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You moved to Italy expecting the language to soak in over espresso and conversation. Then you stumbled through a sentence at the comune, the clerk smiled and switched to careful English, and you walked out with a stamped form and no new vocabulary. It happens constantly, especially in cities with a lot of international residents — and it's a big reason expats in Italy often plateau at 'I can order anything in a restaurant' without ever getting much further.Living surrounded by Italian gives you exposure, but exposure alone is slow and uneven. You pick up café and market vocabulary fast,...