Why Learn a Language? & Resources

Here are the most important reasons (in my opinion) that motivate me to learn another language:

Study abroad & travel - The more Italian I know, the better I can 'get by'. i.e. ordering food, asking for directions, finding my way around, and even more so, having interesting conversations with people! Language will deepen your understanding and assimilation into another culture.

Challenging myself - As I mentioned before in my Global Scholars post, I took classes in Spanish and German for 4 years (2 years per language). Much of it, however, was the book learning: grammar, writing, reading. I always felt that conversational speaking was my weakest point. No kidding, when everyone else in the class is speaking English… It'll be fun to see a different approach - the speaking before the book learning!

Other tidbits - Apparently learning a second language keeps your mind healthy, in terms of preventing the onset of dementia. I'm not sure if this is scientifically proven, but it's still a great thing to try your brain with.

Here's a list of helpful resources for the beginner -- those of you in the same boat as me, without any background in Italian.

*Italian General Practice 
This link has a plethora of sites that are great for starting out. Basic phrases, vocabulary, and alphabet pronunciations. I like how there's different angles provided: Italian literature, radio stations, verbs. There's something here for every learner.

*Italian Tutorials Index
This one in particular seems great - it's structured into advancing lessons, beginning with basic phrases about weather and days of the year, and progresses into possessive pronouns and phrases used in a hotel or bank.

*Everything Italian
Such a cute, fun site! Everything Italian can be found here: maps, geography, travel tips, grammar aids, recipes, and games for learning Italian. Who doesn't like games?? Learning a language isn't simply about memorization, but immersing yourself in all things Italian can help you pick it up faster than you would staring into a dictionary.