Do You Want To Learn Italian?

By Robertson Kunz

The descendent of Latin, the language spoken in the Roman empire, Italian is now spoken by more than 60 million people. Unlike its ancestor, however, Italian has grammar that is considered much easier to learn.

Reasons for learning Italian range from preparing for a trip to Italy to retiring on the Italian coast. Many others learn Italian because their ancestors came from Italy or because they want an advantage in applying for jobs. No matter what your reason may be for learning Italian, learning a new language is a very rewarding process.

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.

English speakers worldwide think of Italian as a very beautiful language. Unlike English, Italian puts a lot of emphasis on vowel sounds and many Italian words have vowel sounds at the end.

Tricky Italian points for English speakers include determining gender for nouns since words are either of the masculine gender or of the feminine gender. Additionally, verbs are conjugated with very different forms 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.

Due to the large number of Italian speakers and Italian's popularity as a foreign language, there is a wide variety of language textbooks and programs for learners to choose from. Depending on your ultimate language goals for Italian, you may want to choose from a quick audio program before your vacation or a textbook series to take you to fluency.

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. - 30213

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