italian lessons

On a cold drive from work to home, I finally put the cassette into the player and started listening to the Berlioz tapes for beginning Italian.

We go with friends later this year, a few days in Florence, a week in a Tuscan villa, a few days in Rome.

Languages ought to be fun to learn, given the freedom language gives one, the possibility of expression, jokes and puns, new ways of thinking.

I follow the advice of the tape and ignore the book. Listen to the tape, hear the sounds, look for logical clues to what is being said. Practice hearing the language, then repeating it. Look for meaning and then and only then read the written words in the book.

I can hear the words that tell me that Toyota is a Japanese car, Chevrolet is a an American car, and Fiat is an Italian Car. I catch the counting from one to ten. I listen. I repeat. I've got several months.