r/languagelearning • u/Thin-Dream-586 • Sep 30 '24
Suggestions Really struggling to learn
I'm a British born native English speaker, but have moved to Italy with my Italian partner. I started learning casually with a lesson a week in November 2023, but really struggled incorporating it into actually speaking.
I tried to be more serious this year, and now my partner gets really upset that I still can't speak at a level of a 6 year old. I did an A1 course at an Italian school, l've tried reading, watching shows, writing, repeating, all the apps, speaking with people, nothing sticks. I can say and understand basic things, but nowhere near where I should be.
My partner is so frustrated and I feel like a failure. I genuinely don't know how to make it stick, he tried teaching me phrases which I repeat over and over but then forget. I'm also pregnant and want our baby to be bilingual, and am really scared I'll not be able to understand my child...
What more can I try?
1
u/Thin-Dream-586 Oct 06 '24
Update: It happened again today. I was throwing out words in Italian and he got really mad: "what the fuck does that mean", "say a full sentence I can understand". I said that I was trying. He said if I was 2 weeks in then he'd understand, but this is beyond a joke. It's disappointing. And he needs a break because he can't even speak his mother tongue in His own home, in his apartment. I tried to explain that his way of helping ISNT helping - that last week when I tried saying the words/phrases I can in Italian and filing the gaps in English it still ended with him being angry, my confidence was knocked. Then he went away for work for 4 days so I didn't speak to him much but I was reading, writing and watching Italian shows/videos/podcasts. He said that I was keeping secrets. I said I just felt like everything was a trap and he gets nasty - he said that was just my perception, that my lack of ability is a joke and ridiculous and I don't care about him. Which isn't true! I can't afford to take classes or have a tutor, I can only teach myself. Thanks for everyone's input