Pronunciation

You can meet for a drink with an Italian friend, watch movies (first with subtitles, then try to go without), or listen to Italian music (you can find the lyrics on the net) and try to sing along. Singing is a very useful activity as it allows you to develop a quick talking pace. Listen and repeat as many times as it takes to sound like a real Italian, and try to notice which Italian sounds are different from those of your mother tongue. Being aware of differences is important!

There are a number of features one has to pay attention to. It can be challenging, as you may have to modify the way you move your mouth, lips, and tongue.

Vowels

There are five Italian vowels: a, e, i, o and u. They can sound quite different from English vowels and they usually stand as one single sound. In the case of diphthongs and triphthongs there are, respectively, two and three distinct sounds:

[ia] chiave ['kjave] - key
[ie] niente [ni'ente] - nothing
[iu] fiume [fi'ume] - river
[io] piombo [pi'ombo] – lead (metal)
[iai] cucchiai [ku'Kjaj] - spoons
[iei] miei [mi'ei] – my
[uoi] suoi [su'oi] – his
[uai] guai [gu'ai] - troubles

Consonants

One of the most noticeable characteristics of Italian is a trilled "r" sound. This can be difficult to master as it involves a quick trembling movement of your tongue against the back of the front teeth, and the sound produced is quite dissimilar to the corresponding English sound, especially when doubled. Some native speakers are not able to produce such a strong vibrating sound, so it is common to meet some Italians who pronounce this sound in a different way.
"C" and "g" can be pronounced in a hard or soft way, depending on their position of the word. In general, when followed by "e" and "i" they are soft and should be pronounced like the English "ch" (chess) and "j" (jewel), otherwise they are hard, even when followed by "h + i/e" and should be pronounced like the English "get" and "kitchen":

Cesto ['tΣesto] – basket
Forcina [for'tΣina] – hairpin
Forchetta [for'ketta] – fork
Panchina [pan'kina] – bench
Perché [per'ke] – why/because
Collo ['kollo] – neck
Gesso ['dZEsso] – chalk
Giardino [dZar'dino] – garden
Ghirlanda [gir'landa] – garland
Gatto ['gatto] – cat

Double Consonants

Many Italian words present double consonants. This affects the pronunciation, as it means that you have to elongate the sound and reinforce it while pronouncing them. This is important, as this feature can distinguish between two different meanings:

casa/cassa ['kasa/'kaSa] - home/ box
nono/nonno ['nono/'noNo] - ninth/grandfather
camino/cammino [ka'mino/ka'Mino] – chimney/I walk
caro/carro ['karo/'kaRo]– dear/cart
capello/cappello [ka'peLo/ka'PeLo]– hair/hat

When a soft "c" is preceded by "s", the sound is like the English "sh" (shell). When in between vowels it is pronounced as doubled:

Uscire [u'Σ:ire] – to go out
Prosciutto [pro'Σ:ut:o] – ham
Scemo ['Σ:emo] – stupid

When "g" is followed by "n" it sounds like "ni" in "onion". When it is between vowels it sounds doubled:

Gnomo [ omo] – dwarf
Lasagne [la'za e] – lasagna
Legno ['le o] – wood

When "g" is followed by "l" it sounds like "lli" in "million". Just like "gn" and "sh", it sounds doubled when in between vowels:

Biglietto [bi×'×etto] – ticket
Moglie ['mo××e] – wife

There are just some exceptions to this rule. In this case, three separate letters must be pronounced:

Geroglifico [dZero'glifiko] – hieroglyphic
Anglicano [angli'cano] – Anglican

Voiced and unvoiced consonants

One should try to pay attention to the difference between voiced and unvoiced "s" and "z".

The voiced pronunciation of "s" sounds like the English "rose" while the unvoiced sounds like "base".

- The "s" is voiced before a voiced consonant (b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v)

and

- unvoiced after an unvoiced consonant (c, f, k, p, q, t):

Sbaglio ['zba××o] – error
Sveglia ['zve××a] – alarm clock
Tasca ['taska] – pocket
Storia ['storia] – story

The voiced pronunciation of "z" is similar to the English sound "dz", while the unvoiced sounds like the combination "ts":

Zaino ['dzaino] – backpack
Zanzara [dzan'dzara] – mosquito
Zucchero ['tsuKero] – sugar
Zuppa ['tsuPa] – soup

Some dialects and even some individuals present variations from the "standard" pronunciation, so you will learn them by listening and repeating.
Generally speaking, it is necessary to pronounce every letter of every word as clearly as possible at first, and then try to be quicker. Try to learn how different vowels and consonant sound and how you have to move your mouth to obtain that very sound. Remember to read, listen and repeat a lot. Listening to music, watching movies and meeting people are all very useful ways to practice your accent.

Common Language Rules

The letter H exists in words, but is not pronounced.
When you see a double consonant, it is given more emphasis. So 'dona' is pronounced differently from 'donna'.
The letter "C" followed by "E' or "I" is always pronounced like the English "CH". Otherwise it is pronounced like "K". If "C" is followed by "H", however, it is always pronounced like "K" (this confuses quite a few English speakers!)
"GL" and "GN" have a glottal pronunciation which, until you're used to them, are more easily pronounced by ignoring the "G" and adding an "I" sound. So "Gnocchi" is pronounced "Niok-ki" (remember CH is pronounced like K, from above).
The stress in a majority of Italian words is on the second last syllable (think Pasta, Pizza, Mozzarella and Ferrari). When you see an accent on a word, that syllable is emphasized (as with the word città)
The Italian R is very different from the American R (and usually a dead giveaway for tourists). The rolling R of Italian is closer to the Spanish (or the Scottish R in "Freedom", for those who remember Braveheart). This may take some practice.
Italian divides nouns into masculine and feminine categories. Il and lo are masculine articles, while la is a feminine article.
Unlike English, vowel sounds never change in Italian; a, e, i, o, u always sound like ah, eh, ee, oh, ooh
You can often omit the subject, since it can be understood by the verb ending. So "Io vado" (I go) is often just "Vado."

Practice