How to learn Italian on your own. Learning Italian from Scratch: Ways to Learn

29.10.2019

Let's start with the main one. You would like to learn Italian. Why him? Maybe you yearn for the sunsets of Rome and the view from the Aventine hill, or maybe you have a job related to Italian suppliers. Maybe you are learning your fifth language, or maybe the Italian opera resonates so much in your heart that you cannot live without the language. Or you just wanted to - it will be interesting and not superfluous, as people who know more than one language like to say. In any case, you need to decide how many hours a week you are ready to devote to classes and how much money you can spend. If there is a clear window in the schedule and a decent budget, it makes sense to take courses or find a teacher who will work with you individually. Self-study is worth considering if several factors are present:

if you have a difficult or unstable schedule;
if you teach for yourself and the investment will not pay off with an increase in income;
if you do not have the opportunity to travel somewhere (if you have a small child at home or have an hour at work that you can devote to classes);
if you have no time at all, but there is a desire and half an hour before going to bed to realize the dream of watching Fellini films in the original;
if you are limited in funds.

So, you understand that self-study is right for you. What's next? Here you need to make a small digression and say that the Italian language is perfect for self-study. Firstly, the grammatical structure of the language is moderately simple and understandable to native Russian speakers, secondly, the pronunciation rules are not too confusing and generally easy to learn, and finally, purely subjectively, the vocabulary is pleasing to the ear and the language.

Where to begin?

Obviously, it is worth starting with the methodology. Or rather, with the choice of textbook. There is a wide variety of study guides, not only in the nearest large bookstore, but also on the Internet. What to choose?
There are classic manuals - English-language, first of all, which are well structured, have an exhaustive amount of grammar and workbook in addition - for example "Modern Italian Grammar. Practical guide”, by Anna Proudfoot, Francesco Cardo. It is available online, but for learning you will need a sufficient level of English, not lower than intermediate. There is an enduring classic - Katerin Katerinov "La lingua italiana per stranieri" - a textbook, a classic in its way, but it is written entirely in Italian, according to the so-called full language immersion method. Therefore, it is good for classes with a teacher.
There is a whole set of textbooks for group study, which are ranked by level of difficulty, contain topics for group discussion and are also completely in Italian - which is not very suitable for independent thoughtful study, moreover, from scratch.
Therefore, the most obvious choice in our case is a textbook belonging to the class of tutorials. There are a great many of them in any bookstore with a sufficient section of foreign languages, which can confuse an unprepared person. First of all, you need to distinguish between a self-instruction book and a phrase book - in the latter you are unlikely to be presented with grammar even in a minimal form, but they will offer to memorize a hundred phrases for each case of your trip to Italy. At the most crucial moment, you will find that the phrase that you want to say right now is, of course, not there. Therefore, it is advisable to choose a self-instruction manual that does not resemble a flimsy brochure, but contains, in addition to initial information about the language, also a sufficient number of exercises, texts, an audio course, a minimal dictionary at the end, and it’s just pleasant for you. For me, this pleasantness lies in good paper, on which a pen or pencil writes; in exercises designed to be done right in the textbook - then you will never find the sheets on which you happened to complete this task; in an audio transcription written in a way that you can understand. For myself, I chose the tutorial by D. A. Shevlyakova, published by AST-PRESS - it has everything you need, except for a normally recorded transcription, but for someone this may not be a minus, since it is given in Russian, but not in accordance with international rules.
After a textbook is chosen, the most interesting thing is to start learning a foreign language, to be surprised by its rules and laws, and after a while to understand that it could not be otherwise, that the language is whole and alive. And very handsome!

La lingua italiana

The very first thing we begin to study is what sounds are characteristic of the language, where the stress is placed, what intonation coloring is characteristic of it. Italian spelling rules are quite simple and, having learned the rules, it is quite possible to write down a word by ear. Italian is not French, where you will need a separate notebook only for the rules for reading letters and their combinations. Here, for the first time, you meet sayings and the most common set expressions. I write them out on small square stickers and hang them all over the house - every time my eye catches on the next phrase, I pronounce them with all possible diligence. Literally, on the way to the kitchen for another tea, in the bathroom, in the toilet - knowledgeable people confirm the special effectiveness of stickers in the toilet!
In general, the importance of memorized phrases can hardly be overestimated. If they are part of an active vocabulary, then you are often spared the painful search for the right combination of words where the answer is relevant right now, in the moment. Everyday expressions are like speed dialing on a mobile phone - convenient, fast and never redundant.
Phrases include, in addition to common words of politeness (thank you, please, good morning / afternoon / evening, good night, welcome, please, excuse me) also the most frequent dialogue options (how are you, everything is fine, how are you, where are you from, How long have you been here, etc.) With this minimum, you will feel calm - you will understand the obvious things exactly and will be able to adequately answer.
The exercises and texts in your tutorial will build the grammatical skeleton of the language, build muscle on it and allow you to slowly at first, and then confidently and quickly build phrases and phrases.
You will learn vocabulary along the way and here you need to be careful. It is impossible to study all the vocabulary and everyone understands this, but sometimes they forget. But in vain. The question of which words should be learned in the first place must be taken critically. It’s worth starting from your goals - if the language is studied for communication and travel, then everything is relatively simple - most tutorials are tailored specifically for this. most general vocabulary on the topic of transport-hotel-restaurant-city-walks you will not pass. However, even here there may be an excess. For example, you should not memorize synonyms - at the very beginning you need to navigate in single-variant combinations. You will gain the beauty and richness of the vocabulary later in sufficient quantities and with much less effort than at the very beginning of learning the language.
However, if your goals differ from classically touristic ones, it makes sense to act in two directions - to master and general course and, for example, parse the simplest texts in the specialty.

Limitless Possibilities

For a person learning a language in the era of the Internet, truly limitless possibilities are open. The world is so densely entangled with networks, Wi-Fi and broadband channel that it is a sin not to use it.
First of all, there are many sites dedicated to self-learning languages. They operate on the principle of social networks and are very convenient for some. The most famous in Runet is www.busuu.com. The format is not for everyone, but the popularity speaks for itself.
There are sites filled with lessons and individual grammar topics, which can be useful if a particular model remains incomprehensible after parsing in the tutorial.
For auditory tuning to melody and intonation, it is useful to watch Italian TV, which for the most part has online broadcasts, and films in Italian with Russian subtitles, of course. At a good level of language acquisition, it becomes more interesting to watch movies with Italian subtitles.
For reading, you can recommend both adapted texts and books that offer replenishment of passive vocabulary according to the Ivan Franko method - even on the net you can find a number of them. They are built in a peculiar way: first there is a small passage, which is accompanied by a literal translation into Russian of most of the words, and then the same passage, but without translation. Such texts are very useful to study in addition to the main course of study.
For those who find it difficult without a company, there are conversation clubs, film clubs, sites with the possibility of making pen pals.
There are already conversation clubs in many languages, including Italian. Usually the discussion is on a specific topic, with pre-provided vocabulary for the participants, as well as a moderator, who is often a native speaker. This differs from classical language courses in that you pay only for what you cannot comprehend on your own - for communication. And you learn grammar and rules yourself, in your own mode and at your own speed.
In Moscow, there is an Italian film club that periodically shows Italian films, with subtitles and subsequent discussion. For outgoing extroverts, this may be more appealing than viewing alone.
The rather crowded www.mylanguageexchange.com offers a user-friendly interface for language exchange. You can correspond with Massimo from Turin or Silvia from Bergamo - who just want to practice Russian or English. Actually, any combination of languages is possible, up to the most improbable.

To Italy, to Italy!

And the most important thing is, of course, the language journey. There are many offers from language schools in Italy for language learning. You will study a certain (not small!) number of hours every day, being in a language environment - is this not a dream?! But it is fundamentally important to go on such a journey alone - otherwise communication with your companion will be mother tongue ruin your whole immersion.
For the strong in spirit, there are also volunteer programs that can include anything from restoring abandoned buildings and roads from the Roman Empire to picking cherries and other crops in summer and autumn. You can get an idea about the programs, for example, here: www.helpx.net.
Well, the most important thing in self-learning a language is perseverance and motivation. In a situation where you are not given homework and your money is not flowing away, maintaining your interest and not forgetting why you started all this is a rather non-trivial task. Here you already need to explore yourself and be able to negotiate with yourself - for the sake of a picture of the near future. Imagine yourself speaking Italian fluently and fluently, in an entourage that matches your dream - does it motivate you?

When I arrived in Italy, I did not know a word of Italian. Comforting myself with the fact that studying in the magistracy is in English and the Costa Smeralda is an international resort, for the first weeks I did not even bother to study the language of the great Dante in any way.

After a while I realized thatItaly and English language practically incompatible with each other. From that moment my acquaintance with Italian began. I started to say hello and goodbye in Italian, learned the names of some of the drinks I usually ordered at the bar (all my friends still remember my "Due birre grandi, per favore!". And no, I'm not an alcoholic), learned how to ask for a package in the store . On this "knowledge" I held out for several more months.

I realized that I needed to learn Italian urgently when it was time to look for a place to study summer practice. I won’t say that they didn’t want to take me anywhere, after all, knowledge of English and Russian is very much appreciated here, but ... why does the company need an employee who cannot even call a taxi if necessary?

Initially, in the secretariat of the University, I said that I wanted to do an internship at the Airport. And not simple, but in the golden General Aviation (the so-called terminal for private aircraft). I came to the first interview with the director in full confidence that I would be hired right away - I was so cool, I studied so much and I speak two languages fluently ...

They gave me two weeks. No, not even probation. Two weeks to learn the language and return for a second interview in Italian. It was probably the most exciting and at the same time the most beautiful two weeks of my life.

During these two weeks I walked a lot. Just like that, through the streets. Walked and listening to what people are saying trying to pick up familiar words.
Watched movies in Italian (or rather, I already reviewed those that I had seen before in translation into Russian in order to understand the essence of the picture).
Went for a walk in the park with Italian music in headphones. I listened to holes ten of the same songs in order to learn them by heart. Language turns, grammar, set phrases - everything is in music!
Spending time on the beach with Italian textbook or a fashion magazine to boot. Back in Russia, I bought the "Practical Italian Language Course" from the author Dobrovolskaya. A very good edition in my opinion.
I asked all my Italian friends talk to me only in their native language, both in person and over the phone.
If you are not physically in Italy, I advise you to find some pen pal on the Internet for language practice. I heard that this method is very popular now.

All these actions have borne fruit. No, of course, I did not speak Italian as "native", but I began to understand people, the fear of communication disappeared, I could answer elementary questions and created a good basic dictionary in my head.

At the second interview, they still gave me a place. Small but successful, isn't it?)

Work has begun. And here one indisputable thing helped me a lot - there was not a single Russian-speaking person in my environment! Not at work, not at home. I plunged into conditions where the only Russian interlocutor was my mother on Skype for 5 minutes a day. My colleagues at work, wonderful guys who were fluent in English, tried to give me as much Italian language practice as possible. I made phone calls to various Italian institutions with a prepared speech on a piece of paper, I worked with Italian-speaking crews, answered all letters without exception .... And it paid off! By September 2014, I already expressed myself quite fluently (it happened with small grammatical errors), periodically fell into a stupor if I didn’t know a certain word (after all, I still thought in Russian in my head).

There is only one problem in learning foreign languages - we do not see the end point and it seems that this is an endless process. Actually it is not.
See what the process of learning Italian is and you will see for yourself.

1. You need to learn to read in a foreign language. There are some reading rules in Italian that you need to learn. They cannot be taught. You will quickly memorize them when you watch some video lessons on pronouncing Italian words or read text with Russian transcription. These basic methods will teach you how to read Italian and how to comprehend Italian words.

As for the setting of Italian pronunciation, then, according to linguists, pronunciation is the last detail to pay attention to for several reasons:

Each country has many of its dialects and each person has his own pronunciation of words.

Even the most avid polyglots still have an accent. This is a physiological feature.

Isn't it great to speak with an accent, reminding the interlocutors that this is your second foreign language that you speak. Don't be afraid to be proud of yourself. This is a good feeling.

2. You need to master the grammatical structures of the Italian language. You need to know exactly what to change or add to a sentence to get the phrase you want. Go to section "Grammar of the Italian language in 1 day" and you will learn how easy and simple it is to do it.

3. We replenish vocabulary. There are many sections on our site that will help you enrich yourself with new Italian words.

Use tops in italian. Topics are useful in that they have already selected the necessary verbs for nouns and use words, phrases and expressions on the most popular topics for communication.

Enjoy Russian - Italian phrasebook. In them, as well as in topics, the most popular phrases intended for colloquial speech are already collected.

Read Quotes of great men in Italian and Proverbs and sayings. Short interesting phrases do not tire. Pay attention not only to words, but also to the grammatical constructions of sentences.

4. Learning to perceive Italian speech. To do this, use sections such as: first sentences in italian", short video, dialogues, audio and video podcasts , movies and series, radio online , television online , songs with subtitles. Listen to the phrases slowly, returning to them over and over again. The more words you learn to hear, the faster you can easily watch movies in Italian.

5. We communicate in Italian. From the first days of learning Italian grammar, make small suggestions and put them together into a story. If you still find it difficult to speak Italian, then use all kinds of chats and forums where you can leave your articles and comments in Italian. If you are ready to communicate, then communicate online, look up all unfamiliar words in the dictionary or speak in other words. Go to section

You will need

- Italian language textbook (self-tutor),
- audio CDs
- notebook,
- pen,
technical means - optional.

Instruction

Set aside time for yourself every day, an hour and a half. Plan your schedule for the week ahead and correlate all other tasks with it. In order not to forget about classes in a series of household chores, use reminders, a scheduler on a computer, organize your schedule so that by the time you have classes, all your affairs are done. Get yourself cozy workplace where you won't be distracted.

Purchase any textbook or Italian. The difference between them will be only in the form of presentation of the material - in some textbooks it is more interesting or more modern, in some the material will be drier. Beforehand, if possible, familiarize yourself with it, in what form the information is given, and what explanations and exercises are used. But, by and large, with any textbook you will have to do the same repetitive actions - study the rules, grammar, perform exercises to consolidate them and words. So don't waste a lot of time on it. Use the Internet to get acquainted with tutorials and reviews about them.

Set yourself short-term goals. For example, learn 50 - 100 lexical units per week. This will help keep track of small successes and keep you motivated, feeling satisfied with yourself, and will not depend on the brightness of book illustrations.

Purchase CDs so that you can listen and repeat the material after the speakers. It is desirable that they be from the same set with the textbook. For this, you can also use the Internet, there are many educational audio recordings available for review.

Alternate memorization of the rules with practice - do exercises, watch Italian channels, listen and translate songs, memorize and sing the songs yourself. Getting emotional pleasure from classes is very important, it significantly contributes to the memorization of new material.

As you advance in skills, read literature in Italian. Start with simple and short stories. Use bilingual with parallel Russian first. Gradually, by practicing reading and memorizing words, you will stop paying attention to translation, and the need for it will disappear.

Use online lessons on the Internet. Meet Italians by interests. Visit Italian Internet resources, be interested in what is happening in the country, read the news. Receiving information in the target language from all sides, the brain adapts to it faster and easier, this imitates the situation of “immersion”, when mastering is faster.

Useful advice

For additional classes and consolidation of knowledge, use the time on the road, and, if possible, the time before bedtime.

Sources:

Italian language tutorials.
learn italian

There are several recipes for learning Italian quickly and effectively. language. But in order to learn quickly, you need to immerse yourself in the language environment: read, listen, communicate and not be afraid to make mistakes.

Instruction

Instructor or partnerPeople who are more comfortable in a group should look for language classes or individual teacher. It doesn't matter if it will be sessions, jimail, msn or classes in linguistic language. The main thing is the support of an experienced teacher, and even better - a native speaker. Of course it costs money. Therefore, an alternative, or rather, free option is to find an Italian who is interested in learning Russian or any other language that a "student" can teach. The language partner can check written texts, correct pronunciation. Most importantly, it helps to remove the psychological block. So, the speed will increase several times.

Intelligible programEducational material should be structured and systematized. You should not grab ten programs at the same time, even if they are free and on the Internet. It is better to focus on two, maybe four tutorials, since each tutorial has its own internal logic. One focuses more on Italian grammar, the other is essentially a phrase book with a crash course for tourists. Therefore, advanced polyglots make their own structure of classes for the week ahead. And they know for sure that on Monday they pay attention to reading and irregular verbs from one book, and on Tuesday they study phonetics in a study guide. They also start a special one notebook (file) in order to record their successes and difficulties. Systems approach- a pledge of meaningful, and therefore, rapid learning of the Italian language.

Regular reading You can read an ordinary paper book, underlining unfamiliar words with a pencil, and then writing them out in a notebook. You can read an e-book using an electronic translator. And can I language educational networks that help to learn. Italian is one of the most popular. It is important to remember that there are both paid and free services in language education networks. If cost savings are important, then it is better to hang out at two or three online training sites. For example, lingq.com allows you to read texts and "link" new words in Italian. These expressions can be added to a special program in order to listen and read several times on a mobile phone. You can learn every free minute, and playfully. And you can also receive these same words on your mailbox. Another popular network livemocha.com provides 4 free courses Italian, and these are about fifty lessons with written and oral exercises that are viewed by native speakers, and for free.

Listening It is important to listen not only to Italian music or audio books, but also to live dialogues, news texts, podcasts (thematic programs, author's monologues, dialogues, conversations and interviews posted on the Internet). They can be of very different topics: from recipes for making real Italian pizza to discussions of Italian grammar, history, economics and politics.
Large database of podcasts on various topics: http://www.audiocast.it/
Italian phonetics classes: http://www.podcast.com/show/97667/Fonetica-I/
Children's fairy tales, songs http://www.walter.bz/podcast/

note

It is important to pay attention to whether they offer knowledge of the Italian language for free or for money.

Useful advice

It is worth creating a special folder with useful links resources for learning Italian.

Sources:

Reminders on Italian grammar and phonetics.
Italian fast

lingua italiana is one of those amazing languages which people teach for the most irrational reasons. For example, do you like the sound of Italian speech or have fresh memories of Venetian gondolas sliding along the surface of the channels. If the Italian language were a dish, then love for it would be the main ingredient, and pedagogical techniques, like spices, would be added to taste.

Instruction

Before starting the study, you need to learn more about yourself. This will allow you to see the difference between your native language and Italian, set your mind and make learning educational material more comfortable. The Italian language goes back to vernacular Latin and belongs to the Romance group. This means that it will be easy for a person familiar with Spanish, French, Portuguese, as well as Moldovan and Romanian. He has a clear grammar: there is a masculine and feminine gender, three. Latin-based alphabet. Although the Italian language belongs to a different group than, it seems logical, musical and even easy representatives Slavic group languages.

The most serious problem for students who want to learn Italian is the abundance of educational literature, cheat sheets, Italian CD courses. How not to drown in the abundance of tutorials? After all, quantity is not quality, especially when it comes to modern textbooks. The easiest way is to buy or borrow a certified textbook intended for universities in the library. This will help you not to pick up mistakes in the field of phonetics and grammar. Italian is too beautiful a language to mess with.

In parallel with theory, practical language skills should be mastered. Independent and conscious language learning presupposes that a person will follow the PESH rule: read, listen, speak, write. While reading, it is advisable to use a dictionary, electronic translator or read texts on lingQ.com. There you can pick up even entry-level text, presented in the form of tooltips. The site allows you to read and listen to the text at the same time or find links to interesting podcasts in Italian. There you can also "link" new words that are automatically added to your personal set of cards. You can read live speech and communicate with native Italian speakers in other language networks - busuu.com and livemocha.com.

Is there an unambiguously better textbook

When choosing an Italian textbook for or a self-instruction manual, it is very important not to make a mistake, because the book will have to become a full-fledged teacher. Among lovers of the Italian language, such textbooks as "Italian without a teacher" by G.P. Kiseleva and "Self-tutor of the Italian language" N.A. Ryzhak and E.A. Ryzhak. Nevertheless, it is rather difficult to say that these textbooks are the best.

Any qualified teacher will tell you that there is no better textbook. In one book, texts can be well chosen, in another the grammar is well explained, in the third effective exercises are offered, and so on. Therefore, experienced teachers select materials for their students, using several teaching aids at once.

Criteria for choosing a textbook

If you have to choose an Italian textbook on your own, it is best to go to a bookstore, where there is a good selection and the opportunity to leaf through each book. There are certain criteria for choosing a manual for effective classes. First of all, the book must be written in Russian. The fact is that bookstores often sell manuals published in Italy itself. They, it seems, are also considered self-taught, but it is very difficult for a person who is starting to learn a language to understand them.

The textbook must contain exercises and keys to them so that you can test yourself. The most important selection criterion study guide- the presence of an audio application, voiced by a native speaker. Even the most intelligent Italian textbook will not be effective if it is not accompanied by an audio recording. At best, it can be used to form passive knowledge.

Based on the proposed criteria, everyone who wants to learn Italian will be able to choose a textbook that will help him succeed in achieving his goal.

Italy is not only Rome and Milan, Venice and Florence, it is Lake Como, and magnificent Puglia, and fabulous Alberobello with trulli houses, and Sicily with clear waters and magnificent beaches.

It makes you want to drive and explore all the treasures of this generous sunny peninsula at your own pace. Italy is museums and exhibitions, emotions and colors, dynamics and gestures, love and speech.

Italian is spoken as an official language in the Vatican, Switzerland, San Marino and Italy itself, while in Croatia and Slovenia Italian is a second language. The language was based on folk Latin, later it was replaced by the dialect of Florence. If you want to learn Italian as quickly as possible and join the 60 million people who speak this beautiful language, then read on.

The best way to start learning Italian is to set a goal so that you can take the time to understand why you need the language. It is also important to answer the question where you will apply the language in practice. It is on this that the further learning strategy depends.

We have already noted that the goal should be so cool that it “warms up” you every day. If a person is eager to learn a language, he will certainly succeed.

Pay attention to the time you are willing to devote to the language. The result depends on the frequency of the lesson. Better 15 minutes a day than an hour and a half on the weekend. It is important to stick to a schedule in order to develop the habit of learning the language every day.

Do not forget about elementary things: you can change the language of any gadget to Italian and get a portion of useful information every day. Share ideas with friends, exchange thoughts, write down curious ones, find a partner to help you speak faster, write down results, make plans.

Try to note what materials you work with, how long one lesson lasts, how grammar is progressing, how much new vocabulary you manage to master in a week or month. Count the hours you spend learning a new language.

Remember that any language is colloquial speech, writing, reading and listening comprehension. Most likely, some of you will need one type of activity, for example, reading. And your colleague will need to communicate with Italian partners, so he will have to speak and understand.

We have compiled a short list that will help you learn Italian:

Italki- a site where you can chat with native speakers and join the community of Italian learners.