One of the most historic countries in the world that has one of the most beautiful langauges in the entire world is found quite a bit away from New Zealand, around 19 thousand kilometers away in fact.
Even though Italy is far away it still leaves it's influence in New Zealand and all over the world. Italy is well known around the world for it's cuisine, history, architecture, and beautiful language.
Italy's capital, Rome, is arguably the most historically important city in the world, and images of it's colosseum and architecture are shown all over the world. Whether it is shown over the internet in photos, travel vlogs, or cinema, Italy has a charm that is second to none.
Thanks to all of this, many people the world over really would like to know some Italian, if not become totally fluent in the language.
Then there are other reasons that can be personal, you plan to study abroad in Italy, live in Italy, or have some Italian ancestry, and want to feel closer to your heritage.
Any of the reasons are great ones to learn Italian apart from just being a lover of learning foreign languages.
If you are from Wellington, you may be wondering where you can learn Italian. Luckily there are a few different options that you can use to get better as well as contact quite a few different people to help with your studies.
Living in the capital comes with it's advantages as you are more likely to find international institutions and studies than in many other parts of New Zealand.
(Read here for Italian lessons in Tauranga, Manukau City, Christchurch, Hamilton and auckland).
So in this guide, you will read about some tips for learning italian, as well as where you can go to learn the language while living in Wellington and what you can do in the future with a high level of Italian.
Useful Tips for Studying Italian
There are plenty of words in Italian that may be familiar to us, whether we see them in adverts or social media, or just sound like words in English, we may know some very very very basic Italian from the beginning.
However we have to be clear, Italian is a very different language to English.
While Italian doesn't use a different alphabet like Russian or use images as part of their alphabet like Japanese or Korean, there are still many differences between Italian and English.
Italian is a Latin based language, while English is a germanic based language. Thanks to this we have a lot of differences in vocabularly and perhaps most importantly, grammar.
So what are some learning Italian tips we can use to overcome these differences?
Look for cognates between Italian and English
As i've just mentioned, Italian and English have different backgrounds, one language is a Latin based language while the other is a germanic based language.
However this doesn't mean that cognates don't exist between the two languages.
If you are wondering what cognates are, they are words that are extremely similar between two languages. They look the same, sound the same, and have the same meaning. Learning these can make your vocabulary learning job a whole lot easier.
That being said, you will need to look out for false friends.
False friends, when studying languages are words that look the same, sound the same, but have different meanings.
Some cognates that exist between Italian and English are:
- Calendario/Calendar
- Banca/ Bank
- Famoso/ Famous
- Studiare/ Study
- Birra/ Beer
Get to know irregular verbs
For beginners that are native English speakers that are trying to learn a latin based language such as French, Spanish, or Italian, irregular verbs can quickly become really frustrating.
Unfortunately for many of you soon to be Italian learners will soon find out that the most common verbs in Italian are irregular. To be, to have, can, etc., all of these verbs are irregular and conjugate differently than many other verbs in Italian.
The good news is there is a way to conquer these irregular verbs. Practice.
Practice makes perfect, and that certainly is the case when it comes to irregular verbs, if you can master the more common ones you'll do just fine.
Learn how to pronounce as best you can
Since we are native English speakers we feel at times that English is a really easy language to learn. Maybe we don't understand that it can be really difficult to learn English, at least when it comes to pronouncing words.
One English word with a certain spelling can sound completely different than a word with another spelling, for example laughter and daughter.
For someone that is a native speaker of another language this can be frustrating.
Luckily learning Italian you won't have this problem.
All letters have a specific pronunciation. When you learn how to pronounce all the letters you will have a really easy time pronouncing the words.
Get used to the different grammar
As mentioned a bit earlier, Italian has a lot of different grammar structures than English does. Apart from the irregular verbs you'll need to practice where to place adjectives and verbs.
There are also grammar points that don't feature much in English and it can get confusing.
The best way is practice.
Practice makes perfect
The best way to learn any language quickly is to practice often and have no fear. Sometimes we may not want to speak outloud in another language because we worry we will make mistakes and sound silly.
Speaking more and more will help, especially if you can practice with experienced teachers, professors, and native speakers.
Where to Learn Italian in Wellington
If you are living in Wellington you may find some international students around and influences since you are in the nation's capital. In any case you won't have much trouble learning and practicing the language.
If you are in secondary school you can start to learn the Italian language and when you get to uni you can already start in a more advanced class.
However if you are entering university you don't need to worry, over the next years you can learn Italian whilst studying at your university, and there are ways of learning and studying Italian outside of the classroom as well.
Studying Italian at Victoria University
Victoria University is a considered a great university in New Zealand. The university offers a bachelor's degree in European and Latin American Languages and Cultures. With this degree you can choose between four languages and cultures to study.
As you are reading this article, you would choose Italian.
When it comes to the language courses you would learn from beginner to intermediate and finally to advanced. At Victoria University you will even be offered the chance to study abroad in Italy and really sharpen your Italian language skills.
The Italian language isn't the only focus of the degree.
You will take courses that revolve not only around the language but the culture as well.
Italy through film is one of the courses that you would take and you can see how Italian culture has evolved over time. Let's not forget to mention how studying and living in Italy will really show you all you ever wanted to know about the Italian language and Italian culture.
Learning Italian at a language centre
Language centres are always a great option at any stage to go to whether you want to learn from beginner level or use it to help you study whilst you take Italian in university or take Italian simply for a trip to Italy that you will be going on soon.
Wellington is home to a few language centres, the best one which focuses primarily on Italian is the Italian Institute in Wellington.
At the Italian Institute you have the option to take private lessons or group classes and can negotiate a reasonable price while doing so.
Learning Italian with a Private Tutor
One great way of practicing and learning Italian is with the help of a private tutor.
IF you are studying in the university you should be able to find a private tutor, free of charge at the academic support centre. However, this is usually someone who isn't an experienced teacher or tutor.
Using a platform like Superprof can help you to find a tutor that has plenty of experience and with by reading their bio and reviews you can decide if he or she is the best tutor for you.
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