How To Supplement An Italian Textbook

Using an Italian textbook is a fantastic tool for learning Italian There are an enormous amounts of benefits of using an Italian textbook.

However using an Italian textbook isn’t going to help you learn Italian on it’s own. In order to learn Italian you need to be studying in other ways as well, so you can supplement your learning.

Here are some of our favourite ways you can study Italian alongside your textbook.

Italian Speaking Practise

One of the issues that Italian textbooks have is that they don’t give much of an opportunity to practise speaking, but this doesn’t mean that an Italian textbook isn’t useful, just that you have to find opportunities to practise speaking elsewhere.

If you are in Italy then obviously you are off to a huge advantage as you will be able to speak Italian every day in a variety of exchanges. However, if you’re learning from your own country which may be more likely then don’t worry, there are still things you can do to practise speaking.

Using websites like italki and Conversation Exchange, you can find languages partners. Simply schedule in a language exchange for once a week and you’re off.

If you’re a bit nervous speaking Italian with another person just yet then why not start narrating what you’re doing in the house and talking to yourself in Italian. You might feel a bit silly but it will help to make the sounds seem more natural in your mouth.

Find A Great Italian Series

Another thing you can do is to find a great Italian series. If you watch the series with the audio in Italian while reading Italian subtitles then you’ll be able to improve your listening skills and reading skills at the same time.

Another great thing about this method is that it enables you to listen to more colloquial language and come across natural speech patterns. This may be difficult for you to understand at first but as your Italian comprehension improves you’ll be happy that you chose to start watching them.

And the best thing is that you don’t even have to search that far. Netflix is getting better and better for foreign language series every day. There are a load of Italian series you can choose from on Netflix and work your way through.

Set The Language On Your Devices To Italian

This is one of our favourite tips for getting more exposure to a language. If you want to learn Italian then you want to see it written down often, you want to hear it often and you want to be exposed to it often. So a way to increase this exposure is to set the language on your mobile, tablet or laptop to Italian. Then you’ll be seeing it every single day and will start to pick up words that you might not otherwise have had exposure to.

The more you see the more natural it will seem to you and the more you’ll be able to pick up.