davywavy: (Default)
[personal profile] davywavy
I've always had a resistance to going to Italy; my mental image of it is a place filled with short people who will happily pinch my bottom/wallet/kidneys as soon as look at me. As time has passed I've grown more used to this idea, possibly because working in Stevenage means that I'm surrounded every day by short people who would shiv me without a second thought, and who jabber incomprehensibly to one another non-stop. So it is that, as pretty much everyone I know who has travelled has said only good things about Italy, I'm increasingly coming round to the idea of going. I mean, look at all the good things that the Italians have ever given us: Caligula, La Cicciolina, The Borgias...

The problem with me going to Italy would be the language barrier - I've got enough survival level Greek and Spanish to at least get by in those countries, but my command of Italian is limited to names of pasta and musical notation. In some ways this isn't so bad - I can indulge in the two main national Italian pastimes, namely ordering in restaurants ("Linguini, presto!"), and having sex ("Largo...largo..largo...Fortissimo! Fortissimo! Crescendo! Crescendo!"), but I have to say that doing anything else would leave me at something of a loss.

Any ideas?

Date: 2004-08-09 02:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com
We actually found, at least in Venice and Rome, you can get by with English and only sort of conversational Italian. I had one nice young woman in a coffee shop hold up the new Euro-Cent after hearing an American accent, demanding to know 'How you say THIS?' To which a phonetics lesson went: 'SENT' 'KENT?' 'SENT, like, I sent a package' 'Ahhhh! SENT!'

Where are you going? If it's Florence, I'll kill you.


Date: 2004-08-09 03:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davywavy.livejournal.com
I'm not sure if I am going. It's just that everyone who has ever been there, ever, has been positive - and it's wearing down my resistance to going over time.

Sister has been invited on a villa holiday in Tuscany and it got me thinking about this.

Yes!

Date: 2004-08-09 03:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com
You should definitely go. I had always wanted to head off to Venice, just for the art. It well exceeded expectations. The Scuala is amazing, for one, the Titian paintings.. Oh my god. One thing you should be prepared for though, despite the plethora of tourists they still tend to stare at the blondes. I got looked at a lot. It's fairly impressive to walk the same places that someone like, say, Goethe walked, go to the prison...

Florence is on my list, there's a sculpture there called 'The Ecstasy of St. Theresa' by Bernini I must see before I die. The Vatican is just, wow, awe inspiring with the view over Rome.

The Romans kind of suck though, I was actually pushed out of the way by a monk on the underground system.

Just one (more) cornetto

Date: 2004-08-09 02:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rosamicula.livejournal.com
All the restaurant staff will speak fluent English at you and sneer at you in Italian behind your back - probably mocking your shoes/hair/sunburn.

I think you'd have more chance of pulling una bella donna if she couldn't understand a word you were saying. I'm sure you that if you tried your 'scopata adesso' line the results would be more smorzando than bravura...

Re: Just one (more) cornetto

Date: 2004-08-09 03:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davywavy.livejournal.com
That's me all over - trying chat up lines that I don't even know what they mean.

It's got to be better than my usual efforts, anyway.

Re: Just one (more) cornetto

Date: 2004-08-09 03:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rosamicula.livejournal.com
I'm sure you'd just stay true to your Yorkshire heritage and shout loudly and slowly in English at both waiters and women, whilst muttering under your breath about tanks with extra reverse gears.

Re: Just one (more) cornetto

Date: 2004-08-09 03:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davywavy.livejournal.com
I do that in this country, I'll do that in theirs. I see no reason to change.

RIP = relic in perpetuity

Date: 2004-08-09 03:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rosamicula.livejournal.com
'Here lies David Wade. He saw no reason to change'.

Re: RIP = relic in perpetuity

Date: 2004-08-09 03:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davywavy.livejournal.com
"Shot by a jealous huisband at the age of 136."

Date: 2004-08-09 03:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] student-heaven.livejournal.com
A childhood spent taking classical music exams leaves me with many useful phrases along the same lines. For example, I know the handy conversational phrase "fast but not too fast", which is really helpful in very specific situations.

Date: 2004-08-09 03:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davywavy.livejournal.com
And I have the phrase "Grande con Moto", which is also pretty handy.

Date: 2004-08-09 03:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nevecat.livejournal.com
Italian is really easy to pick up, if you're linguistically minded.

Aurally, a lot of it's very similar to Spanish/French.

eg: Que/Che - french/italian (possibly Spanish too - I can piece spanish together a bit from french/italian/latin, rather than knowing it independently) for 'What' - very very similar to the ear, despite being spelt differently.

Spelling is consistent and phonetic, so using a phrase book isn't difficult (the little phrasebook that Collins' publishes, with a tape, is very good - does include right up to basic business/romance Italian, rather than just 'where is the beach?' ;)

It's also just damn intuitive -

Quanta costa? - How much is it?
Buongiorno - Good day
Buona sera - Good evening
Buona notte - Good night
Arrivederci - Goodbye
Grazias - Thankyou
Per favore - Please
Comme sta? - How are you?
Sta Bene - I'm good/I'm fine.
Ciao! - Hi/Bye

(quite possibly mis-spelt, I learnt most of this about 7 years ago...)

The one thing that's a pain if you're used to speaking French is learning *not* to roll your R's.

Date: 2004-08-09 03:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com
I did notice that, Grazi, (Gracias), Buona notte (Buenos Noches), Comme sta (Como Estas?), Per Favore (por favor.) Very easy :D

Date: 2004-08-09 03:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] twicedead.livejournal.com
No, non sempre in ritardo

No, I am not always late. It's the totality of the Italian I remember. I just say "si" a lot.

Date: 2004-08-09 04:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] student-heaven.livejournal.com
heh heh. That reminds me of "excusez-moi-je-suis-en-retard", which came up once every lesson for seven years of French and is therefore burned into my brain forever.

Date: 2004-08-09 04:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davywavy.livejournal.com
And 'Je suis fatigue' which we always tried to make the fattest kid in class say, for purposes of mockery.

Date: 2004-08-09 04:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] student-heaven.livejournal.com
ah, the immaturity's coming back to me now! incredibly, mistranslating "en retard" as "a retard" remained funny for years! I am a retard! Ha ha ha ha...etc.

Date: 2004-08-09 04:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davywavy.livejournal.com
I direct you here: www.playgroundlaw.com for more such jollity.

Date: 2004-08-09 04:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] student-heaven.livejournal.com
Been there! Read every entry, thinking "actually, that's quite funny" and sniggering, which is a bit worrying as I'm meant to be a proper grown-up and all.

Thanks anyway though.

Date: 2004-08-09 04:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davywavy.livejournal.com
Yeah, it has passed many a dull hour at work for me.

And *you're* supposed to be a grown up? What does that make me? Dead?

Lonely Planet Phrasebook

Date: 2004-08-09 09:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] applez.livejournal.com
In my experience, those phrasebooks can add a great deal to your native language sexual lexicon. :-)

Date: 2004-08-09 11:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] puddingcat.livejournal.com
They'll all (mostly) understand English. Anyway, Italian's easy, if you make a bit of an effort.

Oh. Wait.

(Can I say "I told you so" when you get back?

Date: 2004-08-09 01:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davywavy.livejournal.com
Jungle begins at Calais, luv.

Date: 2004-08-09 02:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] puddingcat.livejournal.com
Can I slap you for saying "luv"? I think I'd prefer l33t 5p3ak.

You're a bright lad. Italian's just Latin with less variable sentence structure. Should I tell you that it has to be easy for foreigners to speak it?

Date: 2004-08-09 02:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davywavy.livejournal.com
It's that collection of randomly used grunts clicks, whistles and soft hooting noises that foreigners use to communicate. Leaves me cold every time.

Date: 2004-08-09 02:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] puddingcat.livejournal.com
But it's almost Latin. And you know what I think of Latin. I can't be the only one.

Date: 2004-08-14 06:47 am (UTC)
cryx: me showing off hair done by a stylist from paris (Default)
From: [personal profile] cryx
go with a big group of people, one at least who has a better grasp than you ;)
Page generated Jul. 30th, 2025 09:59 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios