How To Learn Italian
How To Learn Italian
Table of Contents
The Significance of Learning a Foreign Language .......................................... 3 History of the Italian Language ...................................................................... 4 Italian Words Used in the English Language .................................................. 6 Misconceptions about Learning Italian .......................................................... 7 Learning to Speak Italian Quickly ................................................................... 9 Total Concentration The Best Way to Learn Italian .................................. 11 Methods to Improve Your Italian ................................................................. 12 Italian Language Help Online ....................................................................... 14 If You Think Like an Italian, You Will Speak Like an Italian .......................... 15 Learn the Common Errors to Avoid ............................................................. 17 Track Your Family Heritage .......................................................................... 20 Romance Languages..................................................................................... 21 The Dialects of the Italian Language ............................................................ 22 Traveling in Italy and other Countries .......................................................... 23 You are What You Speak .............................................................................. 24 Italian Survival Phrases ................................................................................ 25 Beginning Italian........................................................................................... 27 Italian Verbs ................................................................................................. 28 Pronouncing Italian Vowels ......................................................................... 31 Pronouncing Italian Consonants .................................................................. 32 Pronouncing Italian Words .......................................................................... 34 What is Phonology? ..................................................................................... 35 Summary ...................................................................................................... 36
Finally in the 19th century the language spoken by educated Tuscans spread and became the language of the new nation of Italy. In 1861, the unification of Italy had a dramatic effect on the political scene as well as the social, economical, and cultural transformation. Because of mandatory schooling, the number of people with the ability to read increased and many Italians abandoned their native dialect in favor of the national language.
other events where participants can meet and mingle to practice Italian. You can even join your local Italian Language Meetup group. There website is Meetup.com. They organize the Italian Language Meetup as a free gathering at a local venue for anyone interested in learning, practicing, or teaching Italian. If you feel you time is limited, there are ten ways to speak Italian quickly, which we will cover in this e-book. The fastest way to learn Italian is in a total immersion course. By spending two weeks at a language school in Italy you will learn Italian more effectively than in a full year in high school or college. It will cost you less than a vacation. The mornings are usually devoted to the classes, but in the afternoon you are at leisure to visit the churches, museums, and other sites. If you are certain native Italians will never understand you, you might want to know that the more effort you put into it, the chances are good they will be able to manage to understand what you are saying. One of the most important aspects of learning Italian is building your self-esteem. The more you try to express yourself, the quicker you will learn the language. If you are only planning a short visit to Italy, then you will need to know the Italian survival phrases, such as Where is the bathroom? Then of course there are some of the more mundane aspects of Italian, like making heads or tails from the Italian menu in order to order your dinner, lunch, etc. If you are one of those that needs a textbook to read to learn Italian, that is not a problem. If you can find a bookstore chances are you will be able to find the textbook you need. If you need workbooks to complete, you may have to sign up for a course. There are many ways to learn Italian and they all work. However, the shotgun approach is recommended to avoid becoming bored or frustrated.
As you learn Italian you will find a phrase which will be your favorite, such as thank you in Italian, which is mille grazie. You will find yourself using this phrase every time someone does you a favor. So every time you learn a new essential phrase you are broadening your word power. Listen to the Italian word of the day. Try using it in a sentence, and soon you will be speaking like a native Italian. You can get one-on-one instruction or take a group class. The routine and the structure will help you develop a base for advancing quickly in the language. La Bella Lingua is a school which offers a program, which is designed to make learning Italian fun and easy. They have a special hands-on class you might want to try. .
For more information on how to learn a foreign language in 10 days click here.
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When it comes to formalities, you will see how shopkeepers, neighbors, and guests perceive you when you ingratiate yourself with them. It is good to remember your manners and youre more likely to be greeted with a smile. Learn the essential survival words and phrases in Italian and chances are they will help you with your language skills. About the courteous form of address in Italian, there are four ways of saying you in Italian tu, voi, Lei, and Loro. Tu, for one person, voi, for two or more people are the forms only used with family members, children and close friends. When speaking to an Italian they may ask Possiamo darci del tu? which means May we switch to the tu form? after a relationship has progressed. This is the sign that you are now able to use the more common form tu. Err, umm, ah, like you know are conversation fillers, which make you sound like a teenager or worse. The fact is you know what you want to say, but at that moment you are temporarily incoherent. One remedy for this is to practice interjections, sentence starters, and additional useful phrases, which will help get your tongue started and back on track. You can commit your favorite snappy answers to memory to help you avoid those blank moments when you are at a loss for words. Talking loudly does not make you understood, it just makes you loud. Many people have a bad habit of almost screaming when asked to repeat them. You may just need to polish up your Italian skills. Those you are speaking to are probably not hard of hearing. You may have mispronounced the word or maybe you just used the wrong choice of words. So dont shout at them, they may be able to hear just fine. There is one thing you will notice when you spend time in Italy, and that is Italians dress to impress. They may just be taking their ritual evening walk or stepping out to the opera. Italians want to look good. So when you go to Italy and are visiting the churches and the museums, you may want to leave the shorts and sandals at the hotel. It will improve your confidence among all those well-dressed Italians, which can help you improve your Italian. There will be times that no matter how well you say something in Italian, sometimes it will be difficult for even a linguist to interpret. It could be what you are saying and not how you are saying it that is the problem. The cultural differences become increasingly apparent when speaking a foreign language. If you are sure that what you are saying is grammatical correct and you are still receiving blank stares, you might try a different approach.
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For more information on using the internet for help on learning Italian click here.
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but without rhythm, you will never get it right. You will end up looking like a klutz no matter how hard you practice or the number of lessons you take. Memorizing scripted responses when learning a foreign language does not work. The majority of the textbooks for the beginners have several pages of dialogue. The dialogue is stiff and is a conversation you wont have even in your own language. If you ask a person one of the questions from that dialogue and they dont answer according to the dialogue you memorized, then what? You are lost and have no idea what to say next. This is not learning the language; this is memorized scripts. Unfortunately with scripts, not everyone has the same script you do; leaving you with the inability to respond to unexpected answer. When it comes to learning Italian or any other foreign language, you will want to speak it as well as you can speak English. Memorizing scripts dont work, which means you have to learn how to formulate sentences in Italian just as you can in English.
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overly formal. The words are difficult to translate, but mastering them will make you sound as if you fit into the norm. Italians will use body language and hand gestures to emphasis a point and add just a little more meaning that the word or phrase is missing on its own. Since you dont want to be mistaken for the indifferent, non-native Italian, learn a few Italian hand gestures and other nonverbal responses. Upon asking an American the colors of the flag of Italy and most of them will tell you rosso, blanco, e verde, which means red, white and green. Even though the colors are correct the order in which they were said will sound grating to most native ears. If someone said the colors of the American flag were blue, white and red, it would sound the same to us as using the red, white and green is to the Italians. We have had the red, white and blue ingrained into our society and into the DNA of our language that saying the colors of our flag any other way is just not the same. The same holds true for the Italian. To respond correctly to the question of the colors of their flag, you should answer verde, blanco, e rosso or green, white and red. It may seem as a trivial difference, but it will tag you as a non-native speaking Italian. Here in America as the winter months fade away and the spring and summer starts warming up you will see many Americans dining outside whether it is at home or in a restaurant. Many restaurants have outside setting areas and as Americans we refer to this as dining al fresco. There are several restaurants named Al fresco all across the United States. When you make you next trip to Italy and upon arriving at your favorite restaurant for lunch, the hostess will ask you if you want to dine indoors or outdoors. The hostess will probably snicker if you tell her you want to dine al fresco. In Italian the word al fresco means in the cooler, which is a slang term for being in jail or prison. If you wish to dine on the patio in a restaurant in Italy you will be better off using the term allaperto or allareia aperta or even fuori. Another term English speakers have a tendency to misuse include il Bel Paese when referring to Italy. The phrase is the name of a popular Italian cheese. It is similar to a native New Yorker referring to New York City a The Big Apple. They almost never say it. Another phrase usually found in English textbooks or travel guides is la bella lingua when referring to the Italian language. Native Italians dont use that phrase either when referring to the native tongue. Humor and proverbs are probably the most difficult to learn when learning a foreign language. Many times they are idiomatic and usually reflect the culture. For instance Italian proverbs are usually agrarian or nautical in nature do to the countrys background. Consider this English proverb The early bird catches the worm. An Italian proverb which reflects the same meaning is Chi dorne non piglia pesci, which means Who sleeps doesnt catch fishes. Language experts will tell you that by speaking proverbs one learns about the language and about the tradition and more about the culture.
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If you want to immediately become known as a non-native Italian speaker, continue the use subject pronouns as a language crutch even after you have learned how to conjugate Italian verbs. Differing from the English language the use of subject pronouns is not necessary and the use is considered to be redundant unless used for emphasis because the verb endings identify the mood, tense, person, number and in some cases gender.
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Romance Languages
When you think of romance, your mind might go to a candlelight dinner, a bottle of Champagne, roses, or strawberries dipped in chocolate. The last thing, if it ever came to mind, would be Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese. What are Romance languages? When discussing language, Romance languages are the descendants of the spoken form of Latin, which is also known as Vulgar Latin. The word vulgar in this instance does not mean coarse or off-color. It means common or the usual, typically, everyday speech of regular people. The languages considered to be Romance languages are modern French, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan, the Romansch group of dialects used in Switzerland, and Sardinian. Also included are the languages Occitan and Provencal from France, Andalusian from Spain, Friulian from northeast Italy, Ladin from northern Italy, and Sicilian from southern Italy. Many of the Romance languages are regional dialects rather than the national language of the country where they are spoken. They have been classified together because they have a shared section of vocabulary, which originated in the influence of the language of the Roman conquerors. Today there are nearly 625 million people who speak Romance languages. Italian like the other Romance languages is the direct offspring of the Latin spoken by the Roman conquerors, which was forced on them by these Romans. Of all the major Romance languages, Italian kept the closest to the original Latin.
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6. Come? Indicates How? 7. To ask why? Us Perchae? 8. Quandro? (Che cosa e, cose) says in English what is? In a request for a definition or an explanation. 9. Dove? Means Where?
Here are a few tips when forming a question in Italian: 1. Che and cosa are abbreviated forms of che cosa. The forms are interchangeable. 2. As with all adjective, the questioning adjectives agrees in gender and number with the nouns they modify, except for che, which stays the same. 3. Prepositions such as a, di, con, and per always precede the questioning che. In Italian, a question will never end with a preposition.
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Beginning Italian
In checking out Italian courses this is an online course and what they offer for beginners only. Beyond Italian for Beginners is not listed here. This is just to give you an idea of what to expect when you start taking instructions on how to speak Italian whether it be in a classroom online or a correspondence course. Lessons -The lessons they offer are simple, direct lesson in grammar, spelling, pronunciation, and vocabulary. Audio Phrasebook You will be able to build your vocabulary with a glossary of essential terms by topic with audio. Exercises You will have workbook exercises, worksheets, drills and activities to help you as you are learning Italian. Buon Divertimento Included with your vocabulary and other studies you will learn some Italian humor, by learning to read Italian jokes, puns, and riddles. You want your learning to be fun, dont you? Verbs You will learn the essential information on Italian verb formation, moods, tenses, conjugation charts, and how to use them. Study Guide They will give you a study guide to challenge what you have learned and test your knowledge of the various topics of Italian language. Audio Lab You will have a word of the day to learn to help you increase your vocabulary, along with survival phrases, a pronunciation guide, and more. Listen to a native Italian speaker. Articles About Italian You will have the opportunity to read articles on Italian language, culture, history, and current events. Italian Proverbs These are saying much like those we have in English. These are words to live by as seen from the perspective of an Italian with English translations. Abbreviations and Acronyms You will have access to a glossary of Italian abbreviations, acronyms, and initials.
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Italian Verbs
As a student learning Italian you will have a tendency to look for grammatical patterns. This is normal. Studying Italian verbs in a regulated fashion is a wise idea. In other words take it in as a computer would accept a new program, without thinking about it or trying to analysis it. Mainly because it is an efficient use of time, plus Italian verbs are grouped in a variety of ways. When studying Italian you must avoid the temptation of making comparisons in English. They are not even remotely the same and you will only end up frustrating yourself. There may be some similarities between the two languages, but there are so many basic differences they can not compare to each other. As in the English language there are many exceptions to the rules. Verbs are a basic part of ever language, so the same is true with Italian. There are three primary groups of verbs in Italian. They are grouped according to the ending of their infinitives. There is the first conjugation (-are verbs), second conjugation (-ere verbs), and third conjugation (-ire verbs). The majority of the Italian verbs belongs to the first conjugation group and follows a very consistent pattern. Once you have mastered the conjugation of on are verb, in essence you will have learned hundreds. The second conjugation verbs total about one quarter of the verbs. Many of them have some sort of erratic structure; there are also many regular ere verbs. The final group of verbs is those that end in ire. In Italian there is a difference between tense and moody. Mood refers to the attitude of the speaker to what he or she is saying. The attitude is not directed at the person they are speaking to. There are four finite moods modi finite in Italian is pinpointing, which is used when pinpointing facts; subjunctive congiuntivo, which is used to express how the speaker feels or his attitude toward an event; conditional condizionale, which is used to express what would happen in a certain situation that is hypothetical and imperative imperative, which is used to give orders. The English language only has three of these finite moods. They are indicative, subjunctive, and imperative. There are also three indefinite moods in Italian; the forms do not specify the person, such as first, second, or third. They are infinitive infinito, participle participio and gerund gerundio. Moods are divided into one or more tenses, which tell the time when the action of the verb takes place whether it is present, past or future.
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Conjugating Italian Verbs There are six different verb forms for all of the Italian verb tenses in the four finite moods; each verb form corresponds with each of the six persons used as the subject. Singular First person Second person Third person Plural First person Second person Third person Learning all six of the forms for every verb could be a daunting task. Fortunately most Italian verbs are regular verbs, meaning they are conjugated using a regular pattern. There are only three erratic first conjugation verbs. Once you have the regular verb endings memorized the pattern can be applied to other verbs of the same group. If they are irregular they do not follow a normal pattern. Even though they are numerous, even the irregular second and third conjugation verbs fall into a few groups, which make it easier to memorize. You cant speak Italian without the verbs essere to be and avere to have. These two verbs are essential and are used in compound verb formations, along with idiomatic expressions, and many other grammatical constructions. You will want to become the master of these two verbs because it is a giant step toward learning Italian. Next is the transitive verb. These are the verbs that take a direct object, such as in Luis reads a book. Transitive verbs can also be used in the unconditional sense, which means with an implicit direct object reads a book. Intransitive verbs on the other had are those that never take a direct object Giorgio walks. Some verbs can be classified as either transitive or intransitive, depending on the context of the sentence. Italian verbs have two voices. A verb is considered to be in the active voice when the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb, such as Marco ha preparato le valigie Marco packed the suitcases. A verb is considered to be in the passive voice when the subject is acted on by the verb, such as La scena e stata filmata da un famoso regista The scene was filmed by a famous director. Only transitive verbs with a clear direct object can be changed from the active voice to the passive voice. You start everyday with reflexive verbs verbi riflessivi. These verbs revert the action to the subject such as Mi lavo I wash myself. In Italian reflexive pronouns I pronomi reflessivi are needed when conjugating reflexive verbs. In Italian there are three important verbs known as verbi servili or verbi modali modal verbs. These verbs are potere to be able to, can, volere to want, dovere to have to, must, can take on their given meaning and stand alone. Functioning to modify the meaning of these verbs, they can follow the infinitive of other verbs. 29
There are a group of Italian verbs that are conjugated with two different pronoun particles. Included in this group of verbs is meravigliarsene and provarcisi and are called pronominal verbs verbi pronominali. There are still grouped with either the first conjugation, second conjugation or the third conjugation according to the ending of their infinitives. To the dismay of students of all levels and abilities there is no hard and fast set of rules governing the grammatical usage of these next verbs with prepositions. There are certain verbs, which are followed by specific prepositions such as a, di, per, and su. Because of the unspecified rules with these verbs and preposition usage, students must familiarize themselves with tables, which include Italian verbs and expressions followed by specific prepositions as well as verbs followed directly by the infinitive.
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When they say Italian is a phonetic language, they mean it is spoken the way it is written. Italian and English share the Latin alphabet, but the pronunciation of each letter differs between the two languages.
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What is Phonology?
Phonology according to Marian Nespor, and Italian linguist and author of the book Fonologia, it is the part of grammar that deals with the sounds made in natural languages for communicating meanings. Basically what that boils down to is the study of the meanings of the sounds we make as we speak. There is an important fact we must make clear and that is there is a difference between phonology and phonetics. Phonetics analyzes all sound coming from human speech, the meaning and the language does not matter. Where as phonology takes and studies the sound in its environment. Patterns are sought by determining which sounds contain meaning. Then explain how these sounds are understood by a native speaker. Phonetics may study how the letter T is produced and how it seems to be, while phonology analyzes how the words fa and va have different meanings, even though there is only one differing sound. In other words phonology is the musical side of languages. When you are listening to Italian notice the difference in the rhythm the language is spoken in as opposed to the rhythm English is spoken. There is a noticeable difference between the two. Phonological investigations have been conducted by linguists to study the various rhythmic patterns of languages. With the use of computer programs, the linguists replaced all the consonants with the letter s and all the vowels were replaced with the letter a. The end results showed each language differs by only its own musicality. The path to learning to speak a language as a native speaker is blocked with barriers you, which are apparent, such as accents, and vocabularies, but even with the mastery of both is really not enough. The subtle barriers not as easily spotted are the proper inflection and intonation and knowing where to place the correct stress are the more musical aspects of the languages. Phonology is the study, which will help to point out these obscure keys to fluency and is a basis on which other aspects of linguistic can begin their studies. The crossroads between phonology and morphology is where there is an interesting mystery of words; linguists find is difficult to define the exact properties of a word. At first it may be apparent why; for those who are learning Italian you will need to pay close attention to how changes are made in what you hear, such as from the nonsense sounds to words full of meaning. This will be important as you progress in learning a new vocabulary. You may be tempted to use phonological clues, such as tone, stress, and pauses for breath to classify a word, but as you will see this may not be a correct assumption. Phonology is a wide ranging subject, which covers other questions with complicated names, such as assimilation, epenthesis, the adding sounds to words, and phonotactics sound combinations are allowed within a given language. Then there are subjects with much more simpler terms, such as the mysterious properties of the letter s in Italian. These are all interesting topics because of the misconception, which surrounds them. It is however, through the mastery of puzzles like these that you can come almost to the understanding of Italian, whether you are a native speaker or not. 35
Summary
As a beginner learning Italian can be very rewarding and inspiring, or it can be an extremely frustrating and miserable experience. Whether or not you enjoy studying Italian depends on your attitude, your expectations and your learning technique. Here are some tips on how to learn Italian. Find an Italian course you like and make sure you stick to it. Dont go with just any old course, the cheapest one, or even the one that is the most advertised. Check what they look like and sound like. One of the keys to success in learning Italian is finding the course you like. If you like the course chances are greatly you will stick with it. Have fun while you are learning. Make the lessons fun. While you are out with friends include your Italian lessons, by naming the Italian word for what you see. If you like reading book, or watching a movie, get the Italian version of the book or the movie without the subtitles. They can be distracting. You could even play an Italian version of your favorite video game. Be realistic about your expectations. Dont set your goals so high that they are unattainable. Failing to meet your deadline you set for yourself will only discourage you. Chances are you will not stick with the course when facing constant failure. Expect to forget a lot of what you have learned that is normal. Remember progress is never steady, you will find you will learn more some days than others. Its okay. Learn at least one new word every session. Studying a foreign language is a psychological game. You need to feel like you are getting somewhere or you will want to quit. By learning a new word every lesson or day, you will feel like you are getting there even if it is slowly. Establish some long term goals and focus on them. If you are learning Italian to be able to speak to people and to be able to understand them as well, those are the skills you will want to focus on. Make sure the course you select emphasizes the aspects of learning the language you want to focus on. If it is just speaking and understand, you dont want a course that spends the majority of your time reading and writing.
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