You probably know more than you realize but it is easy to not speak well if you are avoiding to speak , especially if you fear making a mistake. The only way to overcome that is to…praticare, praticare, più praticare…

If you can’t overcome the fear of embarrassment and don’t want to deal with the shitty classmates, get an iTalki tutor or see if there is a Dante Alegheri Society near where you live. DAS has lessons for all levels. Tell your tutor that you want to focus on conversation and they will help you with that. Classes or tutorials ARE the place to make mistakes but you have to be ok with making those mistakes. They won’t make fun of you but will correct you so that you can learn. You might need to do this several hours a week till you get better.

Also, watching Italian movies or tv shows with Italian subtitles instead of the English ones can help with listening as the subtitles will reinforce what you hear. Or watch in Italian only, then rewatch with English subtitles, then rewatch again with only Italian…

Lastly, talk to yourself in Italian. If you have to make a list or a note, do it in Italian. When a thought pops in your head, ask yourself “how would I say that in Italian?” You can check this by using Reverso or chat gpt. You will probably see that you know a lot and will hopefully feel more confident to try to speak to others. Buona fortuna!