Kira Klein, Engineering Perspectives of the Renaissance and Sustainability: Florence Summer 2023
While not required, I did learn a bit of Italian for this program. I did Duolingo Italian for about 160 days before the program, and during it. I could generally say common phrases, such as hello, good day/evening night, and order food. However, Duolingo is very different than actually using the words in conversation, so it can be a bit difficult to have the confidence to practice in person. Many people especially at shops do speak English, so it can feel silly trying to practice Italian if it’s “not needed” – 98% of the time though, I found that Italian people enjoyed and supported it if you were at least trying to say things in Italian- it was a really lovely atmosphere. Sometimes they would help with pronunciation, give you time, and appreciate you trying. The 2% of the time, occasionally people were in a rush or just weren’t in the mood and didn’t seem to appreciate the broken Italian and did not want to help- but this was rare. People are definitely very specific about the pronunciation. Generally Italian is a pretty easy pronunciation to understand, but certain words Italians would act as if they could not understand at all even if I pronounced it very similarly to them. This was a bit frustrating, since when people are learning English, I feel like I give them a lot of grace with it and totally understand that learning a language is hard, but Italians are very particular about their pronunciation. Since I am not a native Italian speaker, I don’t have their perspective – and I think maybe because of the language profiles, Romance languages are harder to understand if not perfect than Germanic languages like English. Generally though, people were enthused that I even tried to say it in Italian (often ordering food) and had patience and offered help if needed. They usually speak back in English, especially if they have a question (such as “do you want your food to-go” or “are you paying with cash or card?”) – but sometimes, they would respond in Italian, and I often had to ask for English- but not always! It can be a bit awkward, but these are the realities of learning a new language – you have to practice with people in everyday situations! I definitely got best at ordering food in Italian because I bought food frequently from the wealth of cafes, coffeeshops, and restaurants in Florence. For example, I learned the types of and words for Italian coffee, different pastries, and common sandwich and pizza words. This will get you far in Italy! I had taken 4 years of Spanish in high school – so while it has been awhile since I took it, it definitely helped me to learn Italian and even a few times I got to speak in Spanish with Italians who spoke better Spanish than English. Spanish made it easier for me to learn and pronounce Italian, and while many words are not cognates between those languages, it was still a good background to have. For example, I made some friends while hiking who were my age, and they spoke some English but not much, but they also spoke some Spanish. Thus, we played a fun game of chatting but sometimes hopping between 3 languages to find the right word and to understand each other. Overall, learning Italian was definitely not necessary in Florence as English speakers and English signage is very common. However, I am very glad that I did delve into the language a bit and got to practice it and learn it- especially in ‘hands-on situations’ like ordering food.
Leave a Reply