I agree with chanchisfea. Both my parents spoke Italian. My dad spoke fluent spanish and some french, too. I know some italian...I guess you would say, a mixture of the napolitano dialect and sicilian. My mother..whose family was napolitano..mixed in some sicilian with her italian, because she was picking it up from my father.

They spoke english in the home..unless we went to my grandmothers or they didnt want us to know what they were talking about.

I know phrases and words..but not enough to converse in or understand everything.

I have tried many times, to increase my italian vocabulary. I have books and a computer program. The thing is..if you dont use it..you lose it. The italian that I know..is that from my childhood. What I tried to learn from the books and computer..doesnt stick.

Most of the italian speaking people that I knew..died...so if I learned..I wouldnt have anyone to talk to..lol

Ya know..they came here to be americans..but they did their children a great injustice by not teaching us the italian language.

Hmm..I edited my post..and it popped up up to the top. How did that happen?

I have decided! I will learn the English!
Even if will be difficult, I have to learn your language! I want to understand what you write here!
Do you have some suggestions to give to me?
Tonight I will look at a fiction with the subtitles in English and me I will buy a book of grammar.
Riccardo as you have done to learn the English??

Good for you Alessandra!

We'll all help you.

Thanks Nuccia!
I wonder if there are a lot of differences between the English and the American.

Wonderful.....

It is sad....myself, my cousins....we do not speak Italian...only to know some words........but our parents do......I think by the time we were born,
it did not matter anymore.......but I want to learn Italian very much.

All of us here will help you always!!!!!

Lee

Thanks Lee! Also I would like to help you to learn Italian.
I understand that it is very difficult to learn a completely different foreign language.
I don't have problems with the Spanish language because she is a neo-Latin language as Italian!

Hi Alessandra. Perhaps these links could be useful.
Ciao Ale, forse questi link possono esserti utili.

nspeak.com (qualche nozione di grammatica)
verbix.com (per coniugare i verbi: molto utile!!! fidati!)
Quiz (per fare un po' di pratica)



In bocca al lupo!

Grazie per i link!! Sar

Hi Alessandra,

From my experience, I can say that you need surround yourself with people who speak the language you want to learn. Having people available to translate for you does not help you in your learning process.


I came to the United States without a word of English, I lived with one of my aunts here and it took me about 9 months to "understand" what people were saying, but it took me about 12 months to gather the courage to actually say one word, mostly because I feared people would laugh at me

My aunt did something very smart from the get go though...about three months after I had arrived at her place, she told me that if I needed anything (food, basic need items, etc.) that I would have to start asking for those things in English. She wasn't going to translate for me from that point forward...I was scared, to say the least But she had the right idea because it "made" try harder. I did watch a lot of television to get used to the sounds and how words were pronounced, that was a HUGE help for me!!

Since I liked listening to music, I would sing along a song with the written words in front of me, so I could repeat them over and over again.

Also, writing down everyday phrases, sayings & sentences was a very useful thing.


I don't know how much of what I just wrote will help you get started, but I think the fact that you are trying and WANT TO LEARN is a huge plus.

Good luck!


Liz

Sono certa che ce la farai!
Se hai bisogno di una mano (nei limiti della mia scarsa conoscenza dell'Inglese ) chiedi pure, ok?
Ciao!

Listening to music has been a big help to me, I have also the language
Cd's.....but they are sooooo boring........and there is no one to practice with. My mother is always correcting me......even after I have just finished a Cd...so I know my pronunciation is correct......I think because she speaks a dialect as Nonni did.......

I would like to try and write some things in Italian.....but scaird to make a mistake........
Lee

Alessandra,
Good luck learning english. I'm glad you are learning because it will make it so much easier for you when you travel here!

Alessandra wrote:

Thanks Nuccia! I wonder if there are a lot of differences between the English and the American.

Yes, Alessandra, the American is MUCH better (especially the New York version).

Do they have Berlitz CDs and books in Italy for Alessandra to use? I used several of theses CDs and books to learn conversational Italian. It helps to hear the words spoken by native speakers. Then, I took a course for the grammar at a school to learn.