The little Italian I studied didn't help

It was a perfect opportunity to practice listening to Italian: the news from Rai TV was on TV without English subtitles just before midnight. But I could barely understand anything. I took a couple of Italian classes years ago, and they actually weren't very good because the teacher was cruel and unhelpful. But I shouldn't blame her. I just never went to Italy or hung out among Italian speakers (if there are any left in Chicago), so it just went away. I also ended up studying other languages, which seemed more enjoyable and manageable than Italian. So now I have daily opportunities to hear Italian on the TV, but not much knowledge. Maybe I should break out my Italian books and try to follow along :D