We are planning a family trip to Italy in the fall focusing on food and wine. Half of the trip will be in the Piedmont region (truffles and Barolo!) and half in the Modena/Parma area. I am trying to learn some basic tourist Italian to assist, particularly for reading menus, buying food in farmers markets, etc. In high school and college I studied Latin, Spanish, French and German to various degrees and prefer learning the grammatical rules of a language rather than just diving in to conversation. I have been using the free Duolingo app and just signed up for the Pimsleur app but neither is providing the approach I want. I have looked into non-credit college and community based classes but have not found options during the summer. Hiring a tutor online may be an option. We can probably get by without knowing any Italian but I prefer to at least make the effort. Any recommendations?
If you already know Spanish well, you may want to search for “Italian for Spanish speakers”, due to the closeness of the languages.
Your challenge will be that language instruction overall has largely moved away from a grammar-based approach. Back in the olden days, when we were being posted to Italy we used an actual book, which was grammar based, called Living Italian. I’m pretty sure it’s still in print, but if not you could probably find it on Amazon Marketplace.
True. Developing vocabulary is more useful than knowing correct grammar.
We find DuoLingo useful, but if that hasn’t worked for you, try Rosetta Stone. Not free but cheaper than hiring a tutor.
Try Italian for Dummies. I have Spanish for Dummies and appreciate the combination of situational vocabulary and clear explanation of grammar rules. Looking on Amazon, it seems to still be in print and my Spanish book had an included CD.
I have often had luck going into used bookstores and checking out whatever language learning methods are available. You sound sufficiently motivated to learn from a book with CDs. The pronunciation follows rules and back when I was a music student it seemed not hard to figure out.
I get frustrated with Duolingo, at least the free version at this point, in two different languages. Working through the elementary lessons, which seem to go on forever, and then lessons stop for another ad. Previously I remember testing out to reach an appropriate point of learning, but I feel stuck at a too easy level in languages I have studied at various points previously.
And frankly, if you’ve studied French, Spanish, and especially Latin, Italian will likely be a snap.
(I’ve studied all four of those at various times in my life. What always amazed me when learning a new language was when I didn’t know the proper vocabulary, the correct word from a language I hadn’t used in decades would suddenly pop into my head!)
ETA: I learned Italian to a pretty useful degree before studying Spanish. In a Spanish speaking country I was actually able to get by with Italian and some very rudimentary Spanish on certain occasions - they’re that similar (e.g. buying a bus ticket, in restaurants).
You should be able to jump ahead in Duolingo. https://support.duolingo.com/hc/en-us/articles/204641974-How-can-I-skip-the-basics- But I do have a paid version. I think h and I lasted 2 weeks with the ads. But it’s been the best $80 we ever spent. I’ve learned so much German in the last year.
The format does work well for me, but yes, it sort of sneaks the grammar rules in there. Most dots have a tips tab that explains some things. And then after each question/answer there’s a little conversation button where people can write in questions and answers. I’ve learned a lot of things from there. And then I’ve also just googled things that I’m unclear on.
I’m not sure if it’s included with the free version, but I also have access to dozens of free and/or paid online sessions each week. Most concentrate on speaking or pronunciation. But they can be fun too.
You might want to try something like this: https://learn.storylearning.com/uncovered-select-language37129904
I speak enough Italian to hold a friendly, superficial conversation – and go shopping – and this looks interesting to me. A friend has used this and raves about it.
Thanks for that link in Duolingo. It explains a great deal. I will try to test out of a section, but as they say, they don’t make it easy.
I paid for Duolingo a few years back and if I can get serious again, will pay. S and DIL are coming with the inlaws in a few months, so need to work on Chinese.
H and I have spent many many hours on it this past year. He is doing Spanish and I’m doing German. We constantly tell each other new little things that pop up or that we noticed. It’s interesting to me how different features are between the two courses. And the Spanish course seems to further developed than German. Not surprising I guess.
Great idea to use this as an excuse to learn the language. I’ll add a tip for translating written info real time.
When we went to Europe with the kids in 2015, our lad who had done semester abroad, had some cool new tricks. We loved how he could take photo of a sign or menu and get a translation. Fun story: At one beer garden in Munich, there was a German menu and an English menu. The daily specials were only in German, but we used cellphone to get the translation.
Probably lots of ways to do that now. Here is one method.
Have you tried your public library? Our online database (Mango) uses the conversation method, but we also have grammar books and courses, and courses in audiobook and CD format. Libby and Hoopla have courses to download, too. Another library in our network has the Living Italian course mentioned above.
I learned Spanish on my own, starting at age 40. My previous language study was just French in high school, which I was never any good at. I was very motivated, and devoted 1+ hr/day without fail for about 4 months, and in that period of time was able to get my Spanish skills up to the point of being to rent an apartment, chat with locals, order food etc. At first I wasted a bunch of money on programs like Rosetta Stone, but soon figured out they didn’t work for me. What DID work was the following: the regular old Pimsleur program + the workbooks from Practice Makes Perfect.
I used the original Pimsleur program NOT the app. I followed directions and actually said the lessons out loud like they say you must. I borrowed all the lessons from the library because they are expensive otherwise. Each lesson takes about 25 minutes, and I did each lesson twice (usually on consecutive days.) Every day I also did a few pages of Practice Makes Perfect workbook. These were also available at the library, but I learn better by actually writing down the answers in the workbook (not a Kindle) so I bought my own. I notice Amazon sells the same ones I used but in Italian: Grammar, Prepositions, and Verb Tenses. By the time you are done with the first 90 Pimsleur lessons and all 3 workbooks, you will be well on your way. Then to broaden vocabulary, start reading. I recommend books you already know, but in translation. I started with kids’ chapter books like Harry Potter.