Chi vuole imparare l’italiano? – Part One

Learning a foreign language is a form of self-discovery. It’s a personal renaissance. You become another version of yourself, and it’s divine. You’re starting over, and what a beautiful rebirth.

                                                                                          (Robyn Matthew, Language Logic)

After the summer holidays, I decided to switch gears and fully immerse myself in the Italian language by taking intensive courses, five days a week, right in the heart of the historic center of Naples. Before the summer I was unsure about making this decision, as the classes were costly and I would also be giving up incoming money to do this venture; but in the end, throwing myself into the Italian language was the best decision of my sojourn thus far. In conjunction with my solid grammatical foundation that my professors at UBC provided and my speaking and listening practice with Gio’s family and my Italian friends since May, taking intensive courses was exactly the push I needed to make it over my personal linguistic hill.

               Regarding my Italian classes, it was in my favor that there is currently a global economic crisis and that Naples has been getting bad press recently (for example, the American who got robbed minutes after walking off his cruise ship and subsequently died from falling and hitting his head during the ordeal). These factors have, unfortunately for the school, resulted in a drop in registration this year. Obviously, for a selfish language student such as myself, I benefitted tremendously from the low registration. For example, one week there were no other advanced students, so I had private lessons for the entire week. I was in linguistic heaven! Some students might find four hours of personal lessons a bit much, but at my level and in my situation (where I’m speaking Italian all day anyways), it was gloriously useful. I was able to take the time to work out the details, such as my bewildering mental block when pronouncing the stress correctly in the first-person plural of the imperfetto tense.

               Even though I did have one luxurious week of underpriced personal attention, there were other students coming and going in a steady flow, in my classes and the other levels. The Centro Italiano is a language school for foreigners, which means there is an ethnic mix of students; but, more importantly, there is quite a mix of reasons why each student has come to the school. I stayed longer at the Centro than the average student, so I got a good cross-section of the types of people who come to learn Italian. Here is a list of types of people who came to Naples to immerse themselves in the language. A number of people straddle two or even three categories, but for the most part, this is who I encountered . . .

The lovers

Le innamorate degli uomini italiani – The lovers of Italian men

I’ll start with the category with which I identify myself most.  Italy is sensually and romantically abundant in just about every way imaginable, from the food, to the art, to the weather and, of course, to the men. I say “men” instead of “people” because, as one of my teachers told me, in her 20 years of teaching at the Centro, less than five foreign men have taken classes to brush up the language of their Italian girlfriends. For whatever reason, which I still haven’t quite figured out (though I’ve heard many theories), Italian woman are less likely to fall for a foreign man than their male compatriots. The Italian men, however, seem to have made it their duty to make up for this shortcoming in love that Italian women bestow upon foreigners.

Let me confess that before studying at the Centro, I felt like my situation with Gio was unique and, well, special. It was humbling to be reminded that, no, we are not the only two people from different countries who’ve fallen in love. And no, we are not the only two people who’ve ever had to make some fancy life maneuvers to be with each other. In fact, according to the teachers at the Centro, just by taking a look at me and guessing my age, they’d have more than a 50% chance of guessing why I had come to take Italian classes.

So, while Gio and I may not be completely unique, we are in good company. It’s interesting to compare all of our respective situations, and see just how each couple is making things work. If there is a will, there is a way, especially when love is concerned. And, if learning a new language is a product of love, then I’d say a cross-cultural relationship is probably one of the best things a gal can do for her brain!

The military wives

Naples is host to an American military base, as well as various big-name industries. A number of women have chosen to follow their husbands on duty across the ocean to Italy. Because of the frustrating work-permit situation in Italy, along with the fact that it is very hard to get work if you don’t speak the language, taking language classes is a productive way to fill the day – and necessary if the woman wants to get work. For the most part, the women I’ve met are vivacious, late-twenty-somethings who plan on being in Naples for a finite period of time (from six weeks to a few years). Because of the temporary nature of their sojourns, the English speaking company they have in Naples, and an English speaking partner, there is definitely a difference in linguistic motivation between the two groups of lovers. I feel linguistically fortunate to be able to demand to Gio that “We are only speaking to each other in Italian from now on” (which I did!)

Those who are making optimum use out of their golden years

I have a particular sense of respect towards this group of learners. What an inspirational way to spend the time after a whole adult life of working! The people I’ve met in this category are about as far from the rocking chair as I can imagine; because, if they keep going with their linguistic pursuits, I’ve heard that language learning creates the same type of brain synapses that reduce the likelihood of diseases such as Alzheimers.

I hold these men and women in such high esteem because not only have they chosen to continue learning, but they have chosen to do this Naples. Naples is not an easy city for even the strapping-est of lads. It’s chaotic. It’s got ongoing garbage issues. It’s got the most incredible traffic in the Western world. On my walk to the Centro from the train station alone any number of things can, and did, happen: someone may just bark in your ear as you pass, another someone may follow you half a block pestering you for one of the cough drops you just popped into your mouth, or, perhaps! someone a good thirty years your senior might try to hit on you while you are trying to enjoy your morning cappuccino. I must have the luck of a whole SPCA’s worth of cats on my side, since I almost got hit by a car or a scooter every. single. day. My elbow did get bashed once by a side mirror as I was talking on my cell phone, and I still consider myself quite lucky. My point is, anyone with any sort of mobility issues is going to find the constant inundation of people and traffic very hard to deal with.  

To be fair, two particular golden-year friends I made have both expressed to me that they probably wouldn’t chomp at the bit to return to Naples anytime soon. Along with everything else, both were staying right in the center of the city, where the noise is unrelenting, even in the “dead” of night. However, both were able to get a lot out of their experiences in Naples, which is an incredibly rich city in terms of culture and art. And, I know that my new friends will be continuing their pursuit of proficiency in the Italian language. In some way or other, Naples and the Centro managed to foster their love of the Italian language.

Getting on an airplane, at the age of 65+, to attend classes, in the most chaotic city in Europe, with predominantly younger students, is an inspiration. They have become role models for me to never stop learning.

This is a two-part blog, since there are just too many people to speak about who want to learn Italian. Stay tuned for Part Two!

Questo blog è dedicato a Sandra ed Emma per la pacienza, l’aiuto e l’inspirazione che ogni giorno mi hanno dato.