Lesson Four
Or Lezione Quattro. As expected the lessons are getting harder. It is increasingly difficult to find enough time to practice from settimana to settimana. Seven days is not alot of time between lezioni. I never thought I would wish I could go back to High School, where I didn’t have to work, clean, shop, cook or pay bills, so that I could have all that extra study time. I guess when you have that time, you won’t use it…and when you don’t have it, you want it. Go figure.
On the plus side, my vocabulario is expanding and my pronunciation remains strong.
So far, some of my favorite words are:
Allora……so. This is used often as a little in between word like OK. Plus is sounds so pretty.
Lentemente….slowly. This is a great one to know when someone is talking at the speed of light.
Passaggiata….a walk around town after a meal. You see this often in Italy.
Ecco….here it is!
Dopodomani….day after tomorrow.
Stamattina…this morning.
Piacere…..pleasing, pleasure.
Anche….also.
Cosi cosi……this or that. so so.
I can now also count to sixty(sessanta) and can ask and tell time. Both military and digital.
In Italy, schedules of trains, plane flights and concerts are written in military time, while everyday happenings like cena(dinner), lavoro(work) and general questions regarding time are told in standard time. There is not however, AM or PM, in Italian. If it is not obvious (you wouldn’t have dinner at 8am, so dinner at 8:00 (otto) means 8:00 at night) you use the words di mattina (in the morning), di pomeriggio (in the afternoon) or di sera (in the night), to differentiate. And any true Italian will tell you time is a subjective thing. So 8:00 (otto) is really 8-ish. Could be 8:30, 8:45, whenever. If you are planning dinner or a gathering with amici (friends) and it needs to start on time….follow your time with the phrase, in punto, which means sharp! Hopefully, they will get the picture!
However, there are still things that continue to haunt me. Namely conjugating verbs, the use of indefinite and definite articles and pluralizing nouns. Like any language, there are rules…and sometimes the rules just don’t apply. Argh. Not an easy thing to learn.
I keep pluggin’ away though!
A presto! (see you soon)
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What’s in your Vocab Bank?
Last week in Italian class, our professore announced a little contest. A contest involving words. She actually says that vocab, aka, vocabulary
So, she told us to start keeping track of every word in Italian that we know. Really know! We have to write them all down on a sheet of paper. She will quiz us at the end of our 10 weeks when we hand it in, to make sure we really know them. The student that knows the most vocab will win! Win what? Well, we don’t know yet..but I for one am hoping it is either the amount of cash in our Vocab Bank…or at the very least, a trip to Italia! (A perfect example of why Sognatrice, aka..dreamer, is a fitting name for me)
When I first thought about it, I was reluctant to play. I kept thinking how sad my short little list would be. But as I kept thinking and thinking, listing and listing…my list kept growing and growing. And I did not cheat and write down every number I know, every type of coffee drink I know, every pasta dish or noddle name or tiny words like he, it, the, or, and the like. I used actual words. So far I am up to over 150 words….and counting. I think traveling to Italy, watching movies about Italy, and reading every Italian travel guide
So, now I am passing the torch along to you, dear readers. I thought it would be fun for you to play along. Why not come up with your own list of words you know in a foreign language..even English…if that happens to not be your native tongue? You never know….you may know more than you thought…and it just may motivate you to continue learning a new language.
For anyone who does their Vocab homework, if you post a comment telling us your non-native language and the total number of words that you know in that language, I will enter you in a little drawing. And no cheating!!! We are all on the honor system here, folks. Your homework is due by midnight, Friday, EST. A little language themed prize will be awarded to the random winner of the drawing.
Photo: Water flows from a fountain in Lucca, Italy. Both fontana and acqua are words in my Vocab Bank.
So, what’s in a name?
This week in Italian class we got to pick our own names. We each had to pick an Italian pseudonym to call each other during class. Down the line we went, Antonia picked Antonia, Mary chose Maria, Joe went with Giuseppe, Chris translates to Cristoforo (careful, if you pronounce it wrong it means Christopher Columbus). And then there was me.
I consider myself lucky in this respect, because there is no Italian translation for Robin. I was hoping Professore wouldn’t say Roberta, as I really don’t care for that name. Instead, I got to pick whatever I wanted. Oh, the possibilities.
And then it dawned on me. I asked her if it had to be a Proper name. She said it could be whatever I wanted. Well, I wanted Sognatrice, which means dreamer…because I dream of Italy and in honor of my dear friend Michelle over at Bleeding Espresso. My pronunciation must have been a little off, because when I asked her, she said.." oh, one who prays, a prayer?" Uh, well, no, not exactly, at least I don’t think so. So, I tried again, this time emphasizing the ya in Son-ya-tree-chey. That must have done it because she smiled and said, "Ah, dreamer, veddy nice-a!"
Meanwhile, the rest of the class were busy sounding out my new name. They were all moaning and groaning, while realizing that they will have to now address the former easy-breezy named Robin, as the now more complicated…Sognatrice. I think a saw a few dirty looks and perhaps heard an "oh, brother" from the far corner of the room.
Boh.
Photo: A trattoria in San Gimignano named Chiribiri…which really doesn’t translate to anything. It’s just a happy sounding name, obviously chosen from the heart.
Italian Language Links
I was thinking I might share a few links with you…just in case you would like to join me in my attempt to learn the Italian language.
- You can learn a word a day and hear it spoken by a native Italian, at Transparent Language . You also get an example spoken in a sentence.
- About.com offers Italian Word a Day. You can also get it delivered in a newsletter. I like browsing the archives there.
- Rosetta Stone is touted by companies like NASA, IKEA and the US Army for being the best way to learn a language. Learn on your computer by associating words and phrases with corresponding pictures!
- Learn some of the basics, for free. Including some popular phrases..one or two naughty ones too.
- Another set of short, basic lessons on the Internet. A good reference, with some quizzes to test your knowledge at the end.
- Talk about tech savvy. Why not learn Italian through podcasts? ItalianPod101.com – The Fastest Way to Learn Italian Guaranteed looks pretty cool.
- Call your cable company and ask to get the Italian channel as an add on to your package. This way you can practice, translate and hear Italian…anytime you wish!
- Do you have a Google page? You can add this gadget to it…another Audio Word a Day.
- Ever heard of Mango? Not the fruit, the Mango Language program! It’s just as sweet. And if you have a membership to the New York Publc Library, you can get 100 lessons for free.
- Or, you could live the true dream and go to school in Italia!!
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So tell me, what languages do you know? Which ones would you like to learn? What are your secrets for mastering a new language?
Italiano Imparante
Loosely translated…Learning Italian. We had taken some classes in 2004, right before our trip to Italy. You know, just to learn a little bit to travel with. Typical stuff, like "I would like a coffee.", "We have a reservation", or the ever popular "Can I live here, with you for the rest of my life and can you find me work?" We learned the months, telling time, how to count, pronunciation. Basic Italian. Very basic.
But, we are loosing it. Well, yes our minds, of course, but I meant the Italian language. Anyone who takes a language will tell you that unless you practice it, often, your chances of retaining it are slim. And so, we have no Italian speaking friends or family. Little by little we forget.
So, I started perusing continuing education classes in our area. Low and behold, we found a class that was beginning in a week. Ahh, perfeto!! And the best part is, it is an ongoing program..so we can keep going. Italian I thru Italian V. 10 weeks each. We are it in for the long haul.
Monday night was our first class. Italian I. And lets just say, it is not your basic, fun, just for kicks and giggles class. It is like a college course. Gulp. *hard swallow* I haven’t been in a college class for, well, um, lets see, the better part of 20 years. I am scared. I buy notebooks, I bring pens. I hope there is no final exam.
Our teacher is adorable. She is about 70, short wavy gray hair, glasses and about 4′ 2". She is from Sicily and has taught Italian here for about 40 years. She gave us a fascinating little lesson on the history of the Italian language and dialects. Then we got down to the nitty gritty. Let me just show you some of things we learned and what I have to look forward too…
- As far as pronunciation, in Italian you say what you see. Already easier than French.
- The Italian alphabet only has 21 letters. They don’t use j, k, w, x, y. Even better, less letters to memorize.
- In Italian, nouns are both masculine and feminine. Huh, words with a gender? Basically, if it ends in e or o, it is masculine. If a word ends in a, it is feminine. Generally. Uh, but there are always exceptions. We don’t have this in English. A word just is what it is, there are no body parts involved, no sexuality, no sexual tension. Oh, that’s right, Italian is a romance language.
- The stress on the word happens in the 2nd syllable, counted from the end of the word to the beginning. Like in Italia…e-taaal-ya. You carry the vowel a little longer. But..not all the time. Take Medici. You would think it would be meh-deee-chee. Nope, it is mehhh-di-chee. Stress on the 1st syllable. We asked our teacher how you would know. She shrugs her shoulders in true Italian fashion and said " You won’t know, till you hear it spoken and you remember it". Great. Clear as mud.
- We learned that there are not a lot of character or accents marks in Italian. The accent mark in Italian is usually misrepresented by an accent grave (è ), but it is truly more like a half moon sign above the letter (ĕ). The text books are lying to us- not a good sign.
- Last, but not least, we learned how to construct a sentence. I give you my first written sentence in Italian…
Compro il vino, il pane e la farina per la famiglia di Maria. Which translates to I am buying wine, bread and flour for Maria’s family.
Fascinating, I know.
We already have homework for next week. I have my own goal. How to say ‘Oh My God, what have I gotten myself into?‘…in Italian.
