• You can become quite fluent in Italian, as a second-language speaker, if you learn and practise / practice Italian regularly over a period of 2-4 years, depending on how much time you have available to study.
• When you learn a language, you start off by becoming moderately fluent at a Beginner level in practical travel scenarios – e.g., ordering a meal, going shopping, buying tickets for the theatre, etc., and in brief conversational exchanges when you are meeting people, making friends, socializing, going out together and talking about everyday themes.
• As you progress further, you become more fluent in Italian, meaning that you are able to carry on short conversations about yourself, at a Beginners-Intermediate level – what you are doing, where you are going, what you want to do, your likes and dislikes, your family, your work, what you like doing in your free time, etc.
• At Beginners-Intermediate level, your fluency level means you can learn to make plans in Italian, such as organizing a birthday party at a restaurant or a party at home or a trip around Italy.
• At Beginners-Intermediate and Intermediate levels, your fluency in Italian means you can learn to talk about the past – what you did and where you went today / yesterday / last week. You learn to describe what it was like.
• At these levels, your fluency in Italian means you can also learn to talk about the future – what you will do and where you will go next year, and what you would like to do.
• Your Italian fluency at Advanced level, means that you can tell a story about your life, you can talk about your thoughts and opinions and about issues of the day.
• As you learn more, your understanding of the language, your ability to call upon the phrases and grammatical structures you want to use in conversation, your confidence and your level of fluency – will all gradually increase over time.
• As you study the Italian language, you will also gain insights into the English language and a greater understanding of language structure in general – vocabulary and grammatical structures that are similar or different in the two languages.
• It generally takes two to three years to achieve an Intermediate-Advanced level and three to four years to achieve an Advanced level of fluency in Italian, but it all depends on how much time you have for study. If you have plenty of time for study and you want to do an accelerated course, you can reach a high level in one to two years.
• Although it does take some time and regular study, it is very satisfying to learn to communicate fluently in the expressive and beautiful Italian language.
• When you travel around Italy after you have made some progress in learning Italian, you will have a lot more fun, because you will be able to communicate with the friendly, local people and you will be able to get away from the crowded tourist places and explore the small towns, which are typical of the real Italy.
• Most Italians are very pleased and encouraging when they discover that you have been learning Italian. Unless they are in a hurry, they will generally try to help you with your Italian – especially if you can also help them with their English!
• Being able to speak Italian – at any level – will help you to make friends as you travel around Italy and as you speak with Italians in your own country and in other countries.
• If you would like more information about levels or about the e-Courses, please contact Juliana through the website. She is happy to help you.