Welcome Back Kotter, er, Guglielmo

 

Ah, my Italian blog.  How I've missed you.  I've been hanging out with the Spaniards a lot lately and have completely ignored you.  Mi dispiace! Ti prego, perdonami.

I'm still puzzling over the fact that when I switch from watching TV shows in Spanish or French, even though my current vocabulary bank in Italian is miniscule (and probably overdrawn), the few Italian words and phrases I do know all come out sounding clear as crystal.  Thus, I end up understanding way more of the spoken Italian than I do the Spanish.  I grasp a little more of the French, but only because I've studied it for ages.  

Also, (and I don't mean to say this to denigrate other languages in the least), I seem to pay attention more when I'm listening to Italian.  It grabs my attention.  I've spoken before of how the unpredictable stresses on syllables gives the language a constantly changing rhythm and all those vowels give it a musical lilt.  French has almost equal stress on each syllable, and while there are some very beautiful French words, unless the speaker is animated and expressive, it can come across as monotone at times.  Spanish has rhythm, but its a very static rhythm--and for some reason which nobody seems to know, spoken Spanish sounds as though it's being shot out of a cannon, extremely rapid with few pauses.  

I just wish I could find more TV show in Italian.  This is where Spanish learners have a huge advantage--YouTube offers hundreds of shows in Spanish, some dubbed American programs, others in the original Spanish.  I may be about to solve some of that problem, though.

There is a free online program called Hola that 'unblocks' foreign TV stations and makes your computer think it's in another country.  (Now if only I could find a similar program that makes ME think I'm in Italy :)).
This will allow me to access RAI, the giant TV network in Italy that produces hundreds of programs all the time.  This will open up a lot of possibilities, but I still wish I could find more Italian shows that are not only in Italian, but also have Italian subtitles.  Those are very hard to find.  

Anyway, it's good to be back here in Bella Italia.

A presto...

Prepped for Prepositions

Oy Vey! Italian Prepositions!

Let's face it, if you wait until you've mastered the prepositions in any given language before you try to speak face to face with a native, you'll probably never get to use your new-found tongue at all.  True, there are a few rules and guidelines for when to use certain prepositions, such as using di not da when you're referring to being 'from a certain place,' e.g., Sono di Firenze,  but there are exceptions galore.  Mastery of prepositions is a skill that only really sets in after many years of regular practice, allowing plenty of time and self-forgiveness for making many mistakes at first. 

I see the problem time and again when I read the English that non-native speakers write to me.  Sometimes they use the wrong preposition, and sometimes they completely omit a preposition where one is needed in English, but totally unnecessary in their own language.  All those from's, to's, at's, etc., are employed slightly differently in each language.  Do you live in the street or on the street?  When you think about it, you do neither; you live by the street. 

But we must remember that these are little words, albeit important words, that most of the time will not make you message incomprehensible to your listeners.  As in so many cases, we have to give up a little of our unwillingness to make mistakes and be a little lenient with ourselves.  Most of the time your amici italiani will be equally forgiving.  If you're willing to meet them halfway and at least make an attempt to respect and utilize their language, they will tolerate a few slip-ups, especially if they are second language learners themselves.

A presto...

Aiuto! Murdered by Vowels

Curiously, it's not the double consonants or the softer d's and t's of Italian that drive me to distraction as I'm studying the language--it's all those clustered vowels, such as the word for spoon:  cucchiaio.  Here we have four, count 'em!, vowels all in a nice neat row--and two of them are the same.  To my knowledge (and I could easily be wrong here) there are no English words that contain this many consecutive vowels.  Consequently, words like these are special challenges when it comes to proper pronunciation.  Most English speakers would try to make the 'iaio' into a diphthong, so that it comes out sounding sort of like 'ow,' as in 'ouch, that hurts!'  And how it does hurt.  It takes a lot of practice for me to say ee-ah-ee-oh, quickly enough that it doesn't sound weird.  

Even a simple and common word like euro is very difficult for me to master.  In English, we'd just say Your-oh, just two simple sounds, and that's that.  

And the very thing that makes Italian unique and lovely, it's lavish use of vowels presents yet another pronunciation hurdle.  Often when a word ends with a vowel and is followed by another word that begins with a vowel, the custom is to merge the two vowel sounds.  What this does is tighten up the flow of the words, so that it's not quite as easy to tell when one ends and the next one begins.  Sometimes this is indicated by an apostrophe, such as quest'anno.   Other times, the speaker is just expected to know when to run the words together.  This, of course, has it's purpose--to make the transition from the first word to the second smoother, but a little at the expense of clarity.  Still, like other language difficulties, after hours of practice, it begins to come naturally and we get the hang of it.

It seems that the Italian word for vowel is vocale; it's easy to see how both words came to us from 'Old Italian,' known better as Latin.  

A presto...

Ascolti! Capisci?

Understand?

Got a message from one of my Italian pen-pals today.  She said she wrote and understood English very well, but had trouble speaking and reading it.  Odd that it's almost just the opposite with me.  I could probably babble my way through a simple Italian conversation (though there would be lots of long pauses) and I can read it with the help of a dictionary, but it's the spoken Italian that I have the most problem with--though not nearly as difficult as spoken French.  This is especially interesting for me in that it seems to me that spoken English is very hard to comprehend.  There's so much slurring and colliding of words--and so many idioms and slang expressions used in a normal English conversation.  I'll have to ask her what her secret is.


Do some people just have more sensitive ears than others?  Can some recognize foreign sounds more easily?  As I've mentioned before, Italian seems to me to be enunciated with clarity and precision, so I've often felt that I'll be quicker in getting to the point where I can understand Italian spoken at a normal pace than either French of Spanish.  There are times when I'm listening to a Spanish or French TV program or film when I feel that I'm not catching a single word the actors have uttered.  Part of this stems from the fact that actors are reciting memorized lines; thus, they may be expressing more complex ideas than people normally would in day-to-day conversation. Perhaps it's better to listen to interviews.  Or, a friend sent me a brief sample of an e-book of The Communist Manifesto in Italian.  Just as he pointed out, so many of the words were anglicized Latin words (a lot of words ending in 'tion') that it gave the impression of being very easy to understand the gist of the book.

Any language is easier to read than to speak, in my opinion.  And most are easier to write, with the exception of  graphic-styled languages such as Chinese or Hindi.  So, in the meantime, I'll keep listening.  ...and I'll keep writing.

A presto...

Ever Wonder Why Italy Stayed Home?

 Sophia Loren doing the Mambo Italiano.  Bellissima!

I've often wondered why Spanish ended up spreading all over the planet and Italian sort of stuck to Italy and nearby.  I've wondered to that if Cristoforo Colombo had sailed to America on Italian ships instead of under Spanish authority, everyone in Latin American would be speaking italiano instead of spagnolo.  It just seems that the Spanish conquistadores were especially good with absorbing their conquests into their language and culture. 

Even now, in spite of the fact that Americans and the British profess to adore the Italian language, it still ranks fairly low in languages studied by non-Italians.  I've resisted it myself, convincing myself time after time that Spanish would be more useful, since Spanish speakers are all around me, but it seems I always find myself switching from Spanish and French instructional material and YouTube videos to the language that most inspires me.  

Now, for difficulty comparisons.  French seems easy to me, but probably because I've had years of formal training in it--though, as I've discussed in other posts, it seems to me the hardest to comprehend when spoken quickly.  Spanish superficially seems pretty simple, but as you begin to delve into the advanced grammar, it definitely has its quirks and difficult verb conjugations.  Italian grammar is hard at first, but gets easier.  But of all three, Italian seems to me the easiest to grasp when spoken at a normal speed.  Italians seem to leave a tiny bit more breathing space between words.  French and Spanish do a lot of running entire phrases together.  

But I've covered all this before.  Every language has its challenges for new learners, so it's best to just put one's nose to the grind and forget about how easy or hard it is.  Just do the work. 

Quando la vita è dolce come caramelle

Ciao, come sta oggi?  Another week begins.

A friend sent me a copy of the iconic Italian film La Dolce Vita.  I'd wager that not too many Americans have seen this Fellini film, but I'd also bet that they have heard of the title.  Like the French expression 'joie de vivre,' it has been adopted by English when referring to 'the good life,' or to express when things are going extremely well for us, especially financially. 

I find it amusing that English speakers have to borrow from other languages when we want to express positive things like how sweet life is.  Are we by nature a somber, unfulfilled people who always think that happiness is something only to be dreamed about or wished for?  Are continental Europeans happier than we are?

Americans are often stereotyped as always smiling and chatty.  Always overflowing with that can-do spirit.  But is it only a myth?  I've seen my share of mean-spirited, bitter, very negative fellow Americans.  In fact I used to be sort of that way myself.  On the other hand, is it la dolce vita that is the myth? 

I have no doubt that there are some unhappy, resentful people in Italy and France but, as I've mentioned elsewhere, practically all of my Italian pen-pals seem gregarious and at least relatively content with their lives.  True, when one is writing to a stranger in a language that is not familiar enough to him to express a lot of complex thoughts, he's apt to try to put his best foot forward, but it seems to me that Italians (other cultures also, but maybe not quite as much in some cases) do have a special reverence for life--in all it's beauty and in all its sorrows and disappointments.  After all, it's better than the alternative, death, non è vero?

In the meantime, I continue to try to feel as at home with Italian as I do with French.  When I'm listening to or speaking French, I don't have to think about the words so much--they just sort of come naturally and they feel more like they are coming from me.  I'm still at the stage with Italian that I have to grasp for words to express even the simplest things.  The words seem to be 'out there,' instead of within me.  In some ways perhaps this is good.  I think that like everything else, language loses some of its freshness and novelty when we get to the point where we are no longer conscious of the words and sounds themselves.  I wouldn't want that to happen to my Italian.  What originally attracted me to it was its musicality and beauty.  May that appreciation never fade.  Below is a nice Italian song, Nel blu di pinto di blu or, as we English-speakers know it, Volare.  May we all feel so happy that it feels like we're flying through the day. 

A presto...

Calling All Italians: Report to My House, Adesso

Buongiorgo, signori e signore, ragazzi e ragazze.  E 'così bello vedere di nuovo. It is never a drudge to write a daily post on this blog, because it gives me a chance to write and think in Italian.  Benvenuto!

I try not to think about it, i.e., how I might use my Italian, rudimentary as it may be, when just writing and listening to it are not enough.  It is times like these when I wonder if I'm not making a mistake not learning Spanish instead; the United States has an enormous Spanish-speaking population and I live in a state where Spanish is a vibrant second language.  Also, Mexico neighbors the country.  Finding French speakers would be a little more challenging; Haiti comes to mind and then there's Canada, which is so far away from where I live in the States, that it had just as well be France. But finding Italians in North America is not that easy.

But the fact remains (and I have to constantly remind myself of this, otherwise I find myself becoming a jack of all languages and a master of none, to borrow and adjust the old adage) that, though Spanish is useful and has qualities that I respect and admire, and even though I have the advantage of years of study in French, Italian seems to be the one that ha conquistato il mio cuore, captured my heart.  Yes, like a conquistadore, Italian has discovered and conquered my heart.   So, as for if or how I'll make contact with Italian speakers later on, well, I'll have to cross quel ponte when I get to it.  Perhaps there are ways to connect to Italian expatriates here in the U.S.  I'd love to go to Italy, but first, I don't have the funds to visit and second, I don't usually enjoy just touring a country--I'm selfish, I want to live there and get the full experience, both good and bad.

Nice skirt, no?

But to shift gears back to the main purpose of this blog, to talk about learning Italian, as I continue to study foreign languages, it strikes me that one of the hardest things about expressing oneself in the target language is the fact that it's usually almost impossible to express a thought in Italian the exact same way you'd express it in English.  I see this all the time when my Italian pen-pals write to me in English.  They have shuffled the words in a sentence or used some preposition pronoun is a way that would not be used in English.  Often I have to mentally unscramble a sentence in order to get the gist of it.  For this very reason, even though a lot of language authorities disagree, I think it is almost obligatory to spend as much time, if not more time, learning entire phrases as memorizing isolated words.  Often I find myself having an English construction in my mind while I'm trying to express something in Italian, and when it finally comes out of my mouth, I sense very strongly that that is just not the way an Italian would say it.  Yes, vocabulary lists are essential when just beginning to learn a language (when we were babies, we first learned the words daddy or mommy before we learned 'Where's daddy?), but very soon in the process, we need to start thinking in full phrases, sentences, and expressions.  Otherwise, we're going to sound like a bambino.  Still, it's surprising how well you can make yourself understood by using a single word:  Piazza? for 'Where is the piazza?'  'Mangiare?' for 'Do you want to eat?'  This baby-talk, along with a plethora of physical gestures (just make sure you're not using a gesture that has a completely different meaning to Italians!) might work in a pinch.  Capisce?  

A presto...