2006-10-04 05:55:07 · 15 answers · asked by Cory C 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
A lot depends on wheather you have any knowledge of the Latin syntax, grammatical rules and verb conjugation.
Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese share Latin syntax, if you are considering going to Italy for immersion learning, I suggest you first try to get the basics under your belt, like verb tenses, the gender-differentiation [feminine (a/e) masculine (o/i) and neuter (confusingly even objects can be either feminine of masculine, and you have to learn which by rote!)
Unlike English, it is very difficult to learn our language well in a short time, without the above prerequisites, because we have 3 verb conjugations [identified by the ending of their infinitive: "are", "ere", "ire"] and some 13 tenses; learning to conjugate them all correctly can be a little daunting.
You should first learn to conjugate the auxiliary verbs [to be (essere), to have (avere), to stay (stare), to do (fare)], else it is impossible to conjugate the "composite" tenses. The bad news is that they are "exceptions", that is, they don't necessarily follow the standard rules.
As to fluency, that depends on your verbal mimicry, that is, the capacity of reproducing new sounds and combinations, after hearing them only a few times.
On the other hand, it should be said that we are amongst the most accomodating, understanding hosts, we try very hard to understand and many really love foreigners, but you may find they are more keen on showing off/ practicing their English than help you with your Italian....
BTW, if you are female, young and pretty, you may have a surfait of offers to "teach" you... I'd steer clear, unless you really like the bloke, 'cos Italian is unlikely to be what he'll be after teaching you!
Another option might be to go to Italy and enrol in one of the many classes for immigrants, I know of many who have done really welll there!
Best of luck! Buona fortuna cocca!
::::::: twinkles ::::::::
2006-10-04 06:26:47 · answer #1 · answered by tmuk55 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Learn to Speak Italian
Language Exchange via Email, Text Chat and Voice Chat
http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/learn/Italian.asp
http://www.phrasebase.com/learn/italian.php
2006-10-04 06:05:08 · answer #2 · answered by Karen J 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO , it takes an Italian 4 years minimum ,and then they still can't speak it properly.
If you wish to learn Italian I would suggest Michael Thomas, there is nothing written, and you learn from first principles..
An Italian fishwife working in a market stall would not know a PLUPERFECTor a SUBJUNCTIVE if it was sitting in her spaghetti.
I think I saw the CD set in AMAZON
2006-10-04 06:13:18 · answer #3 · answered by xenon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is possible if you study every day but not too much.
Study 30mn every day in a book or with any good method.
Watch films in italian with subtitles, then without them.
Learn italian songs.
Get italian penfriends.
Travel to Italia.
2006-10-04 06:06:22 · answer #4 · answered by Nono 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it is possible, but only if you "submerge" yourself in Italian.
That means that you would have to go live with a family in Italy so that you are forced to speak Italian - and only Italian - for one year.
2006-10-04 09:03:20 · answer #5 · answered by Hi y´all ! 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only by total emersion with English speaking Italians. Good luck. To to Italy and live there a year..they all speak English also. Only in Amreica do we have a One Language system...hell, we are so busy learning English that we don't have time for other languages. Good luck
2006-10-04 05:58:02 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes. But the best would be to go to Italy. Contrary to what have been said, they don't ALL speak English, and I'm sure they'd speak to you in Italian if you asked them to. However, you would still need to have to study grammar, vocabulary, etc. everyday; otherwise, you'd probably ake plenty of mistakes and wouldn't improve that much in one year.
If you can't, you can still study it on your own.
In any case, even if you went to Italy, you probably wouldn't be fluent, but you'd still be proficient.
2006-10-04 06:06:45 · answer #7 · answered by Offkey 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, any language if you live in the country it is spoken in. My husband from India (he speaks Hindi and English fluently) learned Spanish (we live in Mexico) fluently in 10 months. Now he speaks 3 languages. I speak english and spanish, and by the way, now I'm very interested in learning italian too. :)
2006-10-04 06:04:15 · answer #8 · answered by Alyssa 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Certain people just have a gift for linguistics. My father is one and knows about 5 languages from time spent in the army going different places and such.
2006-10-04 05:58:03 · answer #9 · answered by mortgagegirl101 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i'd say in a year time, above all if you go to live there, you can reach a certain, quite good level, but to learn perfect italian, it takes years.
2006-10-04 06:26:47 · answer #10 · answered by speedy_biondalez 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋