Let's see some issues:

Two consecutive vowels have separate sounds.

Examples:
euro,

buono,

paese,

aereo,

lei.

Double consonants, here are 3 tricky couples:

pena/penna

steso/stesso

eco/ecco

How is their pronunciation?

Words with no double should be pronounce with a long vowels and a soft consonants afterwards (PE__nA). About the couple "steso/stesso"the former has a "z" sound the second one "ss" sounds like " South".

Other words with double consonants, which you've probably heard:

bello

mamma

anno

cappuccinopazzo

nonno

About anno: be careful! Here there is no "h" because it means "year". Otherwise, "hanno" means "they have". In this specific case, there is no a pragmatic difference in pronounce. Italian is always a sound matter. "Nono" (9th) and "nonno" (grandfather) see?

The rolling Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Are you able to read " un ramarro marrone correva sul muro" (a Brown lizard ran on the wall). Probably your tongue is tied, right?

I know, NO equivalent in English. (see "Tips").

Some words:

porta,

corso,

formaggio.

Of course you can even change the meaning if you forget an "r": cane (dog) and carne (meat), arte (arts) and carte (cards).

The "r" at the beginning of a word even worse to pronounce!

Try these:

riso,

Roma,

ricotta,

ragazzo

and the double "r" ?:

birra

ferro

burro

(by the way, if you delete an "r" in "burro" it means "donkey" in Spanish, be careful!).

In order to help avoid errors, alphabet is the key, again!

Let' see other combinations:

gn, gli

think about food: gnocchi... yummy, right?

About "gli", this is the typical Italian sound. Spanish language can help us. Do you know "paella"the famous Spanish dish?That "ll" is the Italian "gl".

It is also slightly similar to "million" sound.

Let's go ahead...

The letter "c" and "g" change their sound in according to the vowel matched.

Easy to remember, if you follow this order:

ca, co, cu/ ga, go, gu

in English:

ka ko ku/ ga go gu

BUUUUT....

ce, ci/ ge gi

In English:

che, chi/ je, ji

some examples:

cane,

collo,

culo,

gatto goloso,

guru cera,

Cina,

gelato,

giro

ANOTHER 'BUUUUT...":

of course, we can modify their sound:

"ce (che)" can turn into "che (ke)"

Or

"ga (ga)" can turn into "gia (ja)"

Adding either "i" or "h" yu can change the sound of all these c/g
matched sounds.

"SC" sound

SC = SHeasy, right?

But we must pay attention to the vowels matched to it

Examples:

scarpa (shoe);
pronounce: skarpa

sciarpa (skarf);
pronounce: sharpa

So, remember, al piede metti la SCArpa al collo indossi la SCIArpa (literally: on foot you put the shoe, on the neck you wear the skarf. See "Resources")