Do You Think Learning Italian is Hard? Try With Some Italian Courses in Florence By Lorenzo Cardelli

Do you think learning Italian is hard? It’s no harder than learning Spanish and like any other language the absolute best way to learn as an adult is to immerse yourself in the language on a daily basis. The best way to do this is by taking Italian language courses in Italy. If you are trying to learn in the United States or any other English speaking country then practicing outside of class is quite difficult. You also have limited exposure to the language, even in a university level course the most time you will spending will be five hours a week. Enter the Italian learning experience.

Whether you are attending school in Italy, taking an extended vacation or relocating for work, taking Italian courses upon your arrival will make your transition immensely easier. You will have classmates from around the world to practice with. In Florence, for example, everyday you walk out to study Italian into streets filled with speakers you can practice with. The further away from the tourist zones you are the easier it will be to practice as well. Not falling into the speaking English as a default helps to learn as well. Many Italians speak English and will welcome the practice, but if you maintain your responses in Italian you will find that a few weeks of day to day life complements your Italian language course greatly, especially in the ability to retain the information.

The benefit of learn Italian in Florence, while you are surrounded by native speakers, is greatly increased by the pace of many programs. While it is possible to take only an hour a day in lessons, which is ideal for students who will be in the country for an entire year, most of the programs will be roughly four hours a day. This reinforces everything you learn well, building day by day on what you have covered the day before. You may be quite surprised at how quickly you are able to pick up the language at this pace. The fact that you are able to add private lessons and also do intensive programs increases greatly the speed at which you can learn in most Italian courses in Florence, Italy. Here there is a large number of ex patriots and tourists, and you will find the greatest variety of schools.

For those with the love and the motivation learning Italian will not be that hard. Any background in other Romance languages helps a great deal, and the idiomatic expressions will come more slowly than verb conjugation. But by taking Italian courses in Italy you will get the benefit of native speakers being around you everyday. They will help you immensely, especially in the form of language exchange, practice English for an hour, then Italian for an hour. Very shortly you will learn to never order a latte unless you want a glass of milk and that an espresso is a newspaper and not a coffee and you will be on your way to speaking like a native.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=374742&ca=Education

English: Should You Lose The Accent? By A Nutt

When learning English as a second language, many students feel that they have failed if they don`t speak it flawlessly and without an accent. The simple truth is, however, that the majority of ESL students will not be able to completely get rid of their accent in English without many years of hard work. If you are able to speak clearly and have others understand you, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with having an accent.

What IS Important

Being able to speak like a native doesn`t necessarily mean that you`ll be accent free. In fact, your accent could be just what you need to set your voice apart from millions of others. But there are a few things that you do need to know if you are serious about speaking the language well.

Avoid common mispronunciations. This varies depending on your mother tongue, but most people have some set pronunciations that can cause problems in English. For example, most adult Asians pronounce the letter 'r' as 'l'. Spanish speakers will usually say 'b' for the letter 'v'. If you know what your particular mispronunciations are, you can be conscious of them and make a real effort not to say these sounds wrong. This will make your English far more understandable. Children will have less of a problem with this than adults.

Enunciate. In your rush to speak English like a native, you may try to speed up, but this can make it hard for people to understand you. Slow down a little and make sure you say each word clearly and there will be far less chance of misunderstanding. You can practice your enunciation, as well. This doesn`t mean that you need to get rid of your accent, only that you need to speak clearly so everyone will understand
what you have said .. . this is something that many native English speakers also have problems with.
Increase your vocabulary. It`s far easier to express yourself if you know what words to use. This basically means you need to do a lot of studying and reading. Watching movies and television shows in

English can also help with building vocabulary, as well as improving your accent. Speaking with others is another method of learning new words, as long as you are with someone you feel comfortable asking the definition from. Otherwise, get in the practice of carrying a small pocket dictionary with you.

Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice, the better you`ll get at speaking English. That means striking up conversations with strangers, calling up friends on the phone to speak English (phones can be difficult, but are excellent practice for speaking clearly), and getting in as much conversation time as possible. Many English students even hire someone to converse with them, but you should be able to find plenty of people who are happy to just have a conversation.

If you really do wish to reduce your accent, then there are specialists who help people with this. A speech therapist will be able to help you move your mouth differently than you are accustomed to and help you correct the more common pronunciation problems so that you will be able to speak more like a native speaker.

Speaking English well takes time and practice. There`s no instant method for picking up a new language perfectly and while you may want to work on speaking more like a native, it isn`t necessary. In fact, you may find that many people enjoy listening to an accent, as long as you are able to speak clearly and be understood.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=371654&ca=Education