Spoken by over 60 million people, Italian is a romance language that hosts a large number of cultural works known worldwide. Considered to be the closest living language to Latin, Italian’s grammar is considerably simpler than its ancestor’s.
Many people learn Italian today for many different reasons. Getting an edge in the job market by learning Italian or learning simply because one has Italian ancestry are two of many reasons. Many people learn Italian for an upcoming vacation or intend to retire to Italy. In any of these cases, learning the Italian language can be a great experience.
One factor that may help speed up your studies of Italian is if you already have knowledge of another romance language like Spanish or French. Linguists consider these languages to be very similar and if you know one, you will find that you already know much of the vocabulary and grammar.
For English speakers, Italian is often remarked to have a “pleasing” sound to it, most likely due to its great use of vowels and especially its use of vowels at the end of words. Unfortunately, this stress of vowels also means that listening to Italian seems like an incomprehensible stream to most English-speaking Italian language learners just beginning their studies.
Italian differs from English in that nouns are split into two genders, masculine and feminine. Also, English speakers will find that Italian has verb conjugations that are quite different depending on the subject of the sentence.
Similarities, however, include word order. English and Italian have very similar word orders and both are considered to be subject-verb-object languages. You will find that it is very easy to start making Italian sentences even as a beginner.
Because so many people are interested in learning Italian, there is a great variety of Italian language learning programs for you to choose from. From audio programs to traditional textbooks, you will never be at a loss for materials to learn from.
If you decide to learn the beautiful Italian language, remember to make a serious commitment. Learning any foreign language can be a tough process but if you stick with it and make a consistent effort over a long period of time, you will continually improve your Italian abilities. That being said, don’t forget to relax and enjoy the language, as well! You can read a good Italian novel or listen to Italian music among many other fun activities. These practices will not only improve your Italian but can be some of the most fun and rewarding experiences for you in your Italian language pursuit.
Author Robertson Kunz has a language learning guide: learn a foreign language fast. Italian learners: how to learn Italian.