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)