Unless you are very lucky and/or experienced, it can be difficult to learn a foreign language. I struggled for years before I found the system that worked for me. I'm happy to say, I now speak Italian pretty well, but I had many false starts and frustrations before I really got going. These are some of the lessons I learnt the hard way.



First of all, you need a teacher. Some teach-yourself courses are excellent (others less so) but, however good they are, it is extremely difficult to learn any language from scratch by yourself. These materials are great for extra support but they can't listen to you and pick up your mistakes in the way a teacher can.

When you are studying maths or history, you can learn a great deal from just listening to a lecture. This doesn't work with language: you need to be speaking. For this reason, it's really important that your class is very small - ideally, just you!

Every Thursday night for 18 months or so, I went to Italian class at my local college. I learnt more than I had at home by myself but most people were coming just for fun, for something sociable to do, and progress was slow.

When I discovered a language school that specialises in one-to-one courses, I decided to give it a go - and I'm so glad I did! In just over a year, I've reached a level I never dreamed I would. The course goes at my speed and we talk about things I'm interested in, not just whatever is in the next chapter of the book.

Apart from the fact that it's the most efficient way to learn, a one-to-one course is also much more convenient because you can arrange the lessons for times that suit you. With my childcare and work commitments, I really like this flexibility.

It's brilliant having the teacher to myself and nowadays we speak Italian almost the whole time I'm there. I've learnt to paraphrase and to be resourceful about making myself understood, which has given me confidence to start speaking even if I haven't rehearsed exactly what I'm going to say.

The best way to learn Italian, then, is to have one-to-one lessons with a native speaker who is also an experienced teacher. Stop struggling by yourself, don't bother with a big class. You and the right teacher, that's the way forward. I've surprised myself by making such quick progress and you might too!