Italian Update

Wow! Is it April already?

For the past 3 1/2 months, I have been doing a little experiment with Italian. If you want to know all the details, see my post here.

For the short version, I am doing about 5-10 minutes a day of studying Italian and am interested to find out at what level I'll be able to speak it at the end of the year. Keep in mind, this is coming after having a base in Spanish and French, which are both very related to Italian.

So how's it going?

Well, first off, I'm actually following through with it. It's amazing how when you set a goal for only 5-10 minutes, it is honestly pretty easy to accomplish during your day. Sometimes I find myself about to go to sleep, and think "Oh no! Italian!" and I do it really quick. Other times, I save it for the morning and just do two the next day (I know, not quite fitting it into my day, but sometimes you need to be flexible with yourself). But as a whole, I haven't forgotten any days, which means 103 days of learning Italian so far!

Because of the COVID-19 situation, I haven't been able to keep up with my Living Language desk calendar. I'll have to bring it home with me the next time I go into the clinic. There will be many days to review.

Secondly, I think I'm actually learning Italian! It's so cool. I have to thank Duolingo for that. I chose this app for my experiment because the visuals and sounds are really quite fun and you can learn grammar and vocabulary at the same time. It's not the most thorough program, but it is good for a 5 minutes/day type of plan. I found out that the "Tips" button does show you some extra pointers too. If you haven't looked at that before, definitely take a look. It's good for reviewing some concepts as well.

Third thing to mention... This is the first time I've tried writing a journal in another language. I most certainly should have started doing this before. The simple effort of trying to come up with new questions and sentences to work on those expressive skills makes a big difference. Sometimes I need to go back and look up a word, which makes me realize I didn't quite absorb it the first time. I think this will really help with the speaking piece actually.

Lastly, Italian is so much fun. I don't know if it's due to all of the vowel endings, but Italian is so much fun to say out loud. I'm probably exaggerating it in my head a little bit, but oh well, it's fun. There's days when I want to learn more, but I stop myself for sake of the experiment. I definitely recommend to anyone who is thinking of learning a new language to go with Italian. I do feel like it is a bit easier than French and Spanish too, but who knows if it's because of my experience with other romance languages. You will also be able to understand the menu a bit more at your favorite Italian restaurant!

All in all, things are going well. I can produce some good sentences, and read and understand way more. I'm excited to see the results of this experiment!

Don't forget to keep checking in with me on Facebook and Instagram @livingonlanguage