"Why Italian? You probably think that Italy will invade Ethiopia again, this time successfully, and then you can boast of knowing the language spoken in two whole countries!" I remember how I laughed at this phrase in Elizabeth Gilbert’s book “Eat, Pray, Love,” but I started thinking... Really, why learn Italian? And here are the answers that I found.
- You will be understood in Italian not only in Italy. But also in Switzerland, in several districts of Croatia and Slovenia (where it is recognized as one of the official languages), as well as on the island. Malta, where Italian is quite widely spoken.
- Italian can be mastered fairly quickly at a conversational, everyday level(I emphasize, on HOUSEHOLD!). Easy spelling: learn the rules of reading - and you can read and write without thinking about transcriptions and exceptions to the rules. The sounds are similar to Russian ones; difficult to pronounce letter combinations are rare. There are many recognizable words, since the Italian language is a descendant of Latin, and the Russian language has a lot of words of Latin origin. Italian grammar can be called correct, harmonious and logical. There are almost no exceptions to the rules. No cases. There are only two genders: male and female. The order of words in a sentence is almost like in Russian. In a word, you can start talking right away.
- With the help of Italian you can improve your speech! The fact is that Italian consonants are pronounced clearly, energetically and firmly. The sound "R" sounds loud (very useful for those who cannot pronounce this letter, especially children). In this way, you train your articulatory apparatus, and your speech becomes clearer and clearer.
- Speaking Italian makes you more relaxed. Yes Yes! Italian is a very expressive language. In addition to good articulation and lively intonation, body language and gestures are immediately involved, which makes you feel less constrained and automatically adds self-confidence.
- Despite the fact that there is an opinion that everyone already speaks English everywhere, in Italy this is not entirely true. Of course, in hotels, restaurants, outlets and large tourist centers you will feel quite at ease even with minimal knowledge of English, but will this “standard set” of a tourist really satisfy you? Local residents - this is the REAL Italy! They are the ones who will tell you what cannot be found in any guidebook or even on the Internet. One caveat: most locals not involved in the tourism business speak only their native Italian (especially in the south of the country).
- Italian language is incredibly beautiful. The focus of speech in Italian is so-called mandibular, and words end in a vowel, which makes the language melodic and melodious. It’s not for nothing that Italian is the native language of opera. I just want to sing!
- After studying your favorite topic “Food” (and it is one of the first), you will understand the names of dishes on the menus of Italian restaurants with ease and even some pride. And never again ask the waiter: “What is minestrone?”
- And how many Italian words you will discover by reading the names of shops, beauty salons, laundries and the same restaurants and pizzerias (well, this is sacred)! And how many funny inconsistencies you will find!
- Once you start learning Italian, you will become more erudite. You will never exclaim "Bravo" again! just like that, but only to the male performer; you will correct your interlocutor who says “LamborGini”, because the correct reading is “LamborGini” and only “LamborGini”; you simply will no longer be able to pronounce “latte” (with the emphasis on the “e”), but with confidence in your voice you will pronounce “lAtte” (with the emphasis on the “a”); the mysterious “Cosa Nostra” will be translated as “Our Business”, and the hackneyed but incomprehensible “Lashatemi kantare” will be a simple phrase meaning “Let me sing.”
- And finally, already in your first Italian lesson, you will be surprised to learn that “Ciao” is translated not only as “Bye!”, but also as the opposite “Hello!” .
So I say "Ciao!" to you as I now say goodbye to you, and I say "Ciao!" to you as I welcome you to language lessons in which, to quote Elizabeth Gilbert, " every word... like the singing of a nightingale, like a magic spell, like candy melting in your mouth".
You can sign up for a lesson with an Italian tutor.
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Whatever you say, learning a foreign language from scratch is still a lot of work! Especially mental and, most often, emotional. This is exactly what happened for me. During my school years, like many others, I began to study English. It was primitive, at the level of knowledge of the alphabet, personal pronouns, standard phrases like “My name is Natasha” and “I live in Moscow” or scanty poems about the fact that I have eyes and I can see a book and a pen in front of me, I see the ceiling and floor, I see a window and a door. You know, many years have passed, but I still remember the poem. Apparently the weekly repetition worked. And what?
I’m ashamed, but when I first came abroad, I couldn’t communicate with foreigners. At all. No way. Well, just hello, goodbye and thank you. This was the maximum.
I was eaten up by a feeling of shame, because next to me there is a sister who speaks excellent English, German, Spanish and Portuguese. And every conversation we had with her ended with the optimistic phrase on her part, “Learn English!” But I didn't want to. I had no desire for this.
In the worst weather in the summer of 2010, I left for Italy. Two weeks of walks through the most beautiful cities: Rome, Milan, Florence, Naples. We looked under the road from one city to another. Graceful “Roman Holiday” with Audrey Hepburn, exciting “The Italian Job” with greetings from Venice, sunny shots of “Under the Tuscan Sun”, which have become the most beloved and symbolic images of Italy. In the evenings in a small room (oh, this piccolo!) I turned on the Italian TV channel Rai and listened, listened, listened...
However, I didn’t start learning Italian on my own right away. Several important and fateful meetings took place, which turned into golden keys to the door to the world called “Italian language”. I share these “meetings” with you. Heartily.
A young man with the interesting name Zhivko greets hotel guests with a wide, disarming smile. A melodious Italian conversation flows around, and in pure Russian he invites you to sit down: “Welcome to Italy! Coffee?" And within a few minutes a steaming, aromatic cup of espresso appears on the tiny table. This is how my Italian morning began at the Playa Hotel, located on the Viserbella promenade, which is a 10-minute drive from the city. July that year turned out to be very hot, even in the morning hours the Italians themselves hid under awnings, miniature umbrellas and behind bar counters. “Just like at my house,” Zhivko admits, and this is where our acquaintance begins.
At the Playa Hotel, which mainly hosts Italians and only a few rooms are usually occupied by visiting foreigners, everyone speaks their own language. English does not help in communication; in Italian at that time I could only say 2 words – Ciao and Grazie. Therefore, it was Zhivko who became my personal translator. I was alone in the Russian hotel.
Later we met him in the hotel restaurant. On a separate table, assigned to me for the entire rest period, there was a menu. Of course, everything is in Italian. Under each name of the dish, Zhivko wrote a translation in pencil. Even if there are mistakes, such attention is still worth a lot.
I remember one day I really wanted milk. Still, coffee in the morning, afternoon and evening is unusual for me. “Milk is a latte,” Zhivko explained and smiled again.
I remember those days with warmth, because each of us may find ourselves in a situation where in a foreign country you simply need a person nearby who can speak your native language. I already have it. Although now we will be able to speak Italian. If you ever find yourself in the Viserbella area, say hello to Zhivko from Moscow.
And another inspiration from the Italian language
I don’t remember exactly what TV season, Channel One started showing the show “Ice Age,” in which pairs of professionals and amateurs skated on the ice. Among them was my favorite couple. They performed one of the program numbers to the amazing and probably most famous song (Adriano Celentano) “Confessa”. The performance itself under the spotlight was mesmerizing, but I was even more captivated by this amazing hoarse voice. Can you guess what I wanted to do? First, understand what this song is about. And, secondly, sing it yourself. But for this you needed to know Italian.
And then one day, one warm summer evening, I made up my mind. Okay, I'll learn English! Because it is necessary. And I will learn Italian. Because I want to. This difference between “need” and “want” played a very important role for me. I know the second language better than the first.
Don't force yourself, friends! Let learning a new language bring satisfaction and joy from what you get. And, most importantly, teach for yourself, not for others. After all, how nice it is to hear the words “Brava!” in response to small but successful attempts to pronounce a phrase in Italian.
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Each language is complex in its own way. If you have a certain inclination towards learning a foreign language, then you are very lucky, but if not, then you will have to put in a lot of diligence in order to learn the language, at least at an intermediate level. There are no easy languages that are easy to learn; each has its own difficulties. In this article we will look at the difficulties that you will have to face if you are planning to learn Italian. Your success depends on your abilities, with or without them, you will have to work hard at it anyway.
Some people decide to learn Italian just because it seems easy to them, although it is not. The main difficulty is due to the fact that this language has a complex lexical structure, as well as expressive and varied phrases that are not so easy to master. Difficulties may also arise when mastering grammar, which is also not easy. You should always proceed from the fact that any language needs to be learned with pleasure, otherwise your studies will not be particularly effective.
Difficulties in learning Italian:
- Pronunciation and intonation are very different from the Russian language. The sounds need to be pronounced in a special way and you will have to work hard at it. Pronouncing words the way Italians do will only become possible after long practice.
- Grammatical complexity in the use of the article and its forms. There are two reasons for these difficulties: the Russian language does not have an article, so that its use can be taught through associations. The second reason is based on the fact that the Italian language does not have clear rules for using the article, and there are many exceptions to the rules.
- The use of prepositions causes difficulties, since some constructions do not fit into the generally accepted framework.
- The verb is the main problem of all those who undertake to study this language. There are many verb tenses, much more than in the Russian language, this is actually the main problem - to understand the formation of tenses and their use. It will be difficult to understand the moods, but the formation of complex tenses is relatively easy to learn, since they are formed according to the same principle.
These are the main difficulties that you will have to deal with if you are planning to learn Italian. But the language has a beautiful sound, so you will be highly motivated to learn it.
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Anyone who starts learning any foreign language wonders how easy it will be for them to learn? There can be a huge variety of answers to this question, depending on the strength, motivating or not, of a person in the educational process. As you know, folk wisdom says: “ Desire has a thousand possibilities, Reluctance has a thousand reasons" Accordingly, with regard to the process of teaching foreign languages, this proverb can be paraphrased as follows: “For those who strive for knowledge, it will be easy, for those who do not strive, it will be very difficult.”
Just something complicated
If you know the songs of Eros Ramazzotti by heart, and it seems to you that nothing is easier than expressing yourself in this melodic and expressive language, then you are mistaken! Many who started only because they wanted to add this “easy” language to their knowledge and skills, after a while changed their minds a little. And all because any business must be approached with all seriousness and responsibility.
A little history
As you know, Italian is a direct descendant of Latin. At the same time, it is a living, modern language that is developing in all directions, and a complex, intricate language that has absorbed historically established stylistic devices and a complex grammatical structure. The belief that learning the Italian language is a very easy process is completely wrong, because all its depth is learned through its history. Therefore, get ready for a long, difficult, but interesting and exciting process! There is an opinion that the Italian language was created artificially. Back in the 19th century, after the unification of Italy into a single independent state, the country's leadership decided to streamline the Italian language, so that it would be easier for different nationalities, now forced to live under the same flag and speaking different languages, to find a language with each other. Thus, the grammar was corrected, creating general simple and even primitive rules that would seem ridiculous to the Russian-speaking population.
Learning Italian under hypnosis: sleep and learn.
Today, many foreign language schools offer hypnosis training in Italian. Of course, for any sane and not lazy person, the dubious effectiveness of this method should arouse some suspicion. We all remember how our parents and grandparents turned on the TV at the same time every day to receive the next installation from Dr. Kashpirovsky. But if in reality everything was so simple, and the power of hypnosis allowed everyone to learn a foreign language quickly and without problems, then the world would no longer be the same. Therefore, remember that all the newfangled and “super effective” ways to learn Italian in two days, under hypnosis or in a dream, are nothing more than good bait for the lazy.
The main difficulties facing students of Italian
The first and most important advice for those who are starting to learn the Italian language can be formulated as follows: do not chase easy prey, go through everything gradually and step by step, only in this case learning the Italian language will seem like an easy process to you. First of all, think not about whether it will be easy or difficult to learn a language, but about how long you want to do it, because motivation is the main incentive and the key to effective results in any endeavor.
Pronunciation plays a huge role in the Italian language. Contrary to popular belief, it is actually not that simple, at least for a beginner. If there is no difficulty in the perception of individual sounds, except for distinguishing between closed and open vowels e And O, then intonation and stress can cause difficulties for Russian-speaking students. And achieving real Italian pronunciation like the natives of Italy will not be an easy task.
Grammar can become another stumbling block if you do not take its study seriously. Italian, unlike Russian, has many articles, which in turn have different forms depending on the case of their use. And even if we are familiar with the articles of the English language from school, and they no longer cause fear, then the use of Italian articles cannot be reduced to a few clear rules. Another difficulty may be the study of verb tenses, of which there are a huge number in Italian, unlike the Russian language. It will be very important not only to learn and remember the forms of using verbs, but also to understand their differences in order to use them correctly depending on the case. Those who master Mediterranean cuisine in the form of eight tenses of the indicative mood " on the first", two tenses of the conditional mood " for the second», « for dessert» waits for 4 subjunctive tenses. But don't worry too much. The main thing in learning Italian verbs is to remember their correct use and mood, and the form, as a rule, is built according to a certain principle and it will be much easier to figure it out.
Easy spelling? This could happen! How hard it is to believe that the most simple thing about Italian, unlike the Spanish language and its dialects, is spelling. That is, if you understand and remember the rules of reading, you can safely read and write in Italian. Grammar rules have almost no exceptions, since at one time they were “brought to a common denominator”, adjusting all the principles and rules to simplify them as much as possible. Therefore, modern Italian grammar can be called strict, logical and concise.
Start small, learn grammar! And this will open the door to the world of self-education, so that the learning process will not seem difficult and uninteresting to you!
AUGUST, 2016
There are many reasons to learn Italian. This can be done for the soul, for life or for the mind. I think that the most important reasons are hidden in our sensual and emotional sphere: our dreams, craving for beauty, enjoying Italian music, communicating with Italians and traveling around Italy. Let's start with this.
1. DREAM
It's worth learning Italian if it's a long-time dream. For all those who grew up with the songs of Toto Cutugno, the Sanremo festival and the films of Adriano Celentano, or for those who have some other important personal memory, Italian is a childhood dream. The language of sun, love and happiness that we felt in Italian melodies, saw in photographs and in films.
However, you can often hear the opinion that dreams are nonsense, we need to do useful practical things. I think that dreams must be fulfilled - this is our gift to ourselves and our soul. The point is not even that you will begin to understand songs and films that you have known for a long time, but that you will take care of yourself and your desires.
2. SOUND BEAUTY
Italian is very beautiful: melodic, sonorous and passionate. It’s nice to hear him - it’s not for nothing that so many wonderful songs and opera arias are written in Italian. It’s pleasant to speak – a friend of mine once said: “It’s as sweet to pronounce Italian words as if you were eating a cake.”
3. ITALIANS
When learning Italian, you will not be able to avoid communicating with its native speakers - Italians. And it will be wonderful: open, friendly, sociable and positive people, be it a newspaper seller with whom you exchanged a few words, a man on the street who made a compliment, a barista who greets you with the same “ciao bella!” or a friend riding a motorino through Rome at night - all this will give you a wonderful experience of warm, open communication, which (for some reason) we have very little of in Russia when communicating with strangers.
4. FEELING OF ITALY
Knowing at least the basics of the language will make your stay in Italy more profound. You can experience much more than just eating delicious food and seeing beautiful scenery (read also point 9 here). Knowledge of a language is the establishment of real, not superficial contact with what surrounds you. To do this, some use photography, some draw and sketch, and some hear and understand the language of the place.
5. SENSITIVITY
From Italian culture and interactions with Italians one can gain new experiences of sensuality and physical pleasure. We pay a lot of attention to intellectual work and caring for the soul, but physical experience (mild climate, delicious food, sex) is relegated to the background. Learning Italian can help you discover not only your emotionality, but also your sensuality.
Okay, these are all lyrical reasons, if they do not convince you, then there are also practical bonuses from knowing Italian:
6. TRAVEL
Firstly, it’s no secret that not everyone in Italy speaks English (and maybe you don’t either ;), so the language will be useful simply for resolving everyday situations encountered along the travel route.
And secondly, there is also an unobvious plus - you can use Italian, attention, not only in Italy! Surprisingly, but true: more than once our students resorted to Italian to communicate with the Japanese, Belgians and French. And mutual understanding with the Spaniards is established instantly.
7. BENEFITS WHEN STUDYING OTHER LANGUAGES
If you have a difficult relationship with English (that is, your speech does not flow like Colin Firth), then learning Italian can really unblock it. A marathon participant said it best Sveta: “Perhaps my decision to learn Italian was my best decision of the last year (years?): thanks to Italian, I not only improved my English (I began to see roots from Latin -> it became easier to remember words, for example, the same paunchy is perfectly remembered if you know Italian pancia, without any stupid associations with donuts, and there are a THIRD of borrowings from Latin (and the Romance languages that came from it) in English!”
I can also confirm: learning Italian is objectively not difficult, and it can be an important experience in successfully learning a foreign language. You will have a pleasant feeling “I can do it!”
B2 in Italian is a realistic result for one and a half years of study.
Also, learning Italian can provide a lot of food for thought:
8. LEARNING THE ROMAN LANGUAGE
Italian is a Romance language, which means that once you learn it to at least a good B1, you can master any other Romance language (Spanish, French, Portuguese... Latin, after all!) almost instantly. Okay, exactly 5 months. With Italian you will understand the logic of all these languages, and more than half of their vocabulary is almost identical. We can say that with Italian you simultaneously acquire understanding at levels A1-B1 in Spanish or French.
That is, if you don’t know what Romance language you might need in the future, learn Italian. If you don’t need this one, then use it as a base for the rest.
Well, then, it’s just interesting to understand the logic of another language. And surprisingly, you will also learn a lot of new things about your native Russian)
10. SOMETHING NEW
In general, when learning any foreign language, we often cannot even imagine what awaits us along the way: an important acquaintance, a cool professional or personal project, or something completely unexpected and wonderful. For example, I learned Italian, and then worked as a translator with amazing people: businessmen, photographers, directors, and even Toto Cutugno. And now my friend and I have our own Italian school in St. Petersburg, where we try to create an authentic atmosphere and convey everything that you just read about.
