How to learn to speak Italian

It’s a very common situation: you’ve been studying Italian for a while, but you still can’t speak it. It happens to every student, and it comes down to the fact that our passive understanding - the kind we exercise while reading and listening - is far greater than our ability to express ourselves in writing and speech.

In other words: “I understand, but I can’t speak.” It’s normal. It happens to everyone.

In this article I’ll share some tips to break through that wall and help you improve your ability to speak Italian.

To speak, you have to… listen

It might sound paradoxical, but the first piece of advice I can give you is to increase your input: that is, spend more time reading Italian texts, listening to music, watching movies and TV series, listening to podcasts, and so on. In short, Italian has to become a familiar language to you.

Listening and reading help you learn new words, idioms, and authentic Italian constructions. If you wanted to start speaking, what words would you use if you hadn’t learned them first?

Of course, you need to choose materials suited to your level. For beginners, “graded” texts are recommended: content created specifically to be read by students who’ve just started. There are plenty of storybooks written in simple language, perfect for A1, A2, and beyond.

For intermediate students, series and movies are great: they demand a slightly stronger command of the language, but at the same time they use everyday, spontaneous speech.

At advanced levels, to truly expand your knowledge of the language, nothing beats literature. There are countless Italian authors, classic and contemporary, offering every kind of story: mysteries, historical novels, horror, romance, adventure, travel, and a thousand more.

Talk to yourself

Yes, it might sound odd, but another tip - one that works for students at any level - is to talk to yourself. Imagine you’re on the phone with a friend, describing what you’re doing right now. You might come up with sentences like “I’m washing the dishes”, or “I have to go to the supermarket to buy what I need for tonight’s dinner”, “I didn’t know Mark had won a scholarship for his PhD, I’m really happy for him”, and so on.

Mulling over the events of our lives lets us prepare to describe them and tell their story; it lets us develop the language we need to talk about ourselves and our present. And that is precisely the first foundation of using any language: communicating something useful.

We can pretend to communicate it to ourselves, or… talk to our cat! (Yes, over the years I’ve met students who speak Italian to their cat.)

Learn with a tutor

The best way to learn a language quickly is to do it with a professional teacher. A teacher helps us understand the rules by explaining them, adapts to our learning style, supports us with examples and exercises, answers our questions, and - above all - is a human being!

A language exists to communicate, and studying with a tutor lets you talk not just about grammar, but also about films, music, stories, habits, and beliefs of the people of a foreign country, cultural aspects (what Italians say, what they think, and so on). In short, it’s a richer, more complete, and more satisfying experience.

Want to learn Italian with a tutor? Visit our Teachers section to meet the instructors on our team!