The power of repetition – Learn Italian in the car

As you all know, a powerful tool to learn something is repeating it many times. Many have benefited from this simple strategy. So it is time you also profit from the power of repetition.

Learning a language by repetition is simple. You take audio files and listen to them continually. You can listen to them while doing other activities. Driving could be one of them. But any chore in which your brain is not fully employed is an adequate opportunity. You will be surprised how much space you have in your day to listen to the language you are learning.

Do you spend a considerable amount of time driving? Then reading about how to learn Italian in the car is for you!

In our book, committing to this technique will solidify the language in your head.

Examples of effortlessly learning

I remember as a child hearing the audio content of a political campaign daily. I was not interested in the content of the campaign. I was exposed to it more often than I liked. But at the end of the first month, I realized I had memorized all the dialogues. I thought it was just me, so I asked my sisters. They were equally exposed and could recite all the lines as well.

I also remember, in high school, we were given in class a fragment of a literary novel. Each day we analyzed part of the fragment. But we went on with this task for about three months. The teacher never encouraged us to memorize the quite lengthy text. However, having studied it that long, everybody learned it by heart. And I must admit that the subject was unappealing. But I retained it in a very natural way.

The students in that classroom were very different. But still, all of them memorized the text. It did not depend on them. It was due to the amount of exposure received to the literary work.

So, the point of these two examples is to show that exposure can lead to learning.

A basic Italian level is mandatory for this to work!

To start building up your vocabulary with repetition, you need to have a basic Italian level.

Why do we need a basic Italian level for this technique to work? Because when we are listening, our brain is working doing many associations. It needs to have things it understands to build up from there. If the vocabulary in the audio is foreign to you, your brain will have no reference points.

The other thing you need is time. You will need to listen to the audio over and over again.

Because of the two points just mentioned, it is logical to pick an audio file on a topic you enjoy. A random subject would not be that effective as something you gravitate towards naturally.

Your goal should not be memorization. Just being able to understand the content is enough.

I am personally very grateful that I discovered this technique!

I have personally benefited a lot from this technique. I surprised myself when I was learning Italian. I could not believe my progress. And people in Italy were surprised also!

“How have you learned with anybody around you speaking Italian?”

“How have you learned so fast?”

“We understand every word you say!”

These were just a few of the encouraging comments I received. I had committed to this for a year or so. They were surprised, and I was surprised too!

My routine consisted in listening to passages of the Bible in the car. And because I was learning Italian, the audios were in Italian. As I commuted, I enjoyed listening to them. I already knew the chapters in my first language. So, they served a double purpose. First, they gave me new insights into these portions. And second, they helped me improve my Italian skills.

I discovered that the more I listened to them, the more I understood. And that kept me wanting more. It is an encouraging feeling!

Learn Italian in the car

Once you have selected what you will listen to, try to spend a lot of time with it. And put your ear actively to work.

Listening is a crucial component of learning a new language. And I would like to illustrate this by pointing out a homely illustration.

A child that does not listen to spoken language will not talk. There is a logical link between the ear gate and the mouth. And it is seen in the fact that little children speak similar to their parents. Girls usually vocalize similarly to their mothers. And boys also articulate similarly to their fathers. It makes sense because they are the people that they hear the most in those initial stages. The little boy or girl reproduces the sounds that he or she is hearing.

Final considerations

Actively listening involves paying attention to each word. Try to grasp in your brain as much as you can. It may even help if you can have the written format of the audio (or video) and occasionally listen to it following its text. However, this is optional. And it may not be viable most of the time. After all, you would be listening while doing other activities.

Try to understand every word you are listening to in the audio. If there are some words that you initially do not understand, try to discover their meaning by their context. If it is not enough to analyze what was said before and after, jot the word down. When you have your first chance, go straight to a dictionary and look it up. This way, you will increase your vocabulary.

By following this technique, you will also get exposed to the grammatical rules that are taking place in the lines you are studying. Absorbing grammar without deliberately considering it is the best way to learn grammar. That is how we learned our first language.

And the most important rule is to stick to the process of repeatedly listening to your target language! The importance of repetition is repetition itself.

There is a platform you could also check out for free. It teaches Italian using a podcast-style approach.

They have taken into account the importance of repetition. But are careful of not wearing you out. The platform combines different audios going over the same vocabulary. The variety does the trick. Click here to read more about this platform.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.