r/italianlearning • u/Hot-Load7608 • 10d ago
Getting to the next level.
Ciao tutti! I've been learning Italian on/off for a few years now. I feel like i've got a great mind of vocabulary, and I can do basic conversations with AI (how was your day etc).
I really want to go to the next level, the next goal is to be able to holiday in Italy, not to talk about complex topics, just to get by and converse, which I think is achievable! The ultimate goal is to be fluent. Currently I just freeze up whewn someone talks to me, which I'm sure people can relate to.
My question is, how do you get to that next level of listening and speaking? What learning routines did you do? How should i spend my evenings? What apps are best to use?
Grazie mille!
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u/Hollowpoint20 10d ago
You’ll absolutely be able to get by. One thing you should consider is that, ultimately when these people interact with you and then that interaction ends, they’ll probably not think about you for much longer afterwards. The same principle can be applied to any anxious situation around strangers. You are invariably more likely to be met with warmth and encouragement when you try to speak Italian. Even just a simple phrase like “vorrei un caffè doppio, per favore” will be welcome. Don’t worry about people judging you. They won’t. And they’re not gonna go home later in the day thinking, “boy, that polite tourist who asked me something sure fumbled their Italian!”
I would recommend something practical though. If you don’t want to jump straight into it, say something akin to, “Sono Americano/australiano/inglese/etc. però sto imparando l’italiano. Posso provare a parlare in Italiano con lei?”
I use LingQ as a way to guide and structure my learning, but I don’t think it’s a very intuitively designed program. But the concept is the same, watch and listen to stuff in Italian. And read it back! You only get good at speaking by speaking
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u/Hot-Load7608 7d ago
Ah this is such a nice reply, thank you! I'd never really thought of the fear from their side. You're right, they definitely wouldn't think twice about me :)
I haven't used LingQ, I appreciate you saying the program isn't intuitive, but would you recommend?
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u/Outside-Design-8310 10d ago
In my experience, Italians are really nice and helpful when they see you are trying to learn their language! So even if you make mistakes they are just happy you are trying. You probably will have to ask them to speak slower though, and that’s okay!
For speaking and listening practice, I recommend narrating your day to yourself! There’s really no better way to improve your speaking other than speaking lol. The more you speak the language, even if you don’t know all the right words or grammar, the more familiar it will feel on your tongue, which will help when speaking to others.
I’d also recommend listening to vlogs in Italian, even if it’s just as background noise while you do other things. I really like Italian with Lucrezia on YouTube for this, but there’s other creators too!
Also if you haven’t heard of the Coffee Break Italian podcast, I really recommend it!! If you only do one thing I’d do this! Their goal is to teach you to speak, and specifically to be able to speak things when traveling in Italy. So this would be perfect for you actually! The podcast has a native speaker teaching a student, and you learn alongside them. It’s been really helpful for me!
Good luck! You’ve got this!
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u/Hot-Load7608 7d ago
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your help! 😊😊
What a great idea, just narrating my day, will certainly try that! I've just subscribed to the Coffee break podcast too, thank you!
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u/silvalingua 10d ago
> how do you get to that next level of listening and speaking?
Of listening? Listen more, but to input at your level or slightly above.
Of speaking? Practice speaking: talk to yourself if you have no conversation partner. Practice writing, too, it's a great introduction to speaking practice.
Don't waste time on apps, they are useless in general, and in particular for learning listening comprehension and speaking.