How to practise speaking Italian
Updated 2026-10-18
Speak a little every day, in situations you will really meet, and keep track of the mistakes you make so they come back. Below is a routine of about twenty minutes, scenes to start with at each level, and what to do with what goes wrong.
Why speaking lags behind reading
Most learners understand more Italian than they can say. Reading and listening let you take your time. Speaking does not: someone is waiting, and you have to find the word, the ending and the article all at once.
That gap closes with use. You need to build sentences yourself, hear an answer you did not plan for, and reply again. The hard part, outside Italy, is finding enough of those turns.
Ways to practise, and what each gives you
| Way | What it gives you | What it asks of you |
|---|---|---|
| Talking to yourself | Turns at any hour, out loud | Nobody answers, so nobody corrects you |
| Shadowing audio or film | The rhythm and sounds of real speech | The lines are someone else's, not yours |
| A language exchange | A real Italian who answers back | Finding a partner, and half the time in English |
| A tutor or a class | A person who corrects you and plans lessons | Booked times and a fee |
| A conversation app | Scenes that answer back, at any hour | The other side is AI and can be wrong |
None of these is the only way. Many learners mix two: a weekly class or exchange, and short practice on the days between. The rest of this page is about those daily minutes.
A twenty-minute routine
- Pick one scene you could meet this month. At A1 that might be ordering a coffee and a cornetto at the bar; at B1, viewing a flat with the landlord.
- Say the goal in one English sentence before you start, such as "buy a bus ticket and ask where the stop is". A clear goal keeps you talking instead of freezing.
- Hold the conversation out loud for about ten minutes. If a sentence will not come, type it, read it, then say it.
- Read the mistakes noted in English. Pick the one that came up more than once.
- Spend five minutes on short prompts for that one point: complete a sentence, then say a new one.
- Stop there. Tomorrow, begin with yesterday's mistake before you open a new scene.
In Convola this is the shape of a day: Start picks what is due, or a new scene at your level. You could do the same with a notebook and a patient friend. The order matters more than the tool.
Scenes to start with at each level
Choose scenes where you already know what the other person wants from you. These come from the Italian app's list of scenes.
- A1: buying a bus ticket at the tabaccheria, with one person behind the counter. Short questions, numbers, grazie.
- A1: asking a neighbour for the wifi password. A small favour, polite forms, and spelling out letters and numbers.
- A2: at the farmacia with a cold. You describe how you feel, one symptom at a time.
- A2: a delayed regionale and a fellow traveller. Two people talk to you, so you have to follow them and cut in.
- B1: renting a flat, viewing with the landlord. Two people, questions about rooms and rules, and a decision at the end.
- B2: a job interview, with two interviewers who take turns.
Each scene is written fresh at your level, so going back to the same type gives you a different conversation, not a script you have learned by heart.
What to do with a mistake
A mistake you notice once is easy to lose. One way to keep it is to give it a name, write the right form next to it, and test yourself on it days later.
This finding is from a recorded Convola conversation, a hotel check-in where the learner wrote due notte:
due notte
due notti
Notte is feminine and ends in -e, so its plural is notti, not notte.
The tutor filed it under plurals. At the next practice a note like this comes back as a gap to fill, such as Resto a Roma tre ___. Days later it comes back as a new sentence to say: Ci servono due chiavi, we need two keys. Right twice, days apart, and it leaves the list. A new slip brings it back.
The rule behind it fits in one line: Italian nouns ending in -e, masculine or feminine, take -i in the plural, so madre becomes madri and notte becomes notti. A rule you can say in one line is a rule you can test yourself on.
Keeping it going
- Same time each day. Short and daily means each mistake gets its second try while you still remember the first.
- Type when speaking is too much. Typing is still building Italian sentences, and you can say the line once it is right.
- Let the level move. In Convola it moves by itself as you practise, skill by skill: reading, listening, writing and speaking.
- Practise what is coming up. Before a trip, see Italian phrases for travel. If you are just starting, see conversation for beginners.
More guides are on the Italian guides page.