How to learn Italian correctly on your own. Self-study of Italian

Learning foreign languages ​​in the modern world has become easier and more convenient. With the help of gadgets and online courses, you can study without even leaving home. And this knowledge will help in different areas of life - on vacation, in your career or study.

Among the languages ​​studied, English is especially popular. However, in recent years, more and more people are choosing other options, such as Italian. It is in fifth place in the top languages ​​studied. It is chosen for its ease of pronunciation, beautiful combination of sounds and special energy.

In addition, you can learn it yourself. True, this requires effort, and most importantly, systematic training. This article contains the most convenient lesson options that will help you learn it from scratch!

1 Tutor

Of course, the fastest and most effective way to learn is to hire a tutor. Individual lessons will help you determine your level of knowledge and find your strengths and weaknesses. The teacher will be able to create a convenient schedule during personal communication and work through all aspects.

First of all, when studying with a tutor, there are no problems with correct pronunciation and communication. The teacher will help you overcome the language barrier and quickly learn to speak Italian.

An option for those who for some reason cannot devote time to individual lessons is a language school. Group courses will also be effective, but will require more workload and self-discipline. The teacher will no longer be able to pay attention as much as at a personal meeting, so you will have to study on your own. An important advantage of these classes is active communication with other students.

2 Live communication

Another fun way to learn Italian on your own is to find a conversation partner. This could be a participant in some forum of interests, a student from, or a friend on Skype. This method will help those who are already familiar with the basics and want to practice dialogue. Live communication with native Italians will expand your vocabulary, raise your level of knowledge and allow you to practice your skills.

In such communication, you should take into account time zones and agree on contact in advance. This will help avoid inconsistencies and make communication as comfortable and useful as possible.

3 Travel

A method that will help you radically and effectively approach the learning process is to go on a trip to Italy. You can specifically set a goal to study, and then choose a language camp or tour. Or you can arm yourself with a dictionary, language learning apps, online courses, or a connection with a tutor.

Traveling around Italy will help you get to know the culture, customs and people of the country better. This immersion experience will allow you to learn Italian as quickly as possible, based on real life situations.

4 Without leaving home

The easiest, but longer way to learn Italian is to do it from the comfort of your home. Now there is. Many of them have a clear lesson schedule and a variety of different exercises for grammar, vocabulary, phonetics and conversation practice.

You can also learn using video courses and audio recordings. The only disadvantage of this method is that you need to have willpower and practice systematically. You also need to work through mistakes and spend more time working on yourself. It is also advisable to find a native speaker who could occasionally check your pronunciation and correct mistakes.

In order to learn quickly and independently, you need to apply several useful practices.

1. You can train your memory using stickers with difficult words. Post them in visible places and write words on them that are difficult to remember.
2. Arm yourself with methodological literature, dictionaries and audio-video recordings. You can also read books in the original.
3. Another good way to learn a language is by watching movies. There are many freely available that you can watch with or without subtitles, depending on your level.
4. Feel free to say words and expressions out loud and constantly practice your pronunciation. You can learn Italian, and in principle any language, only through daily training.
5. Set goals for yourself to learn the language step by step. You can start with the alphabet and names of the week and then move on to more complex words and phrases.

It’s not difficult to learn Italian from scratch on your own; it’s important to set a goal and go towards it. Methodical lessons will help you achieve success in learning the language within the desired time frame.

If you have the idea of ​​learning one of the most romantic and beautiful languages ​​in Europe, then you should not neglect it. Learning Italian is not at all difficult, the main thing is to know where to start and what to strive for. In this article we will talk about the rules of learning Italian and their application.

Rule one: Take a test drive

A lot of material has been written about how to learn grammar, alphabet and vocabulary correctly, but almost no one pays attention to one obvious thing: you can learn Italian well only when you become imbued with this beautiful language. Almost every method for quickly learning Italian does not take into account your attitude towards the language, it seems to imply that you are ready to devote all your efforts to learning and have great motivation to learn Italian. But, as practice shows, this is not always the case and people begin to learn a language without even having an idea of ​​what it is, which often leads to disappointment and conclusions like: “I’m not capable of languages.”

To avoid such destructive conclusions and deep disappointments, take a step forward: test drive the language. This means listening, watching and trying to speak (repeat) Italian for several weeks. Listen to Italian music, download audio lessons, or try reading the Italian press with a translator. After 1-2 weeks, you will not only have a basic understanding of the language, but also form your own opinion about Italian and be able to make a more informed and thoughtful decision about learning Italian.

A sure indicator that you need to continue learning Italian is the pleasure and excitement you experience while learning. If after 2 weeks you have not lost your passion and are still determined to learn Italian, then there is no need to put it on the back burner - start learning on the same day.

Rule two: Lay a strong foundation

Once you have decided and are ready to learn, it’s time to talk about the sequence of training. In the first couple of years it is very easy to get confused and start developing the wrong thing. Learning the Italian language, first of all, you need to start with the basics: the alphabet, correct pronunciation of sounds and simple words and phrases. Conventionally, training can be divided into three stages:

1.Foundation: simple words, phrases, alphabet and pronunciation; minimum grammar.

2.Constructions: great attention to vocabulary and grammar; gradual increase in practice hours.

3.Finishing work: a lot of practice, work on the accent.

Why is it important to build a strong foundation? Because without it you will not be able to learn Italian fully. The more responsibly you approach learning the basics of the language, the fewer problems you will have in the next stages. So, for example, if you pay enough attention to the pronunciation of Italian words, then it will be much easier for you during a live conversation. It’s the same with grammar: the more you put into it, the fewer problems you will have with writing texts, letters, and statements.

To form the basics of the Italian language, I would recommend learning the language in the following sequence:

1.Alphabet and pronunciation of letters

2.Simple words and expressions

3.Greetings and other everyday phrases

As mentioned earlier, at this stage there is no need to go into the jungle of grammar or learn 100 words on the topic “Work”, here it is important to learn the minimum, but very well, since the rest of the study of the Italian language will be built on it.

Rule three: Don't skimp on designs

The most difficult and time-consuming stage is the formation of structures. During this period, you must learn a huge number of different topics, link them to grammar and learn to apply it all in practice. Although this stage is difficult, it is what decides how well you will learn Italian.

On your own or with the help of a tutor/courses, but you will have to work a lot and very diligently, since the period of constructing structures is a period of accumulating a critical amount of knowledge, which in the future will help you use the language fluently. Spare no effort and time in learning the Italian language; be prepared that the language will take up all your free time: you will wake up and go to bed with it, you will go to work/study with it, and it will become your leisure time during your studies.

But despite all the difficulties, the reward for this titanic work will not be long in coming. And after 3-6 months you will already be able to correspond or even communicate on everyday topics with Italians. And in another year you will already speak and even think perfectly in Italian. It’s like with a train: the most difficult thing is to move it, so don’t skimp on building structures, devote yourself completely to learning the Italian language.

Rule four: The facade must be beautiful

No matter how strange it may be, people often forget that there is a final stage in learning the Italian language - gaining experience in communication and the correct accent. Many people think that learning Italian means knowing grammar and vocabulary, as well as being able to start and maintain a conversation, and it doesn’t matter how you speak, it’s important to be understood. It is very appropriate to compare this understanding of learning the Italian language with housing: you can live in a room where there are only walls and a roof, but it is much nicer and more comfortable to live in a well-equipped, well-renovated house.

It's the same with the language. It is not enough to learn all the rules and be well versed in Italian vocabulary; it is important to have a rich language base and not get lost in non-standard situations. And for this you need to practice a lot. The best way to do this is to go to Italy and live there. Once you get a job, you will not only learn a lot of professional vocabulary, but also gain invaluable experience in solving non-standard problems and a huge number of hours of language practice.

The complexity of this stage lies in the fact that in order to complete it and truly learn the Italian language, you are required to take real actions related to changing the usual course of affairs, up to and including moving to Italy. After all, this is how you can use the maximum of the acquired knowledge and get the maximum benefit. Even spending six months in Italy will help you develop a huge number of non-standard situations, gain invaluable communication experience, and even get rid of your accent (if you try hard).

Therefore, find the opportunity to go to this beautiful and romantic country for at least six months to consolidate all the acquired knowledge and skills. Take finishing work seriously and then you will be able to say with confidence: “I learned Italian!”, and, however, you don’t even have to say it: your speech itself will say it for you.

Good luck in learning Italian and all the best!

Italian language – one of the most beautiful and romantic languages ​​in the world. One has only to listen to the speech of the Italians, and peace of mind immediately comes, the heart is filled with joy and peace.

Where to start learning Italian?

To begin with, I propose to determine for yourself why you need the Italian language.

• For tourism. Everything is much simpler here. You can only master elementary level , that is A1-A2. You will take all the necessary vocabulary (“Getting acquainted”, “What do you do in life?”, “How did you spend your vacation?”, “Shopping”, “In the city”, etc.). From the grammar topics you study present time (il presente indicativo), complete past tense (il passato prossimo), Future tense (il futuro semplice). You can take one more past L'imperfetto (descriptive past tense). And you can safely go to Italy.
• "Just" , that is, you just want to start learning a language. Perhaps you chose Italian because of its beauty and simplicity, as many believe. , and then decide whether you like it or not.
• You are a polyglot. Let's learn the structure of the language and have fun!
• Studies. On the website of many Italian universities you can find information about what level is needed. Basically the minimum level AT 2 and higher. A lot of preparation awaits you. Italian grammar is far from simple. You will have to study a lot, read a lot, write a lot and talk a lot. You may need to find an experienced teacher.

Learn Italian online on your own

If you decide to learn the language on your own, then you probably have the question “Where to start learning Italian?” Looking for a suitable channel on Youtube or buy some books “from scratch”. If you are lucky enough to find the right material the first time, you will find the learning process easy, and you will be happy to continue learning this beautiful language.The main thing is not to rest on your laurels, but to constantly strive to improve your acquired skills.

Where I prepare step-by-step video lessons with exercises.

Introduce language into your life!

Join various Italian conversation clubs.Spend at least 15 minutes daily studying the language.

The advantage of this method is that you can find pen pals with any level of Italian proficiency. This approach will be of particular interest to those who do not have the opportunity to observe with their own eyes the life and everyday life of Italians.

Italian online or with a tutor?

Individual lessons in language acquisition are of enormous benefit. Contact a tutor to quickly understand your new language. Don't underestimate the value of even a couple of lessons a week.

Your tutor can be either a teacher from a linguistic university or a student who speaks the language at a sufficient level.

Online help from a tutor will also come in handy. Classes with a teacher are possible via Skype or other instant messengers.

The benefits of Italian media resources

Films in Italian, which you will watch first with subtitles and then without, will help improve your speech and improve your understanding.

The best motivation is that the faster you understand the language, the faster you will learn what the actors want to convey to you.

Language practice in Italy

As you know, to better master a language, you need to spend as much time as possible in the country of native speakers.

Check with your institution for information regarding student exchange programs.
If your profession is related to the arts or agriculture, you can learn Italian while working in the country.
While in Italy, try not to speak English, even if native speakers will not mind giving in to you. Good practice is the key to successfully overcoming the language barrier.

Italian language - what is its peculiarity?

Italian differs from other European languages ​​primarily in that it leads in the number of speakers. However, it is officially recognized as the main one only in Italy.

In addition, the Italian language has intuitive word formation; students quickly learn the rules of division into genders, the formation of tenses, and conjugations.

Once you have mastered the Italian language online and strengthened your skills in practice, you will be able to freely talk about your life and hobbies. See for yourself that talking with Italians is much easier than it might seem!

Let's start with the main thing. Would you like to learn Italian? Why him? Maybe you long for the sunsets of Rome and the view from the Aventine Hill, or maybe you have a job dealing with Italian suppliers. Maybe you're learning your fifth language, or perhaps Italian opera resonates so much in your heart that you can't live without the language. Or you just wanted it - it’s interesting and it won’t be superfluous, as people who speak more than one language like to say. In any case, you need to decide how many hours a week you are willing to devote to classes and how much money you can spend. If you have a clear window in your schedule and a decent budget, it makes sense to take a course or find a teacher who will work with you individually. It is worth considering independent study if several factors are present:

• if you have a complex or unstable schedule;
• if you teach for yourself and the investment will not pay off in increased income;
• if you do not have the opportunity to travel anywhere (if you have a small child at home or have an hour at work that you can devote to studying);
• if you don’t have any time at all, but have the desire to spend half an hour before bed to make your dream of watching Fellini’s films in the original come true;
• if you are on a limited budget.

So, you've realized that self-study is right for you. What's next? Here we need to make a small digression and say that the Italian language is ideal 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 are generally easy to learn, and finally, purely subjectively, the vocabulary is pleasant to the ear and tongue.

Where to begin?

Obviously, it’s worth starting with the methodology. Or rather, from the choice of textbook. There are a wide variety of study guides, not only at your local big bookstore, but also online. What to choose?
There are classic textbooks - in English, first of all, which are well structured, have a comprehensive amount of grammar and a workbook to boot - for example, “Modern Italian Grammar. Practical guide”, authors Anna Proudfoot, Francesco Cardo. It is available online, but for training you will need a sufficient level of English proficiency, at least intermediate. There is an enduring classic - Katerin Katerinov “La lingua italiana per stranieri” - a textbook, a classic of its kind, but it is written entirely in Italian, using the so-called complete 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 discussion in the group and are also entirely 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 that belongs to the class of self-instruction books. 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 phrasebook - 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 discover that the phrase you want to say right now is, of course, not there. Therefore, it is advisable to choose a tutorial that does not resemble a flimsy brochure, but contains, in addition to initial information about the language, a sufficient number of exercises, texts, an audio course, a minimal dictionary at the end, and is simply pleasant to you. For me, this pleasantness lies in good paper on which to write with a pen or pencil; in exercises designed to be performed directly in the textbook - then you will never find those pieces of paper on which you happened to complete this task; in an audio transcription recorded so that you can understand it. For myself, I chose the self-instruction manual by D. A. Shevlyakova, published by AST-PRESS - it has everything you need, excluding the normally recorded transcription, but for some this may not be a minus, since it is given in Russian, but not in accordance with international regulations.
After choosing a textbook, the most interesting thing is to begin to recognize a foreign language, to be surprised by its rules and laws, and after a while to understand that it could not have been otherwise, that the language is integral and alive. And very beautiful!

La lingua italiana

The very first thing we begin to study is what sounds are characteristic of the language, where the emphasis 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 the word by ear. Italian is not French, where you will need a separate notebook just for the rules of reading letters and their combinations. Here you first encounter 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 another 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 phrases learned by heart is difficult to overestimate. If they are part of your active vocabulary, then you are often spared the painful search for the correct combination of words where the answer is relevant right now, in the moment. Everyday expressions are like speed dialing a number on a mobile phone - convenient, fast and never superfluous.
Phrases include, in addition to common words of politeness (thank you, please, good morning/afternoon/evening, good night, welcome, be kind, excuse me) also the most common dialogue options (how are you, everything is fine, how are you, where are you from, how long have you been here and the like). With this minimum, you will feel calm - you will understand obvious things accurately and be able to answer adequately.
The exercises and texts in your tutorial will build the grammatical skeleton of the language, build muscle on it and allow you, first slowly, and then confidently and quickly, to build word combinations and phrases.
You will learn vocabulary as you go and you need to be careful here. It is impossible to study all the vocabulary and everyone understands it, but sometimes they forget. But in vain. The question of which words are worth learning first needs to be taken critically. You should start from your goals - if you study a language for communication and travel, then everything is relatively simple - most tutorials are designed specifically for this. You will not miss the most common vocabulary on the topic of transport-hotel-restaurant-city-walks. However, there may be excess here too. For example, you shouldn’t memorize synonyms - at the very beginning you need to navigate single-variant combinations. You will later gain the beauty and richness of the vocabulary in sufficient quantity and with much less effort than at the very beginning of learning the language.
However, if your goals differ from classical tourist ones, it makes sense to act in two directions - master both the general course and, for example, analyze the simplest texts in your specialty.

Limitless possibilities

For a person learning a language in the Internet era, truly limitless possibilities are open. The world is so densely entangled with networks, Wi-Fi and broadband that it would be a sin not to take advantage of it.
First of all, there are many websites dedicated to self-paced language learning. 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 suitable for everyone, but the popularity speaks for itself.
There are sites filled with lessons and individual grammar topics, which can be useful if a specific model remains unclear after analysis 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, we can recommend both adapted texts and books that offer replenishment of passive vocabulary using the method of Ivan Franko - you can even find a number of them on the Internet. They are structured 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 company, there are conversation clubs, film clubs, and websites with the ability to make pen pals.
There are already conversation clubs in many languages, including Italian. Usually the discussion is on a specific topic, with vocabulary provided in advance for the participants, as well as a moderator, who is often a native speaker. This differs from classic language learning courses in that you only pay for what you cannot comprehend on your own - for communication. And you learn the grammar and rules yourself, in your own way and at your own speed.
There is an Italian film club in Moscow that periodically shows Italian films, with subtitles and subsequent discussion. For outgoing extroverts, this may be more appealing than watching alone.
The fairly populous www.mylanguageexchange.com offers a convenient 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, even the most incredible ones.

To Italy, to Italy!

And the most important thing, of course, is the language journey. There are many offers from language schools in Italy for learning the language. You will study a certain (not small!) number of hours every day, being in a language environment - isn’t this a dream?! But it is fundamentally important to go on such a trip alone - otherwise communicating with your companion in your native language will ruin the whole immersion for you.
For the strong-willed, there are also volunteer programs that can include anything from restoring abandoned buildings and roads from the Roman Empire to picking cherries and other harvests in the summer and fall. You can get an idea of ​​the programs, for example, here: www.helpx.net.
Well, the most important thing in learning a language on your own is perseverance and motivation. In a situation where you are not given homework and your money is not leaking, maintaining your interest and not forgetting why you started all this is a rather non-trivial task. Here you already need to examine yourself and be able to negotiate with yourself - for the sake of a picture of the near future. Imagine yourself, fluently and fluently speaking Italian, in an environment that matches your dreams – it’s motivating, isn’t it?

There was a great desire to learn Italian language? Do you want to listen to Luciano Pavarotti and understand him in high tones? Or order at an Italian restaurant with confidence that you are ordering correctly? Statistics show that Italian is the fifth most studied language. Currently, more than 70 million people speak Italian. Another 150 million speak it as a foreign language. Therefore, Lingust simply could not ignore him. And this is what he offers you.

On the lesson pages of this section of the site you will find a specially created for beginners from scratch version of the tutorial from Celeste Zawadska & Maria Majdecka () by learning Italian. Its task is to familiarize students with Italian pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary to such an extent that, having mastered the self-instruction material, they can speak spoken language and independently read journalistic and literary works of average difficulty. For this purpose, the tutorial contains both dialogues on everyday topics and adapted excerpts from works of fiction. The self-teacher's dictionary covers about 3,300 words from various areas of everyday, socio-political and cultural life. Well consists of 52 lessons + phonetics lesson. The keys to the lessons contain translations of Italian texts and assignment solutions. The key is activated when you drag the mouse over it: .

1. First, we get acquainted with the meaning of words and idiomatic phrases and expressions (it is not recommended to memorize words and phrases taken out of context);
2. Having become familiar with the vocabulary, we begin to read the text and try to understand its content. If there is audio for the text, a mini-player appears on the page, listen to it several times and carefully monitor the pronunciation (if you don’t see the player, then your browser does not have flash player installed, install it, or some browser add-on is blocking flash, or you have a very old browser.);
3. We master grammatical material and perform oral and written exercises; then we check the correctness of their execution using the keys and eliminate the mistakes made;
4. Having become familiar with the vocabulary and mastered new grammatical forms, we proceed to independent oral and then written translation of the Italian text into Russian. The translated text must be checked using the translation placed in the keys and errors made must be eliminated. The Russian translation can then be used to “back” translate from Russian into Italian;
5. The final stage of the work is re-reading the text, playing its contents out loud and recording the reproduced text on a voice recorder to compare it with the textbook text. In the case of collective learning of the Italian language, the authors advise playing dialogues several times by role, changing roles each time, and also using descriptive texts to conduct conversations.

Go to -› list of lessons ‹- (Click)

Reasons to learn Italian

• Why do you think Mozart composed his operas in Italian and not German?
• Many people consider Italian to be the most beautiful language. You can check this opinion and compare it with the French language.
• Italian has the largest number of words describing food - they love it so much.
• Watch films by Fellini, Visconti, Pasolini without subtitles.
• You can read “The Divine Comedy” (La Divina Commedia) as Dante wrote it.
• According to UNESCO, more than 60% of the world's artistic treasures are in Italy.
• Italy is a real magnet for tourists. In 2004, Italy topped the list of favorite holiday destinations in Europe, increasing the number of tourists by 339% over the year!
• Italians are a quirky people, very sociable and will happily show you around their country as long as you (try) to speak Italian to them!
• The Italian language is closest to the Latin language, the common ancestor of all Romance languages. There are a huge number of words of Latin origin in the English language; this will make it easier to learn the vocabulary of both languages.
• The Italian language has the most accurate correspondence between letters and sounds (Russian language does not count, of course). A little further from it is Spanish.
• Increasing business integration with suppliers and customers from Italy requires knowledge of the Italian language, because... they have difficulty or are reluctant to speak English.
• Art, fashion, design, opera, cooking, etc. If you are planning a career in these areas, knowledge of Italian is a must!

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