Hello Everyone,
I just joined the community today. I'm looking forward to being involved with the group and learning about life in Italy from day one. I presently live in the Washington, D.C. area (having come from Ohio), I've been here now for over 15 years. I work in the Commercial Real Estate field, leasing office buildings.

I know that I will sound naive, but "it is what it is". I speak no Italian, and I've never visited Italy, but yet I know, this is where someday (hopefully sooner rather than later) I want to relocate to. Not to retire (yet), as I still have many good working years remaining (hopefully), but to work, live, and enjoy.

I joined this website wanting to contribute as much as I can, in return for learning about living my dream. I have read many different authors, listened carefully to and watched many a film, documentary, and/or presentation about Italy and life there. I have no set time frame when to accomplish this (I cannot believe that any of this could happen before 2013), only that I want to do this, and I would like to start making plans now and lay the groundwork. I am very much aware that step one is: learn Italian.

I'm trying to find the best, fastest, and easiest (did I also mention cost effective) way to learn the language. Is it the class room environment, a Rosetta Stone program, or another CD/DVD language program? What is the best approach? I know Spanish fairly well, having traveled to Peru several times without a dictionary or phrase book, and getting by reasonably well on my present tense limited Spanish. Any help or suggestions are warmly appreciated.

Any other help or suggestions on a good approach to relocate, dealing with the bureaucratic Immigration process, work in Italy help, and anything and everything esle would be also greatly appreciated - more than I could ever say.

I do not have deep pockets, and the economic downturn has really devasted my retirement account, but a dream is a dream. I may end up only having that, but it keeps me motivated!

benvenuto cdemarco2 !!

Everyone learns differently, so it really depends on your own style of learning.

There is plenty of stuff right here on lifeinitaly to print and read and re-read and speak so I'd start there 'cause it's cheap!

There are plenty of resources online too, so look around and find your method.

I have all forms of learning: books, cd's, classroom instruction, online, Rosetta Stone...you name, it I have it.

The 1 thing I've learned is the only way to learn is to study! I collect all these tools and just assume I'll absorb the information, but it doesn't work like that.

Every day find time for a new word or phrase and commit it to memory.

When you are talking to somebody in English, imagine your answers in Italian.

Listen to it any chance you get. Listen to the speaker and try and pick apart the sentence: verbs, nouns, etc. Now that I know the structure, after I study or listen to a sentence I can find words I understand. Of course it takes 5 minutes and 20 reviews, but I feel that someday I might be able to do this "live".

And dream big! Life is short. You want to move to Italy? make it happen.

The goal is to live there? Great...that means you'll need work. To work there means you need a visa/citizenship/etc. To get that you need....

It's great to see people follow their dreams. It takes courage and everyone who doesn't is jealous. I'd rather be happy than jealous!

Hi demarco
I am in the Washington DC area as well - You will have to learn the basics - after that you can join groups like mine to practice
Montgomery County Italian Language & Italian Expats (Rockville, MD) - Meetup.com

I recently discovered that you do not need to be in Italy to learn Italian fluently : The Russian on this forum has been in Italy only for 3 weeks and she speaks fluently - She learned at the Italian school in Dc and going to meetup in the area.