Memorizing vocabulary is definitely beneficial to learning a language, but it's by far not the only thing to do when learning a second language. Even if you understand every grammar lesson in your textbook, you will not necessarily be fluent. In order to be able to use the language, you need to understand it through context. You need to be able to comprehend the language.

Translating your target language, even in the beginning, will immensely help you learn a language. A key technique in learning a language is to immerse yourself in the language. If you are studying Italian, you must be everything Italian. Study your books, listen to Italian audio programs, watch Italian television and movies, and read Italian books and newspapers. Translating is a perfect way to help immerse yourself in a language.

You first need to get reading material in your language. If you are brand new to the language, you will need to do this too, just don't get too much. All you need for now is either one book or one newspaper. If you buy 10 novels in Italian, most will probably sit on your shelf for a while. Even just one copy of a newspaper will last you a while. If you are using a newspaper, try to go through sections that interest you so that you can learn vocabulary terms you may use. For example, if you have no interest in technology, don't spend time in the technology section because you will be learning words that are useless to you, at least in the beginning.

Get a notebook or use note cards to use. Start reading the firsts paragraph of your text. Translate every word you don't know and write it down in your notebook or write them down on note cards. These will be included as your vocabulary. You can use this as your sole source, or you can add it to existing vocabulary lists. I prefer to use it in addition too because I like to learn the basic words with word lists that you might not find in a newspaper or book but would often use in everyday conversation.

In addition to vocabulary, you will use your reading to learn grammar. When you see a word you don't understand, try to figure out if it's a verb and what conjugation it's in. Translate the sentence in the correct tense, don't just understand the words.

Finally, use your translation to master the language and improve your comprehension. You need to be able to construct sentences and understand sentences in order to really learn the language. When you speak English, you do more than spit out words, you carefully place them together and make sure they are comprehensible. You need to understand this in your new language as well.