Your Ultimate Italian Pronunciation Guide

Italian Pronunciation

Many find that Italian pronunciation sounds quite beautiful. They might believe that they will never be able to have the same sound and inflection as a native speaker, but that’s not the case. By learning the Italian language and focusing on proper pronunciation, you will be able to speak just as beautifully as someone who grew up in Italy. Learning proper pronunciation as you are learning the other aspects of the language can be quite fun as well.

Sounds and Syllables in the Language

Italian has fewer sounds than you will find in many other languages, and that can help to make the learning curve a bit easier. The sounds in the language are a combination of the consonants and vowels. The Italian alphabet has 16 consonants – b, c, d, f, g, h, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, and z. Italian features 5 vowels – a, e, i, o, and u. In the vowels, you will find different ways that you can pronounce “e” – the open and closed e. The letter “o” has an open and closed. Different pronunciations of the vowels can cause the word to take on an entirely different meaning, so it is a good idea to make sure that you know proper Italian pronunciation so you do not mispronounce and confuse those to whom you are speaking!

Stressing Syllables

When you are trying to learn how to stress different syllables in Italian words, one of the best things that you can do is listen to native speakers. They do it naturally so nothing sounds forced.However, you may not have this luxury. The stress in most Italian words, at least those with more than two syllables, is usually going to fall to the next to last syllable. In words with just two syllables, the stress is usually going to be on the first syllable. However, if there is an accent at the end of the word, the stress is going ot be on that syllable. Knowing this can help you with the proper pronunciation of quite a few words in the language.Learning the correct Italian pronunciation is actually not too difficult, and you will find that you can start sounding more and more like a native Italian speaker the more you practice. As with other elements of the language, including grammar, pronunciation can take some time to perfect. Have fun practicing and learning one of the most fun languages on the planet!

1) Use voice recording tools to perfect your pronunciation

ItalianPod101 has plenty of resources to help you with your Italian pronunciation, so be sure to make thorough use of our recordings with native Italian speakers. These are available not only to demonstrate to you how you should pronounce Italian vocabulary, but also sentences and dialogues. Watch and listen to these over and over again to train your ear, and watch the teacher’s mouth as she speaks in the video lessons. Then, copy the speech as best you can. Later, you can record yourself to hear if you sound like a native speaker and compare yourself with native speakers. Great for self-motivation.

2) Practice in front of the mirror.

And see that you’re copying the correct lip and mouth movements.

3) Use our ItalianPod101 dictionary!

Use the Italian dictionary provided by ItalianPod101 to look up words and listen to the audio pronunciation. This will go a long way towards giving you an idea of how to pronounce a word or letter correctly.

4) Train your ear to the language!

Make an effort to often listen to Italian music and recorded books, and watch plenty of Italian movies and/or TV shows in Italian. This will train your ear to the language, and you’ll be surprised how quickly you pick up the accent. Remember, this is the way we learned to speak when we were young - mostly by listening to the adults talking, and repeating what they say!

5) Practice, practice, practice…

Repetition of the same thing may be boring, but in learning a new language, you’re creating new pathways in your brain. For these to remain and become habitual, you will need to repeat the correct pronunciation often.

6) Make friends with a native Italian speaker.

Don’t be shy to address them in Italian! Ask them to correct you when you make a pronunciation mistake - this is a wonderful way to practice and learn the language first-hand, and also to make new friends.

7) Practice your pronunciation with your Italian teacher!

If you’re a serious student and don’t know where to meet native Italian speakers, consider investing in ItalianPod101’s Premium PLUS plan. This means you will have your own native Italian teacher available to practice your pronunciation with, and much more! Send recordings of yourself speaking Italian and get feedback from your Italian teacher.