How do you know?

Buondì.

Our miniature new house guest, Bug, and I were sitting outside, enjoying a little late-afternoon sunshine, and chatting with neighours as they passed by, mostly on their way home from work.

Bug was awake, which he is more and more each day, and telling me loud and clear that he’d like to eat, and now please, rather than waiting for the next meal, which was still the best part of an hour in the future.

A neighbour – not really a pet person, apparently – stopped anyway, to admire him and compliment me.

He’s hungry, I explained.

How do you know, she replied.

Well, I told her, when he’s hungry, which he is at approximately three-hourly intervals, he opens his mouth wide, like this (I opened my mouth as wide as I could, so she could see my uvula and a selection of childhood fillings in my rearmost molars), then moves his head frantically from side to side as if searching for something to latch on to, like this (I demonstrated that, too).

Which is exactly what he is doing, see?

And if that doesn’t get the message across, his body starts to contract a little, like a centipede when it’s moving along a leaf, with the effect that he moves forward and upwards (so more a centipede climbing a tree), hoping to encounter hanging delights.

The neighbour shuddered visibly, and wished me good evening.

Not all communication happens via language (the classic example is hand gestures, but consider facial expressions, tone of voice, and so on), in fact, often the non-linguistic elements are more than sufficient without venturing into grammar, vocabulary and so on, at all.

Consider the server who simply shrugs at your complaint, or your later use of non-linguistic ironically-raised eyebrows and mock-apologetic headshake, when he suggests you leave a tip.

Yes, but – I hear from readers around the world at this point – I want to UNDERSTAND. How do I know what Italians are saying?

Start by not ignoring the obvious, I reply.

You’re driving and someone passes you – at speed, illegally, and dangerously – only to end up just one car ahead of you at the junction a hundred yards ahead.

That’s a communicative act.

You’re supposed to get that it was your fault, for driving too slowly, for leaving the required braking distance between you and the vehicle ahead, and ideally to learn your lesson, so making Italy a better place, with one fewer slowcoach driver.

Not understanding the message, you toot your horn, with the intent of chastising the reckless driver.

Without turning her head, she waves a hand gesture at you. I can’t tell you the offical definition, but it’s the one everyone (except me) uses to signify something like ‘What are you complaining about? Moron.’

Non-linguistic communication. It’s totally the starting point for understanding others and, as Bug demonstrates all too frequently with crying, becoming red in the face, and arching his back, getting your own message across.

Why focus on sophisticated homo sapiens tongue-wagging, yet ignore the millions of years of evolved communication that came before? Doesn’t make any sense to me.

Get out and interact. Smile, frown, shrug, nod and shake your head, wave, fidget and twitch, cough politely, raise your arm, or just a finger.

Make appropriate use of the Italian-equivalent of flipping fellow drivers the bird.

If you’re a long way from Italy, then, if nothing else, try TV shows.

With NO SUBTITLES, or you won’t be paying attention to the non-linguistic elements.

Better still, watch with the SOUND COMPLETELY OFF. Give that a try, just to see.

Bet you’ll follow the plot better than you’d think possible, and learn plenty from watching what people do, what they wear, how status is signalled, and so on.

It’s taken me a couple of weeks to learn to communicate in ‘Bug’, by which I mean receiving messages and sending them back. And it didn’t cost me a cent!

On the bright side, he doesn’t seem in the slightest bit bothered which human language I talk to him in the rest of the time.

The drawback is that ‘Bug’ is not as sophisticated as English or Italian, and doesn’t support more complex queries such as ‘Where exactly does it hurt?’

Likely that’s because ‘Bug’ native-speakers don’t need that level of complexity, as they would anyway just reply with the equivalent of, ‘It just bloody hurts! Do something! Now!’

In a future article I’ll put aside ‘Bug’ (the communication system, not the house guest) to return to the perennial stupid question, ‘How can I hope to speak and understand Italian without a grammar book and a dictionary?’

The obvious answer is ‘How did you learn your mother tongue?’, but there’s a lot more that’s interesting to say about homo sapiens tongue-wagging, and much of it can help you make wise choices with your language-learning.

A lunedì.

P.S. Final reminder: 3 Half-Price eBook Easy Readers from 2016!

Here’s a final reminder about this week’s half-price ‘eBook of the Week’ offer, which is on three ‘easy reader’ ebooks we published way back in 2016. The promotion ends Sunday night. Until then, they cost just £4.99 (each).

Check the FREE sample chapters to verify which of them might be right for you. Too easy? Check out our Catalog for materials at your level!

Colpo di forbici (A1)

Antonio and Martina have been married for forty years and together run their own hairdressing salon. Naturally, they know everyone’s secrets, and like to help people if they can…

• 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
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at elementary level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Colpo di forbici (A1) just £4.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog

Missione Segreta (A2/B1)

Saverio is the divorced father of Luca, a nine-year old who’s obsessed with violent video games. Since Saverio and Luca’s mother divorced, he’s been anxious to protect the relationship with his son by spending as much time with Luca as possible. But frustratingly, on their one day a week together, Luca rarely looks up from the screen of his game!

• .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 any level
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Missione Segreta (A2/B1) just £4.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog

Segreti e polpette (B1/2)

Meet the Agnolottis: father, mother, son and daughter, who together run “Da Ettore”, a trattoria in a small Italian town. The restaurant has been in the family for generations, and everyone pulls together to make it a success! But when the chance comes to win an important gastronomic award, the pressure starts to mount…

• .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 any level
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Segreti e polpette (B1/2) just £4.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog

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P.P.S.

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