How I Learned to Speak Italian with Rosetta Stone

Before traveling to another country, I always make it a point to learn some of the basic words and phrases in the native language there. Not only does that help me out as a traveler, but it shows respect to the locals, which can help you out immensely as well!

During a recent trip and project I was doing though, I wanted to learn more than just basic phrases. The concept was called #ProjectExpat, and it involved me getting transplanted into an authentic Italian community that’s far from any major tourist areas. That being said, it meant I really needed to try and learn Italian!

I’d never learned any Italian before, and didn’t exactly have time to go to any classes, so I decided to try the popular online language-learning courses with Rosetta Stone! 

Just like regular school classes, I dedicated an hour or so of my days to doing the courses from my phone. Don’t worry about not actually having a teacher to sound the words out, because the advanced technology of the program listens to your pronunciation and makes sure you’re saying things right! However, if you do want a teacher, Rosetta Stone offers live coaches and tutoring sessions to give you feedback and  help you speaking confidently!

If you think it sounds too hard, or aren’t sure how it works, please continue reading as I explain exactly what to expect, and why I loved using Rosetta Stone to learn Italian.

Learn on Your Own Time

Unlike school courses that make you feel pressured to learn at a certain pace, you have flexibility to learn at your own pace when using Rosetta Stone! You also can repeat courses that you don’t feel you did well at, or even just as a refresher! What I also enjoyed was the ability to download lessons so that I could continue learning offline when I wasn’t connected to WiFi.

Since I was determined to learn as much Italian as possible before my #ProjectExpat adventure, I dedicated an hour a day minimum to doing my Rosetta Stone courses. Whenever I’d have any additional down time, I’d simply tap the app and continue with the courses, or re-do ones I previously finished so I didn’t forget them.

A Realistic Approach to Language Learning

I remember taking mandatory language classes in school that would require you to memorize words and conjunctions, then write them out on tests, but this is not the case with Rosetta Stone. 

Instead, you jump straight into basic phrases and situations that are realistic and likely to be used and heard. Instead of just learning the names for boy, girl, apple banana etc., you’re given phrases or photos that include the appropriate sentences or images for using the words, so you know how they should be spoken. Their teaching method is immersive and exposes you to a language in a way that a child would learn a language.

For me it was easier to learn sentences than learning the individual names of items, and then the adjectives and conjunctions separately. The same thing goes for learning to use plurals in a sentence, rather than learning just the plural for individual words.

What Type of Courses to Expect

Just like classroom learning, you’ll be given lessons followed by exercises. Each unit has four lessons in them, so you’ll learn then practice, learn then practice, and so on until the lessons are complete. You may be wondering what types of exercises you’ll be doing online versus what you’d expect in a classroom.

As I mentioned above, you’ll be learning the language by a variety of different immersive training methods and techniques.

The first technique is where you’re shown four or more photos of different scenarios, then asked to choose which one corresponds to the sentence that’s written and/or spoken. Be sure to repeat the spoken pronunciation as many times as you need to in order to get the dialect down! As a native Spanish speaker, it definitely took me a bit to transition to the Italian dialect!

The next technique is when you’re again shown the photo scenarios, but given a sentence with a blank space to complete, or a word to match with the correct photo. This is where you’ll learn conjugation and plural forms of words, and they’ll make total sense since you’ll also have a visual!

The third technique is fun but a little tricky, since it requires you to repeat the words, phrases, or sentences correctly. Rosetta Stone has voice software that picks up on the exact tone and pitch of your voice to make sure the pronunciation is correct! I say it’s tricky because you may feel a little strange doing this one in public…but for me, I just pretend like I’m talking to someone on the phone!

How Long Until You See Results

As with any language course, your results will depend on how much time and effort you put into them! This isn’t a school course for a grade, so there’s no sense in breezing through the courses just to finish them!

Rosetta Stone does give you an estimated time for each lesson and each exercise, but there’s no set or mandatory time limit, and especially no due dates! Well, unless you’re like me and already have set plans to get to the country you’re trying to learn the language of!

If you practice daily, and be sure to refresh yourself on what you’ve already learned, you should be able to start seeing results in a couple of weeks! 

Understanding what other people are saying will probably be easier first than speaking, but just remember to keep repeating what you hear and looking up words you don’t know! 

To give you a more straight-forward estimate of how long it takes and how much you’ll need to invest, see below for an overview of my Italian courses, how long they take, how much the program costs, and some basic phrases I”R learned so far!

Italian Rosetta Stone Overview

Number of Units: 20

Lessons per Unit: 4

Exercises per Unit: 28-30

Time to Complete All of Them: Minimum 160 hours

Cost: Rosetta Stone is a subscription based program, which means you pay depending on how long you’d like it for or think you’ll need it for until you learn the language. The best deal is for a 24-month subscription, but you can also test out a Free Demo on their website to help determine how long you think you’ll need to learn the courses!

Overview of Units:

1. Language Basics
2. Greetings and Introductions
3. Work and School
4. Shopping
5. Travel
6. Past and Future
7. Friends and Social Life
8. Dining and Vacation
9. Home and Health
10. Life and World
11. Everyday Things
12. Places and Events
13. Tourism and Recreation
14. Professions and Hobbies
15. At Home and Around Town
16. Style and Personal Wellness
17. Business and Industry
18. Arts and Academics
19. Emergency Situations
20. Family and Community

Disclaimer: This post is in collaboration with Rosetta Stone, however all product experiences, opinions, and awesome times in Italy are my own.