missypie

I took one year of high school French. Before we went to Paris two years ago I bought CDs to listen to in the car and my French was passable. I took two years of Spanish in high school. Before we went to Costa Rica last month I bought CDs to listen to in the car and my Spanish was passable.

Now I am trying to tackle Italian - with 6 weeks to go, it's not going well. Italian seems to be 1/2 Spanish, 1/4 French, all pronounced differently. When all is said and done, I probably won't be able to speak Italian, Spanish OR French.

I bought the Pimsleur CDs and hate them. They speak so quickly...it may be authentic, but I can't tell where one word ends and another begins. Plus, almost all of the vocab. is irrelevant.

Will folks in Rome, Florence and Venice appreciate my attempts at their language, or should I just save time and give up now?

nessundorma

Busy waiters sometimes will respond to you in English in order make sure you and he/she are communicating, but otherwise Italians will be delighted to talk to you in Italian and will help you learn more.

Weadles

You'll find a lot of English spoken in the major cities, but I think it's a good idea to know some basic words and phrases. Sometimes it's appreciated; sometimes it's not.

However, a few years back, my limited Italian saved us from a changed train connection in Venice. You never know when those few words might come in handy!

ahotpoet

Your French and Spanish will get you far but I would suggest you persist with the Italian. Maybe you should get some Italian movies and just listen to them speaking and put on the English subtitles. You can pick out words that way.

Intrepid1

Prepare for THIS possibility: the minute some of these people find out you speak English they will want to engage you in conversation so they can improve their OWN English skills...and that is not a bad thing.

Any attempt you make, even with the most rudimentary phrases, will be appreciated and your desire to learn more Italian is definitely laudable.

Just don't get hung up on not being anywhere near fluent as you will not need to be to enjoy yourself in Italy.

cantstayhome

Nessundorma is right - Italians were more than happy to indulge my pathetic attempts at Italian and always happy to exchange amusing vocabulary words.

sheila

Different people learn languages differently, but you should persevere with whatever works for you. It will be appreciated.

Intrepid1

Another thought..please get yourself OUT of the "pathetic" ideation...if you keep thinking about your efforts in that way it will not be helpful.

Please think positive about yourself and what you are doing.

missypie

Has anyone used the Fodors CD set that bills itself as good "travel" Italian? I'm willing to buy another set of CDs IF it will help teach me some useful vocabulary.

I love the Michel Thomas method as a learning tool....his method really is easier than the others...but at least on his Spanish cds, he didn't teach many useful "travel" phrases.

Bonjour_Voyageurs

ABSOLUTELY! Of all the countries that I have visited or lived in, the Italians were the most appreciative and receptive to my attempts in their language.
Give yourself more credit, missypie, with all of the studying you have done you will surely be able to communicate with the natives
In Firenze be sure to check out what IMHO is THE best 'gelateria' (ice cream parlor) in all of Italia. Gelateria Caribe (Via Ricasoli 66r) is not far from the Galleria dell'Accademia, Via Ricasoli 58-60 where you will find Michelangelo's 'David'. Just take a left when you exit the museum and it's just further up on the left. It is owned and run by Antonio and Loredana, a young couple orginally from Sicilia.
I know that is off track of your posting but wonderful memories of that place just popped into my head.
Michèle

missypie

Intrepid1, you wrote, "Prepare for THIS possibility: the minute some of these people find out you speak English they will want to engage you in conversation so they can improve their OWN English skills...and that is not a bad thing."

Your comment made me think of this funny story: We took our kids to Paris a couple of years ago. They were 13, 11 and 8. On our last night in Paris, we happened on a little restaurant with a new waiter who was very happy to speak English to us...he was trying to impress his boss with his English skiils, I believe. Anyway, the guy was very talkative, and his English was quite good...EXCEPT, he kept using the phrase "What the ["F" word]." I assume he had the phrase mixed up with "What the heck." After he left the table, my kids asked "Did he just say what I think he said?"

I guess the moral of the story is to be careful where you learn your foreign language....maybe my Pimsleur cds aren't so bad after all.

willit

Missypie, over the past 5 years and several trips to Italy, my Italian has evolved from "dire" through "awful" to poor.
Almost without exception I have found the Italians to be friendly, patient and appreciative of my efforts.

missypie

Thanks for the gelato recommendation. My 13 year old is not fond of museums, so I already know that a lot of gelato (and shopping) will be required on this trip.

tledford

Missypie, I tried the same Italian CD's as you did. I was pretty sure I could invite an Italian man to my place for something to eat and some beer or wine, but there was very little practical travel Italian. Don't bother finishing the tapes unless you want to have an affair while you are Italy.

PrincessOfPenguins

They would appreciate the effort. It shows that you're not some ignorant twat who thinks the world revolves around you and your language...

missypie

tledford, I'm laughing out loud...you are so right about the Pimsleur cds! Today, I got to the verb "to buy" which could be useful...But the phrase they teach is "I would like to buy sonething." Wouldn't it be so much more useful to teach "I would like to buy this"?

SallyCanuck

I've taken Italian several times at night school, listened to CDs, including Michel Thomas', and still can't speak it BUT I found that it did help me get around as I could read directions and signs on the streets, on the Metro and in the Vatican Museum so it did help. I just can't remember what to say when the time comes to say something.

SusanP

I think they definitely appreciate the effort, but if you just know the basic phrases and words, you'll be fine (hello, goodbye, please, thank you, do you speak English, I don't understand, things like that). Keep in mind that it doesn't do any good to ask a question in Italian if you're not going to understand the answer!

One of the things I learned before going last Sept was to order a half liter of the house red wine in a restaurant. The funny thing is, I guess I speak that very well and must not have too horrible an accent when I do so, because numerous times (even more when I was just in Rome at the end of March), whenever I would order the wine, the waiter would immediately go off in Italian about the specials or asking what I wanted, and then I'd have to tell him I didn't understand all that. But they definitely appreciate your attempting a little Italian.

tledford

Yes, and they really make sure you know how to say "I would like to eat something." When would you use that?
But I didn't really answer your question. Yes, they did appreciate my attempts, and you probably should keep trying. Maybe someone can give you a suggestion for a different CD set or just study a good list of basic phrases.

missypie

My kids thought it was very telling that Pimsleur pretty much devotes the entire 1st 30 minute lesson to teaching us how to say "I don't understand Italian."