There’s lots of advice on the Internet on how to learn Italian.
Often it covers how to memorize lists of words, or focuses on the weirder Italian grammar concepts.
Sadly, a lot of what you’ll see is obvious, unhelpful or even just plain wrong.
Studying grammar and vocabulary is a waste of time
Or rather, studying grammar and vocabulary in isolation is a waste of time.
It’s certainly much less effective than learning new words and structures in the context of a longer spoken or written text.
Your brain is set up to learn things as they relate to other things.
That is to say, in context.
Read a book, or watch a film, and what you learn will really mean something to you.
Which will make it easy to remember.
As well as more interesting.
Learning grammar in context is almost effortless compared to formal studying.
Just think of how you learnt your mother tongue.
The power of story-telling
Learning a language takes a hell of a long time.
Most people never reach the level they dream of.
The problem, in a nut shell, is keeping at it.
Which is exacerbated by the extremely tedious approach used in many courses and text books.
Motivation is ALL in language-learning.
Get that sorted, and you’re home and dry!
Over the last two days I’ve spent an unusual amount of time with my daughter, Sofia, who persuaded me to splash out on the box of ‘Game of Thrones’
(For those of you in Australia, that’s a TV series with dragons, princesses, and so on.)
I don’t normally watch TV at all, but in the last two evenings we’ve watched 7 episodes together.
Each episode finishes with various plot-lines unresolved.
So we just HAVE to watch another one, like right now!
Harness that power in your language-learning, grasshopper, and your mastery of Italian is all-but assured.
The ’50 Shades of Grey’ approach
There’s a 20-year old foreign languages student at our school in Bologna who has the whole ’50 shades of…’ series on her Kindle, in the language she’s trying to learn.
You know how LONG those books are?
Last I heard she was half-way through the second volume.
Her language skills were improving in leaps and bounds.
And her conversation has gotten more interesting too!
How context and motivation will help you learn Italian
You are hard-wired to show an interest in what other people are doing. Especially the gory or romantic details…
And to want to know what happens next.
Grammar you study in isolation is hard to remember.
But new language presented in context is easier to work out.
And the frequent repetition you get in stories makes memorization unnecessary.
Learning follows.
Start this ‘new way of learning Italian’ today, FREE!
If you don’t yet have the confidence for ’50 Shades of Grey’ or ‘Game of Thrones’ in Italian, we’ve got your back!
Check out these sample chapters of our latest simplified Italian readers (+ click the link in the .pdf to listen to the WHOLE STORY on soundcloud.com):
- Il ristorante (beginner/elementary) Download your free sample chapter
- Il campo di papaveri (elementary/pre-intermediate) Free sample download
- Un’avventura tra i ribelli (intermediate) Download chapter 1 now
All four of our new simplified Italian readers are currently available at the special launch price of just €7.50 each.
And they come with a ‘just write and ask me’ money-back guarantee, so if you find a typo you can demand your money back!
Visit our shop: click here.
P.S.
Anyone tried the ’50 Shades of Grey’ approach to learning Italian?
As always, I’d love to hear your ideas.
Let’s get a good argument going!
Click here to comment on this article.
Karen says
Now here’s a thing. Following your advice I have been planning a TV box set. not so keen on Downton Abbey, thought about The Good Wife but daughter says lots of legal vocab. Thought I would have to buy in italy but Hey! On my UK account I can buy on the IT site ( I knew that ) but here is the good bit, postage to UK is the same! How good is that? and no need to wait until the next holiday. Am going to have a crack at PANAm. House of cards might be tricky
Daniel says
We’ve found that a lot of TV programs (and more so, films) which are shown around the world will also have Italian as one of the language options anyway, in which case you can buy from your local shop, or local Internet vendor, rather than having to pay the extra charges that might be involved ordering from an Italian retailer.
Visit your local DVD store and look carefully at the language options on the back of the packs.
And don’t forget to look at the DVDs you already have at home! Who knows, maybe some of them will have Italian dubbing? It can take some time to get used to the change of language (and voices), but if you already own the DVD, it’s free…
sandslane says
Mi piace molto leggere i libri semplici perché si può vedere come le frasi sono costruiti. Poi quando si guarda il libro di grammatica l’uso è più chiaro. Anche godo le novelle!
Daniel says
Ciao Sandslane,
per ‘novelle’, intendi ‘novels’ (in inglese), che è ‘romanzi’ in italiano?
E’ un ‘falso amico’…
Daniel
sandslane says
Ho pensato che una novella significava un racconto breve.
Daniel says
Hai ragione, scusami. ‘Novelle’ = ‘short stories’. Buona lettura!
Karen says
This book is a perfect intro to easy readers. I did wonder whether Nick was going to turn out to be a two timing philanderer. Nice snappy chapters and plenty of useful grammar to get familiar with, without detracting from the flow. The comprehension checks are useful. Thanks
Daniel says
Thanks for the feedback, Karen. You wouldn’t care to copy and paste your comment into the review section of the ‘product page’ in the shop, would you?
Click here http://onlineitalianclub.com/product/il-ristorante-e-bookaudio/ then scroll down the page to locate the reviews tab, and follow the instructions.
Your opinions will help others, and me, of course!
Karen says
Done. I had missed the review tab when I was looking for a place to put it. Am on chapter 4 of the next one, the pace has picked up
Daniel says
Thank you, Karen. We appreciate it.
Which one is the next one?
If you like detective stories, watch out for ‘Un furto ad Arte’, which we hope to publish next week. It’s by Martina, who writes most of our listening material, and I think she’s done a fantastic job! We’re just waiting for the audio recording, before we release it.
Have a good day!
Karen says
Il campo di papaveri. Quando ho il tempo per leggere dopo i compiti del Corso di Scrivere
Daniel says
Do you like the book and the audio? The woman recording the text is the same person who wrote it.
John Thomson says
Come capriccioso è questo uomo Daniel oh scusatemi, Nick.
A me ,Charlotte era una brava ragazza con un buon lavora, anche Gaia sembra simpatica e probabilemente anche una bella ragazza
che cosa è squacquerone _ è un tipo di formaggio
grazie
Giovanni, un amico di Gaia
Daniel says
Yup, it’s a type of cheese… Thanks for buying the book, John.
Charlotte is a nice girl with a good job, but rather boring. Gaia, in contrast, is hot stuff!
But best I don’t give away too much of the story. I’m hoping to sell more copies!
(By the way, the woman reading the recording is the ‘real-life-Gaia’, if you hadn’t guessed…)
John Thomson says
Quale sceglieresti ?
A occhi grigi freddi come l’acciaio
B occhi dolci il colore delle castagne
A la pelle bianca come la trippa
B la pelle liscia come un oliva matura
A una voce come un graffito su una lavagne
B una voce come il miele caldo, pieno di promesse
A un sorriso d vomitare
B un sorriso da morire
la scelta e la tua
Io, no ho deciso
Daniel says
B, B, B and B.