Is there anyone on here I can practice Italian with? If not, can someone tell me a good way to learn Italian? It doesn't have to be easy.. I'm willing to put in effort.

I would start by getting a CD at a Best Buy or OfficeMax that teaches the basics of Italian.

You live in Chicago. Shoud be lots of people there who speak Italian if there is a neighborhood where Italian people tend to live. Might be able to find a way to make friends with someone around your age there who speaks both Italian and English.

See if there are any events coming up in the Chicagoland area concerning people of Italian descent. Attend and try to make friends with someone who has similar interests as you.

Maybe there is a student at the school you are attending who is from Italy? Possibly makes friends with that person?

The following sites may be of help to you. I hope that they are.

Web Italian Lessons, by Lucio Chiappetti (http://www.june29.com/Italian/)

Free Online Language Courses (http://www.word2word.com/coursead.html)

italian language course for the internet mainframe (http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/modlang/carasi/site/pageone.html)

Free Italian course for beginners (http://www.abruzzo2000.com/course/index.html)

Online Italian Lessons - Italiansrus.com (http://www.italiansrus.com/resources/lessons.htm)

I found the site below to be particularly cool!

BBC - Languages - Learn Italian (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/)

Yeah I agree something like a c.d. would always work.. practice by calling places and greet them in italian so if they start speaking it you can also practice like that.. there's lots of ways, but id go with a c.d. because they have sound and will say it for you, so that should help

I am an italain teacher, maybe I can help. Drop me a line

Matter of fact, go to your local library. I'm sure there are tons of italian books you can practice with. I know here in the New York Public Library we have tons.