I would like to thank you all for your comments. You have helped me through a frustrating period with your ideas and encouragement. I now have "some state of the art ideas" on how to get to my next level.I plan on reporting back in a few days that I am now totally fluent in Italian...okay it will take a little longer than that. ( Did I tell you I also want to be a comedian some day?)Thanks again.

Anthony-  We are ALL in that club.  There is only one answer.... practice, practice, practice.... listening.  I suggest listening to podcasts while reading the transcription.... then listen to it again without reading.  Repeat... and practice some more.  Hang in there.  Enjoy the process.  -Sven

PS. I like what drrdn said also.  Think in ideas.

Do the action, do the thing the word means, if possible (if not, exert yourself and use your imagination), try to link the word to real life experiences and say it. Try to describe your daily actions, as you do them, speaking out loud in Italian. In this way you're compelled to find the words you need and to link them directly to their real meaning and not their English equivalent. And another important thing: it's better not to learn words in isolation, but to learn them inside phrases providing context that helps to grasp their meaning.

I usually use a trick to solve this problem. When you hear some word you automatically must imagine its action in your brain. Therefore, when you hear <em>saltare</em> you will think of a man jumping. If you hear to the word <em>mangiare</em> you will imagine yourself (or any other person) eating. At the beginning it may seem a bit difficult but eventually you'll get it and someday suddenly you will be speaking Italian fluently.

Thanks to this you won't never ever need your English to speak Italian!

Dear Anthony, 

Don't worry about it. I say it not only as an Italian tutor, but, first of all, as a languages learner. Sometimes I have been feeling stressed because I continue forgetting words that I have seen an hour before... ;-( 

But after listening and writing and reading that word or verb many times, you will remember it and it will become your favourite verb or your favourite noun! ;-) I am sure about it because it happened to me as well!  As all other Italki's friends said, all of us only need practice when we learn a language... it's a long process and the only way to not get tired of it is by enjoying it, trying to read, listen and speak about topics that you like or you are very interested in....watching movies in Italian, listening to music or also watching documentaries about Italy and its cities...it will be like travelling from your couch every day! :-) 

Have fun and I am sure words will come to your mind!

Greetings from Rome! Francesca