Lottie Lomme
Are you going to Italy soon? But has your Italian faded a bit? Don't worry, here are 10 tips to brush up on your Italian!
1. Grab the textbooks again
Reread the tourist dialogues in the Italian textbooks you have on your shelf. Whether you book now Con Piacere, Allegro of New Espresso is, all of them are well equipped for the tourist who wants to learn Italian. That book also contains short conversations between tourists and Italians. These are exactly the situations you will encounter on vacation. It order a coffee or a pizza. Asking about the price of the tomatoes, reserving a hotel room.
2. Search and book yourself
Find a holiday spot yourself and book your spot without an agency. This also saves you money. Of course you will have to communicate in Italian, but YOU CAN DO IT (ce la fai!). Moreover, it is a nice first introduction to Italians.
You're more likely to get to small, less touristy spots if you start creatively searching for something specific that you like. That's good for your Italian when you're actually on vacation. You are more likely to be addressed in English at the tourist mainstream spots.
3. Google.it
Search the Internet for things to do near your vacation spot in Italian. Look up the Italian keywords you are interested in (for example medieval church) in combination with the place of your destination (for example Perugia).
You will receive some information, which you can immediately analyze and practice. Good search terms are also, for example, 'Cost da fare in …' (Things to do in) or 'Program Estiva …' (Summer program) where you have to fill in your holiday location where the dots are. I always save things like this and nice locations that I find in Google Maps, so I can easily find them on my smartphone while on holiday.
4. Italian contacts
Visit your old Italian holiday friends and renew contact. Colleagues from Italy, people you remember from your high school exchange. Your children's acquaintances. Write them a letter, card, an app or a Facebook message.
You can also make new friends in your holiday region by searching Facebook places near your holiday location. For example, the page of the local cafe. If you make contact now, which is easier digitally, it will soon be easier to make contact with those people in real life.
5. Using Italian Media
Put the . again Italian TV, radio, Spotify, film, Netflix, Facebook, YouTube at. You can seize all the ways to get in touch with Italian, you can do that from home nowadays.
Important: do look for things IN ITALIAN. So no nice Dutch websites about Italy, but the real stuff. Authentic material, you have to come into contact with it. Keep in mind that this authentic material is not always adapted to the level of beginners. So you don't have to understand everything. Don't set high standards for yourself.
6. Move yourself to Italy
When you are sitting at a Dutch cafe, try to think of how you should formulate your order in Italian. When you're at the grocery store, try to think of what your food items are called in Italian. Be creative and develop your second schizophrenic Italian self. Talk to yourself. In italian. Ask yourself questions. Look for answers.
7. Cooking Italian Recipes
If you're going to cook at home, have another one Italian recipe that you can get from the internet. For example, an Italian recipe from Il Cucchiaio d'Argento of BlogGiallo Zafferano. It is important that you try to decipher an Italian recipe.
There is not much added value in making a Dutch recipe from an Italian pie. Moreover, recipes have relatively simple vocabulary. Once you get the hang of this a bit, the next recipe will also be easier to make.
8. Use waiting time usefully
Use your waiting time for Italian business. Waiting for the train, traveling by public transport, in the doctor's waiting room, in line at the cash register, while running. These are all moments that you can use as Italian time. If you're in the car, put an Italian music CD or Italian course us.
9. Learn some extra Italian online (for free!)
We have on This is Italy a Comprehensive List of Online Italian Course Resources composed. If you lose yourself in this for a few hours, you will have refreshed that lost Italian in no time.
10. Follow crash course
Take a last minute holiday course at a language school. Not all language schools have holiday courses, but it is certainly recommended. Even if you have already completed an A1 course. You can then refresh all knowledge again.
What do you do to brush up on your Italian right before your vacation? Leave your tips for others below.
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