Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The black cats are good. They sit on the bed. Also, they eat.

As my friends on Facebook and Twitter know only too well--because I won't shut up about it--Cosimo and I will be spending a little over a month in Rome this summer. There's no particular reason, or rather there are lots of reasons: we didn't take a proper honeymoon, both of us regret not doing study-abroad in college, we like cities, we're both half-Italian, and we both know the language a little. Five weeks isn't enough time really to count as "living abroad," but it's enough time to get to know a place and to develop some of the habits of locals. We found a lovely apartment with a huge terrace and a view of St. Peter's, in a modest middle-class neighborhood, and our plan is just to live there, as little like tourists as possible.

But this means we need to get our Italian in at least passable shape. I took an Italian-for-reading course in grad school and a basic conversational Italian class a few years ago, before my first trip to Italy; I also have years and years of French. Cosimo took one year of college-level Italian while doing his first grad degree, some fifteen years ago. In other words, we can read a newspaper and pronounce stuff, but our speaking, writing, and oral comprehension are pretty primitive.

Thus: a grammar book, homemade flashcards, audio software, and lots of Fellini films close-captioned in Italian. I've taken to going around the house pointing to things ("lo zucchero!" "le finestre!") and making pointless declarations ("i gatti guardano gli uccelli nel giardino").

My Italian will likely never be very good. But I'm reminded of how fun it was learning a foreign language in high school and college--all those games and skits and a general embracing of a more child-like relationship to language. I'm sure I'll feel differently once I'm actually in Rome and struggling to make myself understood, but there's also something freeing about being so limited in the things one can say. Not speaking a language well means you have a license, at least for a little while, to make shit up, cobbling together crazy circumlocutions and experiencing the kind of manic, creative freedom that otherwise only comes from speaking a language very well indeed.

13 comments:

Doctor Cleveland said...

Then let me ask you this:

Dov'e le fotografie dei gatti?

Questo blog ha bisogno piu fotografie dei gatti!

scr said...

Man, taking German in college just reminded me how HARD it was to learn a foreign language. Or, actually, it seemed far harder than I remember French being in middle school. So frustrating to not be able to find the words to express yourself.. either the right words, or even a roundabout way of saying what you want to say.

heu mihi said...

scr--I think that that's simply a feature of German: It's impossible to remember the *words*.

Or so I tell myself, being incapable of differentiating between the 8 billion words beginning with ein-....

cattyinqueens said...

Si, Le gente queremos el photograph de los gatos negros. Ahora! Por Favor. En la biblioteca, too.

Sisyphus said...

Wow, looking at Italian is really confusing when you know a little Spanish.

O en otras palabras: !denos las photographias de los gatos negros!

Doctor Cleveland said...

Let me ask again, slightly more grammatically;

Dove sono le fotografie dei gatti neri?

phd me said...

Oh, how fun! You must post pictures and tell us all about your adventures, linguistic and otherwise!

Flavia said...

Ah, I see now what you people care about: cats! And me thinking you came to this blog for Deep Thoughts About Language and Literature.

Luckily, I have the former, if not the latter. Henceforward this blog will be all cat photos, all the time--with whimsical captions in the four languages my C.V. claims I know.

Anonymous said...

One thing you'll have going for you is that Italians are, in general, linguistically welcoming to foreigners who make a good-faith effort to speak Italian. And since they assume, with reason, that most Americans are unwilling or unable to make that effort, you'll get points for trying. Rome is a big city, of course, hence less smiley & laid-back than the provinces. But if you find a neighborhood coffee bar you like, go back a few times, & chat with the barista when s/he's not busy, s/he will probably chat back without finding you annoying or ridiculous, even if your Italian is limited. And yes: ci vogliono delle foto dei gatti neri. More cat pics, always. And if you want a feline fix while in Rome, visit the Largo Argentina Cat Sanctuary, where I volunteered this fall. Cheers, TG

Anonymous said...

If not already on your list you may want to visit the Protestant Cemetery. Keats, Shelley, R.H. Dana, and more. http://cemeteryrome.it/about/about.html
Bon voyage

Dr. Koshary said...

Tried to tell you this yesterday, but Blogger was playing games with me. Your talk of elementary-level declarative statements in a foreign language made me think of Eddie Izzard talking about learning French. Perhaps you could coordinate your cat's activities with a cheeky monkey?

http://youtu.be/x1sQkEfAdfY

Renaissance Girl said...

Just for the record, the Largo Argentina Cat Sanctuary smells like cat pee. Are you going beyond Rome? I know you've been there before, but do you need restaurant tips? I've got a year's worth of 'em...

libellulaturca said...

Salutami la mia bella Roma e mi raccomando pero' non dimenticare di assaggiare gli squisiti e giganteschi gelati romani e di passare una serata al Campo dei Fiori.