One (older) man’s quest to learn Italian – Part 5
Even after using all of these materials, there is still something missing from one’s study of Italian: conversation. I’ve found several ways to solve this problem.
First, and certainly best, is to spend time in Italy and use the language. Since contracting to buy an apartment there last August, I’ve been back 4 times for a week at a time. The opportunity to use the language was bountiful, since I was checking on reconstruction, attending the closing, ordering an apartment’s worth of furniture, and constructing that furniture as well as buying the items necessary to make the place livable. This also gives one the opportunity to learn things the way Italians use them in everyday life.
But, I can’t continue these once every month or two trips … at least not right now (he says with a smile, thinking about the future and spending more time there).
So, I focused on getting more conversation here in the US.
I have a good friend, my best man, who has fallen for Italy almost as much as I have. He’s studying the language, and we do practice speaking and writing to one another. He lives 2 hours away, so this is not an ideal solution.
I also found an Italian “Meet Up” group here in central Ohio, and have joined that. See:
http://www.meetup.com/
Search for “Italian” and your city, and you might be amazed just how many other Italian students there are!
Finally, and I’ve left the best for last, find a native Italian speaker and hire them as a personal tutor.
After being frustrated with not being able to attend regular university or college classes in Italian, I sent an e-mail to the head of the Italian program at Ohio State University asking for her advice. She suggested the tutor route, and had a department administrator provide me a list of tutors. She stressed that I should only get one who is a NATIVE Italian speaker. I made my calls and sent my e-mails, and have been using a tutor for several months. The ability to converse weekly, ask questions, be tested on progress, and cover more complex sentence structures, tenses, etc., has been nothing short of fabulous.
My best man has done exactly the same thing, and he feels as I do, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” For what is likely to be less than $30 each week, you can get an hour or two of great one-on-one help with your Italian, and help out a “starving student”. The tutors we use or who we contacted are all Italian citizens here doing either another undergraduate degree, or advanced degrees, after earning a degree in Italy. None of them teaches Italian at their university here. They are studying in areas like women’s studies or very advanced philosophy (doctorate level). We find that their ability to provide more information to us than just rote lesson material is fantastic … plus, our interest in all things Italian makes them feel much more at home here in the US, and provides a bit of a connection for them with things at home. In addition to having tutors, we both believe we’ve now made a few more life friends who are Italian.
One last word of advice before I close this series:
Don’t fall for the “Learn a language in 10 days!” advertisements you see on the Internet. Learning a new language takes time and commitment. If you do not study regularly (several times a week), and with tenacity, forget learning much Italian. If you fall away from studying, get back on track as soon as you can and start again. You'll stumble along the way, so be prepared to get up, dust yourself off, and start back at it when your motivation returns. It will not be a straight line of progress. But, start now, do a little bit every day or every other day, be committed and be tenacious, don’t give up, and you’ll be rewarded every day along the way with steady progress that you can use on your next trip to Italy!
Buona fortuna & buon viaggio!
Ciao … Marco
http://www.italianrealestateassist.com
First, and certainly best, is to spend time in Italy and use the language. Since contracting to buy an apartment there last August, I’ve been back 4 times for a week at a time. The opportunity to use the language was bountiful, since I was checking on reconstruction, attending the closing, ordering an apartment’s worth of furniture, and constructing that furniture as well as buying the items necessary to make the place livable. This also gives one the opportunity to learn things the way Italians use them in everyday life.
But, I can’t continue these once every month or two trips … at least not right now (he says with a smile, thinking about the future and spending more time there).
So, I focused on getting more conversation here in the US.
I have a good friend, my best man, who has fallen for Italy almost as much as I have. He’s studying the language, and we do practice speaking and writing to one another. He lives 2 hours away, so this is not an ideal solution.
I also found an Italian “Meet Up” group here in central Ohio, and have joined that. See:
http://www.meetup.com/
Search for “Italian” and your city, and you might be amazed just how many other Italian students there are!
Finally, and I’ve left the best for last, find a native Italian speaker and hire them as a personal tutor.
After being frustrated with not being able to attend regular university or college classes in Italian, I sent an e-mail to the head of the Italian program at Ohio State University asking for her advice. She suggested the tutor route, and had a department administrator provide me a list of tutors. She stressed that I should only get one who is a NATIVE Italian speaker. I made my calls and sent my e-mails, and have been using a tutor for several months. The ability to converse weekly, ask questions, be tested on progress, and cover more complex sentence structures, tenses, etc., has been nothing short of fabulous.
My best man has done exactly the same thing, and he feels as I do, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” For what is likely to be less than $30 each week, you can get an hour or two of great one-on-one help with your Italian, and help out a “starving student”. The tutors we use or who we contacted are all Italian citizens here doing either another undergraduate degree, or advanced degrees, after earning a degree in Italy. None of them teaches Italian at their university here. They are studying in areas like women’s studies or very advanced philosophy (doctorate level). We find that their ability to provide more information to us than just rote lesson material is fantastic … plus, our interest in all things Italian makes them feel much more at home here in the US, and provides a bit of a connection for them with things at home. In addition to having tutors, we both believe we’ve now made a few more life friends who are Italian.
One last word of advice before I close this series:
Don’t fall for the “Learn a language in 10 days!” advertisements you see on the Internet. Learning a new language takes time and commitment. If you do not study regularly (several times a week), and with tenacity, forget learning much Italian. If you fall away from studying, get back on track as soon as you can and start again. You'll stumble along the way, so be prepared to get up, dust yourself off, and start back at it when your motivation returns. It will not be a straight line of progress. But, start now, do a little bit every day or every other day, be committed and be tenacious, don’t give up, and you’ll be rewarded every day along the way with steady progress that you can use on your next trip to Italy!
Buona fortuna & buon viaggio!
Ciao … Marco
http://www.italianrealestateassist.com
posted by Mark Pukita | 9:46 AM
2 Comments:
hey! If you don't have a lot of comments, that doesn't mean you don't heave readers: please comtinue!
A faithfully reader
Grazie, Marco!
Your "starving student" friends,
Fede & Vadim
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