Back from Italy!
Just got back from my two week vacation to Italy. It was my first time there, and I have to give some major credit to Fluenz for making the experience even better. It was surreal getting to Venice, and suddenly everyone is speaking in Italian. Yes, I expected it, but experiencing it is another matter. What really blew me away was when I spoke in Italian and people actually understood me! Truly amazing. During my first few days there, I had some limited conversations with folks in the hotel and in restaurants, and also had to cancel a dinner reservation by phone (that made me nervous, but it went just fine).
Some observations I had on pronunciation....these are my impressions only, take them for what they are worth. Grazie....indeed all vowels pronounced, and with a tendency to "sit" on that first vowel....GRA....zee-ay...... Buona Sera....the first vowel in "sera" sounded a lot more closed to me than I was saying. I was pronouncing Sera as the woman's name Sarah. But what I heard was more like "seera", more closed on the first vowel, if that makes any sense. Ciao, often sounded like “Chow-ooooh” with a longer “ooo” sound at the end, sometimes drawn out.
I also joked with my husband that the key to some words was to sound as bored as possible....for example, we often heard "permesso", but imagine being really bored as you say "permeh.....sooooo". Buona Sera sometimes came across that way too, but mostly in Venice.
Other things: the word Prego is used a LOT. I was a bit caught off guard initially, because I never heard anything like "posso aiutarla?" Its always "prego?" and if I motioned to a table I wanted, the response was also "prego". At the food market? Vendor says, "Prego?" And so on. Waiters also often say “posso?” before taking your plate.
I did not hear the word "gassata" until we got to Rome. Before that, it was always "frizzante", as in "Naturale o frizzante?" A question that is always asked, so be ready.
I was complimented on my pronunciation a few times, with one woman in Siena saying she can always tell Americans by how they pronounce "T" in Italian. Somehow I was doing it right, I think she meant not over pronouncing it, the tongue is further back in the mouth, almost like a "d". That same woman asked if I spoke Spanish, she couldn't tell I was American. I thank the Fluenz program for that!
When you use decent grammar and pronounce words reasonably well, the assumption is that you actually speak Italian. I was often met with a long response in Italian that I had trouble understanding. No worries, they either repeated it or switched to English. I had a nice conversation with a woman in Rome, mostly in Italian, but at times I would switch to English, then back to Italian, and that worked fine.
One waiter politely corrected my misuse of the word “pieno”. I was trying to say that I was full, but that is not the word to use. He said it is not “elegant” to use “pieno” with a person, you only use it for things, like a bottle. He explained that the word would be “sazio” (or in my case, “sazia”), to indicate “satiated”. He did this in a helpful manner and I was grateful for the correction.
All in all we had a great time, thanks in part to the Fluenz program. I caught pieces of other people’s conversations (for example, hearing an older Italian woman crossing a bridge over the grand canal say “I feel like I’m climbing the mountain of Venice”, but in Italian). I could express most of what I wanted or needed to say, and believe I did so correctly for the most part. Comprehension was tougher, but mostly ok because there was always context.
In case anyone is wondering, I relied on Levels 1-3 for the most part, with very little from levels 4-5, apart from some vocabulary (vietato, binario, etc). I don’t believe I ever used the more complicated verb tenses, though once in a while I heard them and it was useful to understand. I’m certainly glad I did levels 4 and 5, just saying that for a vacation, 1-3 would suffice.
Ciao Ciao! (another observation…. “ciao” and “si” are often used several times. Its cute).
Status:
Open Jun 04, 2013 - 09:05 AM
Italian, Italian > Culture