updated 23.09.2021

If you’re struggling with Italian pronunciation and you wish to sound more Italian when you speak (even though you’re a beginner!), you’ve landed in the right place!

There are many rules in the Italian pronunciation, however there is one thing that makes Italian pronunciation much easier compared to other languages, such as English: Italian is a phonetic language. You read what you write.

However, if you’re an English speaker, you may still struggle with getting a good pronunciation, and while in this article I explain why this happens, in the video below I’ll tell you the two main things you need to get right to sound more Italian from the start.

When you speak Italian because of the difference in the isochrony of these two languages.

Isochrony is a linguistics term that refers to the rhythm of a language.

English and Italian language have two different rhythms

This is one of the main things that makes English speakers struggle with Italian pronunciation (and this is also why Italian speakers struggle so much with English pronunciation too).

Italian is a syllable timed language (every syllable takes up roughly the same amount of time).

English is a stress timed language (every syllable may last different amounts of time).

So when an English speaker starts to learn Italian, they need to get used to a different rhythm. At the same time, they need to also get used to a variety of different sounds, and tone of the most crucial sound of Italian language is the sound of its vowels!

This is why, when you start learning Italian pronunciation, you should focus on getting these two things right first:

• The pronunciation and quality of vowels and…
• The enunciation of Italian syllables.

In the video above I explain how you can do these two things to get a a better Italian pronunciation and sound more Italian – and less English, from the start !

The syllable enunciation and vowels quality are the first tow fundamental factors that contribute your to sound more Italian. Once you get them right you’re well on your way to successfully tackle the pronunciation of the Italian language and can move on to study all the other mains sounds.

If you’re interested in going into learning Italian pronunciation in depth, you can find all the different sounds of Italian language in my Italian pronunciation mini- course . In the mini-course you’ll also find fun ways to practise all the sounds of Italian language (especially challenging ones) like tongue-twisters, songs and more.

After all, the more you practise something, the better you become so… you may as well have fun along the way with the strategies you’ll find in my Italian pronunciation mini- course.

Now let me know in the comments:

What is your main struggle with Italian pronunciation? Any particular sound or words you can’t really pronounce?

Let me know in the comments, I always reply (and your question might be featured in the next video too!)

Happy Italian learning,

Ermy***

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MORE TIPS AND RESOURCES ON THIS TOPIC:

• You can find more tips on Italian pronunciation (+ a little pep-talk on how to get over your accent when you speak Italian) right here.
• One of the most fun way to practice Italian pronunciation is with songs. Here is an this article where I speak about how to use songs to learn Italian
• In this live video live I also go through the pronunciation of some basic Italian words that most beginners (and sometimes even advanced learners) get wrong
• And if you have just started learning Italian, this free series of Italian lesson can help you!