Living the Language … and the Quest for the All-Italian Language Month
Posted on: Aug 7, 2009
Photo by Yan Pritzker Photo on Flickr
“How do you say that again?”
“I thought I’d be fluent by now.”
“I’m just not good with languages …”
One of the first things expats who move to non-English speaking countries are faced with is the 24-hour language fest-and if you are anything like me, you left your invitation at home.
Over the last year negative phrases like these have crept into my consciousness and crowded my mind with self-doubt and insecurities. I. Just. Can’t. Get. It.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am perfectly conversational in Italian, can understand most people and accents and can basically get by in any situation.
But it ain’t purty.
Post continues here.
Cherrye — So proud of you and your determination!! Bon courage!
Merci bien.
.-= Kim B.´s last blog ..One Last Oklahoma Outing =-.
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Ciao Cherrye! Oh my do I understand where you are coming from. My boyfriend here is fluent in English and I knew no Italian when we met. The often long distance beginning of our relationship really necessitated that we speak in a language we both knew during the limited times we could talk. That has, unfortunately, continued now that I am living here. I understand the excuses… I am exhausted from launching a freelance writing career, keeping up with everything here, keeping in touch with family back in the States… when do I have time to study?? Maybe there is something in the air here in southern Italy, because I decided last week that September would be my Italian Language Month. I can’t go All-Italian yet because I am not nearly as good as you, but I can go As-Much-Italian-As-Possible Month.
I am constantly finding myself saying things in English that I know how to say in Italian. It is just a hard habit to switch. But in the end I try not to beat myself up about it, and remind myself there is a lot going on in my life. But something has to change because I don’t want to go on this way understanding but not being able to respond! I agree that just speaking is the way to do it, and it requires a lot of time and patience to accomplish it. Way to go YOU for just jumping in and working so hard. I would love to hear about the progress and how you are doing this month. Buona fortuna! And thank you so much for sharing your story and experience! I will let you know how my Italian Language Month goes when I start.
“Speak Italian as much as possible month” that is cute! I’m finding it hard to make the switch to Italian with my husband, as well. It is a habit and well, you know what they say about those …
.-= Laura at Ciao Amalfi´s last blog ..Summer Snapshot: Amalfi through the Lemon Groves =-.
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Thanks for linking to my site and trying out my no-English experiment
It is hard, but completely doable!! In fact, it’s necessary if you want to really make progress and cannot be taken lightly! That month was horrible for me; I didn’t have a family or very close friends there at the time who would support me in my experiment. But it has literally changed my life.
You need to make a complete change of mentality that English’s only place in your life is for the things you mentioned, and day-to-day life should only be in Italian. Even talking to yourself in your head should be in Italian (“dove cavolo ho lasciato le chiave…”)
I was also teaching English at the time and if someone wanted to practise English with me I told them in Spanish that I’d be glad to help them for only x €/hour.
As I mentioned in the article, a complete change of mentality is required. I forced myself to actually dislike English and insist that people speak to me in any language but it. It has no become second nature to me and even starting a very difficult language over from scratch (like Czech) is hundreds of times easier than learning Spanish was because of my new attitude.
Love your blog! I have been in Calabria several times (mostly Cosenza to visit good friends). Keep up the good work with your experiment and let me know how it goes! It will be hard and frustrating, but you will have made a total mental adjustment at the end of the month if you keep it up!!
@Laura et Ciao Amalfi Oh dear! Don’t wish her Buona fortuna!! That’s actually unlucky! Better to say “In bocca al lupo”
It’s like how we say break a leg in the theatre in English, but since Italians are so theatrical all the time, you never actually wish someone “good luck” 
The response is “crepi” rather than grazie. So In bocca al lupo for your September experiment!! 
Grazie for your comment, Benny. Laura is right, your site is a great inspiration. I’ve bookmarked it (and grabbed your feed) and expect to utilize it often throughout the month!
.-= Benny the Irish polyglot´s last blog ..Does drinking help you speak a foreign language? =-.
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PS: Thanks for sharing Benny’s website! What a great source for inspiration!
Prego!
.-= Laura at Ciao Amalfi´s last blog ..Out & About: Night Bells and Moon over Ravello =-.
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Brava. Prenderesti molto di più della cultura se parlassi bene la lingua.
That is the idea! Hope it takes.
Io sbaglio tutti giorni, ma veramente è uguale sia italiano sia inglese, ma devo fare più attenzione qualche volte in italiano.
.-= Judith in Umbria´s last blog ..Ruins =-.
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Ooops! Ho imparato qualcosa nuova oggi. Grazie Benny! In bocca al lupo Cherrye!
Crepi!
.-= Laura at Ciao Amalfi´s last blog ..Out & About: Night Bells and Moon over Ravello =-.
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Ciao Cherrye! Been a while since I stopped by… hope everything goes well con l’Italiano solo per un mese.
Grazie and thanks for stopping in.
.-= AmyEmilia´s last blog ..thinking of ice cream =-.
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Oh, this is so me, the excuses, the lack of commitment, not unlike trying to lose those extra pounds….I am inspired and will start to think about committing to this project, although I think it will have to start in a month when we don’t have the majority of our guests being English speakers.. that gives me an excuse for a little more time to commit! Thanks for the prod.
.-= Marla´s last blog ..Friggitello Incrosta =-.
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This is a great idea. All my Italian friends speak perfect English. I get lazy and fall back to my mother tongue all the time. It’s a problem.
Starting in September I’m going to try and speak Italian a lot more often. I would start this month but everyone except the tourists are gone. It’s not even the 15th yet.
I started this month for two reasons, 1) to get going as quickly as possible and 2) because my english-speaking friend is in Ireland this month! ha ha
.-= nyc/caribbean ragazza´s last blog ..Julia & Julie opens nationwide (in America) tomorrow. =-.
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Hi Cherrye,
Your post is timely as I am doing some research for a presentation at work and I had these statistics handy:
How long does it take to reach a high level of fluency?
After years of experience in training field agents, the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) estimates that anywhere from 700-1,320 hours of full-time instruction are needed to reach a level of high fluency (Bialystok and Hakuta, 1994, 34). More specifically, the time commitment for learning a Romance language minimally approaches 20 weeks of intensive, full-time study at 30 hours per week, for a grand total of 600 hours, while for other languages, such as Russian and Chinese, the ideal exposure can exceed 44 weeks at 30 hours per week, or 1,320.
With that said, you might now have a better idea of how many hours you will need to conduct your experiment and reach your language proficiency goals.
From my own experience of living in Spain, yes, I used to get pretty tired speaking Spanish in the early days. I remember staying in Madrid with my dear friend, Jose, who spoke no English. He was the perfect tour guide and social butterfly. He was constantly finding activities for us to attend and there was no shortness of opportunities to speak the language. Add to that the fact that we were out on the town, sampling tapas, staying in discotecas until 7am, I was pooped! I was only 17 at the time, but I remember I had to take a “time out” at one point because my head hurt and I was so tired from all the words, music, food, laughter. He didn’t understand, as he was not a language learner and he only spoke his native tongue. I remember pleading with him that I needed to stay in my room, sleep, and clear my head. His mom finally came to my defense and said that “the poor girl needs some rest!” and I let him go off with out me to his Sunday excursion to the countryside chalet with his group of friends.
Anyway, this experience taught me that I could not overdose on language input. I needed to realize that I had a maximum capacity, and I needed to be patient with myself.
So, my advice is to be forgiving and patient with yourself. You will get there!
Thank you for the fabulous stats! These are so helpful.
.-= Jennifer Rafferty´s last blog ..Free Coupon for Gluten-Free Betty Crocker Baking Mixes =-.
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It is not easy learning Italian! Don’t be so hard on yourself. You will learn more without trying so hard. Piano Piano
Ahhh, piano, piano … I’ve heard that before!
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Its always difficult to learn any language and especially Italian. I grew up speaking dialect at home and then learning proper Italian in between while speaking English. Till this day, I still read up and try to learn and practice my Italian. Its difficult to speak a language when you’re not submerged in it everyday or if you have to switch to English. I understand completely. I always say, there are some people who don’t know any Italian at all, so we are ahead of the game no matter what! Have a great summer!
Awe, what a nice way to look at it. Grazie mille!
.-= Margaret´s last blog .."Masters of Reception": TLC’s New Show About An Italian American Family Owned Wedding & Catering Business From New Jersey. =-.
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so true! one of my assignments from my italian instructor while i am stateside is to read aloud in italian every single day. i am training the muscles of speech & there has been improvement, though i still don’t roll rrrrr’s as i should.
Oooh, I hate how my voice sounds when I read Italian! Eek.
.-= qualcosa di bello´s last blog ..snapshots on the journey3… =-.
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I think that two really interesting points have been raised here.
Jennifer – for pointing out how much time and effot it does take to learn a language. For me, I think some of the least helpful advice I was given before I moved abroad was the assurance that once I was there I would just ‘pick it up’…
Secondly, Cherrye’s post! Once you hit a level that lets you ‘get by’ it’s easy to stall. Particularly if you’re a native English speaker and surrounded by people who want to improve their English.
I’m already feeling tired at the thought of it – but this one month idea seems a good springboard! Good luck
Thanks for the well wishes!
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[...] My Bella Vita explains her theory on how to learn Italian – an entire month without speaking anything but Italian. Will it work? [...]
Hang in there! Believe in yourself! It’s exhausting learning to speak another language, and so embarrassing with all those constant mistakes and misunderstandings! I can completely understand how it was easier for you to speak English since your husband is fluent. My biggest mistake has been perhaps giving in to my boys and speaking Italian to them…they can get by fine in English, but would be so much more fluent if I insisted on English only. Keep on trying to speak Italian only, it will get easier and become a little bit more natural every day!
I think you have raised another good point about speaking languages with your children. I need to get fluent now before we have kids, so I can speak English with them once they are here!
.-= saretta´s last blog ..West Virginia =-.
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As someone who has always struggled with learning a new language, my words are kinda hollow on this topic…
But you’ve got the approach which I’ve always thought was the most sensible: do everything you can to *think* in the language. Frustrating as all hell when you can say 20 times as much, 50 times as eloquently in another tongue. But thinking it is the key.
I’ve got close, with the Greek language (I grew up in Cyprus). I’ve scaled a few of the linguistic foothills. And I liked the view.
But I’ve never got to where I can think in another language. I bet that’s exciting.
But I’m deeply envious of another thing you have, and that’s Italy, all around you, speaking Italian. That’s the way to do it.
(ps. Totally unconnectedly, thanks for adding me on Facebook the other day!)
Prego, Mike and thanks for the advice. I actually *do* think in Italian sometimes, but ironically, in my mind it is still “wrong.” I’ve noticed this month, so far, that when I come to a word I don’t know in Italian, it doesn’t come to me in English because I am in “Italian mode.” Does that make sense???
.-= Mikeachim´s last blog ..Oh, 4 On Demand: and you were doing so *well*. =-.
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I am one of those not very fluent in French although I live in France with my French husband. I have all sort of excuses. I finally took a really good course and have improved a lot but still have so far to go. Just passed my French driver’s license test in French-I’m so proud.
Woo hoo! Auguri!
.-= Linda´s last blog ..It’s The Little Things =-.
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