Motivation may well be important in learning a language, but one quick way to loose it is to get bogged down with all the grammar right from the start. Do you seriously think that Italian mothers teach their children to speak by conjugating irregular verbs to them? Is that how you learned to speak English?
Repetition is key, but sticking one of those learn-a-language-in-a-week CDs in your car will drive you nuts. Try listening to the radio. Music has the unique ability to make constant repetition bearable. When you pick up enough to catch the name of your favourite tracks, it's simple enough to download the lyrics from the net and study them in your own time with your favourite grammar books and thumbscrews. If you get really stuck, I am sure someone here will help you out a bit. Pronunciation can be a little messed up to fit the music, but that’s what the talking bits between tracks are for.
That’s how my mum learned to speak English. (Without the download bit though). One of her oft repeated stories is how she blew weeks and weeks wages on her first radio, and blesses every penny to this day.
Go to
http://www.radio.rai.it/ and click on one of the radio stations down the right hand side under ASCOLTA. If you feel a bit more youthful than I do these days, you might like to try
http://www.videoitalia.it/ this time the instructions are in English. RAI is the state broadcaster, and Radio Italia is an Italian only station, no irritating English stuff.
Remember, listening to the radio is entertaining. If you pick up any Italian, think of it as a bonus.
One last bit of advice, avoid RAI International. It is every bit as bad as Voice of America, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle and all those other stations meant for “themâ€Â
'If you never open doors to let anyone in, no one can get in, but neither can you get out.'
