How to make the most of your time in Italy to become fluent in Italian.
The time has come! You’re in Italy! Now, you can finally learn Italian and become fluent. Let the magic begin!
Wait a second … what magic?
Unfortunately, just being in a country does not mean you will learn the language.
Take me, for example. Upon arriving for study abroad in Italy, I couldn’t wait to become fluent in Italian. The problem was, however, that I could hardly express myself in basic conversations. It only took a week or so to realize that just being in Italy and “soaking it in” was not going to be enough.
I made a plan to improve my Italian, and I enthusiastically and rigorously followed it.
Over the course of my semester in Italy, I went from barely being able to communicate to doing presentations in Italian in front of an Italian audience. My language skills improved leaps and bounds. I achieved fluency – not perfection – but true fluency: the ability to communicate and understand just about anything on the fly.
If you too are serious about improving your Italian during your time in Italy, this is my guide to set you up for success. It is based on what I did and also what I wish I had done. Following these steps, you will elevate your language skills and improve your fluency!
Table of Contents
Choose the Right Study Program
The study program you select will likely make or break your entire experience in Italy and will definitely influence your ability to learn the language. So, do your best to choose the right one for your situation.
There are many factors to consider when deciding which program is best for you. What city or town is the program in? What is that city like? Where will you live? Where and what will you study? How long will you be in Italy? Who else signs up for the program? And more!
To guide you through the decision-making process, see the post Study in Italy to Learn Italian: How to Choose a Program. Again, you reallllly want to get this right!
Brush Up on Your Italian Before Arriving in Italy
Whatever background in Italian you have – classes at your university or just Duolingo – make time to practice before you go. While in Italy, you’ll want to make meaningful improvement in your comprehension and communication skills, not still be trying to memorize basic verb conjugations.
In the post Study in Italy to Learn Italian, I suggest selecting a program that requires you to do some homework before you arrive. Do this homework, and take it seriously. It will help you get ready.
Build a Support Community with Fellow Participants
When you choose a study abroad program where everyone (or nearly everyone) is serious about language improvement, you should have a relatively easy time building relationships as you share a common goal.
If your program shares a list of participants before you arrive, reach out ahead of time to start getting to know each other. If not, start from the day of your arrival in Italy!
Your fellow participants have the potential to be the main force cheering you along and assisting you on your language journey. Beware, though, that they also have the potential to completely derail your progress. If you spend all your time with your fellow program participants speaking English, you will not learn Italian.
On the other hand, if you decide to only speak Italian with each other, to organize trips to museums together, to study together, to make introductions to each others’ Italian friends and acquaintances, you will all benefit and learn (and really enjoy doing so!).
Make Sure Your Housing Works for You
In the post Study in Italy to Learn Italian, I stress the fact that your living mates can help you drastically improve your Italian.
By speaking regularly with your Italian roommates or host family during the ordinary moments of the day (cooking, eating meals, cleaning the house, studying, relaxing), you will get a lot of practice. When you have questions or concerns, you will likely turn to your living mates to discuss.
Ideally, you will form good relationships and also start doing things together out of the house – grocery shopping, going to the movies, running in the park, getting an aperitivo, taking a weekend trip.
If, for whatever reason, your housing situation is not working like this for you (roommates are never home, personalities clash, difficulty sharing common spaces if some people smoke cigarettes and others don’t, etc.), I strongly suggest you talk to your program coordinators ASAP to try and change where you live.
Set Routines for Daily Life Activities
Once you arrive in Italy and get settled, establish some routines. Generally speaking … do your grocery shopping at the same places, get your breakfast at the same bar, take the bus from the same stop at the same time every morning, try to sit next to the same people in class, etc.
Creating a rhythm of seeing the same people will allow you to make acquaintances and build relationships, providing opportunities to have conversations, even if they are brief.
Start Conversations
No matter where you are – in a place you go to regularly or not – try to strike up conversations with whomever is around you.
Instead of looking at your phone, ask for directions on the street. If you have a slight doubt or curiousity, ask a question in class. Even if you think you already know what you want to order on the menu, ask the waiter for their recommendation. Just talk! This is how you get practice!
I am not an outgoing or talkative person, but with the “excuse” of wanting to learn Italian, it suddenly became easy (and also fun) to start chatting with everyone I met.
Get Involved in the Community
A great way to meet more people, and thus have more opportunities to practice, is to find ways to participate in what is going on in your city or town.
Maybe you can translate for a local publication. Or teach English and get to know a local family. Maybe you want to attend a religious service. Or join a volunteer group. Maybe you want to join a gym. The point is, get out there and get involved!
Accept Invitations
If you’re doing a good job starting up conversations and meeting people, what hopefully will happen is that you will receive invitations for a caffè, aperitivo, or cena with your acquaintances.
When you get an invitation, accept it! There were times I was super tired and aquaintances invited me out, and I still said yes. There were times I felt like I wasn’t jiving well with the acquaintance who invited me out, but I still said yes and just brought another friend along too.
I put in the work to “make my friends”, but they are ones who put in the work that allowed me to really improve my language skills. I learned thanks to their extreme patience and generous willingness to answer my questions. Getting to know people, and ultimately forming true friendships with a few people, can change everything.
Study
Yes, it’s easy to slip into “vacation mode” during study abroad, but I don’t recommend it. Although there is probably no need to be pulling all-nighters to study, if you want to get better at Italian, you should definitely go to class and do your school work.
Go to Class
If you’ve chosen a program that offers classes directly at an Italian university (as recommended in the Choose a Study Abroad Program post), you will likely learn that class attendance at Italian universities tends to be optional. I repeat, you should definitely go to class.
Why go to class if you don’t have to?
First off, it gives you the opportunity to listen to lectures and lessons in Italian which will help your language skills and deepen your understanding of the culture.
Second, it gives you the opportunity to strike up conversations and make friends with classmates.
Third, you are going to have to take the exams (even if they will be for pass/fail credit at your American university), and attending class will boost your possibility of passing
Pass Your Exams
Forgot about exams? Yep, they exist even during study abroad. At Italian universities, exams are primarily oral “interrogations”. Knowing that I would be “interrogated” by the professor in front of my Italian classmates was super motivation to boost my language skills!
Studying for exams is a great exercise in expanding your vocabulary. Write down words you don’t know, and find out the meanings. Study with classmates to get comfortable speaking about the material.
If you get through oral examinations at an Italian university, you will feel more confident in your language skills. When you are more confident, you naturally take more risks and try out more complex ways of expressing yourself. This is how you get better. Nothing boosted my confidence like knowing I was capable of passing exams about sociology, literature, political science, etc. in Italian!
Stay in Italy
You may be tempted to jet set out of town every weekend. Seeing all of Europe when studying abroad is a great opportunity, don’t get me wrong, but seeing Europe is a different goal than improving your Italian.
If you want to be fully dedicated to your Italian language improvement, it doesn’t mean you can’t travel. Just travel to places where Italian is spoken – the 20 regions in Italy! This is what I did, and I was blown away by the differences between the regions. There is so much to see, experience, listen to, and taste. My experience travelling the regions is what inspired this blog!
Remember that experiencing culture is an important part of learning language. The more of Italy you get to know, the better you will understand and be able to use the language.
Make Lots of Mistakes
The last but absolute most important tip! To have success with all the above, you cannot be self-conscious about your language skills. You don’t have that luxury if you want to improve.
Instead, embrace the fact that you are not perfect in Italian. Not being a native speaker is an amazing excuse not to take yourself too seriously and to make lots of mistakes. This is precisely why learning a new language is beautiful – it takes you out of your comfort zone.
Also, it doesn’t hurt that Italians tend to appreciate your effort with their language, encourage you, and compliment you even if you don’t really deserve it.
While in Italy on a mission to improve my Italian, I realized that showing your vulnerability is a positive thing. It can really open up doors … not just for language learning but for life in general!
If you have other tips, please comment below! Buono studio e Buon divertimento!
