Learning a new language is a wonderful experience, which enriches you and can open up new opportunities in both the professional and social spheres. It also opens your mind, transports you to worlds different and distant from your own, allows you to appropriate a different identity. Yes, because the language we use is intimately connected to our way of thinking, habits, lifestyle.
Well, all very nice … but how difficult and how long is the road! This discourages many people who would like to learn Italian or deepen their knowledge of it but believe it is too difficult a goal to achieve.

First of all, we should ask ourselves: what does it mean to learn the Italian language?

If the goal is to speak Italian fluently, with a good Italian accent, you have to take into account that your journey will be long, it is true, but just as fascinating and will accompany you for years or even a lifetime, and this I would say is not bad, considering that Italian is universally recognised as a musical language, the language of opera, literature, cuisine, fashion.
If, on the other hand, you want to reach a survival level, i.e. one that will allow you to travel or live in Italy for a while, then it will be sufficient to reach a B1 level of knowledge. In this case you can also try, without stress, to give yourself time goals.

So we come to the fateful question: how long does it take to learn Italian? Posso imparare italiano in un mese? What is the best way to learn Italian? How can I learn to converse in Italian easily?
These are some of the questions our students ask us and we are in the habit of answering them truthfully, giving an answer you may not like. Unfortunately, my answer is that there is no real answer for everyone, so what I really recommend is: cultivate your passion with patience and determination, don’t put unrealistic time limits on yourself, experience learning Italian as a journey, and of course, if you can, come to Florence!

I just spoke to Adrian, our cute Swiss student, who told me about his journey to become fluent in Italian: he decided that he wanted to speak Italian while travelling in Italy and that he wanted to take a course in Florence, but didn’t feel like starting from scratch here. So he enrolled in a course in his hometown, which he attended for almost a year once a week and then, the second year, he came here for five weeks for an intensive Italian course. Now Adrian has reached a good level, he speaks Italian without any problems and with a good accent and says that finally through his knowledge of the language he is beginning to understand the Italian mentality and culture for which he has a great passion.
This is just one example, but I could give a thousand more. Mikiko for example, a Japanese girl, came here without knowing the language. She stayed with us at school for a year and reached level B2. So she managed to communicate with Italians in various contexts and then enrolled in a prestigious university, where she is building her future. Then we have students like Cathleen, a Canadian lady, who has come to study Italian in Florence every year for the last three years for a few weeks, after having started studying it at basic levels as a girl. By attending our intensive Italian course and private lessons, she made continuous and steady progress, first in comprehension and then in speaking and reading. This happened not only thanks to our very good teachers, but also and above all thanks to her commitment and the writing work she loves to do. So she was able to link the study of the Italian language to her passion, writing. She found her method and communicates Italian in various authentic contexts. This year she is attending the C1 level course.

Passion, that’s a key word, I would say. So my advice to you is this: make Italian your passion and tie it to something really motivating for you, then learning Italian will be easy.

Having brought you some real-life examples, I would like to try to give you some pointers, which may help you.

If you start to study Italian as a beginner, consider that by attending a group course you will need about 6 weeks of intensive course (20 lessons per week) to reach the first level (A1, which allows you to engage in basic conversations, get to know a new person and try to speak Italian in restaurants or shops) and another 6 weeks to reach the second level (A2, which allows you to use the language also for basic needs at work or school, make friends with Italians, travel more easily). Once you reach this level, it will take you longer to make the leap to B1 or B2 level (the advanced level with which you can also attend university and live in Italy without any problems). The intensive course generally allows you to cover each level in about 6 weeks, but there is a long way between saying and doing. I mean that it is one thing to cover the grammatical and lexical topics proper to a level, it is quite another to acquire the skills. If I have to be honest, then I would say that to get to B1 it will probably take you another 12 weeks and to get to B2 probably another 12. If you can manage to do this in less time, congratulations!

What is your mother tongue? How many other foreign languages do you know? How old are you? How much time do you dedicate to studying and practising the language? Do you have the habit of reading in a foreign language or do you get stuck in front of difficulties? Can you let yourself go when you communicate, challenge yourself by talking to locals? Do you listen to songs, podcasts, watch an Italian series or film? The answers you give to these questions will tell you that the more opportunities you have to be immersed in the language, the more likely you are to acquire B1 or B2 level skills faster.

The best way to learn Italian, whatever your starting point, will be constant contact with the language in real-life situations. If you learn Italian in Italy everything will be easier. You just have to be open-minded towards the language, have a positive and trusting approach towards your teachers and the school, and immerse yourself in Florentine life. Acquiring an Italian accent will also be more successful. If, on the other hand, you are in your home country and take Italian lessons online, contact with the authentic language will obviously be more difficult. But if you make a weekly appointment with your teacher, do your homework and engage with the language through small readings or by finding a contact for conversation, the road will be easier.

If you find this blog interesting and would like to use it to deepen some lexical or grammatical structures, write to me and I will send you some teaching materials related to this text.
If you wish, you can have a free 30-minute online lesson to get to know one of our teachers.