Was It Something I Said?

For those who live in the Los Angeles area, UCLA Extension is offering a few Italian courses in the spring quarter. The “Weekend Immersion Workshop” is one I have taken. At $295 it’s not really worth the money, unless you don’t have access to anything else. In any case, it’s much too simple for anyone who’s had more than a semester or two of Italian.

The others are sections of “Elementary Italian”. At $415 for two months of twice a week classes, they are a better bargain than the weekend course, although still much more expensive than the community college I currently attend. I haven’t taken any of these (it’s farther from home than I want to go late at night) but the descriptions sound like 2 and 3 might be good reviews for for many of us. It is possible to take these courses for credit that is transferable to UCLA. (I don’t know if other schools accept them.) See http://www.uclaextension.edu

The more I learn Italian, the more it seems to me I will never really learn Italian. There is something about language, the way one’s native language interacts with the way one thinks, the ways in which the language and world view interact, that is deeply imbedded in the brain. It doesn’t take long to learn that it is impossible to translate anything literally. You can’t just substitute the words of language A for the words of language B and expect to get something that is right, maybe not even something that makes sense. It’s not just the word order, although that’s part of it. There are just so many details that seem perfectly normal, simple, even instinctive to the native speaker, that are confusing, strange, perhaps completely incomprehensible to the non-native. The sentences in our textbooks are simplified. Certainly, a real Italian might sometimes say things that way, and if we say things that way we will be just fine. But pick up a novel, a newspaper, a play. Suddenly, everything is completely different. Words don’t seem to mean quite what we were told. Some things seem to be missing. Some things seem to have been inserted randomly for no good reason. I can go through each sentence, slowly, word by word, and figure out what they are saying, but I have no idea what they are really saying.

Yesterday was the first day of the new semester, and a difficult day it was.

I called my doctor’s office for an appointment and was told he couldn’t see me until 5pm, Feb 13 (an impossible time for me, since I have class on Wednesday nights). I explained to the receptionist, twice, that I’m in pain and can’t use my arm normally. I told her that I would be willing to see one of the other doctors (there are several of them in the same practice). She said she’d check with them and call me back. She never called back.

Boomer the cat was sick and turned out to be in critical condition, experiencing hypothermia and with blood filling his lungs. The cause of the bleeding is still unknown. It was uncertain whether he’d live through the night. (He did, but at this point he is still in very serious condition.)

A water main on our street broke, sending water bubbling up through the pavement. Picturesque but dangerous. So there was no running water in the house. (It had been fixed by the time I got home after school.)

The pool man never showed up, probably because he saw the street was blocked and couldn’t figure out another route (there are actually two, but it helps to know the layout of the neighborhood).

Class itself was fine. We had a full house of about 20 people. All but three were people I know from previous classes. Once again, il professore has launched his strategy of assigning too much homework on Monday. Adults with day jobs find it very difficult to prepare presentations (especially if they have to get together with someone else) or do large quantities of paperwork with only one free evening (Tuesday) .

Microsoft wants to put an end to Windows XP and force all PC users to move to Vista. This is not a good idea. See this article for all the reasons why. And please sign the petition.

Recently I attended a large party where I knew absolutely no one except the host. So I came up with a way to socialize with my fellow guests. I would simply introduce myself to people, tell them that I didn’t know anyone at the party but that I hoped to meet someone who spoke Italian. Nobody that I met spoke Italian (I wasn’t really expecting that any would). But people found my quest delightful. They were very interested in talking about my Italian studies, other languages they had studied in school, trips they had taken or were planning to take to Italy, etc. I didn’t get to practice speaking Italian, but I was able to avoid standing by myself and got involved in a lot of interesting conversations. If I had actually met an Italian speaker, I would have had the added advantage of getting some practice.

A lot of people say that you know you are really learning a language when you dream in it. Last night I dreamed I had to take my algebra test in Italian. I’m not sure that’s quite what I’m looking for.

Kindle:
I haven’t seen one of these. I’ve read one or two reviews that were mostly favorable. Is this the book — or the library — of the future? I’d be interested in hearing from people who have tried them.

There are some people who blithely blog every day, even if it’s just a diary-like entry about mundane activities. “Had pickled herring for breakfast as usual. Argued with mother over color of drapes, scarlet vs. vermilion. Need new shoes. ” On the other hand, I often simply forget to post for weeks at a time, even when interesting things are happening. Or I think of things I’d like to write, but only when I’m not in a position to write them. I have a backlog of Italian films and books to review, but apparently that resembles work just enough to keep me in procrastination mode.

If I were teaching Italian 3, I think I would give everyone a basic pronunciation test the first day of class. Those who couldn’t pass would be sent back to Italian 2. By the time one has completed two semesters of Italian, one should understand the difference between ci and chi, and that “e” in Italian is not pronounced like “y” in Spanish. This test would eliminate about a third of the people in class, which would make the whole thing run more smoothly.

Michel Thomas Speak Italian for Beginners: This isn’t the usual kind of language program with questions or prompts followed by blank spaces where the student speaks. Here, we are eavesdropping as Michel Thomas coaches two students. Nobody pauses for us, the listeners, to fill in the blanks, although we can certainly play along. (On the first CD there are sound cues which prompt you to hit the pause button if you wish.) The two students make mistakes similar to those made by typical language students, as Thomas works to coax the right answers from them. Gradually, they improve. The most interesting part is listening to his explanations of Italian words and grammar and the way he thinks about the language. The last two CD’s in the set are also very helpful because they contain a review of all the words and phrases in the previous lessons, using only Michel without the students. The Michel Thomas method is apparently very popular among celebrities and others who can afford to study with him in person. The audio program is really just a taste of that.

At some point during the first week of American history class I thought, this is a story I have heard many times before. Told by different people in different contexts, the details have varied, but the plot and characters remain the same. As the story progresses, I already know who’s who and what’s coming next.

But for some people in this class, this is a new story. There are young people who didn’t grow up here, for whom these are new names and places. They may have heard of George Washington (or perhaps not), but just about everything else is completely unfamiliar. (When Queen Victoria was mentioned, one person had to ask what country she ruled.)

After a test which included some information about the Mexican-American war, one student was complaining because the spelling of some place names didn’t seem to match the pronunciation. I told him that if he studied American history he would also have to learn a little Spanish. “I’m still learning English!” he said in frustration.

I don’t know the reasons all these students are here. Possibly to become Americans, possibly just to get an education. American history is a graduation requirement, so being here doesn’t necessarily mean they care. Having known this story all my life, I can’t properly imagine what it is like to hear it for the first time. At the end of one class, the professor gave a very moving speech about why our national anthem is the best. I wondered how it affected those who grew up in different places with different songs. Later, one of the young men for whom all this is new told me what a great speech it was and how it excited him. Once again, I was able to see hope for the future.

When I told my 10-year-old niece I was going to summer school she was shocked. “That’s for under-achievers!” she said. At her grade level it is true that hardly anyone goes to summer school unless they need to make up a failed class or put in some remedial work. A high achiever herself, she hasn’t yet been introduced to the world of super-achievers who take extra classes so they can graduate early, get two degrees in the time normally needed for one, enter medical school at age 12, etc. In the summer, she goes to a series of “camps” which focus on a variety of topics. She has been to ballet camp, art camp, circus camp, CSI camp, veterinary camp, and a host of others, many that I would really love to attend. In the meantime, I realize I’d have gotten a little more respect if I’d told her I was going to “history camp”.