Are you just TOO OLD to learn Italian?

Buondì.

Good grief, it’s mid-week already, time is ticking away, the days, the weeks, the months, the years, all seeming to pass ever more rapidly.

It’s quite alarming!

On the plus side, this second week of October would normally be when I’d start teaching English for the 30-week academic year, ending in early June.

But not this year! I’ve ‘retired’, only from teaching, but at least now I won’t be spending the next eight months cramming all the other things I do in between classes, lesson planning, marking homework, and so on.

While getting older can mean working less, it also seems to involve spending more time in hospitals, doctors’ surgeries, and queuing for resupplies of the numerous pills I have to take, four times a day.

Healthcare is becoming a part-time job, to replace the one I quit!

Cosi. As I get increasingly feeble, at least we have Roomie bounding around the place like a puppy, getting into everything, leaving a trail of things that have been picked up, investigated, then discarded.

Or just switched on (lights, TV, and so on), then forgotten, so confounding my attempts to reduce our electricty bill!

Her communication skills improve daily, too, which is fun to observe. Over the weekend she demanded to watch the Disney animated movie Frozen, which is every small female animal’s favourite, by insistently repeating “Anna Elsa”, the names of the protagonist princess sisters (the link to Wikipedia above gets you a summary of the plot, if you’re not familiar with the movie.)

The Frozen plastic DVD case was right there, but empty.

This was a disc I’d brought home from the school when I quit teaching English in June. The preschool girls loved it, the boys were sniffy (pricesses hold little interest when you’re three).

Roomie being female, I was sure it would be of help when papà and mamma needed a break, and so it has proved!

The DVD/VHS player was also brought home from the school, as our Italian teachers don’t use them, it all being computers, tablets and smartphones these days.

It’s one of those old ones, a hollow-sounding, grey metal box with a plastic front, too many small buttons, and apertures for a VHS cassette on the left and for a DVD on the right.

Where oh where is the damn disc, mutters my wife, keen to get Roomie settled in front of the screen so she can pick up her knitting and get back to the Netflix series on her laptop.

It’s not still in the DVD player from last time. It’s not on the floor, or behind the TV, or slipped into the overstuffed toy box, not in the pushchair, or behind the cushions, or…

I used my fingers to open up the cover for the VHS cassette slot, and got down on my knees to peer inside.

Sure enough, Roomie had inserted the DVD into the VHS slot, and only called us for help (“Anna Elsa, Anna Elsa, Anna Elsa!”) when the result hadn’t been what she’d hoped for.

DVD now in the correct place, buttons pressed, and peace restored, I had a moment to marvel how quickly small animals can figure stuff out.

They see what happens around them, try things for themselves, and once something has been mastered (light switches, doors, drawers, the freezer), well it’s on to the next thing!

Aren’t the little ones amazing? Not like us fogeys, left behind by technology and despairing at how quickly the world changes…

Well, actually, no.

Teaching pre-schoolers for years (hurrah, it’s over!) made it very clear where a three-year old’s limitations lay.

Holding a pen, for instance, fine motor control (coloring between the lines), but also stuff you’d assume anyone could do, such as interacting with others of the approximate same age, sitting quietly while the teacher reads a story, and so on.

Kids are sponges it’s commonly said, sucking everying in, constantly learning! And that’s true, up to a point.

But adults are much more capable sponges, I assure you.

Think, for instance, given that there’s a war going on in Europe, how long it takes to train a conscript to obey orders, handle a rifle, throw a grenade, treat casualties, advance and retreat with their fellow troops, and other necessary but basic soldierly-tasks.

It’s weeks, more or fewer according to the circumstances, but in no way should it require years.

How long to train a brain surgeon, then? That would require longer, sure, perhaps five or six years after the basic medical qualification had been hung on the wall.

In the five or six years it might take for a young doctor to become an experienced brain surgeon, a new-born human animal can get as far as putting a shoe with velco fastenings on the correct foot, and maybe even wiping snot from their own nose, though probably not without prompting.

Be of good heart, fogeys – there’s still hope!

Older learners might not remember things as easily (personally I don’t believe that – I’ve always been lazy at remembering things), but they have EXPERIENCE OF LEARNING, of cooperating with others, of setting appropriate goals for themselves, of motivating themselves to study (which kids definitely lack!), and so on.

The one difference?

Kids have time to play, to mess about, to poke a disc into the wrong slot to see what happens. While adults, of any age, are busy with their own routines, so don’t much play.

There’s no TIME to play, they lament.

But get this, your would-be infantry soldier or brain surgeon is going to have to put other things aside, for a period of weeks or years, until their new skills are mastered. That’s obvious, right?

If you want to be someone else, a soldier, a brain surgeon, or someone who speaks one, or more, foreign languages, then you’re going to need to do things differently for a bit, to develop new routines, routines which will promote the necessary changes in your head and your behaviour.

A toddler couldn’t make that decision. She doesn’t have the attention span, the experience, the motivation, or any idea of her own development stages.

But an adult, any adult, has that capability. You could, if you wished, learn Italian in Italy, to advanced level, in just or five or six months. Or do so without leaving home, in a similar number of years, by taking evening classes.

You probably won’t. But admit it, you could. It’s just a matter of time, and of wanting to.

Envisage five or six years of evening classes. Unless you’re really past it, that’s not inconceivable, right?

Imagine taking six months out and doing Italian from scratch in a pro language school together with a bunch of potential new friends.

Sure, there are loads of practical reasons why that might not work for you, but there’s no didactic reason it couldn’t, were you to decide that’s what you wanted.

See?

Toddlers are amazing, but unfocused and, frankly, in learning terms, rather inefficient.

Kid, you’re two, and don’t even know which slot the DVD goes into? Shape up, or ship out!

Adults, on the other hand, even ones with cobwebby brains, like mine, are a much surer bet when it comes to focused learning.

Which reminds me, were you to choose to be the sort of person who listens to Italian operas IN THE ORIGINAL, check out Monday’s article, then maybe join me over the next six months or so, as I attempt to make that happen for myself.

Club member Anne, stirring in her Chicago cave on Monday, emailed to inform me that at the La Scala opera house in Milan they have seatback screens, which show translations of the lyrics being sung in your choice of language.

So no need to learn Italian!

Unless, of course, you want to actually talk to people, and understand what they say to you in return.

A venerdì.

P.S.

Don’t forget this week’s two new ‘easy reader’ ebooks, both at 25% off the usual ‘easy reader’ ebook price of £7.99, so just £5.99 each!

But only until Sunday night…

Verdi e il Va’ pensiero

An original Italian easy reader by Francesca Colombo

Verdi is going through a difficult time. He’s recently widowed, both of his children have died, and his second opera was a disaster: the public hated it! So he’s ready to quit Milan and move back home to help his father on the farm.

There’s just one snag – he’s contracted to write another show…

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 8 chapters to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at intermediate level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Verdi e il Va’ pensiero (B2), £5.99 | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Catalog | Shop

Nabucco

An original Italian easy reader by Francesca Colombo

Giuseppe Verdi’s famous opera, here simplifed for learners of Italian (with quotes from the actual libretto!)

Why not begin with our ‘easy reader’ ebook before seeking out a recording of the opera on Youtube? It’ll help!

Or use this original Italian reading/listening practice material to add a little variety to your study program.

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 7 chapters (based on Verdi’s Act/Scene structure) to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at pre-intermediate level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Nabucco (A2/B1), £5.99 | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Catalog | Shop

How do I access my ebooks?

When your order is ‘completed’ (normally immediately after your payment), a download link will be automatically emailed to you. It’s valid for 7 days and 3 download attempts so please save a copy of the .pdf ebook in a safe place. Other versions of the ebook, where available, cannot be downloaded but will be emailed to people who request them. There’s a space to do that on the order form – where it says Additional information, Order notes (optional). If you forget, or if you have problems downloading the .pdf, don’t worry! Email us at the address on the website and we’ll help. Also, why not check out our FAQ?

P.P.S.

ALSO don’t forget to read/listen to Tuesday’s FREE bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news.

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OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | EasyReaders.org (ebooks) | NativeSpeakerTeachers.com (1-1 lessons)