Will speak Italian

Yes. I will! Next Monday. I managed to register for that course that I gave up on.
Am between excitement and apprehension - eccitazione, agitazione e apprensione, timore, inquietudine. What if I suck? What if I can't say a word? I'm probably going to end up memorizing whole speeches and than pretending I'm improvising... It worked in English after all... Will report how it went.

Delusa

Really. Today I found out that it's one day too late to register for the Italian conversation course that I wanted to take. I thought that would be the making of me -- a chance to air out my Italian, let it breathe. No chance of that. I will try calling on Monday and still getting in but I don't have much hope. People do like their deadlines in this country...

Una malattia

I was sick today. Actually, I’ve been sick for a some days but as usual, when I stay home, the necessity of doing something productive overcomes me – I start cleaning, doing the laundry and I often try several intellectual undertakings at a time. Often I don’t finish but it’s the impulse that counts. I’ve been living my life that way for some time now...

I researched my medical predicament – of course it’s raffreddore, possibly a slight influenza, probably not of the swine kind. But I do have some words that I would like to remember.

So what’s wrong with me? These all apply to my situation.

il raffreddore – cold
l’infezione
i batteri – bacteria
il disturbo, il malanno – ailment
l’influenza
il male di gola – sore throat
la tosse – cough
non sentirsi bene
sentirsi poco bene
il sintomo – symptom
il virus
prendere, prendersi – to catch
starnutire – to sneeze
tossire – to cough
batterico – bacterial
virale – viral
ammalarsi – to become ill
il medicinale senza ricetta
la pastiglia, la pillola – pill

On the other hand, it could all be psychosomatic - È una malattia psicosomatica.
Either way, feels real enough. Let’s have some more words. People and institutions first:

la cura – care
l’epidemia
il/la farmacista
la farmacia
il medico/il dottore
il medico di base/della mutua – primary care physician
la mutua – health care coverage
il malato – sick person
il/la paziente
la sanità – health care
l’ambulatorio – walk-in clilnic
la clinica
l’ospedale

Things they help you with and do to you:

la febbre – fever
la malattia – illness
il vaccino
l’allergia
il dolore, il male (a) – pain
la diagnosi – diagnosis
il farmaco, il medicinale, la medicina – drug, medication
la ricetta, la prescrizione (medica) – prescription
il test, l’esame – test
la visita – doctor’s visit, examination
la polmonite – pneumonia

Some more verbs:
avere male a – to feel pain in
avere male di/a – to have a ...ache
far male (a); farsi male (a) – to hurt; to injure oneself
soffrire di – to suffer from
curare – to treat
guarire – to recover

And adjectives:
cronico – chronic
dolorose – painful
grave – serious
psicosomatico – psychosomatic
sano, in salute – healthy

Some sentences:
La bambina di mia sorella, Lucia, sta male. Ha raffreddore e febbre, e ha sempre sonno.
Mia madre va da un medico privato.
Dal medico della mutua c’è sempre la coda.
Sono dal dottore. Vado dal dottore.
Devi prendere dieci pillole al giorno?
Mio figlio si ammala tutti i momenti.

Laura Pausini, Jenny

Jenny ha 16 anni e gli occhi blu
con i suoi capelli come il grano (wheat) va
a piedi nudi verso una citta'
cercando il viso di un ragazzo che non sogna piu'

stringe (stringere - squeeze, hold) in mano la fotografia
ma dove puo' trovarlo jenny non lo sa
spinta (spingere - to push, to drive) da una cosmica energia
vede un corpo soffocato da quest'arida (arid) realta'

riconosce che e' lui
perche' non ride mai

jenny e' un'isola
l'ave maria
dei naufraghi (naufrago - castaway, shipwreck victim)
una lucciola (firefly, glowworm)
che brillera'
nei momenti piu' bui
per lui

jenny lo accompagna a casa sua
sente i suoi pensieri (thoughts) e la malinconia
che lo affoga (affogare - to drown) come una marea (tide)
e gli salva il cuore dal dolore (pain, sorrow, grief) della sua follia (folly, foolishness)

mentre (while, whereas) il mondo va via
senza avere pieta'

jenny e' un’ancora
la terra a prua
dei deboli (debole - weak, feeble, faint)
e' una nuvola (cloud)
che piovera'
coriandoli (confetti)

e' una favola (fairy tale, fable) e sta
dentro questa realta'
per lui per lui

jenny e' l'africa
la nostalgia
dei brividi (brivido - shiver,shudder, thrill)
e'una briciola (crumb)
che sfamera' (sfamare- to feed, to fill)
la solitudine

jenny e' un cielo blu
e' un miracolo
e' un attimo (moment)
che si accende per lui
nei momenti piu' bui

jenny ha 16 anni e se ne va
camminando a piedi nudi e non lo sa
che e' un'angelo

Today, I've been trying to learn the reflexive verbs. Not really hard but it requires focus. It's been hard for me to stay focused lately. Hadn't done much studying in August. I was going to be so good and here I am, back to my old tricks. Gotta be better in September. My husband mentioned that for our 10th anniversary we could go to Rome. If we manage to do it, I should be able to say something in Italian...

Vocabolario in August

• sotto forma di - as, in the shape of
• presto - soon
• ora - now
• avanti - before, come in
• altrettanto - as much
• affatto - at all
• fare bella/brutta figura - to make a good/bad impression
• ogni - each
• incluso - included
• giusto - just, right
• affascinante - fascinating, charming
• il sito - site
• la caduta - fall
• l'alleato - ally
• senza dubbio - without doubt
• qualche volta - sometimes
• affittare - to rent
• noleggiare - to rend
• fare rIdere - make (sb) laugh
• Ottimo - excellent
• lento - slow
• noioso - boring
• divertente - amusing
• il buio - darkness
• insieme - together
• l'andata - one-way
• divertire - to enjoy
• cantare - to sing
• suonare - to play
• nuotare - to swim
• giocare - to play
• ballare - to dance
• fuggire - to escape
• trovare - to find
• perdere - to lose
• nascondere - to hide
• viaggiare - to travel
• camminare - to walk
• spingere - to push
• correre - to run
• cadere - to fall
• volare - to fly
• saltare - to jump

Stupidità/Stupidaggine

Today I was subjected to stupidity and incompetence. Annoyed me to no end. And now I'm going to turn it into an educational experience, since I can't sleep anyway.

stupidamente - stupidly

l'incompetenza, l'incapacità - incompetence

duro di comprendonio, ottuso - slow-witted

ritardato, dificiente - retarded

l'incapace, l'imbranato - wimp

fare infuriare, rendere furioso - infuriate

esasperante, che fa infuriare - infuriating

There!

Direct object pronouns

This is where I usually stop -- object pronouns. In any language, come to think of it. After some initial disappointments, I tried checking it out in different textbooks, which didn't help. Now I'm more inclined towards focusing on just one. It did fail me before and I still find mistakes in it, but this is the one I'm using now and that's that. So Cristina Mazzoni, Italian Made Simple, it is.

mi

ti

lo, la, La

ci

vi

li

Qesto film mi annoia.

Questo film ci annoia.

Tua madre ti chama.

Eccetera.

Well, I can handle this. Let's see, what else is there...

• DO usually precedes verb.
• If the pronoun is the object of an infinitive, then it becomes interesting. The infinitive drops the final -e and the DO is attached to it:

Sono molto contento di vederti, Susanna.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ vederla, Signora Ricci.

• before a verb beginning with a vowell or h:

lo and la usually become l'

li and le never become l'

mi, ti and vi often become m', t' and v'

ci becomes c' only before a verb beginning with e or i

The rude

Today I was attacked by the rude. The rude didn't speak Italian. It spoke English with pretty strong and much more annoying, because it was coming from the rude, French accent. The rude inspires me, though. I'm going to turn this into an educational experience. Let's see then...

Let's start with some adjectives:

odioso, disgustoso, ripugnante - obnoxious

meschino - mean, unkind

maleducato, sgarbato, scortese (con) - rude (to)

calvo, pelato - bald

an adverb:

sgarbatamente, bruscamente - rudely

and now some nouns:

mostro - freak

deficiente - moron

idiota, stupido, fesso - twerp

psicopatico - psycho

semplicione - simpleton

Let's put it to bed then. The rude man will be forever tortured after a well aimed curse (maledizione; scagliare una maledizione contro ...), if he isn't already. And I will learn Italian.

Laura Pausini, Un Fatto Ovvio

É inutile che ormai

ti ostini a dire no
negando un fatto ovvio

Tu necessiti di me
nello stesso modo che
anche io di te

Tu lascia che ora sia così
prendi il sogno che ora è qui
e inizia a crederci
E non andare mai via perchè

Fino a che rimani
sarà tu il migliore dei miei mali, tu sarai
Di quest'anni avari
l'oro nelle mani sarò
lo stesso anch'io per te

E basterebbe ammattere
che comunque quel che c'è
è la prova più evidente

Che un passato sterile
non concede repliche
né al futuro né al presente

Così, ormai
non tornare indietro mai
non sacrificare noi
lo sai

Fino a che rimani
sarà tu il migliore dei miei mali, dei miei mali, tu sarai
Di quest'anni avari
l'oro nelle mani e sarò
lo stesso anch'io
lo stesso anch'io

Dei miei giorni insani
la cura nelle mani
tu sarai
lo sarò anch'io, per te

È inutile che ormai
ti ostini a dire no
negando un fatto ovvio

• ostinarsi - to persist, persevere
• stesso - same
• il modo - way, manner
• così - in that way
• andare via - to go away
• fino a che - until
• migliore di - better than
• avaro - avaricious, mean, miserly
• l'oro - gold
• ammettere - to admit, acknowledge
• comunque - however, anyway
• la prova - proof, evidence
• il passato - past
• concedere - to grant, to allow
• la replica (-che) - repetition, replica

How many times can I re-read those intro chapters?!

“Che giorno è oggi? Oggi è martedì.”
“Come stai? Sto bene.”
“Di dove sei? Sono di Miami.”
“Da dove vieni? Vengo degli Stati Uniti.”

...This is another time I’m subjecting myself to the beginner type of material. There may be errors in the above because I heard it, not read it – and I’m always surprised how little I remember after those weeks when I take my breaks.

I can’t even count how many times I’ve done various Capitolo Unos in every single Italian textbook I possess – and it’s some list! In the past, I tended to get almost to the middle of the book, usually close to the chapter dealing with object pronouns, and then it was as if the passion that fuelled my studies subsided for a moment. That moment, unfortunately, was often several weeks long so by the time the passion came back, I often felt like I have to catch up and relearn what I’d surely forgotten. And there it was again – Capitolo Uno for the seventh time!

Now that I think about it, I do have a short attention span. I move furniture all the time, I change my desktop background every week and I get bored with a job quite quickly. But even though I take breaks in my Italian, I always, always come back. So I do stick with the idea – only having problems with the execution.

So far I managed to finish one textbook – Mr Danesi’s. It’s thick, has ugly drawings and an occasional mistake (which almost made me drop it once or twice). Now, that’s not to mean that I actually completed all the quizzes, solved all the cruciverbe (?) and talked to myself in Italian trying to do the oral exercises. No, no, no – but I definitely turned all the pages, studied (not learned) all the vocab and studied (not learned) all the grammar.

And I’ve done the first five chapters at least five times!

Materials that failed me so far

(...yeah, let’s say they failed me, not that I misused them...)

• Italian Now! – Marcel Danesi
• Italian Made Simple – Cristina Mazzoni
• Practice Makes Perfect: Complete Italian Grammar – Marcel Danesi
• Practice Makes Perfect: Italian Vocabulary – Gobetti
• Italian Verb Drills – Nanni-Tate
• Schaum’s Italian Grammar
• Interactive Italian Grammar Made Easy – Mike Zollo, Alan Wesson
• Super Review: All You Need to Know: Italian
• Oxford Paravia Il Dizionario concise
• Oxford Beginners Italian
• Harper Collins Italian Dictionary
• Collins Gem Italian Dictionary
• Various courses on CD and CD-ROM

This time is going to be different...

I don’t even remember how it started. It may have been a movie. For the sake of my self-respect, let’s say it was Stealing Beauty, not Under the Tuscan Sun. I’d rather blame Liv Tyler and her adolescent, poetic and pastoral trip to Italy than Diane Lane and her post-divorce house-buying, travel-writing, pasta-cooking Tuscan peregrinations. Stealing Beauty puts me in the age group I’m much more comfortable with.

Bottom line is, at some point some years ago (I won’t go in detail at this time how many years ago – that’s a painful topic that deserves its own post, when I’m ready) I realized that Italian language makes me smile. And if something makes me smile, it’s only natural that I’d want to make it a permanent part of my life. Well, at that time I had no idea how permanent the learning stage would become.

I’ve learned languages before, although so far only English has a checkmark next to it. (Despite my obvious vocabulary and usage, if not grammatical inadequacies, I feel I mastered it enough to stop reading the dictionary on a daily basis. After all, I hold a job in which my primary function is to work with the English language.) I had a well thought-out plan of action – to proceed through the beginner, intermediate and advanced level of the language knowledge using textbooks and vocabulary lists and marking my progress as I went along. I thought that if I knew where I was, I’d know when I got there. “There” being the ability to speak, read and understand Italian like an educated native speaker (aren’t my goals lofty!?). Need I say I was wrong?
The textbooks didn’t work. I’d learn in gulps and then stop for weeks at a time. I had to redo the preliminary chapters and the intro lessons many times but the simple phrases still didn’t stick. My methods were all wrong.

So I’m starting anew.

I will chronicle my new effort to learn Italian here. I will employ new methods. And who knows, maybe the pressure of making daily reports that comes with a blog will make me regularize my learning enough to make it stick this time?