Want to learn Italian but struggle to find time? After learning Italian as an adult, I discovered 4 cheat-codes that speed up the learning process. Now, I’m not saying these shortcuts will make you fluent overnight, BUT they do feel like you’re cheating. So, in this guide, I’ll share what they are so you can still learn Italian even on the busiest days.
Watch this lesson on my YouTube Channel
Cheat-code 1: Make Italian Feel Familiar Fast
First, I’m going to share my favourite cheat-code that will teach you thousands of Italian words in just a few seconds.
One of the biggest things that slows down learners is trying to learn and memorise thousands of words. But there’s a shortcut. Did you know 60% of Italian words are almost identical to English? And all you need are a few simple patterns that transform these English words into Italian in a couple of seconds. These are called cognates.
Here’s an example. English words ending in -tion become -zione in Italian:
- nation → nazione
- communication → comunicazione
English words ending in -ary become -ario in Italian:
- vocabulary → il vocabolario
- salary → il salario
English verbs ending in -ate very often become -are in Italian:
- to create → creare
- to calculate → calcolare
These are just two examples, but there are plenty more you can use.
So, cheat-code number 1 is: don’t start learning words from scratch, use patterns.
To get you started, I’ve put together a free PDF cheat-sheet with 14 bonus shortcuts, and honestly, once you see them, learning Italian feels like magic. To get your free copy, just enter your details below.
Cheat-code 2: Make Italian Personally Useful
Now I’m going to show you why most courses and apps waste your time, and what to do instead, so every minute of study helps you speak Italian. Here’s something language schools and apps never tell you: they’re not designed for you. They’re designed for everyone. So you end up learning vocabulary for jobs you don’t have, nationalities that never come up in conversation, and words for random categories that feel completely disconnected from your actual life.
Duolingo is the same. Building up a streak is useless if all you can say is “the cat is in the oven”: Il gatto è nel forno. And when time is limited, that kind of generic study is the most expensive thing you can do.
So, cheat-code number 2 is: prioritise learning the top 20% of Italian that you need in 80% of real-world situations. This is the core of my 80/20 method and how I personally learn languages and teach others. Personalising your curriculum means only learning what you’ll actually use. That includes verbs, tenses, and vocabulary.
Cheat-code 3: Make Italian Consistency Possible
Next I’ll show you exactly how to remember everything you do learn so you don’t waste time constantly re-learning things. Imagine by some miracle you have 2 hours to spare. So you sit down, open your Italian textbook, and study for two hours straight. You feel productive, like you’re finally making progress. And then life gets busy again and you don’t study again for a few days or weeks. And when you do, you realize you’ve forgotten almost everything from the last time you studied. This isn’t a time or age problem. It’s a memory problem. And there’s a name for it. It’s called the forgetting curve.
The moment you learn something new, your brain starts forgetting it almost immediately. Within 24 hours, you’ve forgotten roughly half of it. Within a week, most of it is gone. This is simply how our memory works and why cramming doesn’t work, and why you constantly feel like you’re starting from scratch.
So cheat-code number 3 is this: stop thinking about how long you study. Start thinking about how often you can study. Every time you expose yourself to Italian, even briefly for a few minutes, you reset that forgetting curve and you remember what you learned a bit longer. If you keep coming back at regular intervals, it moves from short-term memory into long-term memory. That is where fluency lives.
The good news is you don’t need to find extra time. You just need to use the time you already have, the so-called “dead time”. Those small moments throughout your day where you can easily slip in some Italian.
For example:
- Walking to the shops? Listen to an Italian podcast or Italian music.
- Cooking dinner? Practice using the frameworks I’ll share in tip 4.
- Having a morning coffee? Talk out loud about what you’re doing that day.
- Commuting by public transport? Review your Italian notes or watch a video lesson.
- Waiting in a queue? Look around and describe what you see.
Takeaway: It’s not about how much time you spend. It’s about how often you reset the forgetting curve.
Cheat-code 4: Speak Italian in Chunks, Not Word by Word
Next I’m going to show you how Italians quickly build sentences with simple frameworks, so you can reduce the amount of time you need studying grammar and only learn what you need.
A lot of learners think that speaking Italian requires forming completely unique sentences every time. But that’s not true. Think about how you speak in English. You constantly use ready-made phrases and you just swap one part. For example, we say: “I have to… work”, “I have to… go shopping”, “I have to… call my sister.” Italian works exactly the same way.
So, cheat-code number 4 is: learn reusable, ready-made frameworks and practise swapping just one element at a time. This is the 80/20 method applied again. Learn the top 20% of grammar you need to unlock 80% of conversation.
There are plenty of frameworks you can use. Here are three to get you started:
Mi piace + [noun or infinitive] — I like + [thing or activity].
- Mi piace il vino. — I like wine. — Literally: wine pleases me.
- Mi piace camminare. — I like walking. — Literally: walking pleases me.
Vorrei + [noun or infinitive] — I would like + [thing or activity].
- Vorrei un caffè. — I’d like a coffee. — Literally: I would like a coffee.
- Vorrei prenotare un tavolo. — I’d like to book a table. — Literally: I would like to book a table.
Devo + [infinitive] — I have to + [do something].
- Devo andare. — I have to go. — Literally: I must go.
- Devo lavorare. — I have to work. — Literally: I must work.
Takeaway: Fluency is about learning reusable frameworks, not building sentences from scratch every time. The best part is that now you can use the 3 patterns we saw in cheat-code 1 with these frameworks. For example: Devo calcolare il salario. — I have to calculate the salary. — Literally: I have to calculate the salary.
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