.
In a culture that demands immediate gratification, I can understand why the trend is to promise Italian in 7 Days (or less). The problem is, a course like this can only skate over the surface. You will emerge with some set phrases, some vocabulary and only the haziest idea of how to construct a sentence. In certain circumstances, this may be all you need, but not if your goal is to converse in the language.
The first two or three weeks or so are a grind. We have to accept that. Committing to memory all those endings, not confusing verb endings with noun endings, getting to grips with genders and all the different words for "the" It's hard work. But it is SO well worth it!
Grammar is like a map: once you know how to use it, you'll rarely go wrong. However, if you don't know how to read it, it can't help you. The first phase of your language learning needs to be understanding the 'symbols' and getting to know where they take you. When you know this, you can branch out accurately, with confidence.
Teaching materials, in my view, should contain thorough, clearly laid-out explanations of all aspects of grammar (as well as functional language, such as how to tell the time), along with plenty of exercises so we can check our progress as we go.
I highly recommend Italian for Beginners, an ebook written by a language school in Manchester. I bought it 3 or 4 months ago and have now just finished working through it. I've still got some way to go before I can discuss politics in Italian, of course, but I feel very secure about what I've learnt and I know I've got a solid base on which to build further. Sono molto felice!
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