What’s the Fastest Way to Learn Italian? Find Out Here

Let’s face it, there are no miracles in language learning. Learning a language is like learning math: you start with the easiest stuff first, and when you feel like the basic concepts are clicking, you move on to harder stuff, all the way up to calculus and differential equations.

You can’t learn a language overnight. Dexter tried it once with a Subconscious Discographic Hypnotator, with unexpected results. But that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to sit with your back arched over a boring grammar book!

As we will see in this article, the fastest way to learn Italian is based on efficiency. First, you learn the subject pronouns, then some basic words, basic verbs, and basic conjugations. Adjectives come next, and then it’s on to more difficult words and structures, with adverbs, compound tenses, and linking words.

You will be happy to know that Italian is considered an easy language to learn, on par with Spanish and French. Let’s look at some dirty tricks to learn Italian fast.

Tips and tricks for the fastest way to learn Italian

Don’t run before you can walk

As a beginner, the amount of things to learn may seem overwhelming. The fastest way to learn Italian may not be as fast as you dream, but it’s still pretty fast if you pay attention to what you need to learn first and don’t waste time running when you should be walking.

I mean, those amazing MinaLima Italian editions of the Harry Potter books you just bought might be very tempting (or name your favorite book), but you need to cut your teeth on something easier first if this is your first experience with Italian. Learning a language is a lot like training. You wouldn’t run a marathon without building up your muscles and running shorter distances!

So the first thing you need to do is set some goals and keep a journal of your progress. Having a goal to reach will keep you motivated if you feel you’re progressing too slowly. By setting short-term goals, you can learn at a steady pace and have an end goal in mind, such as reading the Italian translation of your favorite book or watching the Italian-dubbed version of your favorite movie.

Consider what works best for your ultimate goal. While there are some best practices that all language learners share, the fastest way to learn Italian is also determined by your own needs. If you want to have informal conversations with the locals, you will need to be somewhat fluent in the spoken language and know the most common words. If you want to read the classics, you will need to focus on grammar, and build a larger vocabulary, etc.

Learn the vocabulary you actually need

Learn the most basic words first. These are the words you will hear and read the most, regardless of the context, so this is one of the best strategies for the fastest way to learn Italian. There is a very useful dictionary called Vocabolario di base della lingua italiana, which can be downloaded for free as a PDF file (click on “qui il pdf” on the linked page).

It contains the most common 7,000 words in the Italian language. This dictionary may look like a thick wall of text, but it’s actually very useful. Word frequency is indicated by this formatting:

• very common words are in bold
• common words have no formatting
• less common words are in italics

If you are a beginner, stick to the words in bold. For example, abbandonare, abbassare and abbastanza (“to give up”, “to lower” and “enough”) are all in bold. Abbagliante and abbaiare (“blinding” and “to bark”) are less common words that you can save for later learning.

If you truly don’t know where to start as a beginner, get started with the most basic words you’ll find in any language course: greetings like buongiorno (good morning) and interjections like sì (yes) or no (no).

Clozemaster makes it really easy to learn the most common words first thanks to its cloze tests with sentences of increasing difficulty, based on Italian frequency lists.

And if you want to know the fastest way to learn Italian to access content in a particular niche, you will also want to learn vocabulary that is specific to that niche. For example, if you like astronomy, you may want to learn how to say “planet” or “galaxy” in Italian sooner than someone who likes home decor, who will probably need to learn the Italian translations for “floor” and “ceiling” instead. As I said before, the fastest way to learn Italian has a subjective element.

Learn cognates and false friends

Italian and English have many cognates, words that share a common root and therefore sound similar. Many of these words are also common in the spoken language. Think of momento (moment), banca (bank), and dottore (doctor). Aren’t these a breeze to learn? You can find a list of common Italian cognates here.

At the same time, keep an eye out for false friends between Italian and English. There are quite a few, and some of them are very tricky. For example, did you know that caldo means “hot” and parente means “relative”? Now you do! 🙂

Use correct pronunciation right away

One of the fastest ways to learn Italian is to learn the correct pronunciation of words from the beginning. When you learn the pronunciation, you inevitably repeat the word out loud. This is sometimes enough to remember it for later use, so this is another effective strategy for the fastest way to learn Italian!

Learning correct pronunciation will also improve your listening skills. Once you know how to pronounce a word, it’s easy to know how to spell it. No spelling bee competitions for Italians! 😉

It’s been said that l’italiano si legge come si scrive, “you write Italian the way you read it”. With a few exceptions, this rule is true. For example, the vowel “a” is always pronounced “ah”. English works much differently: the “a” vowels in “ace” “anchor”, and “crawl” are all pronounced differently.

Italian is easy to pronounce, but it will feel very unnatural on your tongue at first, especially if English is your only language. You need to pay particular attention to vowels, as a single vowel is never a diphthong in Italian.

Take the word fare, which means “to do”. When I hear English speakers pronounce this word, it’s almost like they’re saying “far-ey” with a very slight diphthong at the end. The same can be said for words like tavolo, “table”, where the “o” sounds more like “ow”. You can hear this quite clearly when you compare English and Italian speakers pronouncing “no”. This interjection is spelled the same in both languages, but pronounced slightly differently.

Another difference between English and Italian is that Italian makes extensive use of geminates, or double consonants. Take, for example, attacco, which means “attack”. This -tt- cluster sounds longer than a normal -t-. Your tongue needs to stop for a moment.

Practicing pronunciation right away will not only help you learn Italian faster. It will also prevent you from repeating pronunciation mistakes. The longer you pronounce some words wrong, the harder it will be to overcome these mistakes.

But don’t get bogged down

If you focus too much on mistakes, you risk freezing up. It’s okay if you don’t sound 100% like a native speaker. And it’s okay to make mistakes. Don’t let the fear of making a mistake keep you from speaking.

Mistakes are opportunities. How do you know which area of the language you are struggling with if you don’t allow yourself to make mistakes and be corrected? We promise that we won’t bite, and we are always eager to help any student of our language! 🙂

What you need is a lot of practice, and that means making mistakes. You learn by doing, not by obsessing. Practicing regularly (daily would be best) is the fastest way to learn Italian.

Immersion is key

The longer you study a language, the faster you will internalize its structure and vocabulary, and the faster you will be able to recall words and expressions.

It sounds obvious, but here’s the thing: your brain learns best what it thinks is essential for survival. And the thing is, your brain has evolved to think that learning a language is less important than, say, hunting that mammoth down or escaping a saber-toothed tiger.

So if you study Italian as often as possible, you are effectively sending a message to your brain that learning Italian is very, very important, and your brain will engage much more quickly, basically putting itself in learning mode. You’re saying, “Italian is my saber-toothed tiger; dominate it”.

Passive or active, any exposure to Italian is useful. But how do you immerse yourself? Here are some suggestions.

Songs

Platforms like YouTube Music and Spotify allow you to listen to tons of Italian songs for free. You can leave them on in the background or listen actively with the lyrics on screen. The website angolotesti.it has a huge collection of Italian song lyrics, and you can find some translations on LyricsTranslate.com. Songs are a great way to learn passively.

Videos

YouTube is king when it comes to Italian videos. You can watch vlogs from popular Italian YouTubers and channels, such as Giovanni Fois or Learn Italian with Lucrezia, a channel specifically designed for Italian learners.

Books

Earlier in this article, I said there’s no use running before you can walk, but there’s no harm in picking up a simple book, like a children’s book, and just trying to make sense of the words on the page.

Even better, audiobooks are great for beginners because they allow for passive listening. Just wear your most comfortable earphones and go for a walk while listening to an audiobook. You can find many at audible.com.

Online resources

There are so many free resources for learning Italian on the Internet. The fastest way to learn Italian is to choose the best of them.

Clozemaster is free and has unique cloze exercises of increasing difficulty. You can use Duolingo to get your feet wet. If you have trouble remembering new vocabulary, tools like Deckademy or Anki allow you to create and review personal decks of flashcards across multiple devices.

Check out our list of the best Italian resources for more information.

Start chatting

If you are aiming for conversational Italian, the fastest way to learn Italian is to chat with locals or with your friends who are learning the language. This way, you will actively practice your listening and speaking skills.

If you’re still lost, aim for B1

Language proficiency is commonly divided into 6 levels by the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages): A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2. A levels are for beginners, B levels for intermediate learners, and C levels for advanced learners.

B1 is a good level to aim for. The fastest way to learn Italian up to this level is to take a look at what you’ll need to know to pass a standard B1 Italian exam.

On this page, look for the section “Inventari per i livelli A1, A2, B1 e B2” in the dropdown menu and then go to “Strutture grammaticali”. If you click on any item in this section and all the following ones, you will be taken to another page where you can select your desired level up to B2. To pass a B1 exam, you should study all the notes belonging to the A1, A2 and B1 categories combined.

Conclusion on the fastest way to learn Italian

Learning a language takes time, and it’s not something you can do with the snap of a finger (well, maybe if you had all 6 Infinity Stones, but that would take all the fun out of learning, wouldn’t it?). Learning Italian is an experience. So immerse yourself in Italian culture now!