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Planning a move to Italy

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Crdean
  9/20/2022 03:27 EST

I know it can be difficult, but how difficult is it too learn the language fluently? Do you have any regrets in moving there? What do you miss the most besides the availability of spices? What has been the most difficult for you since moving?

rsetzer99
  9/20/2022 08:17 EST

Fluently? A long road. Enough to be able to participate in most ordinary conversations. Hard work, but you can get there without major difficulty. Not a whole lit in the way of spices you can’t get here. Miss? Very little.

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Nola48
  9/20/2022 09:46 EST

It really depends on your own aptitude and dedication. Some people can learn languages very easily. I would suggest you start with an Italian for travelers book, memorizing certain phrases, or going on You Tube and searching for Italian for Beginners. Speaking like a madrelingua can take a lifetime, but you can certainly learn enough to negotiate grocery stores, bank accounts and everyday conversations with neighbors. It wouldn't be a bad idea to enroll in a class for beginners now where you live. That will give you a good idea of what it is like. Buona fortuna!!

retmathtchr
  9/20/2022 13:01 EST

Many universities offer online languages classes that you can audit for free or pay really nominal fees for. I'm doing the Beginner Italian through Wellesley - started for free (but they only give you 4 months to finish and, well, let's just say I'm definitely doing it part time!, so I paid the whopping $49.99 to actually take the course. It's been way more helpful than just the "Italian for Dummies" book and Duolingo - both of which I am doing as well. The book is good for local customs and conversation but I wanted a little more structural grammar to augment that.

codybrandy
  9/24/2022 11:54 EST

Yes, it seems the older we get the more difficult learning a new language...or is it me? I took 3-4 semesters at a local college before we left and carry a dictionary and a verb book around with me to this day years later. The more you build your vocabulary and your conjugations the better you will be.
Spices...yes and ethnic foods if you don't live in an cosmopolitan area...I'd kill for Thai, Chinese and Indian not just here and there but available everywhere and I miss good sushi..yes we do have some but it's not the range of sushi you find in the bigger areas. I go to UK once or twice a year and stock up on all sorts of goodies (mustards, spices, all sorts of ingredients) and try and make my own (Amazon helps but is pricey) AND really amazing bread...at least in my area of Liguria the bread is just not the quality of good French bread you can find even in the UK and the US. OH, and since we are on the subject: Cheese...if it's not Italian you are hard pressed to find great cheeses from UK and France...I need cheddar! I need really good butter and cream!
But what do I miss the most: back to language...I can get along but I miss the daily chit chat over the backyard fence...I tend to freeze up putting my words together but my neighbors are kind and understanding.

2RBajaBound
  9/24/2022 16:56 EST

I do Duolingo and Memrise and they are mostly fun, Memrise for pronunciation and Duo for sequencing and feeling like more of a challenge. Duo irritates me by sometimes insisting on memorized paraphrases rather than letting you approximate the meaning from root stems, which would generally be understood and is rarely actually incorrect. But they both build daily discipline and exposure to Italian.

What I have found really helpful is reading something in Italian that I know backwards and forward in English over and over. Prayers and favorite passages of a novel work well for this. There are dozens and dozens of prayer services in Italian on YouTube too if you are so inclined. RAI also does live news, although this is plenty fast for many. "News in Slow Italian" and similar sites offer easier immersion. If you really want to take it easy and laugh a little, Rock 'N Learn offers lengthy (2 hours+) goofy cartoons on YouTube for little kids learning the basics--sort of an Italian version of PBS' The Electric Company if you are of a vintage to appreciate that 1970's kids' show!

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italianlaw
  9/24/2022 20:01 EST

Learning Italian
Honest answer. Unless you attended the Italian school system including a university, you will never be fluent, a word Americans use too freely.

If you work in Italy along side with native speakers in 20 years you might have very good language skills but you will have a foreign accent. Unless one takes a course in diction you will have a "lazy pronunciation" i.e. not pronouncing consonants completely and much more such as pronouncing the"gn.." and even the word "voi".

What o do: watch Italian new broadcasts, Notice on close up shots the facial muscle movements. I call it the "diction gym" ,required to pronounce the sounds like a native speaker.

Of course, this is very advanced course. Children learn this skill intuitively. If you are over 15, it probably is to late. Essentially, an arduous task. Just don't clam fluency. The learning curve is long no matter what course you take. Living and working in Italy is the only approach to obtaining some form of fluency. Quick business lingo test: fattura pro form, ritenuta d'acconto, parcondicio

Anthony
www.italianlaw.net
San Francisco / Ferrara

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