10 Fun Ways to IMPROVE Your Italian: My Personal Tips, Tricks, and Tactics

Checking out the Italian word for "shopaholic" on WordReference...

So you're living or studying in Italy? Whooooo hooo, you're now a member of a very exclusive club of expats that will forever start conversations with either "Sì, mi trovo bene in Italia" (the response when people ask you how you're finding Italy) or else "This one time, in Venice/Florence/Milan etc...." Do you tell yourself just because you're here, breathing in the Italian air, you're probably learning the language by osmosis? Hate to burst your bubble, but you're not. Yes, being surrounded by Italian and having to do your daily errands in Italian is helpful but it's also not the be-all and end-all. You will not improve unless you are constantly trying to add to your vocabulary and trying out new verbs. I could get along with a list of probably 10 verbs and be completely coherent but since my aim is to sound like I've been here for years rather than months, I'm always using little tricks and tactics on the path to self-improvement- now I'm sharing them with you! 

My Top 10 Tips, Tricks, and Sneaky Tactics for Improving Italian 

1. Watch Italian movies on Netflix with English subtitles , my particular favourite is Io Sono L'Amore (the amazing Tilda Swinton did the entire movie in Italian though she technically does not speak the language, she "learnt" it and is just amazing. Also, the clothes...the film was outfitted by Raf Simons for Jil Sander). 
2. Read Italian gossip magazines and write the translation of each word above in English. Despite how long it takes you, you'll soon realize you're looking up fewer and fewer words. I recommend reading CHI (Italy's version of HELLO!) or TuSTYLE. 
3. Have a little notebook to write down particularly interesting words, verbs, or expressions that you don't want to forget and review on a weekly basis. I used to carry a little black book but now I use the Paperless app on my iPhone. 
4. Sign up for About.com word of the day in Italian, I still get them in my e-mail inbox daily! 
5. Check out the website called The Iceberg Project, See previous posts about it here.
6. DuoLingo and Babbel, I tinker with them anytime I'm waiting around for something. 
7. Watch kids' shows like Peppa Pig in Italian. I know it sounds ridiculous but if movies or television is still too challenging or physically hurts your brain, kids' programs tend to speak using simpler vocabulary, verb forms, and (sometimes) they speak slower or more clearly. 
8. Watch the dubbed Italian movies of your favorite English movies. It's helpful because usually you already know the lines by heart and can pay more attention to how they translated it into Italian. 
9. Translate song lyrics. The first Italian song I ever translated fully (looking up every single word) was Favola by Modà. 
   
10. Converse with kids. They don't judge you when you mess up your grammar and are totally less intimidating!