A question we get from time to time is, “I speak some Spanish. Do I really need to learn Italian to move to Italy?” The question can make sense since people assume that Italian and Spanish sound and are similar. Those rolling R’s, those Latin roots.
Spanish can help you in areas and hurt you in areas since they are not the same language. Spanish underwent a simplification that Italian didn’t undergo. And the bottom line is that if you want to live in Italy, you should learn Italian.
Italian is actually closer to French.
French might help you more with Italian than Spanish! Italian and French are linguistically closer siblings than Italian and Spanish.
Life happens in Italian.
Outside of heavy tourist areas, life in Italy happens in Italian. It might also happen in local dialects, which are languages in their own rights, not slight variations of Italian. But if you are dealing with medical professionals, people in the comune (town hall), home contractors, people in shops, etc., you are dealing mostly or completely in Italian.
If you are buying property in Italy, you will be dealing with notaries, real estate agents, lawyers, geometri, engineers, and others who might speak little or no English. Italian Inpat can be the missing translator, if you need one!
School is conducted in Italian. Some areas will have second-language programs for students, but school expects you to speak at least some Italian.
Many Italians learned French as their elective language. It’s only more recently that school children are learning English. Italians got lots of American movies and TV shows, but overdubbed… so they never heard the English. Movies in Italian theatres are typically overdubbed in Italian with no English subtitles.
Where Spanish helps:
- Your ear is already tuned to Romance language sounds and rhythms. You might be able to roll those Rs!
- You’re familiar with gendered nouns, verb conjugation, the general architecture of the language.
- Some basic vocabulary words will sound similar, though they won’t be exact.
- If you understand that RR sounds different than R in Spanish, you are ready to learn that every doubled consonant in Italian sounds different than a single consonant. And every consonant can be doubled, from BB to ZZ!
- Italian’s “gl” is close to Spanish’s “ll.”
Where Spanish can work against you:
- Before you get good at the differences between single and double consonants, you might embarrass yourself. Penne pasta is far from “pene,” which has meanings including “pain” and “penis.”
- Spanish speakers, what do you imagine this means: “Vorrei mangiare due filetti di maiale.” It’s, “I’d like to eat two pork fillets,” which is rather different than how you’d say that in Spanish.
- False cognates (also known as “false friends”) can be humiliating. “Preservativo” sounds like “preservative,” but it means “condom.” “Burro” is not a donkey. It’s “butter.” “Caldo” is not cold. It’s “hot.”
- Doubled consonants change the pronunciation as well as the meaning. “Pala” (shovel) vs “palla” (ball). “Nono” (ninth) vs “nonno” (grandfather). Spanish only does this with R. Outside of that, this might be very unfamiliar. Those with less of an ear for music or languages might struggle to hear or speak these different sounds.
- Italian has two masculine forms: “il” and its plural “i” as well as “lo” and its plural “gli.”
There are other grammar differences that will surprise or confuse Spanish speakers, such as how different verb tenses are used. In Italian, the simple past is rarely spoken, and mostly used in literature and news. Past participles have to agree with gender and number. Infinitives used as nouns in Spanish… doesn’t fly in Italian.
Learn Italian! Start early.
We recommend starting as soon as possible, and we recommend working with a private teacher like Beatrice Ferrara (#NotSponsored), a qualified university professor of languages.
Group classes, language apps, and AI might help. But nothing will help you progress faster than working with a qualified teacher who will adjust to your level and learning style.