My Top 10 Secrets for Learning LA BELLA LINGUA 1. Fill your ears. Listening primes the brain for understanding. Turn your car into a

classroom with Italian-language CDs. Download podcasts to your iPod, MP3 player, or

cell phone, and listen on planes, trains, buses, and places in between.

2. See it, say it, stick it. Train yourself to say the Italian word (if only to yourself) for

things you look at every day: il cielo for sky, la sedia for chair; il pane for bread. Put a

post-it note with the Italian name on objects around the house. Don’t remove one until

you’ve memorized the term.

3. Read. Go to www.onlinenewspapers.com/italy.htm for a sampling of Italian language

papers. Just scanning the headlines will teach you common words and names. Italian

action comics, with heroes such as Tex, a time-traveling cowboy, and Diabolik, “king of

terror,” provide a fun way to improve your vocabulary and reading skills.

4. Watch. Movies allow you to see and hear Italian in action. Rent classics such as

Roma, città aperta or La dolce vita. Among the movies I watch time and again are:

Fellini’s Amarcord and E la nave va, Il Postino, Pane e tulipani, and anything with

Marcello Mastroianni, particularly the biography “Si, mi ricordo” (Yes, I Remember).

5. Sing. Even if you can’t carry a tune, singing along with popular Italian songs can

introduce you to everyday vocabulary and improve your pronunciation. At

www.youtube.com you’ll find everything from charming ninnenanne (lullabies) such as

Stella stellina to pop tunes like Volare and famous operatic arias such as Nessun dorma.

6. Play. You can find Italian giochi di parole (word games), including cruciverba

(crosswords) and anagrammi (anagrams) in inexpensive books or online at sites such as

www.parolecrociate.net/ Play the Italian versions of popular board games, such as

Monopoly and Scarabeo (Scrabble), with friends or fellow students. Or ask an Italian to

teach you card games such as Scopa and Briscola. (Just don’t bet any money on them.)

7. Mingle. Join a bocce team or a Vespa club. Watch a soccer match in an Italian bar or

restaurant. Take cooking classes taught by Italians. Go to Italian street festivals. For

informal opportunities to speak Italian, look for a local conversation group at

www.meetup.com. Enroll in a class at schools, community centers, Italian cultural

organizations – or, best of all, in Italy.

8. Don’t be afraid of tripping over your tongue. “Sbagliando si impara,” Italians say.

“You learn by making mistakes.” If you can’t think of the correct tense, just say the

infinitive of a verb – parlare for “speak,” for example – or stick to the present tense.

And by all means, use your hands. That’s molto italiano.

9. Spend time in Italy every day. If you can’t go to Italy, bring a little Italy into your

life. Drink an espresso. Eat some pasta. Have a gelato. Listen to a Puccini aria. Wear

something Italian (shoes are a great choice). Visit the websites of ex-pats, happy

wanderers, and travel bloggers. Check out Italian broadcasts on the Internet.

10. Be swept away. I fell so madly, gladly, giddily in love with Italian that I spent years

researching and writing La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most

Enchanting Language and created a three-times-a-week blog on useful (and often

amusing) Italian expressions and words. The more you know about Italian, the more

Italian you’ll want to know. Come visit my sites to learn more this luscious language:

www.becomingitalian.com

Blog: www.becomingitalianwordbyword.typepad.com

Column: http://thefastertimes.com/italianlessons/