Is it easy to learn Italian?

Hi, everybody! I'm Luca and this video is for those amazing people who want to learn the Italian language.

Specifically, this video is for those people who are learning Italian and whose goal is to speak Italian well.

In my videos I usually talk about the Italian language. If you want, take a look at my channel's page, so that you get an idea of what type of videos I typically upload.

That said, in this episode I want to do something slightly different from usual, that is, to reply to those saying that learning Italian is easy.

Alright. Before I start, let me say that I postponed this video several times. I planned to make it already several months ago, but I kept postponing it.

I kept postponing it because talking about these things makes me feel bad.

On the other hand, tough, in this life we cannot only do what we like doing, but we must also do what must be done.

And it seems to me that it's absolutely necessary to reply to these people, to this horde of people who keep on repeating in an obsessive manner that learning Italian is easy.

I want to reply to that because some people may actually try to learn Italian and fail, and might feel frustrated and think: "Yet, everybody says that learning Italian is easy. I guess I'm just stupid. That's why I don't understand".

No, you are not! It's not that you are stupid. Simply put, it's hard to learn Italian well.

However there are these ******, these dementors creating channels such as "italiano facile", "italiano easy", "italiano fun", "italiano semplicissimo", "semplice italiano". And in their channel's description they write: learn Italian in an easy and fun way.

Well, I deemed it necessary to reply to this truly idiotic tendency.

Like I said, I would like to reply first and foremost for those who may have spent many years learning Italian and haven't yet achieved the desired (proficiency) level.

Well, to these people I want to tell that, in fact, it's not easy to learn Italian well. It's not easy to achieve a great level of Italian.

So the problem is not that there's something wrong with you. Simply put, learning Italian is difficult.

I'm not replying to one specific person, I'm replying to this category as a whole, this group of people uploading videos in which they essentialy say this: "Learning Italian is easy".

Similarly, some people say: "If you use my method, learning Italian will be super easy".

Or something along these lines: "If you use this secret trick, you will learn Italian without effort. Learning Italian is actually easy. It's you teachers that give you wrong advice".

In other words, I'm talking about the legion of gurus, instructors, teachers, ex-teachers, etc. who have a YouTube channel about Italian language learning and teaching, and who promote such message in their videos, who spread this message.

To refer to these individuals, I mean those repeating that learning Italian is easy, I use the word "dissennatori" (dementors).

Why? Because, as I see it, these people obsessively repeat absurd things until one ends up loosing their sanity and doesn't understand anything anymore.

What are "dissennatori" (dementors)? "Dissennatori" are magical creatures in Harry Potter, the singular is "dissennatore", the plural is "dissennatori". At least in the Italian translation.

I very much like this noun, "dissennatore". Why? What does "dissennatore" mean? Actively taking your sanity away, taking your mental health away, taking away your ability to think.

Because saying that learning Italian is easy essentially is incredibly absurd.

If someone says that learning Italian is easy, specifically an instructor, a teacher, somebody who has a channel about Italian language learning and teaching, - well, if such person says, or rather claims, that learning Italian is easy, then this person, with all due respect, didn't understand anything.

Alright. Simply put, I think that learning Italian is not easy. I'd even say that learning Italian well is hard.

The only thing that comes easy is half-learning Italian. That is, learning a bunch of phrases, learning phrases such as "Ciao come stai?", or "Il mio colore preferito è il rosso".

Well, learning a bunch of phrases like these - ok, that comes easy. But I wouldn't even consider that "learning Italian", to me that is learning 3 or 4 Italian phrases.

If we use the expression "learning Italian", though, we mean the ability to speak Italian fluently and correctly. That's anything but easy. Learning a foreign language is not easy, it's hard.

What do I mean by "hard"? Do I mean that it requires an insane, tremendous effort? No, I don't. I mean that it requires a prolonged and continuous effort.

Now I don't feel like touching on a different topic of discussion. In the future I may make a separate video about the difference between learning Italian for real and fake Italian learning.

What I wanted to say in this video is this. That is: don't listen to these dementors telling you that learning Italian is easy.

First and foremost, don't listen to those dementors telling you: "If you use my secret method, learning Italian will be super easy!". There are also those saying: "It will be fun and easy!".

What is one subtle thing that these dementors do? Basically, they tell you that you can effortlessly achieve a great level (of Italian). That's because, according to them, learning Italian is easy.

Again: learning Italian doesn't come easy, what comes easy is half-learning Italian. Or rather, achieving a below average level (of proficiency).

Needless to say, with this video I'm not trying to persuade anybody, I just wanted to reply to this absurdity spread on the Internet, to this theory according to which learning Italian would be easy.

The issue is apparently complicated by the fact that these people, these dementors, to get more views, to get more subscribers, etc., what do they do? They use various marketing strategies, including this one, that is saying that learning Italian using their secret method, their secret trick, is easy.

At the end of the day, what's their secret trick? I don't know, more often than not, their secret trick consists in selling you a gravitational package... - wait, not gravitational, I guess it was a termodynamic package of motivation or something like that.

On the Internet there's plenty of more or less questionable gurus insisting, obsessively repeating that learning Italian is easy, especially if you use their secret method.

I call these people "dissennatori" because that to me is outright insanity.

I put myself in the shoes of non-native speakers who would like to learn the Italian language well, and it seems absurd to me telling these people that learning Italian is actually easy.

If you pay attention, on my channel I never use words such as "facile", "impara l'italiano facilmente", "impara l'italiano in modo semplice", etc. Exactly because I think it's fraudulent.

In my humble opinion, learning Italian well is actually difficult.

This shouldn't demotivate you, but rather help you understand that the results you will get will be proportional to your effort in this endeavour.

Therefore, if you haven't reached yet your desired goal, don't worry. It's not your fault, it's not that you are stupid. Thing is, learning Italian is quite possibly one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life.

That is it!

In the comments section below please let me know what you think about that. I'd like to know what was your experience and what you think about my point of view.

(Channel Outro)