After achieving conversational fluency in Italian through daily life in Italy, I took an unconventional approach to deepening my language skills: reading entire book series in Italian. Starting with familiar works like “The Martian” and “Percy Jackson,” I gradually progressed to reading new-to-me stories like “Mistborn.” This journey has not only expanded my Italian vocabulary but also enriched my understanding of both Italian and English through their shared connections to Latin and Greek. What began as a language learning exercise has evolved into a daily pleasure that opens new worlds of literature while strengthening my grasp of Italian.
- The Challenge of Literary Italian
- Starting with Familiar Ground
- Leveling Up with Percy Jackson
- Diving into New Territory with Mistborn
- The Unexpected Benefits
- Looking Forward
The Challenge of Literary Italian
While living in Italy gave me a strong foundation in conversational Italian, I found myself hitting a plateau. I could navigate daily life, chat with neighbors, and handle work conversations, but I yearned for a deeper understanding of the language. That’s when I decided to embark on a language learning journey: reading entire book series in Italian.
Starting with Familiar Ground
I strategically chose “The Martian” (Sopravvissuto - “The Survivor”) as my first book. Having read it multiple times in English, I already knew the plot, characters, and even many of the key scenes. This familiarity created a safety net - when I encountered unfamiliar words or complex sentences, the context was already there in my mind, helping me decode the meaning without constant reference to a dictionary.
What surprised me most was how different the experience felt from reading in English. Technical terms that Mark Watney casually throws around took on new life in Italian. Words like “trapano” (drill) and “pressurizzazione” (pressurization) became part of my vocabulary not through rote memorization, but through the engaging context of Watney’s survival story.
Leveling Up with Percy Jackson
Moving on to Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson e gli Dei dell’Olimpo), I discovered an unexpected benefit of reading mythology in Italian - it enhanced my understanding of both languages. Italian’s closer connection to Latin and Greek often illuminated the etymology of English words I’d never thought twice about. This linguistic cross-pollination has enriched my understanding of both languages in surprising ways.
Recently, I was at a movie theater watching a trailer for “Elio,” about a boy who becomes Earth’s intergalactic ambassador. I found myself chuckling - the name “Elio” is the Italian version of Helios, the Greek god of the sun. This multilingual knowledge added an extra layer of appreciation for the wordplay in the title - what better name for an ambassador to the stars than one derived from the sun god himself? These moments of connection between languages have become increasingly common, making both my Italian and English vocabulary richer and more interconnected.
The Heroes of Olympus series (Gli Eroi dell’Olimpo) followed naturally. By this point, reading in Italian felt more natural - I found myself reaching for the dictionary less frequently and enjoying the flow of the story more. What started as an exercise in language learning had transformed into simply reading for pleasure, albeit in a different language.
Diving into New Territory with Mistborn
Now, I’m reading Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series (Mistborn - L’Ultimo Impero), and it represents a significant milestone in my Italian reading journey. Unlike my previous books, I haven’t read this series in English. I’m discovering the story and the language simultaneously, which brings both new challenges and rewards.
The fantasy genre has introduced me to entirely new categories of vocabulary - words for metals, emotions, and magical phenomena that never came up in daily conversation or my previous reading. It’s fascinating to see how Italian handles the invented terms and concepts unique to Sanderson’s world.
The Unexpected Benefits
Beyond the obvious improvement in vocabulary, this reading journey has transformed my relationship with Italian in several ways:
- I’ve developed an intuitive feel for sentence structure that no amount of grammar study could provide
- My reading speed has increased dramatically, allowing me to process Italian more naturally
- I’ve gained confidence in my ability to understand context from surrounding words, rather than needing to understand every single term
- My writing has improved as I unconsciously absorb the rhythm and flow of Italian prose
Looking Forward
As I continue through the Mistborn series, I’m already planning my next literary adventures in Italian. Each book not only improves my language skills but also gives me a new perspective on stories I love or introduces me to new worlds entirely. It’s a reminder that language learning doesn’t have to be a formal, structured process - sometimes the best progress comes from simply following your interests in your target language.
What started as an experiment in vocabulary building has become one of my favorite parts of my day. There’s something uniquely satisfying about reaching the point where you’re no longer just reading Italian, but experiencing stories in Italian. The language becomes not just a tool for communication, but a gateway to new worlds of imagination and understanding.