No matter how passionate you are about Italy and learning Italian, there are going to be days, weeks or months, even, where you don’t feel particularly motivated.

Maybe you’re burned out from studying really intensely over a long period of time or you’re tapped out in other areas of your life, and that’s not leaving much space in your brain to accommodate Italian.

When this happens, students tend to “take a break”, which could last a few months and result in them kicking themselves when they look back at how much they wasted.

I don’t want that to happen to you, but I also don’t want you to force yourself to learn Italian when you don’t want to.

That makes this whole process way less fun. NOT cool.

Learning Italian doesn’t happen as a result of making up goals and trying to achieve them. It’s a skill you build every single day, which means that studying Italian is a habit that you create.

I want this habit to continue for you, so when you start to feel like you need a break from learning Italian or you just don’t feel like doing it that day, you can keep your studies alive at the most basic level possible.

You can micro-study instead and do actions that take anywhere between 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

Here are 31 ways to micro-study every day so you can keep your Italian studies going while still getting the break you need.

READING

1.) Read one sentence from an Italian book.

2.) Read one sentence from an Italian article from a website like this one.

3.) Read one example from an article on The Iceberg Project.

4.) Read one line from song lyrics.

5.) Read one quote or proverb in Italian.

6.) Read one word from the site Italian for My Girlfriend.

7) Read one example from your textbook.

WRITING

1.) Write one sentence about your day.

2.) Write one sentence.

3.) Text one sentence to your friend in Italy.

4.) Post a 1-line update on Facebook.

5.) Post a picture with a 1-line caption on Instagram.

6.) Post a 1-line tweet.

7.) Post a 1-line update in The Iceberg Project Facebook group.

SPEAKING

1.) Say one sentence in Italian to yourself while driving.

2.) Send a 1-line audio message to a friend in Italy.

3.) Conjugate one verb out loud in the present tense.

4.) Conjugate one verb out loud in the past tense.

5.) Conjugate one verb out loud in the imperfect tense.

(You get the pattern here.)

6.) Read one sentence out loud from a book.

7.) Read one sentence out loud from an article.

LISTENING

1.) Listen to one minute of an episode on the podcast Al Dente.

2.) Listen to one Italian song.

3.) Listen to one minute of a Francesco Sole clip.

4.) Listen to one minute of a Jackal video clip (& prepare to laugh for the full 1-minute).

5.) Watch one minute of an Italian movie trailer on YouTube.

6.) Listen to one minute of Fabio Volo doing his radio show.

REVIEW

1.) Review one flashcard.

2.) Do one question of an already-completed category on Duolingo.

3.) Label one item in your house with a Post-It Note.

4.) Complete one question from your exercise book.

Small actions, done daily, lead up to big results.

And sometimes it’s just a matter of how you’ve been studying, so if that’s the case, check out the How to Start Learning Italian Guide. You might find it useful. 🙂

What small action would you add to this list? Leave it in the comments below!