more Florence: on (not) speaking Italian

[anotheranon]

I'm pondering this as I sit here with Livemocha, picking up my online Italian lessons where I left off.

I shouldn't say I spoke NO Italian on vacation - I could figure out enough to order in restaurants and compliment the chef :P And I get the whole philosophy behind "immersion learning" - even though I kept fumbling my articles I was genuinely surprised at how I got used to hearing Italian and being able to sift some words out of the babble - this was the first time I had an extended stay anywhere that wasn't predominantly English-speaking so that was new for me. Even so, the helplessness of not being able to do simple things was frustrating - really hits home when you can't even call a cab!

I've joked in the past that I took French in high school, Italian and college and now speak English... poorly, but it's not exactly a joke. I'm aware monolingualism is usual for an American but it still bugs me that I squandered what little opportunity I had to learn other languages. It's only been in the past couple of years that I've realized that learning takes work (gee, who knew? :P) and I can sit around wishing or I can actually do something.

To that end, I'm continuing with Italian - I figure one romance language opens the door to the others. Livemocha's lessons take about 10 minutes; I can devote 20-30 minutes a week to this.

Comments

[kdmorin.livejournal.com]

I've been working with Rosetta Stone (although not as consistently as I'd like). LiveMocha looks like a great addition - thanks for the link. :)

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

A friend gave me a copy of the Rosetta Stone software, but for some reason (Vista?) I can't get it to run on my machine. How are you enjoying it? And how far along are you in your studies?

[kdmorin.livejournal.com]

I like Rosetta Stone because a lot of it is intuitive learning. I started it a few months before my Italy trip but slacked off towards the end. I think it is a good way to learn the language but isn't good if you are trying to learn phrases to use a traveller.