We have been serious about learning Italian since we first explored the idea of moving to Italy. However, I can say without any hesitation, that it is one of the most difficult things I have ever tried to do. It is amazing to me to find that I could work on something each and every day and still not master it. I started my language learning experience with no previous exposure to Italian. I had a couple of mandatory semesters of Spanish in high school but after graduating I promptly forgot all of it. Dave had a slightly stronger Spanish foundation, but nothing substantial that would provide meaningful support for learning Italian.
About a year before our anticipated move to Italy, we both began preparing for the transition. We started with the purchase of Rosetta Stone. We used it religiously for 30 minutes every day for a few weeks. Then we got bored with the lack of progress. We moved on to try another program, Duolingo. We ran into the same situation. Then I read Fluent Forever and was quickly sold on Gabriel Wyner’s method of language learning which included Spaced Repetition System (SRS). This included referring to thousands of flashcards in an ingenious program called Anki. We started private lessons to get us on our way. Interestingly, all of the teachers we worked with throughout the process were named Francesca!
After I purchased an Italian grammar book I began to realize just how little English grammar I really understood. In addition to private lessons that we started after arriving in Italy, we also enrolled in a series of intensive language courses, investing three to four hours per day for two weeks at a time. We bought more Italian books to read, listened to Italian language-learning podcasts (Coffee Break Italian and Podcast Italiano are my favorites!), listened to daily news (www.easyitaliannews.com), tried several lessons on Italki, and added in some Speak conversation classes.
Yet despite all this effort, I will reiterate that this is the most difficult thing I have ever tried to do in my adult life! The reality is, that even though we chose Turin as our destination because we were drawn to a city where the residents spoke “less English”, we soon find out that most of the people we met spoke English much more comfortably than we spoke Italian. The Italians here are famous for saying, “I don’t speak English very well”. However, by just being able to communicate that one articulate thought, they have already proven that they can form a complete comprehensible sentence. Accomplishing this seemingly simple goal is something I am still struggling with a year into this experience.
Now, it’s important in the context of this topic to differentiate between “functional” vs. “conversational” language skills. I believe that Dave and I became “functional” in Italian about six months into living in Italy. I can reasonably get through any situation (even signing up for a cell phone plan independently). We understand most of what people are saying and can communicate slowly with them – and be understood.
My personal goal since moving to Italy has been to get more fluent when conducting a conversation.
This is proving to be an ever-expanding task that I’m honestly not sure if I will achieve in the three years we are here. I want to be able to have general conversations with people. I want to be funny and ironic and to be able to tell interesting stories. Mostly, I want to be able to express emotion.
I believe my biggest roadblock has been the blessing that I have made many English-speaking friends. As such I am rarely forced into relying solely on Italian conversation. And even when I’m trying, well-meaning people encourage me to speak English instead. Unfortunately, the path of least resistance has consistently been my choice as I defer to English over struggling with Italian. My hope is that when I discover the magic solution, I will update this post!
One final thought that I’ve really embraced and come to understand is that, like many things in life, learning a language does not occur as a straight line on a well-defined path. There are not only ups and downs, but also there are periods of stagnation and periods of exponential growth. There are times when I feel unstoppable and periods when I am not able to make myself understood even when just making a very simple statement I have made. In fact, it is only recently I have stopped automatically beginning every conversation with “Hello, I’m sorry I don’t speak Italian very well but …..”.
By the way, I stopped using this as my opening line after my Italian friend said “Lynn, all you have to say is ‘buongiorno’ and we immediately know that you don’t speak Italian very well!” (ha, ha).
Well, obviously, I have more work to do! But I refuse to throw in l’asciugamano (that translates as ‘towel’ – of course!)
The Avventura 