QUOI DE NEUF

When I was a little girl, I fantasized that eventually they would invent a pill that would open your mind as soon as you swallowed it and you would instantly know everything that could possibly be known. You could just take a small pill to learn history, geography, mathematics, languages, etc., without making the effort of studying from books. There is in fact a film, "Limitless" (based on the novel “The Dark Fields”), in which the protagonist takes a strange chemical substance that vastly enhances his cognitive potential, but he still has to make the effort to study in order to learn. Are you curious? Why don’t you watch the film and the TV series in Italian?! Of course, it will take a bit of effort but it should also be pleasurable!   My first piece of advice is that you should find it fun. Everything you do with the aim of learning a language should give you pleasure. You will soon abandon anything that bores you, so whether you need to learn Italian for work, or for personal reasons, try to make studying as fun as possible.   Find what you like best and start from there. Do you love Italian cuisine? Most people do, because it's genuine, tasty and quite simple. So get some recipe books, find out the meaning of the vocabulary and put these words into practice in the kitchen. You could organize a dinner with friends and explain the dishes in Italian.   Another tip to avoid getting bored and giving up. Play with vocabulary and spelling with the language games you find in puzzle magazines, crosswords, charades, anagrams, quizzes, etc. The most famous publication of this kind in Italy is La Settimana Enigmistica. If you can't work out the answers to the puzzles, the solutions are on the last pages. You could play board games and organize challenges or tournaments with your friends, such as Scrabble (Scarabeo) and Boggle (il Paroliere). Don't worry if you feel that you're not making enough progress. Your mind is working in the meantime, which is always a healthy thing! I hope my suggestions have been helpful. Have fun!