Living in Italy has showed me how NOT to learn Italian.
- Osmosis – Unfortunately, merely being surrounded by Italian will only help you to a certain extent. You have to be an active participant in the dialogue in order to really learn the language.
- Dating – No. Just no. Here’s why.
- Online Language Courses – Because more often than not, you get incredibly unhelpful tips like this:
Thank you, Captain Obvious.
Hi there. You have a really great blog. I’m an American living in England with my husband and baby. I long to visit Italy and possibly even live there one day (my husband would love to work for Ferrari F1 team). HOpe you don’t mind if I follow your blog. Really nice photos and commentary.
What a cool company that would be to work for! I’m glad you found my blog- looking forward to following English adventures on yours!
I lived in Rome for 8 months and did not learn to carry on a conversation in Italian. I’m studying a lot at home, and here’s what I’m trying 1) read children’s books. 2)italianpod.com has pretty good free podcasts. 3) I’m listening to Michel Thomas Speak Italian Vocabulary Builder. 4) flashcards to build vocabulary
Consulting with friends that speak both languages is also very helpful. This is how I learned that people on the bus were asking me “scenderle?” which means “are you getting off at it [the next stop]”
I had another thought which maybe you can try out for me (’cause I’m in NYC). It’s to start random conversations with people, and try to keep them going for as long as possible. Be “chatty.” Like at the vegetable market ask what’s fresh. Than ask what he recommends. Than ask if they come from a farm nearby, ask if he’s a farmer or just selling… etc. And when it gets awkward because you can’t understand eachother, you just wander away. If you try this, let me know how it goes. It even helps me get over shyness to do it in English.
A follow up on this idea was to teach yourself how to have a whole conversation, and then go repeat the conversation to someone. For example, “I had to walk really far to this market, but I heard it’s the best. My friend recommended it. She shops here all the time, and she told me to come to your booth.” Basically the idea here is before you go out for the day, study all the words you plan to use that day, and make yourself use them.
Just some ideas, I’m sure your Italian is quite good.
thanks for the tips! I’m planning on studying abroad in Italy in the fall and I’m hoping I’ll pick up some things from you before I go… hopefully I can learn a little Italian by then. I’m gonna start with please, thanks, and pass the spaghetti.
poor you! maybe i can give you a literal translation of “spaghetti”.
Spaghetti is the diminutive of “spaghi” that is the plural of “spago”.Spago means twine,so in english the literal translation is “little twines”…this type of pasta as you can see is called “spaghetti” because of its shape 🙂 hope i helped you!and hope the word “twine” is the right translation of “spago” haha
if you need some help with italian just ask me,i’m italian and i will happy to help you with the language.:))
ah,beautiful blog dear!