Imagine experiencing being in Italy before you even go. Imagine engaging in everyday scenarios where you learn the simple, practical, spoken Italian.
Imagine giving yourself the opportunity to learn cultural traits and the way of speaking. So you can experience the "I don't understand anything" and the "I'm freaking out" state of mind with no real consequences. Get yourself into situations where all this is possible before you actually go to Italy!
One thing is learning about the Italian language, and a different thing is to experience it by having a go and actually speak. Do you dream about being able to ask for information to a native Italian? Start talking aloud, listen to the Italian radio, talk to Italians in your Country, give yourself permission to make mistakes and allow yourself to feel a bit hopeless at times. It's all part of a process that will lead you to succeed.
The Comfort Zone Damages Are Real
It is easy to stay in your comfort zone, do all the "fill in the banks" Italian exercises, quizzes, games, memorize a few phrases here and there and tell yourself "I'm learning Italian".
The correct statement would actually be "I'm learning about the Italian language" if you are not practicing speaking.
You should practice saying aloud every single thing you learn because you won't magically start speaking with natives once you get to Italy (some people actually believe this!) if you have never practiced talking on the spot. Your brain needs to learn the skill to "say what you can in Italian" as opposite to "say what you would say in English and try to translate it".
When you learn Italian without pushing yourself to practice effective communication, you end up collecting words and verb tenses (the Present, the Past, the Future...) without realizing that they are not used the same as in English. So you may wrongly assume that Italian is spoken like English, only with the Italian equivalent of every word. You end up speaking "Italian in English". This will make natives frown not because you make mistakes, but because you speak using structures that don't exist in Italian and create misunderstandings.
You can avoid all this by pushing yourself to talk aloud and say what you can according to your current Italian knowledge and by practicing as much as you can.
Work on Your Own Insecurities and Negative Self-Talk
Learning a new practical skill (e.g. swimming, playing tennis, talking in a different language) can reveal so many things about yourself. Any insecurities, fears, negative believes that you might have will come to light and become obstacles between you and your dream of speaking Italian confidently.
Pay attention to what goes on in your mind when you practice your Italian. Do you catch yourself thinking "I can't say this word"(or worse, you say it) before you even start talking in Italian? Or worse, do you beat yourself up when you forget a word?
Or, again, if you were advised to sing in Italian in order to become more fluent, would you instinctively say "I can't sing" or I'm not good at singing"?
Does all this sound familiar? Please know that by saying (or thinking) those things, you are questioning your own abilities and you are deciding to be unable to do things. Sadly, this is very common and it's about judging yourself according to what someone might have told you as a kid or due to a past negative experience. Please know that you are not your own experiences, and you can do anything -no matter your age and past- if you put your mind to it!
So start believing it and change your mind's language by telling yourself, for example, "I can sing!" (Always use affirmative statements). If you think about it, everybody can sing for the sake of doing it. This is exactly what you need to do in order to practice your Italian. You simply need to sing along trying to go at the same pace of the singer. I bet you sang many times before, or maybe you regularly do it in the shower or while cleaning up. This is proof you can do it!
Are you ready for a new, confident You?
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