My goal today is to answer the question “How long does it take to learn Italian?”, which is something many of you seem to be wondering before committing to learning that beautiful language.
I asked myself that very question before studying Italian for about four years until I reached a good level of fluency. I’ll show you why, depending on several factors, it may take you less or more time than that to master it.
What you need to know beforehand
Italian isn’t considered particularly hard for foreign learners.
The Foreign Service Institute of the United States government has classified the major languages of the world into four groups, based on the average number of language learning hours an English speaker (native or not) should put in to achieve fluency.
Check out an abridged version of the classification:
- Group 1 (600-750 hours): Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
- Group 2 (900 hours): German, Indonesian, Swahili
- Group 3 (1100 hours): Farsi, Greek, Hebrew, Polish, Russian, Tagalog, Thai
- Group 4 (2200 hours): Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean
As you can see, Italian shares with other Romance and Anglo-Saxon languages the coveted status of easiest to learn for an English speaker, i.e. the Group 1 languages.
So, how long does it take to learn Italian? If you’re able to commit about five hours a week to studying Italian, you should expect to master it in two and a half to three years. On the other hand, if you can only study for three weekly hours on average, it might take you almost five years to become fluent in Italian.
Also read: Is Italian Hard to Learn? Here’s the Real Answer
There are a handful of levels of proficiency.
A little more than 20 years ago, the European Union adopted the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which had been over 10 years in the making.
The CEFR, as it is commonly called, has helped standardize the learning process of European languages by categorizing it into six levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2. Each letter identifies, respectively, basic, independent, and proficient speakers.
That means someone’s level of fluency is, in a way, subjective: upon reaching the B2 level, you’ll be able to communicate effectively in Italian in most daily situations, which of course can be considered speaking it fluently.
If you plan to use Italian in an academic setting, you’ll probably need to reach C1 instead. And learners who really want to communicate like a native speaker (as far as possible, that is) can go the extra mile to obtain a C2 certification.
What you need to factor in
How old you are matters.
This may be controversial, as there are plenty of stories about people who mastered a new language in their 30s and well into their senior years. If you’re wondering whether to study after a certain age, by all means do it!
That said, it’s true that kids and teenagers are slightly better off when it comes to achieving fluency in a new language (and Italian in particular). Their brain isn’t fully formed yet, they’re still learning their own native language, and they can afford the time to learn a second language more easily.
To be fair, research shows it might take native speakers up to 30 years to master their own language, which can be a glimmer of hope to all foreign students out there. It may get a bit harder with time, but it’s never impossible!
So do your aptitude and environment.
It’s no secret everyone is good at different kinds of things. Some folks are extremely talented in dealing with other people, while others will go on to become great mathematicians. And sometimes the mathematician is a people person too!
With language learning, it’s no different. Some people’s brains are just better equipped to master one or more languages faster and more thoroughly.
That is related to, though not entirely dependent on, your environment. If you grew up surrounded by books or have had contact with other cultures from an early age, you may have an easier time becoming fluent in Italian.
Of course, this should never discourage you from following your dreams — whether it’s learning Italian or becoming a rocket scientist.
The learning method will have a great impact.
You can learn Italian through about 10 different methods, each focusing on a distinct part of the language or core activity.
The structural approach, for instance, concentrates on grammar rules, while the audio-lingual method relies on dialogues.
A few approaches are more unusual: in the direct method, teaching is done entirely in Italian from the get-go. The natural method in turn highlights where the first and second languages are similar and avoids correcting mistakes.
In most cases, a successful approach to studying Italian will mix a couple or more methods in a well-thought-out way. That means you should trust a professional or thoroughly research the method of a book or course before committing to it.
Knowing your learning style — which can be predominantly visual, auditory, or physical — is essential in this process as well.
You should know how motivated you are.
I’m positive you’ll love studying Italian through and through — especially if you follow the tips I’ll give you in the next section and the ones I’ve listed before.
Yet you do need to be aware that it won’t feel like having a wholesome meal or a good night’s sleep, i.e. a problem-free and totally pleasant experience.
After the initial breakthroughs, which are always very exciting, it might take some time before you actually feel like you’re making progress again. Then, when you reach an intermediate level of language, bridging the gap to advanced won’t come about without hard work.
It’s perfectly fine to want to learn Italian casually over 5+ years, but achieving fluency faster than that will require a lot of motivation not unlike a college degree.
What languages do you speak already?
As I’ve told you above, speaking English is already a good head start when learning Italian because Italian will be among the easiest languages to master. What’s more, if English is your second language, your brain will know exactly which path to follow whenever you venture into learning any foreign language.
Other Romance languages (most importantly, French, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish) may be even more helpful, as they share a limited degree of oral intelligibility and a high degree of written intelligibility with Italian:
- Oral intelligibility with Italian: Romanian, 45%; Spanish 35%; French, 32%; Portuguese, 25%
- Written intelligibility with Italian: 90%, French; 70% Portuguese; Spanish, 65%; Romanian, 53%
Although you might easily mix stuff up as you learn (I did that often while studying Italian after mastering Spanish), you’ll understand grammar concepts and take in new words way faster if you speak another Romance language already.
How to learn Italian fast
Rely on a wide range of resources.
The absolute best way to learn Italian is to make the most of all kinds of tools the web has to offer. You may want to invest in a top-rated grammar book, textbook, or workbook to teach yourself Italian. You can also enroll in Italian courses or hire an Italian tutor.
But you’ll also find countless free apps that you can use to take lessons, interact with fellow learners, practice speaking, and even play games. Whenever you need a break from the grammar content, open a novel or a storybook to keep learning in a natural and engaging way.
The more diversified the resources you count on, the less likely you’ll be to feel overwhelmed while studying Italian. Plus, virtually all tools have gaps and minor errors, so you’ll need to complement and cross-reference them on a regular basis in order to achieve fluency.
Practice regularly.
As much exciting as you should make the process of learning Italian, you should be serious about it if you’re really pressed about mastering it.
Memorization and repetition are key to taking in concepts and vocabulary in an effective way, just like exercising or learning how to dance, for example.
You’ll have to train your brain to achieve fluency, no matter how little time you manage to devote to your studies every week. If you can only stop for lesson time for 30 minutes on a Saturday, don’t worry too badly about it.
Just try to squeeze Italian into your daily life — whether through podcasts, TV shows, short stories, or anything you enjoy consuming — and sooner or later you’ll be speaking Italian. Try to join a language exchange community as well. All it takes is consistency!
Fall in love with the culture.
I promise you won’t have a hard time doing that. Italian culture, both in its highest and most mundane manifestations, is fascinating like the country itself.
Italy is the birthplace of the Renaissance and keeps giving us masterpieces into the 21st century, yet it’s also home to those inconsequential pop culture products that we all love: memes, reality TV, and celebrity gossip.
If you start seeing your Italian studies as a sort of discovery of a brand-new world — a secret garden you’ll always have the key to — chances are the whole process will become smoother and more enjoyable.
You’ll still need to focus on grammar as much as you can, but you’ll get to learn new words, take in their usage in a far more organic way, and hone your listening and pronunciation skills as well.
Don’t fret over silly mistakes.
You’ll naturally need concrete goals and a true commitment to achieve fluency in Italian, but trust me when I say you’ll want the process to be smooth and stress-free.
Don’t be too hard on yourself and enjoy the ride; make it about the journey instead of the end goal only. After all, we all have enough issues to deal with to turn such an exciting thing as learning a new language into a source of stress.
Besides, even native speakers make mistakes all the time (though typically different in nature), so they’ll continue to be a part of your life after you achieve fluency.
The good news is Italians are generally welcoming to foreigners who make the effort to learn their language and will be understanding and helpful when you interact with them.
Final thoughts
Do you think by now you can accurately answer the question “How long does it take to learn Italian?” With all the elements we’ve considered along the post, you should be able to estimate it based on your own unique circumstances.
To your favor, you have the fact Italian is one of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. If you already speak another Romance language and know how to keep yourself motivated, you make the whole process even quicker.
Most importantly, though, you’ll need to count on several kinds of resources and pick a method that suits your learning needs if you want your path to fluency in Italian to be as steady as possible.