How to learn Italian fast

How to learn Italian fast

What’s the fastest way to learn Italian? Search this online and you'll see a number of websites claiming that their specific course is the magic bullet.

I've met hundreds of language learners, and I can tell you that there is no 'best' or fastest way to learn Italian. What the best approach is for you will depend on factors like your goals, level, budget and time.

But there are some learning strategies that tend to work better than others.

This guide is based on my personal experience of learning languages, as well as research into the methods used by polyglots - people who speak several languages.

Polyglots are often perceived to be superhuman. But they'll be the first to tell you that they don’t have any special powers. Instead, their success with languages is largely due to their learning strategies.

I will explain these strategies, as well as give you practical resources, including both free and paid options.

You’ll obtain the most value from reading this guide if you're a beginner or you have a basic level (A1/A2) in Italian. If you have an intermediate level, you should instead check out this guide, which gives recommendations specific to your level and goals.

Conversational fluency

I’m not going to show you how to reach a native level of Italian in six months. Contrary to what certain companies claim, it takes years of dedication to truly master a language.

But the good news is you can achieve conversational fluency in far less time.

Conversational fluency means the ability to converse with native speakers at a normal, conversational speed around everyday topics. It's what you need if your end goal is to be able to get to know the locals, understand their culture, or successfully integrate into an Italian-speaking country. Unless having a native level of fluency is crucial to your work (are you an international spy?), you should focus on achieving conversational fluency.

You can reach conversational fluency in Italian within 6-12 months. This guide will show you how.

How to learn Italian fast:

How to build your vocab intelligently

Learning Italian can feel like a daunting challenge. You might ask yourself, how am I going to memorise thousands of new words? Fortunately, there are techniques that can help you start having conversations quickly:

  1. Learn the most commonly used words. In Italian, like in all other languages, a minority of words make up the majority of the spoken language. I'll provide a list of these words later. You'll also come across them naturally whilst exploring the language. Write down and learn the commonly used words whilst ignoring the complex words you don’t hear so often.
  2. Learn words that are relevant to you. Focus on topics that are relevant and interesting to you. The vocab will be far more useful. You’ll find it easier to memorise and you'll be more likely to actually use the words in real life.
  3. Learn cognates. Fortunately, Italian has thousands of words that are the same, or almost the same in English. For instance, the Italian for 'problem' is simply: problema. For many words, you just need to change the ending (e.g. impossible > impossibile). I'll give you a cognates resource later in this post.
  4. Write down new words in a notebook. Yes, it's old school, but it works. Studies have shown that when you write rather than type, your ability to recall information improves considerably. Researchers believe this is because writing is slower and involves deeper mental processing.

Develop habits to maintain momentum

According to polyglot Alex Voloza, mastering a language 'boils down to consistent practice multiplied by time'.

Practicing consistently may be easy at first. It's harder to maintain over months and years. So how do you give yourself the best chance of practicing regularly over a long period?

By building habits. Habits are key to behaviour change because once you form them, you don’t need to rely on willpower or motivation.

Habits are developed through cues and rewards. The cue sets the behaviour into action. For learning Italian, the cue could be as simple as setting a daily reminder in your calendar to practice at the same time every day. The reward should ideally be intrinsic; learning should feel rewarding and fun. You won't find anything boring in the resources I'll suggest below.

If the intrinsic reward isn't enough for you, you could promise yourself an external reward, like a trip to Italy. Or tell your friends that you're going to practice every day. We all want to be true to our word, so telling others may help you maintain momentum.

Learn Spanish through habit formation.
Create learning habits so you don't have to rely on willpower.

The best activities and resources for learning Italian

As you go through the resources below and choose some to try, bear in mind that your choices should reflect your goals. If your goal is to be able to have conversations in Italian, spend most of your practice time on speaking and listening. You'll also find that speaking practice is more efficient than writing - it takes more time to write a sentence than it does to say it.

Here are some of the best resources and how to use them:

Podcasts

Listen to an Italian podcast every few days and you'll rapidly improve your ability to understand Italian as it's spoken by natives. If you're short on time, try listening whilst washing the dishes or commuting.

Almost all Italian podcasts are targeted at intermediate students. If you're a complete beginner, fortunately there is Language Transfer, which will teach you some of the basics in a logical manner.

If you already know some Italian but you're not yet at an intermediate level, then there aren't any good podcasts targeted at this level (A2).  So, you'll need to challenge yourself with intermediate level podcasts and not worry about understanding every single word.

One intermediate option is Una Storia ItaliAnna. In this podcast, Anna, a talented teacher, talks at a slower pace about Italy, from its food to its culture and history. Unlike other podcasts, the transcripts are free and interactive (making it easier to understand as you can read as you listen).

To maximise your learning from podcasts, repeat what the podcast hosts are saying from time to time. This will help you memorise words and improve your pronunciation.

Podcasts are an excellent way to learn Spanish.
Listen to Italian podcasts - your brain will be surprised by how much it learns.

News & Netflix

If you know a bit of Italian, try following international news in Italian instead of English. News presenters speak very clearly, and you'll already know some of the news stories, helping you understand.

With RAI, Italy's public broadcaster, you can watch live news, even if you're outside Italy. There's also Euronews for international news clips and articles.

Moving on from news, if you have Netflix, numerous Italian language shows are at your fingertips, such as Suburra and The Trial. As the available programs change frequently, here's a link that shows the latest Italian films & shows. Turn the Italian subtitles on, and resist using English ones as you'll end up reading them and not paying attention to the Italian.

Speaking Practice

For learning to speak Italian, you have three main options: language exchanges, group classes & 1-on-1 classes.

If you live in a city and already know some Italian, language exchanges are worth considering. The events are usually held in bars. Drinking alcohol will make you feel fluent, even when your sentences don't make sense. The downside is that exchanges aren't an efficient way to learn: you spend time travelling to the meet up and once you get there, you spend half your time helping others with your native language.

Another option is to go to group classes in your local area. Like exchanges, classes can be a fun social activity. They're more efficient than exchanges as the focus is solely on your learning. But you'll follow a fixed curriculum, meaning you can't focus on what you personally want to improve upon, nor concentrate on topics that interest you. If you want to learn how to speak with locals, you may be frustrated with the limited speaking practice.

The fastest way to learn to speak Italian is to take 1-on-1 classes tailored to your needs. The cost can be a little higher, but if you're taking the lessons online, you can find a tutor from just $14/h (approx. €12 or £10). A good tutor will get you speaking for at least 70% of the lesson time, whilst making you feel comfortable about making mistakes and providing detailed feedback.

Online Spanish lessons
Lessons should focus on speaking. Good tutors will ask you lots of questions and give precise feedback.

A less obvious benefit of having a tutor is keeping you on track. A good tutor will support you, make you accountable and help you stay consistent. Knowing you have a scheduled class/homework, and that there is somebody who cares about your progress, can be crucial.

If you want to learn Italian fast, you can check the tutors available on LanguaTalk. Unlike other sites, we put time and effort into finding the best tutors.

Whatever option you go for, try topping up your speaking practice through self-talk. All the normal self-talk that goes on in your head during the day can be done in Italian. For example, instead of thinking “I should drink something” in English, think it in Italian instead. When you don't know how to say something, you can check on an app like Reverso Context (one of the best).

Tools for learning vocab and pronunciation:

Earlier I told you how that you only need to learn the most common Italian words to be able to have conversations in Italian. Here's a list of the 2,000 most commonly used Italian words in Italian. It's available on Memrise, an app for building vocabulary.

I also recommend you learn the rules for cognates. Here's a good resource for this.

Last but not least, for checking how a word is pronounced, there's Forvo, where you can search Italian words and instantly hear native speakers pronouncing them.

Common mistakes when learning Italian

You're now aware of some of the best strategies and resources for learning Italian fast. But to maximise your chances of succeeding, it's important you avoid the following pitfalls:

  1. Obsessing over grammar. Whilst it's important to learn the basics, you don't need perfect grammar to make yourself understood. If you find grammar exercises boring, consider this: when you speak, read, or listen to Italian, you'll pick up a lot of grammar instinctively. Think about grammar in your native language. Do you use it effortlessly because you studied all the rules? Or did you learn it instinctively, through practice?
  2. Avoiding speaking & making mistakes. If your goal is to be able to speak at a conversational level, you should start speaking early on. You may be nervous, but you need to get comfortable with making mistakes. More mistakes = more feedback, which will help you learn Italian faster.
  3. Spending too long on apps. When you're a beginner, language learning apps can be handy for picking up some basic vocab and grammar. But beyond this, if your goal is to be able to have conversations in Italian, the fastest way to become capable of this is not through answering multiple choice questions on an app. It's through speaking and listening practice with people.
  4. Telling yourself you don't have enough time. The reality is you only need 15 minutes a day to make progress. Consider your daily commute, for example – thanks to technology, you can spend this time revising vocab or listening to Italian podcasts. Do you often watch TV and films? Watch Italian media instead, or at least turn on Italian subtitles if you have Netflix or Prime.

You can learn Italian fast, irrespective of your budget.

In this guide, I've given you everything you need to learn Italian fast, even if you have a limited budget. If you're feeling motivated, start building daily learning habits today. Make a note of some of the resources I mentioned and try them. Copy the plan below or make a similar one:

Day 1: Listen to a podcast episode - Beginner? Try Language Transfer. Have an intermediate level? Try Una Storia ItaliAnna, or listen to the news on RAI.

Day 2: Find an Italian tutor and book a taster session.

Day 3: Go over 100 of the most commonly used Italian words.

Day 4: Learn some cognates and the rules involved.

Day 5: Start an Italian series on Netflix (with Italian subtitles on).

Day 6: Go to a language exchange and practice what you've learnt!

In bocca al lupo! (Literally translated as 'in the wolf's mouth', but it means... 'good luck'!