Disclaimer: This article was lovingly written by me truly, with no AI involved in the writing process. 😉
Ciao ! 👋
Here we are, finally at the third article on the VARK test series.
Today I want to share with you some tips on how you can learn Italian through reading and writing.
Italian is a beautiful and expressive language, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy learning it. Here are some of the things that can help you to start learning Italian if you are introverted or shy, or if you don’t feel confident enough to speak, or just to improve your Italian skills.
Well, let’s see them together!
- Reading Books
- Blogs and Online Articles
- Use bilingual books
- Online Forums and Social Media
- Practice writing
- Translation Exercises
- Join a book club
Reading Books
Online we often hear people say to start reading children’s books because they are easier. On the one hand it is true, because the plot is simple, but unfortunately in Italian it is not the same with verb tenses, now I will explain why.
In this article, I strongly advise against starting by reading children’s books, because while it is true that they are simpler, one always finds the preterite tense (Passato remoto) as a form of the past tense.
The first thing that prompts me to say this, is the fact that it is very irregular; the second reason is that this is not a verbal tense that we use in everyday life for speaking (from the Central upwards Italy, at least), because instead we use the past perfect tense (passato prossimo).
In the same article, I also give you alternative solutions.
Blogs and Online Articles
Reading helps you develop a sense of how the language is used in different contexts and genres. You can learn about the culture, history, and values of the people who speak the language.
And what’s more alive than a blog? It is a freer language than the book, still written, but probably imperfect, as imperfect is the spoken language.
So let’s say, it’s a little more realistic than the book.
So my suggestions is to read blogs and articles on topics you’re passionate about in Italian. This can expand your vocabulary and improve your comprehension.
Reading something you enjoy makes you forget the “effort” you’re putting into learning Italian, and that’s exactly how you learn fastest: when you’re having fun!
(Of course, the same thing happens when you watch videos or movies that you are passionate about)
For example, if you are into gardening, here is an interesting blog: https://giardinaggioirregolare.com/
If you are passionate about travel: https://www.tiraccontounviaggio.it/
About history: https://www.fattiperlastoria.it/benvenuti-in-fatti-per-la-storia-il-portale-per-gli-appassionati-di-storia/
Use bilingual books
If you are a person with a more analytical mind, reading bilingual books could be interesting. They have the text in both Italian and English, which makes it easier to understand the meaning of the words and phrases. You can compare and contrast the languages and learn how they express the same ideas in different ways. This can help you improve your grammar, syntax, and vocabulary in both languages. You can choose the level and genre of the books that suit your interests and goals.
Online Forums and Social Media
Participating in forums or social media groups in Italian that discuss topics that interest you is a very interesting way to learn Italian. Unfortunately, they’re never among the top results on Google (but maybe with Bing, which uses AI, there is more hope of finding them), but once you find them, not only do you learn Italian while having fun (you are reading things that interest you), but you also learn the slang language, typical chat abbreviations, and why not, even a bit of culture (one question you might ask yourself is : “How do Italians approach this problem?” 🤔).
Engaging in discussions and writing comments or posts (e.g., on Quora) can help improve writing skills.
Practice writing
Writing in the target language is an excellent way to improve your grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.
You can start by writing simple sentences and gradually move on to more complex ones. You can also keep a journal in Italian to practice writing every day. A good way to start is with CHAT-GPT, which might not be perfect but can correct 90% of your errors and even respond to you! 😉
Translation Exercises
If you want to try this method and you are a beginner, I recommend starting by translating songs (here is a list of 100 Italian songs divided by difficulty level).
Having very short and common phrases will help you reinforce your vocabulary and grammar.
In the end, you will be able to compare your translation with already translated texts that you can find on the web.
When you reach an intermediate level, the material will be much broader and you will be able to start translating from your language to Italian (depending on how daring you are 😉).
Join a book club
As a last resource to learn Italian through reading and writing, there is joining a book club. It doesn’t even matter to be particularly outgoing because in a book club, personal matters are not discussed, but rather engaging stories and facts.
The book club also gives you the opportunity to receive feedback on your writing and thus improve your skills.
You can find book clubs online or in your local community.
Well, for this article, that’s all.
Whatever you need to do with Italian, whether it’s starting, improving, or finding other ideas to make your journey of discovering Italian less monotonous, I hope this article has been helpful to you.
Alla prossima! 👋
(See you next time!)
Dillo in Italiano 