Buondì.
Yesterday evening we went to a party, the end-of-year event for a local association which we’ve been part of for a few years.
It was nice to see everyone again, there was food (not that much) and cool wine (enough), so the evening passed quickly.
It’s suddenly got really hot in Bologna – it’ll be 37 Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit) today, so socialising outside in the evenings is the best option. Fortunately there seem to be fewer bothersome mosquitoes (zanzare in italiano) this year.
So anyway, as tends to happen when we socialise, I ended up in conversation with an Italian woman of about my age who needs English for her job but is feeling insecure about it. She used to do one-to-ones with a native speaker, apparently, but he got a proper job, so that was the end of that.
Since then she’s been feeling guilty for not keeping up her language-learning, and of course, has been half-heartedly looking out for another solution…
I quit teaching last summer, and don’t miss it. Our language school in Bologna, which started out in 2005 as an English schoool for Italian students, now only teaches Italian to foreigners, which suits me very well. I just sign the cheques and do the marketing, rather than having to plan lessons and show up at regular times.
Running small businesses is like that, I’ve found. What might have started out as a sure thing turns out to be anything but, but hopefully the skills acquired and experience gained are transferable to some other project. And so it turned out.
I said that I was sorry but I couldn’t or wouldn’t step in to replace the lost teacher. But I wondered why she needed to practice speaking English anyway, given that she could do that at work?
It doesn’t come when she needs it, apparently. It doesn’t feel right.
I expect plenty of you know the feeling. Until I started wrangling Roomie last year, I virtually never spoke Italian, so often felt tongue-tied.
Did she, I asked, do any listening practice?
Beh, she watched films in the original language, but rarely. Never these days, actually. There isn’t time, and it feels too much like work.
I get conversations like this all the time. People who want to keep up their language skills, to the point where they’ll feel confident using the foreign tongue when the moment arises, but don’t, EVER, participate as listeners in the community of people who use the language they’re learning for their daily communication needs.
What’s the point of learning a foreign language if you don’t plan to follow the conversations that people have in it?
Beats me.
I advise people all the time, in my articles, I explained, to do more listening and reading in their foreign language, and let the speaking worry about itself. If you’re used to listening to your foreign language, when the time comes to say something, it’s likely that you’ll be able to.
No one pays much attention, but that’s what I do myself, and I’ve found it works rather well!
Ah, but there’s no time, people say. So I suggest listening while doing other things – exercising, household chores, etc. That’s what I do, and I’ve found it works rather well!
Or swopping some meaningless thing that you spend time doing in your own language, such as watching Netflix series, for some similar but more profitable activity in the foreign language. That’s what I do, and I’ve found it works rather well!
Don’t think of it as studying – I suggested – think of it as doing stuff in the language you’re learning instead of in your native tongue. That way, no extra time is involved, and once you get used to it, not much more effort, either.
She nodded politely at my wise advice, but experience suggests she won’t follow it.
Far easier to find a teacher or a group to do the occasional practice chat with than to experiment a little with your learning approach, with the aim of finding your place in the community that uses the language you want to improve, then participating regularly.
I used to listen to the BBC World Service when I was first in Italy. On crackly shortwave radio. It was the only option in the days before streaming and video on demand.
Then I realised I was doing myself no favours, so went cold-turkey with English-language radio and began looking for alternatives.
I haven’t looked back.
A venerdì.
P.S. ‘A Cagliari ci sono i fenicotteri’ (A1-A2), £5.99 this week
Don’t forget this week’s new Italian ‘easy reader’ ebook, A Cagliari ci sono i fenicotteri, which, until Sunday 25th June 2023, costs just £5.99!
Twelve-year-old Gianna wakes up in Sardinia’s beautiful seaside capital for the last time. Today her family is moving to Milan, where her mum will take an important new job. They’ll live in a larger flat! Gianna will go to a new school! She’ll make new friends! But she’s leaving behind the city she loves, where she’s lived her whole life…
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Buy A Cagliari ci sono i fenicotteri just £5.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog
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P.P.S. 
Also don’t forget to read/listen to Tuesday’s FREE bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news.
Subscribers should have received the bulletin via email yesterday (everyone else can view it on the website.)
Subscribing is FREE, too.
Subscribers get each thrice-weekly bulletin emailed directly to them, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Which is a fantastic way to improve your Italian, and/or to keep what you’ve already learned fresh in your mind.
It’s also a lot cheaper than hiring a teacher to practice with…
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Janet Whitehead says
Dear Daniel
I always look forward to reading your emails. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. I am a mature English native speaker in her late 60s and came to learning italian late in life – post 60. I am living proof that it is never too late to learn a language. My husband retired from an academic post in the UK at 60, but not ready to retire completely, found himself a job in Rome – and as I wanted to be able to go with him and be able to live my life in italian, I made a conscious effort to begin learning. I went to a language school in Rome for a couple of weeks when I first arrived in Italy but found that I was not making as much progress as I would have liked. Instead, I found myself a couple of conversation exchange partners and as I was physically in Rome I was able to meet up with them and now have some really good italian friends whom I am sure are now friends for life. When I am back in the UK, I try to listen on a daily basis to either a podcast or watch an episode of an italian TV series and bathe in the italian language. I do not spend hours studying grammar or reading course books. My husband always says I speak better italian than he does even though he lives there full-time and I go for several weeks a year, and perhaps it’s true, I do, but then I put in more effort than he does. Learning a language, like anything, requires effort and practice. Like I said at the beginning, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink!
Buona giornata and thank you for everything you and your family do for the italian learning community.
Rose says
Ciao Daniel,
This is such good advice.
Every morning while having breakfast I watch Rai News 24 Live on my laptop. The news anchor usually speaks at a reasonable pace rather than really fast, there is accompanying newsreel and ribbon headlines that all help with the understanding. And as there is some world headline news on there too, I get the general idea.
I also watch italian films on Netflix with the subtitles in italian too, which I find helps.
On my walks I listen to Italian radio – I don’t understand everything by any means but feel euphoric when I do.
Just doing this as recommended by you has really helped with my listening and understanding of italian.
I can’t wait to go back and practise on the locals!
Felice says
Good idea. Surprisingly enough, ever since I’ve packed-in the UK TV licence fee, I’ve found Easy Italian News gives me most of “the juicy stuff” 😀