Authentic Italian, Real Communication: Moving Beyond Worksheets

The communicative approach to language teaching highlights interaction as both the means and the goal of the learning journey. While you surely need to study your grammar and memorize a few rules, the end goal of the process is to put them into good use… by applying them, indeed. Communicating with native speakers—of Italian, in our case—might look daunting. But if you let go of your self-consciousness and start playing along, it is rewarding… and fun! There are multiple ways to make real-life communication as smooth as possible: learn a few gestures —Italians are famous for their gesticulating—be aware of social norms that might differ from your own, and practice, practice, practice! Besides classroom activities —role-plays, interviews, class debates, sharing opinions—there’s a lot you can do based on your interests, attitudes, and learning style. Let’s start with the basics: moving your hands!

Tell Me You Speak Italian…

Understanding Italian gestures has almost become a genre, but it is, indeed, a real thing! Italians do gesticulate all the time, often taking for granted that they are being understood by the person they are “talking” to. There are plenty of videos and tutorials on the Internet, so you only have l’imbarazzo della scelta (you’re spoiled for choice). Be aware that some unfaltering gestures— like “fingers and thumb bunched together and pointed upward”, meaning “what do you want?”—should be handled with care. They are considered borderline rude by most Italians, so they are used in contexts where misunderstandings cannot arise (i.e., with close friends and family, certainly not with strangers or people you do not know well). Also, Italians tend to be animated and dramatic, but again, there’s a “science” to that, or at least a life of practice: you are not expected to gesticulate or talk with dramatically open wide arms. As a starter, a smile and some tentative phrases would go a long way.

Reading, Listening, Interacting

To level up that starter, you need some backup skills. Listening and reading as many Italian sources as possible is the old-school approach that never fails. As for reading, if literature feels overwhelming at first, start with blogs or newsletters. Navigate some online Italian stores, just for fun. You should be familiar with the setup, and you’ll find English words here and there to help your exploration.

Listening to podcasts or watching videos and vlogs on social media will enhance your vocabulary as well as your listening skills—try Italian movies too! Or TV series! Start with English subtitles, switch to Italian subtitles when you feel brave, and, when you really feel bold, remove subtitles completely! If you want some fun, find some English movies or shows dubbed in Italian (you know that Italians dub everything, don’t you?).  You’ll be surprised to hear Zendaya or Jacob Elordi “speaking Italian”!

For a 100% authentic, down-to-earth communication experience, follow Italian influencers on social media, and start interacting with them and their community. Or, if you feel a more “formal” setting works better for you, ask for information from a hotel, a private host, or a cultural institution for a hypothetical—or future!—trip to Italy.

Go For It!

Vale più la pratica che la grammatica (Practice makes perfect, or more literally, Practice is better than theory) could be the motto of the communicative approach to language learning. As said, you cannot simply improvise, so you need grammar and rules, but practice does make all the difference. Memorizing a few survival conversational sentences (Può ripetere?, Non ho capito., Cosa significa…?) has never hurt anyone; being aware of cultural differences will make you more comfortable (i.e. compared to Americans, Italians tend to be more straightforward and often interrupt one another when talking, but this is considered normal and is, to a certain extent, tolerated). At the end of the day, however, it’s all about going for it! Italians are very open to people talking their language and are always eager to help! If they switch to English, keep trying in Italian! So, make sure to include Possiamo parlare in italiano? to your survival kit, and buttati (go for it)!