L'italiano
Nov. 19th, 2003 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancerjodiI keep forgetting to look at the lyrics from Lacuna Coil's "Senzafine". I want to see if I can actually read them.
In high school I took 4 years of Italian. The first three were with an exceptional teacher and I learned quite a bit, if I had a partner to converse with on a regular basis I'd be confident going to Italy and talking to everyone about anything. In my senior year however I ended up with a shitty teacher who was also an accountant part time (!) - so we watched movies most of the time during tax season. Needless to say if you don't use it, you lose it.
So in college I didn't pass the Foreign Language exam and I had to take two more years of Italian (at the time Simmons was great for having lots of requirements other schools didn't, like we had a Physical Education requirement too!). The professor there was right off the boat and lived in the North End with her sexy and young husband and their baby daughter. She was fabulous, she helped me gain back what I had learned in HS and even more. We not only focused on language but culture (historic and recent). I think my most challenging project was doing a presentation on Dante Gabriel Rossetti, where I had to write a 1-page paper about him and then MEMORIZE it so that I could present it to the class without reading. Damn, but I did it and got an A+.
Where does my italian ability lay now? Well, when I finished the courses in college I could read it very well, but conversation was tough because my brain needed a few minutes to figure out what things meant. If I had someone to converse with I'm sure it would have gotten more comfortable. But (heh) if you don't use it you lose it.
Another item on the long list of things that Jodi will do when she's done with grad school is become comfortable with the language again. I still have my school books (very good ones too, I think) and having the North End nearby is a good resource (despite the fact that it becomes less and less Italian). I want to get some CDs to listen to in the car. Brian even mentioned possibly wanting to familiarize himself with the language - that will come in really handy on our eventual trip to Italy (we're following *his* heritage this spring for our 5th anniversary - I'm hoping we'll follow mine later, heh, probably won't be till our 10th anniversary).
But listening to that Lacuna Coil CD in the car this morning kind of served to remind me that I haven't lost it all. I was thinking to myself: "OK, what's verb for 'to buy'? How would I say 'I'm driving to work'?". There's a lot of this information in my head, I just have to pull it out again.
Around this time of the year I tend to think of family, nationality and traditions more, so you'll probably see lots of these kinds of posts in the next month or so :)
I think I want to go to the North End for dinner on Friday :)
In high school I took 4 years of Italian. The first three were with an exceptional teacher and I learned quite a bit, if I had a partner to converse with on a regular basis I'd be confident going to Italy and talking to everyone about anything. In my senior year however I ended up with a shitty teacher who was also an accountant part time (!) - so we watched movies most of the time during tax season. Needless to say if you don't use it, you lose it.
So in college I didn't pass the Foreign Language exam and I had to take two more years of Italian (at the time Simmons was great for having lots of requirements other schools didn't, like we had a Physical Education requirement too!). The professor there was right off the boat and lived in the North End with her sexy and young husband and their baby daughter. She was fabulous, she helped me gain back what I had learned in HS and even more. We not only focused on language but culture (historic and recent). I think my most challenging project was doing a presentation on Dante Gabriel Rossetti, where I had to write a 1-page paper about him and then MEMORIZE it so that I could present it to the class without reading. Damn, but I did it and got an A+.
Where does my italian ability lay now? Well, when I finished the courses in college I could read it very well, but conversation was tough because my brain needed a few minutes to figure out what things meant. If I had someone to converse with I'm sure it would have gotten more comfortable. But (heh) if you don't use it you lose it.
Another item on the long list of things that Jodi will do when she's done with grad school is become comfortable with the language again. I still have my school books (very good ones too, I think) and having the North End nearby is a good resource (despite the fact that it becomes less and less Italian). I want to get some CDs to listen to in the car. Brian even mentioned possibly wanting to familiarize himself with the language - that will come in really handy on our eventual trip to Italy (we're following *his* heritage this spring for our 5th anniversary - I'm hoping we'll follow mine later, heh, probably won't be till our 10th anniversary).
But listening to that Lacuna Coil CD in the car this morning kind of served to remind me that I haven't lost it all. I was thinking to myself: "OK, what's verb for 'to buy'? How would I say 'I'm driving to work'?". There's a lot of this information in my head, I just have to pull it out again.
Around this time of the year I tend to think of family, nationality and traditions more, so you'll probably see lots of these kinds of posts in the next month or so :)
I think I want to go to the North End for dinner on Friday :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-11-19 06:09 am (UTC)Italian
Date: 2003-11-19 06:12 am (UTC)Yes!
Does your family speak it all? I'm so removed from it (my Gram's parents came over from Italy when they were kids) so I didn't grow up with it. Gram did though, she can understand it but can't speak it kind of like where I was in HS.
Re: Italian
Date: 2003-11-19 06:20 am (UTC)Only the curses. ;)
no subject
Date: 2003-11-19 06:18 am (UTC)But (heh) if you don't use it you lose it.
Tell Di that, will yah? ;) If I were Dictator for a Day, I'd make her stop being so shy/stubborn/busy/whatever and make her find an outlet to practice her French so she doesn't completely lose 10 +/- years of traning in it.
PS
Date: 2003-11-19 06:18 am (UTC)Mmmmm, eclair's from Mike's Pastries.
Re: PS
Date: 2003-11-19 07:06 am (UTC)Nah, Modern Bakery is way fresher (so says Helena that grew up in the North End and worked at both places). I'm not sure about how it would apply to their eclairs, but I know that Mike's pre-fills their cannoli so they can sit there for a while if its not busy (its not *all* the time :) ). Modern fills em as you buy them.
Great, now I'm hungry! :)
There is a Modern Bakery down the street from my work, though I haven't stopped there yet to get pastry. I may make a stop for the holidays though - I can't forget!
Re: PS
Date: 2003-11-19 07:18 am (UTC)Re: PS
Date: 2003-11-19 07:36 am (UTC)The problem is, its a take-out place (not eat in). So its good to stop there and bring food home for dessert. Its small so expect the lines at Mikes only going out into the street and around the corner. Still, its yummy and seems more local and less touristy :)
The one in Medford is in Medford Square right on Rt. 60 - about 5 minutes from my work. We've found the quality to be just as good as the store in Boston.
If I get a chance I can pick some goodies up this week (maybe Friday). We could have some yummies on Sunday if you guys make it over.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-19 07:38 am (UTC)Scorre lento il mio tempo
Che scivola sul velo della mia pella nuda
Se oltrepassassi il confine che mi hai dato
Forse io non sarei qui
Da adesso ormai che senso ha
Cercare di abbracciare un passato più puro
Guardando avanti rischierò
Ma riesco a rispondere ai miei perché
Tutto cio che sarai
Era già stato scritto
Se davvero esiste
Questo dio ha fallito
Ogni parola pronunciata
Sarà lo specchio del tuo dolore
Riflette la colpa
Alimenta l'odio
Madre
Il mio destino scelgo
Se riesco a resistere
Sono ancora in piedi in questo istante di pura follia
Non so più se desiderare il bene o il male
Anche se il peccato forse più mi da
Da adesso ormai che senso ha
Opporre resistenza a un destino segnato
Non resterò a guardare senza
Riuscire a resisterti
Risvegliarmi
Madre
Il mio destino scelgo
Se riesco a resistere
Risvegliami
Non c'è scelta senza me
Non c'è vita senza me
no subject
Date: 2003-11-19 08:24 am (UTC)check out:
Nightwsih
Sinergy
Within Temptation