I have always believed that you can't be too thin, too rich, or know too many languages. So it was a shock to me recently when my Italian instructor advised me otherwise. Here is what happened.
It was the first day of Italian class, a mixed level class, so the instructor asked how many of us were Italian language beginners. I raised my hand and added that I already spoke Spanish and Portuguese, which I thought would move me out of the novice category. Imagine my surprise when she said, "Forget everything you know about those languages for this class." What??? Not only was my ego bruised, but I think she was dead wrong!
One of the reasons I chose to enroll in Italian class is that Italian is a member of the Romance family of languages, that is, languages derived from Latin.
Italian was the only major Romance language that I haven't studied yet. Surely I had somewhat of a head start with this new language?
The first challenge was to attune my ear to three of the unique sounds of Italian. One of the main sound differences between Italian and Spanish is the Italian "c" in "ce" and "ci," which is pronounced like the English "ch" sound. In Spanish, the same "c" has an English "s" sound. For example, the word "cena" (supper) means "supper" in both languages, but the beginning sound is slightly different. Try saying it! Not hard, just hard to remember at times. Also, Italian "s" between vowels is an English "z" sound, which is different from Spanish, but the same as Portuguese. Try saying "casa" in Italian.
Another major sound difference in Italian and Spanish is the frequent use of double consonants in Italian, which require a longer sound. My cat, Bitsy, is a "gata" in Spanish, but in Italian, she is a "gatta." I think those double consonants give Italian a special rhythm. But the other Italian consonants and vowels are familiar to me from other Romance languages. (I'm contrasting my struggles to understand and speak Irish Gaelic, which I have been studying for about two years now!)
On to Italian vocabulary. Over 80% of words in Italian and Spanish are similar. What a blessing. I should be able to read and at least make a good guess at the majority of Italian words right now. If you know Spanish, see if you can guess the meaning of these Italian words: uno, spagnola, amico, macchina, musica, farmacia, contenta, importante, bene, casa. (Uno, española, amigo, máquina, música, farmacia, contenta, importante, bien, casa.) Fàcile, no?
My enthusiasm may diminish when I hit Italian morphology and syntax (in other words, GRAMMAR). Italian has three possible words for "the" before masculine nouns — "il," "lo," and "l'," depending on the following sound. Spanish has basically one word— "el." Italian words change from singular to plural by changing the ending vowel sounds, for example, "il libro" (the book), "i libri" (the books). Spanish makes plurals by adding "s" or "es." Italian verbs follow a typical verb paradigm for conjugation, but of course the endings for each subject must be memorized.
So does studying multiple languages act as a help or hindrance in language acquisition? I vote for help. But I can see that I am going to have to assign a portion of my brain solely to Italian so that I won't mix up the Romance languages.
Maybe I'll just dream about renting a villa in the Italian countryside to enjoy with friends and family, and Italian will find a permanent place in my soul.
No comments:
Post a Comment