Ciao, i miei amici!
It’s hard to believe that we are into our fourth week of intensive Italian studies. Long behind us are those first few days when we walked into class and all we heard was gibberish with a few allora‘s and the ocassional va bene thrown in.
Exhaustion has been replaced by exhilaration. Tension and stress have been replace with a certain relaxed ease and calmness.
I think I can safely say that we’ve all gone from about 20% (or less) comprehension to something much higher.
Our instructors do sometimes need to slow down for us but they are definitely speaking at a much more rapid clip.
We aren’t all at the same level so when taking an organized tour, the guides frequently switch back and forth between languages–first saying something in Italian then repeating it in English. Lately, I’m jolted by the fact that I didn’t need the English nor did I realize that they were even speaking in Italian until the switch. Wow!
My own sentences in shops and restaurants are becoming much more complex and I can usually comprehend their much more rapid patter with about 50% to 75% (sometimes even more) accuracy.
I can’t claim fluency but can I claim proficiency? That’s tough to say but I’m totally digging the experience.
Btw, prepositions still kick my ass!
Ciao!
