My knowledge of Italian is coming along! My Italian class is still fun and educational. Lately, I have been working on my pronunciation outside of class. This has been my personal goal, because I know it is easier to learn vocabulary and grammar in class. When I return to the States I wont have the opportunity to practice my pronunciation as often and therefore I want to solidify it while here as much as possible. To make the most of my experience I have to push myself to do this. In the beginning, I found myself being shy and afraid to speak Italian to a native speaker because I do not want them to judge me. However, Italians really like it when you try to speak Italian. Even if you mess up they will correct you and its not embarrassing, rather extremely helpful. For example, one of the first weeks I was ordering a cornetto for breakfast and I did not pronounce the r . The woman at the tabacchi said Cornnnnnnetto and would not give me one until I said it correctly. She also gave me a candy when I got it right! Even today when I was getting gelato (yes, it is still my obsession) the woman corrected my pronunciation of mela (apple). These corrections, might seem little, but they are the lessons I remember the most.
Additionally, having studied French before has been an invaluable help in learning Italian. Particularly, this week when I learned the past tense. I knew to expect that there were going to be irregular past participles and a lot of them are similar to French. Also in Italian, the passato prossimo is formed with the present indicative of essere or avere and in French I use etre or avoir. I remember having trouble with this concept when learning French, however, having already studied it I tweaked my understanding to follow the Italian rules. These similarities have been a huge help in me obtaining a better grip on the grammar and vocabulary. I am so glad that I studied French because it has made learning Italian a lot easier!
2 comments:
Candice, sounds like you are becoming a connoisseur of all things Italian! I really enjoy reading your blog, it is very well written and humorous at the same time. Bravo! Keep coming with those blogs! Ciao!
What you learn in real conversation often sticks with you more than what you learn in a textbook.
For example, I was talking to an older Italian woman one day, and I said something about years (anni). Apparently I did not pronounce both n's. The woman said to me with great severity, "That word has 20 n's in it: annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnni!" I never forgot this mini-lesson!
Double consonants, however, still remain a problem for me (and most non-native speakers of Italian). My Italian husband sometimes calls me on it. I either double a single consonant or don't double a consonant when I should.
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