Language tips - Italy Video Transcripts
Video 1 Transcript
I think the biggest advice that I have for language is just to keep practicing. I thought that was, like, the scariest thing for me. I didn't want to speak unless I, like, knew how to say it. But the people that are super forgiving, they would love that you want to learn their language. And so you just have to practice and speak all the time and use the things that you do know and then ask for help when you don't know. They'd love, love, love to tell you how to formulate your sentence better, the right word to use, or the verb that you're conjugating wrong. They'll tell you. They will help you if you just ask and if you try. And that's how you get the best. Studying grammar helps, but at some point you just got to practice speaking. And just like English, how we say a lot of things, like, in a slang way. You can't learn that in the books. And so you have to ask for help.
Video 2 Transcript
So one of the best things is I lived in Italy for six years and one of the things that once I was able to speak the language that really helped me then keep going and make my language a lot better was actually learning the dialects that helped me connect with Italians so much more and they love to teach me it. So once your language is pretty good and you'd say you can understand and you can speak well, they start asking, even if you're still learning, just a good way to learn more different variations is ask the Italians in whatever region you're in or city is what are their, how do you say things in their dialect. They love to teach you and they'll be very happy to do it.
Video 3 Transcript
So the best advice anyone can get about learning a new language is to just practice as much as you can, even if you sound like an idiot. I went on and I got a degree in Italian, so it's totally possible to learn it well early on if you just practice and don't worry about what you sound like.
Video 4 Transcript
Biggest thing, like if you go there, practice, speak all the time, even if the people you're with don't try and speak very much. Try and speak and practice even with the people who you're going with who may not, that may not be their native language, because the more you practice the better you'll get at it. Try and really enunciate the vowels, really try and, you know, say it in this pure Italian form, so like instead of saying like Terra, like really making it Terra, like really enunciating those vowels, I think makes it more understandable too, even if your accent isn't perfect. And then just be willing to ask people, ask people tons of stuff. They usually know tons of things, the Italians, about their language.
Video 5 Transcript
I wanted to mention the language in a couple of places. A great place to start out is Sardinia because they speak the language in such a crisp way and correct way. It's not their first language or native language. The native language is there is Sardo, which is really a whole separate language altogether, not just a dialect. For example, andiamo mangiare in Italian, let's go eat, is andalgio papai in Sardo, completely different. But they speak Italian mostly and they'll speak Italian to you and they'll speak it very well and it's a good good way to pick it up. Down in Napoli you're gonna have much more trouble picking up the language. They speak a lot of dialect there but it's a lot of fun. Una pizza con pomodoro sopra, pizza with tomato on top. Una pizza con pomodoro e colpa, very different. But try and learn the dialect there. It's a blast and you can really amaze people if you do that. It's a lot of fun.
Video 6 Transcript
Just like any other language, Italian is not easy to learn, but it's definitely doable. The really cool thing is Italians, they're really open to talk and they'll always help you with the language. You just talk to people and be like, hey, I don't know how to say this. How do you say this word? And they'll help you. They'll correct you. But I would say talk as much as you can. Get as much practice as you can and things will be good. Don't worry about messing up. If you worry about messing up, then you don't put in the practice that it takes to learn. Also, the best advice I could give is just to just to work on the grammar as well. When you have the grammar down, everything else kind of just falls into place. But honestly, don't stress, be patient. Like any language, it just takes time and you'll get it after a few months.
Video 7 Transcript
If you're learning Italian, of course, the best is to speak with the Italians that are normally very welcoming and they love that people struggle and try to learn our language. One tip, don't get scared if an Italian starts yelling at you while trying to explain to you something because, I don't know why, but there is this mechanism in which if someone doesn't speak Italian properly, we really push us hard, we want us to be understood. In fact, as you can see, I use a lot the hands and we try to move all our bodies. But one of the most typical things that happens is that people start screaming, like talking really loud, like the volume is the problem, you know, so don't get scared. It's just our way to try to help you.
Video 8 Transcript
The best thing you can do for your language is to never stop learning. I always say that the best advice I ever got was you should always be happy but never content. So you should always always be happy that you're speaking some bit of Italian but never let that be enough. Always learn more. And then beyond that pay attention to the double letters. Pala is ball and then pala is shovel. Almost sounds like the same word but the Italians will hear the difference. And yeah just talk to Italians. Just the more that you can just talk in Italian and speak less English, the more you'll learn. Always be happy but never be content. Just keep working and just keep loving the language. Just go for it.
