I feel incredibly fortunate to have grown up in a multicultural family. On one side, Lebanese and English/Irish; on the other, Italian and English/Irish. From an early age, I was exposed to different languages, cultures, foods, philosophies, and traditions. Both sets of grandparents were highly intellectual and talented, but my grandmother in particular had a profound influence on me. We were extremely close – she spoke four languages fluently and three more to a conversational level. Because of her, I’ve developed a strong desire to learn languages as I’ve gotten older.
Despite doing well academically at school, I never truly applied myself. My younger self wouldn’t recognise who I am now – that’s for sure.
Choosing a language to learn is far more difficult than it seems. Initially, I wanted to learn Arabic, as I already had a fairly good foundation, but it proved much more challenging than I expected. I then considered French – especially as my grandmother was so passionate about it, and it was her second language. Realistically, French would be incredibly useful, particularly as my parents have a place in France. But for some reason, I’ve always felt a bit self-conscious speaking it.
Instead, I began learning Italian early last year. There are a few personal reasons behind that choice, and I hope that one day I’ll be able to use it in pursuit of some long-term dreams. I threw myself into it – downloading Duolingo, changing my Netflix settings, and ordering an Italian book. I managed an impressive 260-day streak before eventually losing momentum. I even signed up to Preply and had weekly lessons on Saturday mornings. But as with any routine, consistency can be difficult. Between family life, hobbies, work, and other commitments, building new habits is never an overnight success.
Towards the end of the year, I gave myself the rest I needed and decided to start fresh in the New Year. I reset all my progress and began learning Italian again from the start. I was surprised by how much I remembered – I achieved 100% across Sections 1 to 6. My average has dipped slightly in Units 7 and 8, but I’m still maintaining around 96% accuracy. I’m now halfway through Unit 9, with just one more unit to complete before moving on to Section 2.
One thing I’ve done differently this time is writing everything down. I treated myself to a beautiful notebook where I record new vocabulary and meanings. It’s been incredibly helpful to revisit and reinforce what I’ve learned. I’m also under no illusion that completing Duolingo will make me fluent – reading in Italian, watching Italian programmes, and eventually mastering grammar are all essential parts of the journey.
Once I finish Duolingo, I plan to invest in one-to-one tuition with a native speaker. Ultimately, the only way to become truly proficient is through speaking. I’d love to go on to learn more languages in the future – perhaps French will come back into the picture. I’m hopeful that once you learn one language, picking up others becomes a little easier.
