nancy

Thanks Christine and John, <BR>Christine, <BR>Your posting was full of info I had never heard of before. <BR>I will definately look further into all of it! <BR>Even your warning (,that although it might be fun, educational etc., to use <BR> my beginning Italian with Italians,it would result in long tedious interchanges,) was very instructional for me. <BR>I will certainly try to speak as much as I can,but I will just be very aware of the situations I am doing it in (ie: not during a very busy dinner period with an obviously harried cameriere/cameriera. Or while ordering something with a line of people behind me, also waiting to order.) <BR>I have two friends, one Swiss, and one Thai, and over the many years I have watched their English improve, but I know what a laborious process conversations could be. <BR>I also live in a community that has a College for Foreign Studies, and there are many students from many countries. <BR>I always found it fun to be stopped on the streets, and asked if I would speak English with them. <BR>But there were some in our community who were so offended! they wrote letters to our local paper !!!! <BR>To John, <BR>Grazie Mille for making me laugh so much today, on the first day of my children's summer vacation , with one sick child and one grumpy sick husband at home. <BR>I enjoy, and have learned so much from everyone's replies <BR>Nancy

John

Nanc....De Rien!!!! I wish you all the best in your travels and I am terribly envious. <BR> <BR>If you ever go to Spain, I will tell you of all my amusing stories during my 2 weeks there. Suffice it to say many Spaniards have abandoned their traditional folk songs and have substituted new ones about a pair of unusual Americans who ran amuck from Madrid to Seville.

Anne

Dear Nancy, About.com has the very best language studies program. click on education, then language studies from that menu. There are links to sound, and real live guides to answer questions about the daily lessons. I have used the French language site with the very helpful Laura Lawless as guide. I think you will find this useful; native speakers join the chat room, if you wish, your submissions will be corrected or a smoother construction suggested for awkward phrasing. good luck, Anne

Robin

Nancy-- <BR> <BR>I just returned from France, where I was the only (sort of) French-speaker in a group of four. My greatest fear was looking pretentious and/or silly. But I can absolutely confirm what others have said-- they love you for the effort (even the maligned Parisians!) You have only to look around at Americans arrogantly NOT trying the language to know that your efforts are worth it. No one expects you to be fluent or graceful in Italian, but they do expect you to notice that you're in a foreign country with it's own language and culture, and to try as hard as you can to accomodate that. You are absolutely doing the right thing, and besides that, you'll have a lot of fun, even if you do say something frightening about a cow! <BR> <BR>Ciao!

nancy

Anne and Robin, <BR>Thank you both so much for your replies. <BR>That language site looks so interesting!! <BR>Can't wait to give it a try. <BR>Thanks for the encouragement. <BR>I know I will have lots of fun speaking over in Italy (don't worry Christine, I'll remember not too get too tedious!) <BR>Only 1 year and 4 days to go! <BR>Nancy

nancy

John, <BR>What is De Rein? <BR>So you are infamous in Spanish folk ballards now? <BR>When my friends goes to Spain I will ask for them to listen for the tales. <BR>Nancy

graziella

Hi Nancy, I meant that you should of course learn a few words, sentences,.. <BR>as much as you possible can , and then add the right body ( hand) language. In my own experience this helps a lot besides they are used to it, in Italy for instance. <BR>I understand your concern but my guess is that you will learn ... may be it doesn t come easy in New England but you 'll do it in the right ambiance... Have a great trip.

nancy

Graziella, <BR>Thanks for the advice, again! <BR>I know I will have fun, no matter what language I speak. <BR>I can't wait! <BR>Arrivaderla! <BR>Nancy

John

Nancy....my vague recollection is that's colloquial French for "It's nothing...". Of course, based on my history, you shouldn't count on my knowledge of a foreign language. <BR> <BR>Yes, there's a large number of what in 1991 were very small boys in Toledo who now sing songs about the foreigners who wedged their car (in turn followed by a phalanx of 10 more cars also driven by foreigners) in a street that got smaller and smaller until the lead car got stuck. <BR> <BR>This only exceeded the group of residents south of the Plaza Major in Madrid who watched this pathetically lost pair, cross and recross the same streets , map held in front of them, while arguing loudly, in search of *something*. THe locals soon called their children, parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents and neighbors to their balaconies and moved dinner out onto folding tables to watch this hysterical spectacle unfold. They were soon shouting bets to their neighbors next door and across the street about the outcome of this situation. <BR> <BR>I could go on. Ask me of finding our hotel in Seville....or returning our car at the airport...or about Iberia airlines.

J.

Nancy: I see no one so far has commented on one part of your original question when you said "Con premisso, posso parlare l'italiano con Lei? <BR>(If anyone knows a better or correct way to say the above , please feel free to correct)" The only correction needed to this is with the second word which should be permesso. <BR> <BR>Someone else said that most people in Europe speak English all over, but that is not accurate. In northern Europe it is common for many people to speak English but not so in Italy, Spain or France. Nor in Eastern Europe. I have been to many a location in Italy or Spain where no one around that I found spoke English...even in hotels/pensions. So speaking some Italian is a *very good* idea for your travels to Italy IMO. I used my Italian a lot on my trips there in the past. <BR>

nancy

John and J/No Spam, <BR>Thanks for those stories.Early A.M laughter is great way to start day. <BR>Esp. now that son and husband are well and daughter and self have the cold. <BR>J, thanks for correction. <BR>That was a typo, glad to know what I said could translate. <BR>I will continue my quest for the italian tongue, as some italian is better than none. <BR>John, my sister (20 at the time)had a strange thing happen to her in Italy. <BR>She went into a bathroom, there were three older women there. My sister used the toilet,flushed, came out. One woman said something to her, grabbed her by the arm and put her back into a toilet stall and shut the door. My sister was obviously bewildered , did not know what to do, so she pretended to use the toilet again, flushed it , walked out. <BR>The three women were standing there watching her and talking about something! <BR>This time they let her leave. <BR>She could never figure out what they did to her. <BR>Now if she spoke some Italian..... <BR>Nancy <BR>

april

This has been a fun thread to read. <BR>I loved the stories. <BR>I am glad you are taking the time to learn as much Italian as you can. <BR>I wish I had learned more before I went! <BR>Good Luck. <BR>Maybe on your trip , you will find out what did happen to your sister. <BR>April

R.K.

I'd like to add that the fact that you are female will help you immensely in Italy. Any woman in Italy will have absolutely no trouble getting attention from Italian men! So if you ask for directions or anything from a man, he will gladly assist you even if you know only a few words in Italian.

nancy

Thanks R. K. <BR>Even women in their late 40's? <BR>Nancy

Holly

Yes.

Harriett

I just noticed that the MSN homepage is also available in French and Italian . . . and probably more, but I only got that far. It's fun trying to translate, or guess at, what their headlines are. If you're fluent, I'm sure these would be even more intriguing. If you're interested, go to MSN.com -- and no, this isn't an advertisement for Microsoft!!!

Dr. Mauro Abate

Dear Nancy, the Italians love other populations and countries, to which they are brought by their ancient Mediterranean culture. They will appreciate your efforts, as they will think that you have the same mentality. <BR> <BR>About the keyboard, I perused quickly the replies, and I have an even quicker and more complete tip. If you have Windows, for ex. Win. 95, click on "My computer", then on "Control panel". If you click then on "keyboard", and insert the Windows disk, you will be able to choose the Italian keyboard keys. Probably this will confuse you at the beginning, as you will have the Italian letters when you type the English ones, yet in this way you will have *all* the Italian letters and signs. <BR> <BR>Keep up the good work. <BR>Ciao! Mauro from Rome.

ed

If you have Microsoft Word, it is very easy to program your keyboard for easy access (in Word) to foreign letters. Go to Tools-Customize-Keyboard and then select "Common Symbols" from Categories. <BR>Just find the letter you want and select an easy keyboard shortcut and hit Assign. I do this for the Spanish letters. I use Alt-A for á, Alt-E for é, Alt-I for í, Alt-O for ó, Alt-U for ú, and Alt-N for ñ. Then when I want to write in Spanish with accents, I write in Word and cut-paste to here, for example. It becomes just as easy as hitting shift for capital letters. <BR>I'm sure you can find the accents for Italian and French there too. Good luck with Italian. I have a book, and want to learn it before a trip next year. The only problem is starting. <BR>

nancy

To Holly, Harriet, Dr. Abate, and Ed, <BR>Thank you all for the replies. <BR>It will be fun to speak as much Italian as I can, and even if I don't speak as much as I want to, I will understand some of it as it is spoken around me. <BR>I am finding that it is easier for me to read, and to hear it, and understand, than it is to remember all to speak. <BR>But I don't care, I am having *fun* <BR>As far as the keyboard advise, it has all been very informative to see the different ways to accomplish this task. <BR>Ed, I have an advantage of having more than one Italian book, so I keep one in my car, my bag, the bedroom, even in the b....... <BR>Nancy

nonamenow

Is this the same Dr. Mauro Abate that some people seemed so worked up about awhile ago? <BR>He seemed to be pleasant and helpful,in his reply to this posting. <BR>NNN