How Important is Knowing the Grammar to Learning Italian Fast?
By oversimplifying (a lot!), we could say that a language is made up of:
➜ The sounds that you hear and produce when speaking
➜ The words that are used to talk about things
➜ The grammar, that decides the structure of sentences
➜ The expressions and the slang
Traditionally, languages are taught in a very unproductive way, with the main (sometimes even sole) focus on grammar and assessment (drills, fill in the blanks exercises, over-corrections etc.).
This approach usually produces unhappy students who have very little fun, live in fear of making mistakes and who are, generally speaking, pretty good at knowing the grammar but can barely understand the foreign language, let alone, express themselves in it!We do not want that for you.
We do not want you to give up after a year and walk away with just being able to greet and order coffee in Italian.
That is the reason why we created the “How to Learn Italian Fast” series and the entire Italy Made Easy universe!
So, why is Grammar Pillar #4 and not Pillar #1?
Well, considering that Pillar #1 is your commitment to learning Italian, that the sounds (pronunciation and intonation) are Pillar #2 and that the words (vocabulary) are definitely a top priority for you… Grammar must come at number 4.
Wait a minute…
Are you saying that grammar is not important and that we can skip learning it and live happy lives without knowing it? So, Duolingo and Rosetta Stone are right, since these tools make no mention of anything remotely close to grammar? Yay!
Sorry, but not quite!
Grammar is extremely important. It is the glue that holds a language together. It is the nuts and bolts of a language. Without it, we’d have chaos. No one would be able to understand anyone.
Learning Italian Grammar is Key to Your Success
Do you find this contradictory? Hear us out.
When learning a language, you do have to first focus on getting familiar with its sounds, melody, pitch, speed, etc. You have to spend a lot of time in Pillar #1 so that your brain can recognize the sounds and reproduce them as closely as possible.
Focusing on Grammar first will bore you to death and will force you to pick up some really bad pronunciation habits. Why?
Because you will start speaking the foreign language relying on your instinct, and the sounds of your native language. This is what happens to 95% of language learners.
This is the reason why most English speakers always sound like English speakers speaking Italian (and translating directly from English) and most Italian speakers always sound like Italians speaking English (and translating directly from Italian).
Focusing on Immersion first will also ensure you pick up authentic ways of saying things and you will learn words and expressions in context (and you will never have to ask your Italian tutor what MAGARI or MICA mean – you will just know, from having heard them in context a ton of times!).
Once you are familiar with the sound of Italian (Pillar #2), have learned as much useful vocabulary as possible (Pillar #3), then you are ready to acquire the grammar. Italian grammar is more complex than English, that's for sure, but it is also very similar in many ways.
Knowing the grammar will allow you to:
➜ Form your own sentences and express your thoughts
➜ Understand the real meaning of what Italians are saying
➜ Feel confident
This last point, that of feeling confident, is perhaps the biggest benefit of learning the grammar. As adults, we have a strong need to know WHY things are a certain way. Ignoring the Grammar will leave you second guessing yourself all the time, hesitant when conversing and fearful of making mistakes.
The Best Way to Learn Italian Grammar
The biggest mistake we see most people make, is to assume that, since they are learning Italian, they should learn the grammar in… Italian.
Noooooo! Please do not do that!
Learning Italian grammar in Italian would be like me teaching you how to read music, by only using music notes.
Wouldn’t you rather have me explain it in plain English?
Sure, there will be plenty of music notes everywhere, but explanations in your native language prove more effective, clear and quick.
When you are learning Italian, you are, no doubt, trying hard to understand what people are saying when they speak Italian to you. Imagine having to understand a complex grammatical distinction, while you are banging your head against the wall because you are also not fully understanding what is being said in the first place.
So, there you have it.
➜ LEARN ITALIAN GRAMMAR IN YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE
Our 3-Step Strategy to Start Learning Italian Grammar Fast
Find a grammar book, any Italian grammar book, as long as it is not older than 10 years, around 200 pages or more, and, of course, written in your native language.
1. Read the entire grammar book, from cover to cover once.
No need to learn or memorize anything. Read through the examples as well, but do not spend time figuring out too much. Ignore the exercises.
Challenge: Read 30 pages of your Italian grammar book every day until you have read it all!
2. Go over the grammar book, one topic at the time.
Now that you have read the entire Italian Grammar, you can go back to the beginning of the book and start spending some time on each topic and, as soon as you learn it, try to identify it during your Immersion.
You just learned how MAI (“never”) works in Italian? See if you can spot it being used on QVC or your favorite series.
If you really can’t help it, play around with the exercises, but we actually encourage you to ignore them, once again!
It should take you two or three months to go over the entire Italian grammar. By the end of this period, you will NOT know the grammar, you will NOT be the King/Queen of Italian grammar.
We are doing this so you know, roughly, how the Italian language works and, through Immersion and Speaking (Pillar #5), you will notice features of the Italian Grammar you have been learning about and start using them more and more.
Using the features of Italian Grammar?
Yes, the Holy Grail of language learning is to use correct grammar without any conscious effort, without having to recall it. Just like we do with our native language!
The approach presented in this guide will set you on the right path.
3. Investigate the grammar points as they become relevant to you.
As you progress on your journey with the Italian language, you will get curious about specific grammar points, those you realize you really need at that specific point in time.
Sure, in Step 1 and Step 2 you will read about “IL CONGIUNTIVO PASSATO” but you won’t be ready to fully assimilate, apply and identify it for a while.
So… you can keep ignoring it!
By the same token, after a while of playing around with Italian you might get curious about why Italians keep using little words like MI, TI, LO and you will want to know how it all works.
When You Want to Really Understand Italian Grammar
That’s when the expert comes in.
Who is the expert?
It’s a native Italian speaker who is linguistically trained to explain each and every grammar point in such a way that it becomes clear to you.
I hope you make me, Manu Venditti, that expert for you!
I have more than 20 years of experience making Italian easy for English speakers and I have found a way to get anyone to fully understand pretty much any grammar point! If not me, do make sure your expert is a native Italian speaker who is linguistically trained (as most native speakers of any language are terrible at explaining how their language works, since they have always taken it for granted!) and who can explain complex concepts in your native language.