Study Italian: 5-week Crash Course
Study Italian with this fast 5-week course.
This is a hugely important factor in learning a language, time. To learn basic Italian (it’s really closely related to English) you can invest between 750 and 1,000 hours of focused, immersive, input and practice, and hit a very basic level of fluency. Those hours are researched-based. They’re done by the US government, and they’re used to prepare people for their missions in embassies and counselors abroad.
Most of us aren’t like these people, however, where we get uninterrupted time to focus on learning a new language and do nothing else. However, I think it’s a really good rule of thumb to give an idea of how long it takes to learn to speak a language.
Each week you will learn a new theme presented in chunks. Communicative themes and chunks are critical pieces to learning a new language.
This week’s lesson-Study Italian for a hotel
| At a hotel | In un albergo |
| Tipi di camere | Types of rooms |
| single | singola |
| double | doppia |
| queen | letto matrimoniale |
| king | camera doppia |
| standard | singolo |
| Smoking | Per fumatori |
| non-smoking | Per non fumatori |
| I would like to check in. | Desidero fare il check-in. |
| I have a reservation. | Ho una prenotazione. |
| The television doesn’t work. | La televisione non funziona. |
| It’s really hot. | Fa davvero caldo. |
| It’s really cold. | Fa davvero freddo. |
| There’s a lot of noise. | C’è molto rumore. |
| I need…….. | Ho bisogno di …….. |
| Questions for guests | Domande per gli ospiti |
| What time is check out? | A che ora occorre lasciare la camera? |
| Can you please bring toothpaste to my room, please? | Mi può portare in camera un dentifricio? |
| Can you please bring a toothbrush to my room, please? | Mi può portare in camera uno spazzolino per denti? |
| Can you please bring shampoo to my room, please? | Mi può portare in camera lo shampo? |
| Can you please bring a razor to my room, please? | Mi può portare in camera un rasoio? |
| Can you recommend a restaurant? | Mi può consigliare un ristorante? |
| Are there any good bars near the hotel? | Ci sono dei buoni bar vicino all’albergo? |
| Are there any coffee shop close to here? | Ci sono dei bar qui vicino? |
| What time is breakfast served? | A che ora viene servita la prima colazione? |
| one glass | un bicchiere |
| one bottle | una bottiglia |
| white wine | vino bianco |
| red wine | vino rosso |
Remember to get practical. Will you do Goldlist? Vocab Columns? Task notebooks?
Track your time each day that you’re working on your language skills. We’re human beings. Life gets in the way, but there’s certainly time that we can all find- waiting in line, getting your car washed. Pull out your phone or your notebook, or your phrase book- whatever it is that you’re using to learn a language, and invest 20 minutes, or 30 minutes, here and there. The time all adds up. Even if you don’t do it perfectly over the next five weeks, you’re going to see pretty direct correlation between the amount of time you invest and your progress.