How to learn Italian in 7 days

I want to find out if in one week I can become fluent in Italian. Is it possible? Is it feasible?

Thing is, the way foreign languages are taught is a joke. In my opinion it doesn't make any sense. I for one think that there are much more efficient ways for learning a foreign language.

So I wanted to share with you some strategies to get from mediocrity to fluency. That is, in a short period of time.

Like I said, my goal is to learn Italian in seven days. I want to find out if it's feasible or not.

I learned Italian in 7 Days.

I'm not kidding: this is the title of a video I watched some time ago.

Incidentally, I think this is the most popular video about the Italian language. This video has been watched millions of times and quite possibly you have watched it too. If you have watched it, please let me know it in the comments!

In that video, there's an American guy who says, or rather claims, that he learned Italian in seven days and gives advice on how to do the same.

That video is apparently aimed at those who wish to learn the Italian language or are already doing that. In other words, this guy has made some sort of tutorial for learning Italian in seven days.

So this guy doesn't just talk about his own experience, but he uses it as a reference point to give some practical tips.

The method I'll be using is simple. First of all, I'll get a list of the 1000 most common words in Italian. I am going to read this list several times a day. After that, during these days I'm going to study all Italian verb tenses.

The problem is that some of these tips are just absurd and can possibly harm those who want to learn Italian. As a matter of fact, some of these tips are completely wrong and may have a catastrophic effect on Italian language learning.

Lately there's plenty of experts explaining how to learn foreign languages and it's quite possible that this guy just wanted to take advantage of this trending topic.

The problem, though, is that certain messages, certain types of messages, can have potentially disastrous consequences. On the whole, I think that video conveys a very, very, very harmful message for those who genuinely want to learn Italian.

Given that my channel is aimed at learners of Italian, it is fitting that I should reply, clarify some things and warn about some risks.

In the second part of my video I'm gonna discuss the specific tips given by this guy. First, though, I'd like to clarify something.

By the way, I am Luca, welcome you to my channel!

First of all, that video is titled I Learned Italian in 7 Days. Understood: starting from scratch.

Thing is, a sentence such as "I learned Italian in seven days" has a very specific meaning. It doesn't mean: I improved my level. Or: I expanded my vocabulary in seven days. Similarly, it doesn't mean: in 7 days I was able to go from level A2 to level B1, or from level B1 to level B2 in Italian.

I learned Italian in seven days means: before that I had never studied it, and I learned it from scratch.

Later on, though, we find out it's not true and that this guy in actual fact had already studied Italian.

It's not that I have never studied Italian. I have studied it only for two years. However, I wanted to see if it's possible to learn Italian in one week. For example, I already know a lot of words because I have been studying Italian for two years, but I wanted to see if in one week I could learn Italian.

What is even more distressing is that we find out that this guy had already reached a decent level. I mean before making that video.

In his video, this guy makes us understand that, first of all, he had already studied Italian for several months. If my memory serves me right, for 18 months.

Secondly, in his video, this guy shows that he is already somewhat familiar with verb conjugations.

Specifically, based on what is said in the video, it seems to me that this guy already knew Italian verb tenses. So, from what I gather, this individual was already familiar with Italian verb tenses, with conjugations, before making that video.

Moreover, at some point in his video, this person mentions the fact that they learned French in the past, but, most importantly, this guy gives a practical demonstration, so to speak in which he speaks Italian for a few minutes, 2 to 3 minutes, to make it clear what his level is before doing the experiment. That is, what his level is before the week in which he (quotation) "will learn Italian".

From this practical demonstration, it's clear that this individual had in fact already reached the level A2 - if not the level B1 - in Italian.

Basically, this person says that they learned Italian in one week, but then in his video we find out that it's not true, because this person actually started from an already decent level. Quite possibly, before making this video, this person had already reached the level A2 or even the level B1.

Therefore, to be honest, I'd say that this tutorial should have been titled "I learned Italian in one week plus 18 months".

Anyways, let's move to the specific pieces of advice given in that video!

The first tip that is given is not to focus on vocabulary, because this strategy is not particularly efficient. Or rather, in the opinion of the video creator, this strategy may be useful in the long run, but is not particularly useful in the short term.

Basically, he suggests that people take advantage of certain shortcuts to get immediate results. The problem is that such shortcuts, in my opinion, will ultimately make people acquire a language in a completely unnatural and distorted way.

For example, the video creator suggests that people get a list with the 1000 most common words in Italian and study them just like that, in isolation, with no context whatsoever.

His line of reasoning is this: Given that, in speaking, people tend to use over and over the same few words, it's better to study these words.

So his method is like this: if I got this right, he got a list with the 1000 most common words in Italian and he essentially reads each word with its translation. While doing that, he records himself with his phone. So he reads this list, he reads each word with its translation while recording himself.

If I got this right, during the 7 days in which he learned Italian, he essentially read this list several times.

Among other things, he says that you shoudn't waste time studying vocabulary related to kitchen or clothes, because at the end of the day these words are less common.

Similarly, he says that, in his opinion, one doesn't need to know words such as "penna" or "forno" to speak Italian.

Another thing that helped him learn Italian was studying verb conjugations. For the video creator, it is a thousand times better to know verb conjugations, to know how to form verb tenses, rather than to have a big vocabulary.

I for one don't agree with his point of view, but in any case that's not the point.

The point is that it's not clear if this person: 1) learned 21 verb tenses in one week, or 2) this person had already studied them in the past.

I would like to hope that it's not case 1. Because quite frankly suggesting that someone should study in one week 21 verb tenses, that is, they should study all Italian conjugations - well, to me that is idiotic advice. That is, in other words, studying all Italian tenses in one week can only cause confusion, can only create confusion.

Alternatively, it could be the case that this individual was in fact already somewhat familiar with Italian tenses. If that's the case, though, the point I discussed earlier still applies, namely, this person didn't learn Italian in one week.

Honestly, though, based on the video, it really seems that this person studied all verb tenses in one week.

Next, the video creator gives another example and suggests learning the particle CI, given that it is frequently used and has several meanings.

I for one don't think that someone who has just started learning Italian should do this type of analysis and reasoning. Because, honestly, if someone has just started learning Italian, they should not try to learn all meanings of the particle CI. Someone who has just started studying the Italian language should more likely learn the phrases which include the particle CI just like that.

Next, the video creator says something very interesting and right. He rightly notes that it's not particularly helpful to study like crazy right before an exam, for example staying up late before an exam to study more.

That's because our brain needs to process acquired information. Therefore, piling up too much information at the same time is not an optimal strategy.

This applies both to studying for an exam at university, and to studying a foreign language.

In theory I completely agree with him. I mean, you shouldn't accumulate too much information.

The problem is that, in his own video, he suggests studying all tenses of the Italian language in one week. Similarly, he suggests learning 1000 new words in one week.

So on the one hand he admits that it's not a good idea to study too many things at the same time. On the other hand, he suggests that you do precisely that.

Another very interesting point he makes is that, basically, he wants Italian, the Italian language, to become part and parcel of his life.

If that is the case, it's not clear why he did this thing and tried to learn as much as possible in 7 days, as if it were some sort of competition.

Next, he gives a tip which I feel like sharing. I agree with this piece of advice.

His tip essentially is to take advantage of streaming platforms such as netflix and similar services, to watch movies, tv seris and other types of shows in Italian.

I don't have anything to add to this piece of advice. I clearly agree with this tip.

At the same time, though, he basically says that, before that week, he understood around 20 to 25% of what he listened to. Then, he did this week of intense study and got to the next level.

Basically, if I got this right, he used to listen to content in Italian and understood roughly 20-25% of it. Then, he did that week and after that week he started to understand much more.

The problem is that, by saying something like that, the video creator risks to convey the wrong message. Because someone may watch his video and infer that to learn Italian one week is enough. But it's clear that's not the case.

So if the question is:

Can you learn Italian in one week?

Is one week enough for learning the Italian language?

My answer is: NO, it's not enough.

Like I said, this video is highly problematic first of all because this individual had already studied Italian and had already acquired some basis. Secondly, because he gives potentially harmful advice which for me is counterproductive.

His tips, such as learning the 1000 most common words, are useful if your goal is to pretend that you learned Italian. They are counterproductive if someone has long-term goals and truly wants to learn Italian.

Similarly, studying at the same time all Italian tenses is the best way to get confused.

Whatever! This video risks to become too long, so I'm gonna end it here. In the comments below please let me know what you think. Let me know if you watched this video and if it motivated you to study the Italian language.

In any case, if you truly want to learn Italian, that is, not in one week, but in a longer span of time, I'm gonna add a video up here - and you might wanna subscribe to my channel!

Learn Italian with Luca - unlearningitalian (Channel Outro)