Italian Classes with Native Italian Tutors

1. Why Learn Italian Today

Acquiring a new language is a long-term investment, we know that. Especially if your target language differs widely from your native tongue, as in the case of Italian and English. However, this effort certainly pays off once you start enjoying all the benefits of being bilingual! If you are not sure whether learning Italian is good for you, keep on reading and be convinced.

Travel to Italy

Italy is one of the most visited places in the world and that’s no surprise: it’s the place with the most UNESCO world heritage sites on the planet! And its charm is not just to be found in Rome: Florence, Venice, Torino, Tropea, are only some of the dozens of other Italian locations that will take your breath away!

Rome

Florence

Venice

Torino

Tropea

Now, if you speak fluent Italian, you’ll be able to discover hidden gems in this wonderful country by visiting places unknown (or inaccessible to non-Italian-speaking tourists) while immersing yourself in this fascinating culture.

Connect with a New Culture

Did you know that over 85 million people worldwide speak Italian? This is not only the official language of Italy but it’s also spoken natively in parts of Croatia, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Therefore, this means you’ll have 65 million potential new friends once you are fluent in Italian!

Enjoy Art and Music on a Whole New Level

Italian is known as the language of music, as it was the birthplace of opera and many renowned composers like Puccini, Bellini, Verdi, and Rossini. When it comes to contemporary artists, Italy doesn’t fall short, either. From Laura Pausini to Luciano Pavarotti or Andrea Bocelli, you’ll surely find something to your taste. Learn Italian and start singing masterpieces like Con Te Partirò without pronunciation mistakes!

One of the most well-known Italian singers today, Laura Pausini produces beautiful pop music. Delight yourself with La Solitudine or La Mia Resposta!

Is Italian a Good Language to Learn for Business?

The short answer is yes! Italy is the third-largest economy in the European Union and has strong trading ties with the UK, amounting to more than £8 billion in 2017. Something similar happens with the USA, which is one of Italy’s most important trade partners, with two-way trade in goods and services in 2019 valued at $103.112 billion.

Plus, if you live in the UK and work in the financial sector, you’ll find dozens of job advertisements in which knowing Italian is a plus. Start studying Italian today and give your resumé the competitive edge it needs!

Do you need even more reasons to learn Italian in 2021? Read our article and discover why acquiring a new language is essential to advance in your career!

2. Learning With a Teacher vs Learning Italian on Your Own

Now that you have decided to take the leap and start becoming bilingual, you are faced with another equally important decision: whether to learn alone or take language lessons. Both of these practices have several pros and cons and might be better for certain students.

For instance, your instructor can pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses and provide you with the best materials to address them, and it’s not that easy to do so by yourself. However, learning alone gives you more independence, control over your study hours and you don’t have to commute anywhere to learn.

The following infographic quickly summarises some of the differences between learning Italian on your own, and studying the language with a professional tutor, whether alone or with a group.

All in all, learning Italian with a teacher is your best option if you wish to become fluent in a short time without getting bored or frustrated. Enjoy immediate feedback and real-life communication while you bond with a native-speaking professional with years of experience. Contact us today to enquire about our closed group, open group, or individual lessons and embark on your Italian journey!

3. What Types of Italian Are There?

If you are looking to learn Italian today, you should know there are dozens of dialects and varieties. One of them is Standard Italian, which comes from the Tuscan variety that was spoken in Florence since the 14th century. But if you go to Naples, Sardinia, Venice, and almost any region in Italy, you’ll see that people speak something that sounds like a completely different language.

Today, dialects are spoken in Italy to varying degrees. For example, in the North, regional variations are mostly used by the elderly, while in the South, you’ll probably find young speakers like adolescents who use dialects in informal contexts, as reported by a study carried out by ISTAT in 2015.

What Italian Dialects Exist Today?

So, the Italian dialects can be divided into 3 main groups:

• Central:
  Tuscan, Umbrian, Sabino, Castelli Romani.
  
  
• Northern:
  Lombard, Piedmontese, Ladin, Cimbrian, Veneto.
  
  
• Southern:
  Sardinian, Tabarchino, Sicilian, Salento.
  
  

Would you like to hear how these accents sound? Take a look at this video by Italian comedian Enrico Brignano and find out!

4. Italian Culture and Why You Should Learn About It

Learning a language is much more than knowing grammatical rules or vocabulary. It also entails understanding the culture, values, and traditions of the people who use it. Here are some examples of the essential elements of the fascinating Italian culture!

Did you know that Italians use more than 250 gestures and facial expressions on a daily basis? This means that no conversation is complete without them. For example, the hand horns used in the USA in rock concerts have a different meaning in Italy: to protect yourself from the evil eye. Learn more about these essential hand gestures with our article!

Celebrations and festivals are very common in Italy. In addition to national holidays, almost every region in the country has its own festivities. From the carnival in Venice to the Milano Fashion Week, you can have the time of your life if you attend these festivals! Just bear in mind that, during these regional or national holidays, museums, bars, and shops will probably be closed.

In addition to their gestures and facial expressions, Italians are well-known for their delicious cuisine. Cheese, pasta, wine, and olives are essential parts of Italian meals. Plus, family gatherings are frequent and always centred around food. So, if you’d like to know more, read our article and discover more about this fascinating food culture!

5. Resources to Learn Italian

So, have you decided to take the leap and start learning Italian on your own? That’s an excellent decision! We would like to accompany you in your language journey with the following resources, apps, and tools so you can improve your skills in an integral way without leaving your home. Let’s go!

Italian Level Tests

If you have studied Italian in the past or have had some kind of contact with the language, one of the first things to do is to determine your level. And what better way than to do this with one of our FREE level tests?

They are easy to take: you’ll be presented with sets of 10 questions with missing words or phrases and you need to choose the correct answer. Just keep in mind you shouldn’t guess or you’ll end up with inaccurate results. If you are not sure about the answer, choose the option “I don’t know”. Learn more about our Italian level test scoring here.

Further, you can choose between answering just one set of 10 questions or the whole test of 70. If you get tired and would like to know your results without completing the whole test, you just have to click “Get my results” and you’ll receive your results immediately. Take our test here!

Italian Level Tests

There’s no better way to learn Italian online than by using materials that motivate and interest you. For instance, if you are passionate about cinema, you should use Italian films to improve your pronunciation, listening and reading comprehension skills, and knowledge of their culture. Some Italian movies you cannot miss include:

La Vita é Bella
(1997)

Bycicle Thieves
(1948)

La Dolce Vita
(1960)

Umberto D
(1958)

Lazzaro Feliz
(2018)

Call me by your name
(2017)

Language Learning Apps

Today, countless language apps can help you learn Italian for free while having fun! Most of them have short, bite-sized lessons focused on vocabulary (isolated items or phrases) for language learners with a busy schedule. While most of them can be used for free, there’s a small monthly fee to pay if you want to access their features in full. Some great apps to learn Italian, then, are:

• Forvo, a great pronunciation dictionary.
• Duolingo, an app with 5-minute lessons to take every day.
• Memrise, mostly focused on learning survival phrases through videos.
• Drops, an app that teaches vocabulary using flashcards and audio recordings.

Italian Music

Are you a music lover and would like to acquire Italian using what you love the most: songs? Then, you’ll be happy to know there are dozens of Italian artists that can help you achieve your goal. By listening to their songs and singing, for example, you can polish your pronunciation. And if you use the lyrics, much the better! Here are some resources that can help you learn Italian online using music:

• Forvo, a great pronunciation dictionary.
• Duolingo, an app with 5-minute lessons to take every day.
• Memrise, mostly focused on learning survival phrases through videos.
• Drops, an app that teaches vocabulary using flashcards and audio recordings.

The News in Italian

Using the news to learn Italian is an excellent way to polish your listening skills while learning what is going on in Italy and the world. Let’s take a look at some resources you can use to learn Italian for free while watching the news:

• EuroNews
• Rainews24
• Ansa
• Corriere Della Sera

Flashcard Makers

TFlashcards are amazing for visual learners to learn Italian interactively. And the best thing is that you don’t have to rely on your drawing skills anymore! There are dozens of free and paid apps and sites where you can design your own flashcards online. You can include pictures, words or phrases, audio recordings, and virtually anything that will help you remember new Italian vocabulary. Some options are:

• Brainscape
• Cram
• Quizlet
• Anki, and more

Verb Conjugators and Online Worksheets

Italian grammar can be nightmarish to learn, especially for those who don’t speak any other Romance language. Italian has 5 tense forms, but, different from English, each person has a different conjugation. For instance, the past continuous of the verb mangiare (to eat) is:

So many conjugations mean that you’ll probably need some help when learning how to use verbs in Italian correctly. So, if you are looking for a good verb conjugator to take your Italian grammar skills to the next level, you can access one of these sites:

• Italian Verbs,
• Conjugator Reverso,
• Verbix,
• Or Cooljugator!

Plus, you can master the Italian grammar rules using sites with exercises and worksheets for students of all levels. Websites like One World Italiano, Online Italian Club, or Impariamo l’italiano are loaded with grammar exercises, quizzes, and short video lessons so you won’t only increase your understanding of grammatical rules but you can also put them into use.

Is Italian Pronunciation Easy to Learn?

Well, it depends on whom you ask! Italian can be very easy to learn for those who already speak a Romance language. However, for English speakers, Italian may not be so simple which is why learning with an experienced tutor is your best choice! Here are some reasons why:

• It has double consonants, which are longer than single consonants. It’s not the same to say “Gino” than “Ginno”. And let’s not forget about double RRs! Check out this video to learn more about double consonants.


• It’s a gendered language, which means that nouns, adjectives, and articles can either be masculine or feminine. This doesn’t exist in English, and you’ll need to learn these genders by heart!


• The Italian rhythm is very different from the English one, which means you’ll have to sit down and practice a lot on your own and with your teacher to sound natural.

And if you already know something about phonetics and phonology, you can take a look at this technical guide compiled by the University of Stanford!

6. Key Italian Phrases

Traveling to Italy soon? Start learning some phrases that will help you get by in this beautiful country! Find some survival phrases below in case you are not lucky enough to find English speakers on your way.

What are you waiting for? Start your Italian language journey with us today! Our native-speaking teachers will be there for you every step of the way, regardless of your proficiency level, background, or age. Reach out to us and find out how our Italian courses work!