How to improve my Italian speaking skills at home?

Italian is one of the major European languages.

It is the second most widely spoken native language in the European Union with 67 million speakers which is roughly 15% of the population of the European Union. It is spoken as a second language by 13.4 million EU citizens which is approximately 3% of the population of the European Union. The total number of Italian speakers is approximately 85 million when Italian speakers in non-EU European countries (such as Switzerland, Albania and the United Kingdom) and on other continents are taken combined.

Italian is one of the working languages of the Council of Europe. It is also one of the official languages of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Italian is the main working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca (common language) in the Roman Catholic hierarchy. It is also the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

The influence of the Italian language is widespread in arts and also in the food and luxury goods industry.

Because of the use of Italian in musical terminology and opera, Italian is known as the language of music. Numerous Italian words referring to music have become globally accepted terms, taken into various languages throughout the world.

Are you acquainted with Italian?

If yes, what level of Italian speaking skills do you find yourself at?

Basic Italian, any of the intermediate levels, or advanced Italian?

If you are at a basic level, there is great scope for improvement in the speech.

If you are at an intermediate level, your learning will be comparatively faster than a person who is at a basic level.

And lastly, even if you are at an advanced level of Italian learning, there is still wide scope for improvement in terms of pronunciations, accent, diction, etc.

You can do it at your home too!

How?

Let me suggest a few ways to do it!

Reading out a piece of writing, loudly

An effective way to improve your speech is reading out a piece of writing, say an article in a newspaper, magazine or journal, loudly. This Italian speaking exercise, if done on a regular basis and sincerely, is sure to give you good results.

Referring to a dictionary for phonetics

For pronunciations to be better with each passing day, one must refer to a dictionary for learning Italian, in which phonetics are given in detail and very clearly. One must practise pronouncing these syllables or making the sounds correctly if one wants one’s speech to sound good.

Active reading

Active reading means reading not just for the sake of reading, but for learning something. One must refer to a dictionary, understand the sounds of letters in the Italian alphabet, listen to pronunciations of words repeatedly and regularly to develop one’s Italian speaking skills.

Watching movies shows

Watching Italian movies and shows with an intention of listening to the pronunciations of words clearly, learning the Italian accent, helps one learn Italian even while getting entertained.  

Listening to Italian news

When one listens to news in the Italian language, one learns voice modulation, intonation, and pitch changes in a better manner. The diction that is used in formal conversations or communication or while addressing anyone formally can be learnt excellently through this medium.  

Listening to Italian songs, poetries

One must listen to the audio recordings of Italian songs and/or poetry to improve listening skills, which in turn, help improve speaking skills.

Podcasts and educational videos

Regularly listening to podcasts or educational videos based on lessons in the Italian language is a very good way to develop one’s Italian vocabulary.  Accent and pronunciations of Italian words can also be improved.

Online Italian learning apps

Here, knowledge of the Italian language is imparted in the form of short lessons, quizzes, tests, etc. to make learning Italian interesting for users. One can listen to the audios and videos recorded and uploaded on these apps anytime to improve Italian language skills.

Online Italian learning courses

The best of all the resources or ways to learn Italian or to develop Italian speaking skills is online Italian learning classes. In these classes, Italian is taught through the medium of audio-visual Italian learning sessions which facilitate face-to-face (on-screen) interaction between a student and the instructor. The advantage of this method over other methods is that unlike in self-learning where a student does not have a teacher or an Italian language expert who clears doubts, answers questions in real-time, in online classes, one can ask queries, and get them answered clearly, right during the sessions.

An Online Italian learning course can be taken from the safety and comfort of one’s home; one need not travel to any place to learn Italian. The course can be taken without wasting any of one’s valuable time and/or hard-earned money for commuting to take training in the Italian language.

So, thinking of joining an excellent online course for learning Italian? If yes, go ahead; that’s the best way to improve one’s speech in the Italian language.

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