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Speak Italian, Confidently and Accurately

March 20th, 2008

I can’t be the only person trying to learn Italian who is frustrated by how superficial a lot of language courses are - am I? Since we don’t learn a second language in the same way we learnt the first, we need a bit of structure (I mean, grammar) to help us make sense of it all. Just when I was about to give up, I discovered a course that sees things my way.

My 1980s schooling gave me a good grasp of French. The verb tables that I learnt off by heart, agreement of adjectives, the various ways to form a question I have forgotten none of these things, because they were clearly explained and made sense.

Of course, old-fashioned language-teaching methods have their faults but, to me, they are more effective than the dumbed-down courses that keep tumbling on to the market every day. The principal drawback to the traditional system is the emphasis on reading and writing; oral communication should be encouraged first.

What I like about modern methods is the prominence given to speaking and listening skills. What I don’t like is the apparently random way in which grammar is often served up. In the first chapter, we learn, for example, how to say “We have”. “I have”, “you have” and so on are then scattered about the book. I like to see the verb To Have conjugated in its entirety, so I know how it works.

It is a manifestation of the current culture, craving instant gratification, that so many language courses offer Italian in a Week - or even a day! Learning a language is a considerable undertaking and it’s simply not realistic to pretend it can be done in less than a few months. If your idea of ’speaking’ Italian is being able to say “buongiorno”, “grazie,” and “gelato”, then OK, you can achieve this in a day. However, if what you mean is being able to hold a conversation, even if only about what you did yesterday and what you like about Italy, then you need to settle down and study properly.

To learn Italian well, you have to be dedicated. It’s not very exciting at the outset, memorising verb endings, sorting out nouns and adjectives, getting your mind around the different words for “you”. But the investment you make in doing this will pay enormous dividends when you reach the next level.

After the initial phase, when you’ve got some linguistic building blocks, you can begin to put sentences together - and then things get more interesting. If you try to build a house before you’ve mastered the technique of brick-making, you will never have the beautiful, durable edifice that you will have if you put the time and energy into learning the basics.

Teaching materials, then, should provide clear explanations of how the language works, as well as lots of practice exercises, so we can check we have understood as we go along.

Three or four months ago, I bought an e-book called Italian for Beginners and I’ve just finished studying it. It’s taken me to probably intermediate level and, while there’s still more to learn, I’m confident that I really know what I’ve covered so far. Adesso parlo italiano abbastanza bene!

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