Why Italy

Help!!! I need to learn Italian by Christmas!?

My boyfriend is Italian, and this Christmas I will be going to stay with his family. His parent's don't speak English, but Italian so I need to learn AT LEAST basic Italian by the middle of December! Any tips? How can I learn? Is a tutor the best? Please help this is URGENT! I already speak French fluently. Could this help or hurt my learning Italian?

Public Comments

1. you can go buy books at barns and noble or those other book stores, or you can pay big bucks to hire a tutor, depends on how important it is to you
2. if your boyfriend knows Italian and english have him translate so u dont have 2 preasure yourself to learn another language. That can put you under lots of stress.
3. a tutor is the best. unless you are really motivated. if you want to save money, (which is always a plus) download some "learn italian" podcasts and listen to them always. when you get sick and tired of them, go to a tutor and they will pick you up wherever you left off. Italian is one of the easier languages. I only know a teensy eensy bit but don't worry, it's easier then learning english, and you seemed to have done that... have fun in italy! it is amazing! make sure you know some common italian smalltalk (words like acropolis, pisa, olive garden) lol jp.
4. You can buy language CD's that tell you how to pronounce and help you to practice. You can begin speaking Italian to your BF exclusively, that helps a lot. And insist that he speaks only Italian to you. You will strugle at first, but immersion is the way to get it fast. And you will learn the words first that you need in everyday life. Like "how was your day", "your mother is an angel from heaven", and "would you mind turning over and not snoring so much!" Don't wory about the Acropolis- that's in Athens, Greece. But having your BF speak his Italian to you will help you understand the regional accent of the place he comes from- Italian in Sicily, for example, is a lot different than Italian in Florence. PS You probably should be prepared for some cultural differences- when I was there 40 years ago in Naples, women there were not as independant as Americans expect to be. They could not own property in their own name. Things may have changed since, but they started later, and traditions are stronger than in the US, where you can reinvent yourself once a decade.
5. this site helped me but it is expensive http://www.rosettastone.com.
6. If I were you, I'd get a tutor. If that's out of your budget, get Rosetta Stone. It is amazing and works SO WELL. My cousin learned Mandarin with it and I have learned French with it. It is still expensive but the results are worth it and it is much cheaper than a private tutor. Or if you're in college, you could take Italian (as either a summer course or a fall course). Foreign Language College courses (even beginner courses) are very good, as most require the use of THAT language in class.
7. http://www.languageguide.org/ http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/Default.asp