Italian Language

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Trellum

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Jul 18, 2013
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Hi all! I'm thinking about the possibility of moving to Italy, however, I've some serious doubts about the language. My italian is quite basic, and I really can't speak it much. I was wondering if I'd be ok if I move there and learn as I live there, I'm a fast learner and right now I've no time to study it. So it would be great to be able to learn it while I live there, but I'm not sure if this is a realistic idea. Could I get by just speaking english? What do you think?
 
Hello and welcome :)

In short, the answer is no, there was a discussion about this a while back.

http://italyforum.it/threads/is-lack-of-italian-a-disadvantage.2915/

It seems that English is not that widely spoken except for in major tourist areas.

Everyone has to start somewhere when moving to another country and although the language may be a problem at the beginning. You will be forced to learn it when living here. That's the way I learnt.
 
You'd have difficulties, but many people learn language this way. I'd strongly recommend learning as much as possible before moving to Italy, though. It'll make your life way easier. You don't have to spend hours learning every day, but even making some flashcards or downloading an Italian learning aid app for your phone could be helpful.
 
Well, you have 2 questions that need an answer, right?

As far as speaking English in Italy, I agree with Chillout. I wanted to do the exact same thing, get by by speaking English but I had no luck. I only found 2 people who knew English very well (one taught English to the other one :D ) but I couldn't limit myself to speaking to only 2 people... Also, the looks I received when asking "do you speak English?" were frightening :D

For your other question, regarding learning Italian by living among Italians, yes, it's definitely possible. It's what I personally did because I was forced to.
It's pretty hard at first because you hear words but nothing makes sense, you want to express yourself but nothing comes out of your mouth :D So, it's possible, but pretty hard.

If you have a basic knowledge of Italian though, you'll be just fine :) Buy a dictionary and you'll be OK :D
 
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