In my first day of "work" yesterday, I found I had a lot of free time while the children were at school. Actually, only Matteo was at school and Elena was home sick but there wasn't much to do for her either. I am looking to teach in an English school while the children attend class in the morning, but I don't have a meeting with anyone until tomorrow so yesterday and again today, I'm sort of on my own. This is no big deal as I can find ways to occupy my time, but it really got me thinking.
As Elena sat on the couch watching tv yesterday, I did a few things...run, walk the dog, research lesson plans, read, and then I pulled out my Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary. I sat on the couch flipping through all the pages and trying to learn some new words/phrases. I highlighted a few of the basics that I already knew and also a few I needed to learn. My list includes things like:
Mi chiamo_________ "My name is_______"
Permesso "Excuse me." (to pass)
Quanto costa? "What's the cost?"
Me lo scrive? "Write it."
Dove posso comprare? "Where can I buy?"
Ripeta? "Repeat"
Capisco/Non capisco "I understand/don't understand."
Rick Steves says "a good phrase book should help you enjoy your Italian experience, not just survive it. " He also says that the Italians are forgiving of "linguistic fumbling" so not to be frightened by the language, but to embrace it, and attempt everything with a "per favore." Keeping this in mind, I have attempted at times to speak in Italian, but usually as soon as I do I quickly get an English response. For example, on Sunday night, I ordered a pizza from a take away place. I approached the counter and said, "Vorrei pizza funghi" but may have forgotten the all important please. The pronunciation on my "funghi" was all wrong and the guy looked at me like I was speaking Chinese instead of Italian. I repeated, then repeated again, and finally said, "mushroom." He of course spoke English so he made the correct pronunciation and sort of laughed at my mistake. By the way, "funghi" is pronounced "foong-gee" while I tried to make the "fung" sound. Lesson learned there. Well it got better of course because as I went to pay I handed the guy a 5 pound note rather than 5 euro note so I looked like a complete idiot...it happens.
Both yesterday and today I've taken Mia, the family's Border Collie, out for a walk. In doing so I've met two very nice fellow dog walkers. One was a young Italian man, but spoke English to me and then the other was a Croatian woman who spoke Italian and English. Here's where my frustration begins. In both cases the other person began speaking to me, "Ciao, Come sta? etc." I can reply up to this point and then nothing...my next line is always, "Parla inglese." The other either speaks English or doesn't, but more often they do. I speak English very slowly and make polite conversation...it's not so difficult. I say I'm an English teacher and then I feel like such a hypocrite. I'm teaching my language to others but I don't speak theirs. I can get by in French, but it has to be a very basic conversation, and a very slow one at that. I can tour Italy and get by on holiday, but I can't communicate with anyone outside of a tobacco store it seems (and for those of you who don't know...the tabacchi shops carry everything from stamps to parking permits to cigarrettes of course, because I don't smoke).
This morning, I was home alone and the front door rang..."Pronto" "Si" "Italian, Italian, Italian" "Si" and I rang the carpenter in. Now, I knew he was coming so although I didn't understand what he said, I knew he needed to get in the flat to fix something. He came in and we spoke the casual hellos and he went straight to work on his 3 minute job of using the electric drill to fasten the cabinet door back on where it had come loose. He left and said something along the lines of "Tutto finito. Buon Giorno." I replied "Grazie" and then he was off. I feel like such an idiot when I can't use more than 4 words in Italian and when it's time to use them, I usually freeze!
Ok, so I realize I've only been here 6 days and even if it only took God 7 to create the Heavens and Earth, I am going to need more time! I am hoping to do some sort of exchange for teaching English and learning Italian, but while I'm here it the house, I am listening very carefully to all that is being said and trying to pick out words I recognize. I'm reading children's books in Italian and I'm going to have to take it from there. I would very much like to get out of these five months in Italy with a basic knowledge of Italian...more than the phrase book can offer me anyway. That being said, I've got some learning to do today while the kiddos are out so, ciao for now!
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