Italian Isn't Easy!
I must be honest: Italian is not an easy language to learn. It’s a beautiful language, absolutely worthwhile, but it's challenging. So if you're struggling to learn Italian, don’t worry. It's not you. Learning Italian just takes time.
Italian is obviously easier than Mandarin or Korean if you're coming from another Indo-European language like English, but it still remains a complex language that's hard to master.
My mission is to guide you on your language journey and help you fully grasp Italian culture. But it’s not a quick or easy journey to mastery. The basics are easy, but becoming properly fluent is not.
Here are some reasons why Italian is a challenging language:
Complex grammar: Italian grammar is fairly complex. For example, there are 21 verb tenses versus the 12 ones in English. Plus, many common verbs are irregular, requiring you to memorize unique conjugation patterns.
Gender and agreement: Nouns are gendered (masculine or feminine), and adjectives and articles must agree in gender and number, complicating manners, especially for learners unfamiliar with gendered languages.
Subjunctive mood: The use of the subjunctive mood is common in Italian. This can be quite tricky to grasp as proven by the fact that many native Italians get il congiuntivo wrong as well.
Pronouns and word order: Italian pronouns can be complicated and their placement in sentences often differs from English. It’s common for new learners to struggle to handle the subtleties of subject, direct object, and reflexive pronouns. Furthermore, word order often changes the meaning of what seems like the same sentence. For example, una grande città means “a great city,” while una città grande means “a big city.”
Idiomatic expressions: Italian is rich in cryptic, idiomatic phrases that make no sense in English when translated directly. For example, un altro paio di maniche translates to “another pair of sleeves”. Try to guess what it means! This makes understanding colloquial speech much more difficult. Even if you have a perfect understanding of Italian grammar and vocabulary, unless you are familiar with these common idioms, you’ll face challenges.
Pronunciation challenges: Some sounds, like “z”, “gli”, “gn”, rolled "r", or double consonants, can be difficult for non-native speakers to master. And the difference between single and double constant sounds can be very important. Penne means “pens” or a type of pasta. Pene means… well, a male anatomical part.
Regional dialects: Italian has numerous regional dialects and accents. Many dialects are really their own languages so even mastering Italian to a native level, you won’t be able to understand these dialects unless you learn them as well. More importantly, Italians from different parts of Italy sound different due to their regional accents even when they speak standard Italian. This can make understanding harder for a non-native speaker.
All these aspects make Italian a language that requires considerable practice and immersion to fully master.
Don’t feel discouraged. Instead, allow yourself to make mistakes, and don’t feel bad if your proficiency is not yet where you'd like it to be. I'm in your corner, ready to help you out.
So buckle up and stay tuned for more content and guidance from me.