r/italianlearning

I (a U.S. English speaker) said “You don’t understand,” in English, to a native Italian speaker. I intended to complete my sentence with a very banal line of information. Before I could finish the rest of the sentence, I was accused of being evil and trying to say this person was mentally incapacitated.

We were talking, in English, about throwing away trash and not all “recycling“ in the U.S. is actually recycled. it’s just mixed with garbage. “You don’t understand” was intended like “it’s not as it seems”.

I was not confrontational and had a very even tone.

Is this like how stupido use in Italian never translates well to “stupid“ in American English?

Context: Hey all, I've read a lot of people suggest Coffee Break Italian and I've been listening for a while, part way through season 2 now, but I haven't been getting so much out of it. I think part of the reason is my memory isn't so great and even though they do a good job, I need to hear something repeated more before I remember it. For CBI, I tend to be way ahead with grammar, but far behind on listening (which is what I want to work on), they go so fast and often don't repeat long sentences more than twice so I end up missing most of it.

Does anyone have an alternative recommendation on a podcast that is maybe a bit slower or repeats phrases 3 or 4 times in a row?

Grazie!

What are the clothing sizes in Italian? I am referring to the Italian words for small, medium etc.

I looked it up but couldn’t find a straight or consistent answer.

Hey, I'm really interested in learning either Italian or Spanish (as I'm a MotoGP fan, they're the most used languages in a sport). I wanted to ask if online textbooks are good to start with (if yes, what schedule should I use)? Keep in mind I wanna learn it on my own for free, without paying any courses. Thanks!

Hi all I am an intermediate level learning Italian. I need new content for listening desperately please !! I am bored of what I am currently listening to and find myself not even listening or bothering anymore. I have tried Italiano Automatico, learn with Lucrezia, coffee break italian. Any suggestions welcome!!

I love the Divine Comedy, like I REALLY love it. My goal as an Italian learner is to be able to read it in the original italian/toscan dialect + some other works of the time like Petrarch's poems and some contemporary ones as well, and, whether it seems like it or not, it's a very strong motivation for me.

I would rather keep this as self-taught than with courses or teachers. To give more context, I'm 16 and I'm a spanish speaker, so I guess I'm in a good path already because of the similarity of both languages.

Any tip in order to reach that goal is highly appreciated!

Hey, I want to reactivate my italian skills and I learn best with hearing things. Can someone recommend some easy podcasts for beginners or (free) audio books for beginners?

Grazie!❤️

I’ve had a streak for like 241 days and I feel like I have learnt so much. I do sometimes use apps like Busuu and immerse myself in Italian Netflix shows, but it’s mostly Duolingo.

However I’ve heard people are saying that Duolingo is more for passive learning. Even though, I genuinely feel like I’ve learnt a lot, i don’t know what level I’m at. Maybe I’m at A2 which is probably behind for 8 months.

What would you say is the best way to learn Italian and is Duolingo worth it?

Grazie!

Hi! I have a question, this summer I'm starting Italian, and wanted to know what do you guys think of the Busuu course

I would also like advice on how to learn Italian, what to watch what to read

I want to clear imat in the very first attempt and as a non eu student i have chance of applying to only 1 uni in italy .. so can you guys suggest best imat study resources free and paid both that can help

Questa domanda riguarda la cosiddetta pronuncia "standard". Stavo guardando una serie e mi è sembrato di sentire che il protagonista abbia detto qualcosa tipo "Mmeglio andare".

Non l'ho letto da nessuna parte, però mi chiedevo se fosse possibile ritenere il radoppiamento fonosintattico in questo contesto dalla parola precedente omessa "È"?

I.e. Volendo dire una frase completa, si direbbe: "È mmeglio..."

Però omettendo la "È", si ritiene il raddoppiamento e dice: "mmeglio"?

Qualcuno lo sa?

So, I want to learn Italian. at quite a fast pace, since I am moving to Italy from Australia. I am learning the language at school but I want to hopefully achieve full fluency, but again, school language is certainly not enough to achieve full fluency or close to. Is it possible to get somewhere between B2-C1 maybe even B1 in 6 or less months or so? I know about the term 'avere', I also know somewhat of the differences between 'lo', 'la', 'gli' 'le' 'il' etc. I don't always have the time to do stuff at home because I do quite a lot of sports and extra curricular activities, as I mentioned before, is there a fast way to learn the beautiful Italian language in 6 or under months? Can you guys please give me some tips to learning this language and staying motivational etc. Thank you.

I don't know what to do first and i barely know some words and i have school in september so i just have a month or two to learn at least some words. Need help, thank you!!!

My Italian skills currently:

Ordering pasta? dangerous confidence. Recognizing words in songs? sometimes. Reading simple stuff? okay-ish. Actually answering a normal human? absolutely not.

Someone says:

“Da quanto tempo studi italiano?”

and suddenly I’m mentally scrolling through every verb tense I’ve ever abandoned.

I think I accidentally learned “Italian as vibes” instead of Italian as a usable speaking skill.

So I’m trying a very simple 30-day thing:

No new random vocab unless I use it out loud.

Current setup:

• WordReference for checking phrases
• Reverso Context for examples that don’t sound invented
• Forvo for pronunciation
• Anki but only full phrases/sentences
• Language Reactor for Italian YouTube/Netflix lines
• ISSEN for daily voice roleplays when I have no Italian person around
• 60-second voice notes where I describe my day like a tired toddler

Rule:

If I learn “mi sono reso conto che…” I need to actually say:

“Mi sono reso conto che capisco più di quanto parlo.”

not just admire it in Anki like art.

Anyone else stuck in this fake-comfort zone where Italian feels familiar but speaking is still painful?

As my title states, I am looking to learn Italian! My husband and I plan to go there someday and I love learning so I figure why not! What is the optimal way to learn? Textbook type curriculum? Reading books? listening to music/watching tv? Apps? I just have no idea where to start. For background, I took 2 years of French in high school and had learned some German as a child as well. Definitely rusty but I seem to pick up on languages relatively well. Any advice or resources would be phenomenal, TYIA!! :)

Hello,

As the title suggests, in an informal causal conversation setting among family or friends is it ok to use avere da + infinitive to express need to do something

I heard it among my grandparents when they were speaking.

Is this common ?

My grandparents speak dialect and are from south Lazio

Also wouldn’t mind the history on this as well even if it’s not common spoken

Thanks in advance

Всем привет! Я итальянский студент, и сейчас в университете изучаю русский язык, и так же русскую историю. Я пишу мою диссертацию о историе русской эмиграцию в Китае в ХХ веков.

If anyone is interested, I can help italian-learning russian speakers to practice their conversation and their language learnign (even italian literature, if they need it) in exchange for mutual practice in russian language. All of this would be online, of course

I do not want money or fees.