On the Road with Julie

Time to Read:

Quick answer – no.

No, I do not speak Italian.

Now that we got THAT out of the way, after 6 days in Italy, 5 days of Italian classes, 3 piano lessons competely in Italian, 1 2-hour tour, 1 3-hour tour (yes, a 3-hour tour) both completely in Italian and hours of Italian podcasts listened to (I’m even listening to one right now), I can also say I don’t NOT speak Italian!

And, that’s pretty exciting to me.

It’s feeling a little wild how much I’ve learned în just 1 week. After 1 week of Italian study, I would say my Italian capacity has at least caught up with my Japanese, and maybe even surpassed it… and I started studying Japanese in 2020. Now, to be fair, over the course of those 6 years, total hours spent would probably only add up to 3 or 4 weeks worth of the level of focus I’ve put in on Italian this week. But still, the progress is a pleasant surprise. I hoped I’d learn a little, but, at this rate, Î’m starting to think I might even leave Italy with a solid base underfoot.

I will happily share with you my hack for quick Italian language acquisition. I guarantee it will cut your Italian language learning time by at least half! It’s simple, really. Know Spanish and French before you start. (Feel free to sub in Portuguese.) If you want to cut some corners and learn Italian really fast, that’s the way to do it. You’re welcome.

I came to Italy expecting to understand a lot more than I could expect to understand as a beginner in any other language. With a base in French and Spanish and the willingness to wield a highly technical language approach called “guessing”, you can get far.

For example, “”house” in Spanish is “casa”. In Italian, it’s, well, “casa”. But, it is Italianified – in Spanish it is pronounced “KAH-sah”. The “s” is a soft sibillant “s” – like the sound of “s” in the word “sound”. In Italian, you just give it a little sizzle. It’s KAH-zah with an “s” like the one in “nose” or “rose”.

Wanna keep using the remarkable guessing method for effective Italian language acquisition?

Wanna say “to speak”?

Well, in French, it’s “parler”. In Spanish, it’s “hablar.” Let’s cross our fingers and go with French this time. Let’s take “parler” and give it the old Italian makeover. Now, close your eyes, take the leap and say it out loud to your nearest Italian. See how the Italian in front of you responds. “Parlare.” Don’t forget to add a touch of Italian music to it when you say it. Open your eyes! The Italian is nodding. “Si, anche a me piace parlare l’italiono. Certo!” “Yes, I like to speak Italian too. Of course!” Phew! Guessing game successful!

Let’s give Spanish a try for the next one. In Spanish, “to practice” is “practicar”. Heck, we can just use the English word to execute our Italian guess. Just give it the old Italian treatment and, presto (also Italian), “practicare”! “Ho davvero bisogno practicare!” “I really need to practice!” I think it’s not the most natural way to express the sentiment, but you will be understood!

And the similarities go on and on. For example,…for example! In English it’s “for example”. In French, “par exemple”. In Spanish, “por ejemplo”. In Italian, we just Italianify it – “per esempio”!

So, it’s been a neat and new experience to get to learn so much of a new language in only a week’s time thanks to the extra benefits of prior efforts. And it was a wonderful week full of Italian!

Day 1 of classes, we had our 3 hour and 15 minute class in the morning. We did the basics – the alphabet, “my name is”, “I am from”, etc… All of that kind of good beginnery stuff.

Then I went out to lunch with a new friend and our waiter volunteered to help us practice ordering our meal in Italian! Talk about good service. It was such a tremendous welcome to Italy and NOT the typical first food-ordering experience in a new language in a new country (which is usually just a touch terrifying). My friend, Marie, and I were both so touched and appreciative of his support while he was just trying to do his job and get pizzas and pastas to all of his hungry customers. So, I got to get over the food ordering barrier right away!

Next stop on day 1 was my first of 3 piano lessons for the week. Luckily, my teacher didn’t speak English! Thank goodness! For 90 minutes, I got to learn about music in Italian – bellisima! Though, we mostly spoke “piano”. I did my darnedest to communicate in Italian when communication was needed or conversation ensued. At one point, my teacher even said that my Italian was good!

Let’s be clear. It wasn’t.

But, I do think there were three very good reasons for him to say such a thing and to mean it with sincerity.

Firstly, he was just a lovely gentleman, kind and encouraging in my musical and linguistic pursuits alike.

Secondly, I have come to believe that the number one most important element to speaking a language well, is pronounciation. Even if you only say a few words, if you say them the way a native person would say them, or as close to that as you possibly can within the context of the limitations of your mouth’s habitual musculature – you will come across as speaking well. I may not have had a lot to say in Italian – but what I did say – I said with as much Italian musicality as I could muster!

And, thirdly, when you expect nothing of someone, any amount of something seems pretty good! I think the bar was pretty low for me coming in. So, I produced something – which is a whole lot more than nothing! It’s part of the fun of being a total beginner in a language – before you get into the weeds of all of the vocabulary and nuts and bolts that escort you through the different levels, where you are constantly reminded of how much you don’t know, how much you have to learn, how many mistakes you are making and how much practice you need to overcome them – before all of that starts, going from zero to not zero seems like so much. The leap from zero to not zero is, after all, mathematically speaking, an infinitely greater amount!

After class on day 1, the Italian school offered a free tour of Florence for the students. There were students of all levels on the tour. I understood, maybe 40% of what the guide was saying. For day 1 though, not too shabby! By the end of the tour, my comprehension had dropped to 10% at best, from sheer tiredness after now having been in Italian for the better part of 7 hours of my first day of studies.

On Friday, after my last class for the week and my last class here in Florence, I partook in an extra offering from the school called “Learn on the Go”. It is a private 3 hour tour with an Italian teacher. My tour guide, Lorenzo, took me all around the city and told me all sorts of neat information and stories about all of the buildings that I had been wandering through over the course of the week. I found out that the church in the piazza that I had spent some of my week just hanging out in and savoring the vibe was actually the burial ground for many of Italy’s most famous names – Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Bruni and Galileo included. I learned about a bit of the history of the Medici family and the corridor they had built from their home throughout parts of the city during the years of the Republic when they weren’t as comfortable walking through the streets. I learned the history of the Italian surname, Innocenti, tracing back to the orphanages in central Florence. And, I learned all of this in Italian! Whoa! I can honestly say that I understood just about 100% of what he said! Now, I’m sure he was talking extra slowly for me and using simple vocabulary, but, it was pretty encouraging nonetheless – not to mention, fascinating and informative.

So, do I speak Italian?! Lest you find yourself leaning towards answering that question generously – let me add this. Before the tour started, Lorenzo approached me and said, “Come ti chiami?”.

I responded with the all eloquence I could muster, “Huh?”

For those who have not yet studied a romance language, he had just asked me, “What is your name?”.

And, even after the whole tour, 3 hours of listening with intermittent chatting and sharing various get-to-know-you exchanges, all in Italian, a street vendor approached and said to me, “Di dove sei?”

Once again, I responded ever so articulately with a, “Huh?”

That’s “Where are you from?”

So, do I speak Italian?

That’s a definitive “no”.

BUT…I am definitely on my way.