Proven Method: How I reached B1 Italian in 18 months

I had always wanted to visit Italy. The history, the food and the people. Italy has a rich culture and I wanted to learn the basics in preparation for a trip I had planned to Naples. I learnt how to order food, speak politely and greet Italians.

I had a fantastic time in Naples and I found that I really like the Italian language. Once I arrived back in the UK, I decided to continue learning. I don’t have a professional goal for learning Italian, I learn for pleasure and enjoyment.

Since my trip to Naples, I have visited Italy two more times on holiday. Each time I saw significant jumps in my Italian skills, able to hold better and more interesting conversations.

My most recent trip was to Bari and Matera. Using only Italian, I held a 20 minute conversation with a Museum Attendant about the history of the city. I spoke with fans at a football match in Bari about the club and the players. I felt confident speaking, listening, making small talk and making jokes.

Of course, I am far from fluent but each of these trips to Italy has further inspired me to improve my Italian. Reaching B1 Italian transformed my holidays in Italy.

After months of studying Italian using apps and audio courses, I booked a trial lesson with an Italian tutor.

They were simple questions like “where are you from?”, “how old are you?” and “what is your name?”.

I had seen these questions and answers in apps. I could recognise these questions when written down and I could answer them with a ‘fill in the blank’ but in a real conversation with an Italian, I was unable to communicate.

It was during that trial lesson I realised that the passive study and active use of a language are completely different. This realisation shaped how I reached B1 Italian and is a common thread throughout my recommendations in this post.

Busuu vs Duolingo

If you’re just starting to study Italian then apps are a fun and easy way to begin.

Whilst these apps do receive criticism for not teaching grammar effectively, in the initial phases they are a great way to become familiar with the language. You can learn some basic phrases and vocabulary, hear the language spoken and see the language written.

Duolingo turns language learning into a game, which can be more fun and motivating. You earn points, compete against other language learners, build streaks by completing lessons every day and the renowned Duolingo owl acts as a motivation partner.

However, I found that Duolingo does not explain the grammar very well, which is a fundamental requirement of learning Italian.

I much prefer Busuu because it gives more in depth explanations of grammar and prepares you better for real world Italian. It is less gamified and more focused on teaching you the language. I also love that you can receive community feedback from native Italian speakers.

In the Busuu app you have the opportunity to answer an open ended question in Italian or to describe a photo. Native Italian speakers then correct your answer. This process allows you to go off script whereas Duolingo is more of a ‘fill in the blank’ style method.

I prefer Busuu because there are opportunities to use Italian freely and naturally.

No app can teach you Italian in isolation. They are good tools for getting started but they are a passive method of learning and to learn effectively, you will need other resources too.

Audio courses

The most effective tool I used in the beginning was some audio courses by Paul Noble. His teaching method encourages the active speaking of Italian, not just passively recognising phrases.

Through easy step-by-step processes, you learn to form sentence structures such as ‘I went’ and to speak those sentence structures repeatedly with spaced repetitions throughout the course. This stimulates real world Italian immersion because you are required to actively speak Italian and to use active recall.

I completed two audio courses by Paul Noble – a beginners course and then an intermediate course. I would recommend doing both to become comfortable speaking Italian and to learn some basic grammar in a natural learning method.

The beginners course alone will prepare you with basic survival Italian skills for a trip to Italy without any other resources required. You can find these courses through Audible.

Private Tutor

After some months of studying by myself, I came to the realisation that to progress further I needed some form of lessons. I tried looking for local Italian lessons but they all took place during the day on weekdays, when I was unable to attend.

I booked a trial lesson with a tutor on Preply. It was during the trial lesson I realised how badly I needed more practice with a native speaker.

I booked further lessons and from the beginning my tutor spoke in only Italian to me therefore my brain quickly became used to hearing the language and resulted in rapid learning.

We worked through an A1 pdf textbook together. My tutor made sure I understood each chapter before moving onto the next. These lessons provided structure and a clear path of progression.

The experience of my tutor meant he noticed topics that I struggled with and we would work through these with additional exercises and discussions. He also identified areas for improvement with my pronunciation, which is essential feedback because it is better to pinpoint mistakes early in your learning.

Learning from a private tutor is a more costly method to learn Italian but I’ve found it to be by far the most effective and I notice constant improvements in my skills.

Tandem

There is no better way to learn a language than to use the language. Tandem is an app for finding language exchange partners to practice languages with. You can find native speakers of Italian that are learning your native language. HelloTalk is another very similar app but I have only used Tandem.

In theory, it is a great idea. It is a free way to immerse yourself in Italian (though there is an optional paid subscription for extra features. The biggest challenge is that you may need to talk to a lot of people to find good language partners. I have met some great people on the app, who provide feedback on my Italian and reply consistently.

Having conversations with Italians is an interesting and natural way to practice the language. Reaching B1 Italian requires confidence speaking, listening, reading and writing, which are all skills that can be practiced on Tandem.

I recommend using Tandem even if you are a beginner because actively using the language will increase the speed at which you learn.

On the app, you can send messages, audio messages or do audio calls. It is common to write one message in Italian and one message in your native language so that you and your language partner both learn.

I have some language partners that I only send audio messages to. At first it felt awkward to send audio messages in a language that I don’t speak fluently but it mimics real life interactions and over time it has helped me to become comfortable speaking Italian spontaneously.

For more information, read our in-depth guide to Tandem.

Youtube

Around levels A2 or B1 Italian, you will have learnt around 1,000 to 2,000 of the most common words in Italian. At this point it becomes very beneficial to practice your listening skills.

Ideally, you should practice with videos that are just above your level of Italian. However, if you already spend a lot of time watching Youtube videos in your native language, it is a good idea to find similar videos in Italian. For example if you watch prank videos then you could find a prank channel in Italian.

Here are some Youtube channels that might be helpful for your learning:

• Learn Italian with Lucrezia – Over 1000 videos teaching Italian including grammar, vlogs and more. In the playlists section of her channel, you will find playlists categorising videos by CEFR level so you can find the right videos for your stage of learning. Her vlogs are an excellent resource for Italian learning practice and an insight into Italian culture.
• Geronimo Stilton Italia – This is a popular children’s cartoon in Italy. I think that cartoons are an excellent way to improve listening skills because they contain lots of spoken dialogue, unlike in movies where there are often breaks in dialogue. This channel has lots of full episodes and is a useful resource.
• Elisa’s Italian School – Lots of videos with slow spoken Italian for beginners – intermediate learners. I especially like how many of the videos put special emphasis on learning new vocabulary, speaking those new words repeatedly in a variety of sentences.
• Easy Italian – Designed to teach Italian in a fun way with street interviews, slowly spoken Italian, grammar and more. This channel is great for becoming accustomed to different accents in Italy because many people are interviewed. It is a great way to hear Italian spoken in an everyday, conversational context.

Books

Fiction books

Reading fiction books in another language can be difficult. Even if you understand 75% of the text, the 25% that you miss can be essential information to understand the plot.

To build confidence reading in Italian, I recommend reading books that you have already read in English but this in Italian.

For example, I have read the Harry Potter books in English therefore I chose Harry Potter as the first proper fiction book I read in Italian. I was able to follow the story because I knew it well already.

It taught me new vocabulary and I was able to learn grammar naturally. The Harry Potter books are especially good for learning passato remoto (level B1 Italian).

Graded readers

The problem of finding fiction books suitable for your language level has largely been solved by ‘graded readers’. These are novels written with an A1, A2, B1 or B2 language level as the target audience.

Especially at level B1 Italian, reading is very important for retaining vocabulary by seeing it in a natural context and for learning new vocabulary. Graded readers often have vocabulary lists at the end of each chapter, perhaps teaching 10 new words that were included in the chapter.

Textbooks, grammar books and workbooks

A good textbook provides structure for consistent progress. I have found that textbooks give me a ready-made plan that would have been complicated to create on my own.

You can’t learn a language just from a textbook but it works well alongside speaking, listening, writing and reading to direct your learning.

Grammar books are an excellent resource to explain a concept to you. When I read or listen to Italian, I have often noticed a grammatical structure being used multiple times that I didn’t understand. At these points, I went to a grammar book, found the relevant chapter and learnt the concept.

It is then essential to practice the grammar with exercises, which can be found in most textbooks and grammar books but there are also dedicated workbooks for practicing grammar. Unfortunately grammar takes a lot of practice to master a concept fully.

Conversation practice

As already mentioned, I thoroughly recommend finding a private tutor from the beginning of your Italian learning journey. Through A1-A2 I generally studied a textbook with my tutor but from B1 onwards, conversation practice became an essential part of my studies.

I wanted to be able to discuss in Italian the topics that I am interested in because this is the vocabulary I am most likely to use in natural conversations.

My tutor continues to correct my pronunciation, suggests vocabulary when I can’t find the right word and corrects my grammar when necessary.

As the weeks go by, I feel increasingly confident talking in Italian and I understand more and more of his spoken Italian. My goals are to be able to speak the language spontaneously and naturally and in my opinion, conversation practice is essential to achieve this.

In the days before my lessons, I write notes about words or grammar points that I am struggling with to ask him. Whilst I could research these grammar points myself using google, I prefer to ask my tutor because he explains it in Italian, which helps my listening skills and also means I am more likely to remember it.

My tutor is also then aware that the grammatical concept or word is new to me and we can study it further with exercises and discussions.

At level B1 Italian and beyond, a shift is required towards actively using the language and immersion. Language exchange apps like Tandem become increasingly useful and the conversations with language partners are more interesting too.

Having a language partner and tutor keeps me accountable, which means I always find time to study Italian and continue improving.

LingQ

This is a useful app, especially at B1 Italian and beyond. On LingQ you can read short stories and themed texts in Italian with the ability to click on words you don’t know to see their meaning.

The best thing is that you can then add these words you don’t know to a flashcard deck on the app. You can study these new words with spaced repetitions until you’ve mastered them and read the short study again as many times as you want to.

I really like this app because repetition is an excellent way to learn new vocabulary. I also like practicing active listening on the app because there is audio accompanying every short story. The app is free to use but there is also a paid option.

Clozemaster

This app is not well-known but I love the simplicity. It is a flashcard app for vocabulary with the decks already created. Choose your level and you can begin. I really like the speed at which you can practice the vocabulary.

Whereas Duolingo and Busuu have lots of explanations, slowly introducing concepts and animations, Clozemaster is rapid-fire vocabulary drills. This is really useful at B1 Italian and beyond.

It is not designed to teach you grammar but if you get a question wrong, you can choose to see the explanation and I have found these to be helpful.

I use this app in the gym when I am taking a rest because it is the kind of app that you can put down and pick back up again. There is a free version but there is also a paid version.

This is the only app I pay for. Generally I did ‘fill in the blank’ style vocabulary exercises on this app but I sometimes practice listening skills where the app plays audio of a short sentence and I need to write what was said.

I have provided a comprehensive guide to how I have been able to reach level B1 Italian in 18 months, including which resources have been the most helpful and my personal experience.

However, the biggest factor has been time. Consistent study is the way to learn a language and I would say over the last 18 months, I have averaged about one and a half hours per day studying Italian. I don’t study in one big session but I practice in short bursts throughout the day.

I started Benfori specifically because finding good Italian books in the UK was harder than it should be. We stock a strong collection of Italian fiction books, children’s books and language learning books.