This last month of November I decided to set Korean aside and dive into Italian only. I want to jot down my experiences with this, both for future reference for myself and to also help those who might be learning a new language or two π
But if you’re not into this type of thing, feel free to skip to the joke at the bottom π
First: Immersion was good!
I spent so much time around Italian! I did my course study, listened to YouTube vlogs, did vocab, and got pretty far on DuoLingo. The immersion was good because I wasn’t just cold-memorizing words, but I got to see words used in conversational context.
Which brings me to what I learned: If you attach the word/sentence to real life, it “sticks” better in your mind. Sure, grab your glass of water when you say l’acqua! Point left when you say sulla sinistra, and point right when you say sulla destra. It helps a lot.
And always, always, always say the words/sentences out loud. It might sound clear in your mind, but that doesn’t mean you’ll say it right. Once you speak it, you’ll start to get the pronunciation down.
Second: I Got Over My Problem Areas
Conjugation and plurals were giving me a hard time. In Italian, you can’t just stick an “s” to the end of a word to make it plural. For instance, the tomato is il pomodoro. But the tomatoes is i pomodori. The girl is la ragazza, but the girls is le ragazze. And the man is l’uomo, but the men is gli uomini.
It took me lots of study and examples to finally “get” the conjugations. Why le ragazze or i ragazzi? When do I use gli? Well, now I know how to make a word plural depending on whether it is feminine or masculine!
PS: “Gendered” is not the best word to describe Italian, since a table isn’t literally male. And for instance, a person, even if it’s just one man, will use the feminine la persona… so it has nothing to do with gender as Americans think of it! To avoid confusing yourself, don’t think of Italian as “gendered” (this applies to Spanish, too).
Third: I Jumped Ahead
By doing a solid month of nothing but Italian, I got a pretty big leap forward in my Italian speaking skills. I can now speak full sentences to describe items, ask questions, and do small conversations π
DuoLingo also had me asking some existential questions, like perchΓ© moriamo π (Why do we die?)
All in all, I highly recommend this type of immersion!
Oh, right! I promised you a joke! π₯³
What do you call a woodpecker without a beak?
…A headbanger! π
Anyway, happy learning!
Ciao, ciao!
jarilissima
Thanks for the pointers! I am trying to learn Spanish with Duolingo. Blessings Jarilissima!
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That’s great! Happy learning π
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Awesome post! The masculine/feminine thing with nouns can be confusing, though knowing Spanish helps with the concept. In Punjabi the verbs are conjugated differently according to the gender of the person doing the actonπ¬ Now that was different π Great job learning languages and sharing with your readers π₯°
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It sure does help to understand the concept π
Though I quickly realized that I still have to learn each object, because (for example) a table is a “male” in Italian but “female” in Spanish, so I didn’t luck out there. Hahaha
And thank you! That’s very interesting, thanks for sharing π
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Oui!! Genders are a -!&Γ%! I’ve been learning French for five months and les lecons sont difficiles. Well, the genders are and I get the gist of most of them, except when the interpreters parle vraiment vite (really fast). But I keep one phrase in my mind and that is plus lentement (more slowly). I am now listening to stories as well as reading some. Good luck with yours, Jarilissima!
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That’s awesome π Are you taking courses on your own or with a teacher? I wish so much I could have a teacher to ask questions to, but that’s not possible at the moment. And thank you! Same to you! π
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Nah, interpreters via Duolingo, lol! Taking courses on my own. What’s funny is that I downloaded the app back in 2014 but never used it.
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DuoLingo is pretty great! I like it because it’s more interactive than reading from my books or listening to CDs. That’s great π I wish you well on your studies!
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Thanks! The same to you!
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Good luck to everyone!
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How fun to get to learn a new language. And Italian is such a beautiful language.
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It sure is π I’ve already fallen in love with a few Italian rock songs π
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Loved your post! You inspire me to work more on my personal learning. Thank you!β€οΈ
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I’m so happy to hear this! π God bless β€οΈ
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You too!
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I love duolingo!!! I already know French and German, but I began with duolingo a couple of years ago – doing Dutch and Spanish… I had a go at Greek too and am now having great fun learning Hindi. I have no idea why I’m learning them, except that they interest me, but if someone even tries to speak to me in French, I reply in English!!! The only one I’m not too shy in, is German. Silly me!
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Wow, so many languages! That’s awesome! π
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It’d be great if I would ever dare to speak them
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From having learned English, I find that people are generally positive and happy to hear their language, even if you don’t speak it perfect.
I had to speak in middle school as I was learning English. My friends helped out. One time I messed up and said “fart” instead of “fault,” and I never lived that down, but it was funny π So, I would say, go for it!
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