Just enough Italian pronunciation

Does the experience of stumbling over place names as you travel to a foreign country sound familiar to you? Trip planning brings up the importance of pronouncing foreign words in a comprehensible fashion.

My husband, Wayne, and I ran into this very problem as we sat at our laptops recently, hoping to rent a villa in Tuscany, Italy for a summer house party with family and friends.  We found ourselves inventing pronunciations or, as a last resort, spelling the name aloud to each other. Communication slowed to a crawl as we tried to help each other locate listings or find cities on a map.

Explanations of correct pronunciation of the Italian language abound on the Internet.  But who wants to wade through a lot of technical phonetic information?  Not even me, who claims to love anything and everything related to Linguistics!  So I decided to take the baby step of writing down ten Tuscan place names and learning just enough to pronounce them according to rules of Italian pronunciation.

My native language is English, but I also speak Spanish.  I began the task by ignoring Italian sounds that are similar to Spanish.  (So I'm going to speak Italian with a Spanish accent? Probably!)

I struck the five vowel sounds off my list, even though Italian has open and closed versions of "e" and "o" which Spanish does not.  I figured I could pick up that difference by listening to native speakers.

First I learned that most Italian words are pronounced with the stress on the next to the last syllable.  Some words carry stress on the last syllable or the third from the last syllable.  I'll be on the lookout for those exceptions as I listen to spoken Italian.

Here is my list of Tuscan place names that may require special attention to pronounce correctly.

*Bagni di Lucca.  The "gn" is similar to the Spanish "ñ" or the "ny" in the English "canyon."  Double "c" requires a longer pronunciation.

*Ponte Buggianese.  The "gg" is a challenge because the first "g" is the familiar hard sound (as in "golf" in Spanish or English) but the second "g" appears before the vowel "i", so it takes on a soft sound, like the English "gem."  The "s" between vowels becomes a "z" sound.

*Casciana Terme.  The letter combination "sci" becomes a "sh" sound.

*Pienza.  "Z' in the middle of a word is "ts."

*Ponticino.  "C" before "i" has a "ch" sound like "China" in Spanish or English This is a hard rule for me to remember!

*Arezzo. The "zz"  is a strong "ts" sound.

*Cinigiano.  A real challenge!  The vowel "i" is changing both the "c" to a "ch" sound and the "g" to a sound like the beginning of "gem" in English.

*Magliano in Toscana.  The "gl" sound is close to the "ll" in the English "million."

*Pisa.  The "s" sound once again becomes "z" between vowels.

Well, that little exercise was not too painful.  Now I know to watch out for "c" and "g" followed by "i," double consonants, and "s" and "z" in certain word positions.

It's a start on acquiring as much of the Italian language as I can before this summer.  Arrivederci!

How much Italian can I learn in six months?

In six months, I hope to be relaxing by the pool in a villa in Tuscany with friends and family.

And, before we leave,  I intend to indulge my passion for other languages by learning something of the Italian language.  I may never overcome my introverted nature to actually speak to an Italian, but what a super excuse to learn something about another language.  The question is:  How much Italian can I reasonably learn before I arrive in Italy?

Setting an appropriate goal for second language learning is anything but a straightforward decision. I often start with a lofty goal and then give up.  So many factors must be considered — time available for study, dedication to study, materials to utilize, opportunities to practice the language, former experiences with languages, the list goes on.

First I have to curb my enthusiasm for a new language.  I must admit to being a bit of a language junkie, always wanting to try something novel and exciting.  Will I ever be able to read Dante's Inferno in the original Italian?  Doubtful.  I probably won't even get around to reading an English translation of it, if the truth be known.  Will I be able to understand conversations around me in Italian?  Also, very doubtful, unless they are close enough to Spanish or Portuguese to catch the drift.  Will I be able to work out a problem at the train ticket window in Italian?  Also, extremely doubtful.  Stressful situations do not bring out my best language efforts.

So with these caveats in mind, what can I reasonably expect to accomplish in Italian from January to June, keeping in mind that the real world has a habit of messing with our best laid plans?  Here's the study list I am planning to start with.

* Learn the sounds of Italian that are different from other Romance languages I have studied.  Being able to read and pronounce even names of locations is a great help in planning a trip and navigating once we arrive.  My husband, Wayne, and I once made a reservation at a B&B on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, the Bredalbane.  We had been calling it the BREdalbane, and couldn't figure out why no one could give us directions to it until someone realized we are asking for the BreDALbane.

*Make a list of twenty possible questions on flashcards that I may ask in Italy, such as, "Where is the train station?", "How much does it cost?", or "Please bring me a coffee."  

*Make a list of three possible responses on the reverse of each of the question flashcards above.  It is pretty scary to ask a question in a foreign language if you fear that you can't understand the answer.

*Complete the "tree" in Italian on DuoLingo to get an overview of essential grammar and vocabulary.

This knowledge will be especially useful in reading signs and menus.  As an added bonus, I get to analyze how the Italian language is put together, just to satisfy my curiosity.

*Investigate other online language learning apps, such as Italian by Nemo, which gives the opportunity to pronounce Italian and listen to yourself to check pronunciation against the original.  Listening to myself speak Italian may give me confidence to speak, or not, depending on how I judge my performance!

* Pledge an extra 10 minutes a day to study Italian along with my daily study of other languages on Duolingo.

Hmm.  Where do they say that road leads that is paved with good intentions?   I would love to hear about successful activities of other language learners, just to keep myself motivated.  So many fun things to do in life, so little time!