How I Learned Italian

Complimenti per la tua pronuncia in italiano (I've just come across this video here, started watching / listening out of curiosity, and...I am impressed) - bravissimo, sono felice di sentire di persone che apprezzano la nostra lingua e che ne sono così appassionati 🤗

Grande Steve!

Actually moravia is totally digitalized now. He is my favourite author

In my effort to learn english i went through a phase in which i read all the russian masterpieces in english....and my vocabulary as well as my overall english skyrocketed

Strangely enoigh i am living in the netherlands and here i am improving my portugues and spanish and duth is totally unsused. i took some lessons but then i abbandoned it

Italian language is awesome! 😊

I just decided to learn Italian this year! Is my goal ! I bought some texts to get me started… my main language is Spanish and I think that might give me a little advantage to learn Italian since they have many similarities… I’ll use all that I can to my aid but it is always intimidating anyways to start a new language.
I haven’t self taught myself any language since I learned English … like 18 years ago. Wish me luck 🤞.

Hiii..from my Verona ..with you I start to study English...my level is very basic, but I will improve

Italian here ..... i remember my primary school teacher in the first years had us read books published by "il battello a vapore" .... they were good to help primary school children, get them used to reading, learn new words and more. Yes i realize they are children books but I think it might be good for a learner.

You haven't actually learned Italian in the sense of being able to communicate in it. What is the point of studying so many languages if you never master any? Isn't it better to choose one that you love and concentrate on it? I studied Italian in college in NY in the mid 1990's for 2 1/2 years, then in Florence for a couple of weeks in the summer and maybe a week or two in December, in 1998-2000. In 2000, I took a 2 week course in Venice and short courses in Rome and Naples. I have made about 18 trips to Italy since 1998, mostly to Rome and Venice and always use my Italian while there.

To become fluent in Italian you would need at least a year of study in Italy. The same applies to any language. Doing language exchange helps, if you can find people to do it with. That is possible in NY. It's also possible to continue to study here, if I want to.

I think you are stuck on an intermediate or advanced beginner level, if that, and I don't think you can get much beyond that without having the opportunity to engage with Italian speakers. Otherwise, you are just learning a literary Italian, not the way people actually use the language. The way to learn a language is through immersion in it. Classes where little English is used are the best way to learn.

Try and learn irish

I learnt italian cause I'm italian: pro player move on my part.

i hated, and hate, i promessi sposi

A cosa ti serve l'italiano?

How I learned italian:

I am italian

As an Italian I am very happy to see a foreigner who has studied my mother tongue

L'Italiano è la lingua dei poeti

Salve mr. Kaufmann, I'm Italian and I would like to know what's so special and beautiful about the Italian language that makes you want to learn it.
Tanti cari saluti dall'Italia 🌞⚽🍝

Great video Steve. By the way, you might want to sit with the sun on your left hand side for a few hours ;)

Caro Steve, io sono un italiano che ha imparato l'inglese americano sul posto, durante uno stage come post-doc in Oklahoma ( no jokes on cows, please) , con un po' di fatica a distinguere tra il vero inglese e l'okie, parlato da studenti locali. Se hai letto I promessi sposi (io li ho letti in 5a elementare, prima di studiarli a scuola) e pinocchio hai ben conosciuto l'italiano molto toscaneggiante (Manzoni era milanese, ma dopo una prima versione, riscrisse il romanzo dopo una permanenza a Firenze, per "sciacquare i panni in Arno", come scrisse). Riesci a capire un po' le differenze regionali in Italia? Per esempio, il proverbio: "ogni scarrafone è bello a mamma soia" da dove viene? E questo detto, usato dalle mamme per minacciare i figli: "Stasera te mando a dormir descolzo e colla testa fra le recie" da che zona proviene? Spero che tu abbia ben capito tutte le parole (a parte le ultime che sono volutamente un test sui dialetti italiani) e tanti auguri peri tuoi progressi in italiano.

I'm a little disappointed to see all these linguistics still using ancient techniques. Dusty old books and hours of reading. That is assuming we can even read the characters.
So add another year on that one. It's 2022, and we still don't use digital media, gamification, or active social learning. The language apps are garbage. They teach 'tracing letters' and grammar rules. The world is more online than ever before, and we're still using slow out-of-date techniques for language acquisition.

Steve, why Italian? I am italian and for me is nice but...strange.

L'italiano può risultare difficile da imparare per via dei tanti dialetti che la gente usa. Guardare la tv italiana o i telefilm in italiano quindi possono avere un limite. Gli audiolibri sono ottimi sicuramente se si vuole usare una buona dizione.

Thank you for sharing us your experiences.

Why learn all these romance languages when one need only need interlingua

Bravo Steve. Oltre ad avere un ottimo accento, i tuoi spuntidi studio sono davvero interessanti. Really impressive! :)

Amazing how you absorb a language. I Promessi Sposi is not an easy book at all, but how Manzoni writes is fantastic.

You're a good man specially, congratulations for the all the things that you share with us.

Thank you so much ❤️

Steve--can you tell me the name of the narrator of I Promessi Sposi audio book from Il Narratore that you liked so much? I also love this book very much Thanks

Steve didn´t learn Italian. Steve studied Italian. When will the YT "Polyglots" stop making ridiculous claims. However, what I like about Steve is his enthusiasm for languages, culture and history. It is truly infectious, and an inspiration to many language learners. "speak" 20 languages? of course not. maybe 3 at best. but I don´t think that´s the appeal of Steve´s channel. He loves language and culture, and that in itself should, and will inspire thousands. But these YT guys discredit themselves with silly claims (and yes, I have heard Steve´s Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian and others). I don´t know anything of Arabic and Persian at all, but following the general trend, I would doubt the level of those languages also. Which is the inherit problem of saying you "speak" a language. I won´t say anything about the product he is selling (I would like to meet the first person who got to fluency with it), or I will be banned. But he seems like a genuine nice guy, and with a great enthusiasm, which is a great quality.

I'm Brazilian , I speak portuguese and english and I'm on my way to learn italian , and I can assume , portuguese is closer to Italian than spanish.

Does input really work to learn a language? I am dyslexic and really struggling to learn.

Que bacan

Even though it's a little out of date now, the Ragusa "Essential Italian Grammar" is still an outstanding resource. She manages to condense the 10% of grammar that gives you 90% of what you need into a very digestable and practical format. Highly recommended.

Thanks Steve❤

In my opinion it's better to watch italian stuff on the internet and you can pick subjects that interest you the most.

Thanks for addressing the issue of false friends! It definitely put me at ease as someone who studied two romance languages and wants to learn another but is hesitating partly because of that issue (and partly the fear of interference)

Empecé a aprender italiano hace tres años y nueve meses…

…anche se ancora non lo parlo.

N 🇦🇷 es
C 🇺🇾 es
B 🇬🇧 en
A 🇮🇹 it 🇧🇷 pt 🇩🇪 de 🇫🇷 fr

I am in love with italian, i have been learning this language for one year.

So is there any Italian learning Arabic we could exchange languages

Although I love reading the classics, I don’t think that they are necessarily useful for someone who wants to learn how to speak modern Italian and use it when one is in Italy. remember that languages living that the words phrases and even the grammar might differ drastically from that which was used 100 or 200 years ago. imagine reading Victorian literature and trying to use the language from those books and novels with people in 2024.

Umberto Eco is the worst to learn Italian, as an Italian I also find him difficult and frankly boring

I have "i promessi sposi" what a useless waste of time.

Hi Steven, how do you raise your Spanish above a B2? I am stuck on this level, and I don't know how to raise it above this B2 level. For learning I'm using LingQ and DuoLinger. My end goal is to raise my Spanish to at least a C1 level before learning Italian, thank you for the great video.

Sie preisen die comprehensible Input Methode an! Warum ist LINGQ dann nicht danach aufgebaut? Keine Bilder zu den Geschichten und nicht zu unterscheiden von herkömmlichen Methoden…

Stop advertising for your website Its stupid ,hard to use and expensive

Everybody should try Rocket Italian

I had Latin lessons in the secondary school,if Italian gramma is so complicated as Latin then I give up