Say what you like, and learning from scratch a foreign language - what a job! Especially mental and, most often, emotional. This is exactly what happened for me. In school years, I, like many, began to learn English. He was primitive, at the level of knowledge of the alphabet, personal pronouns, standard phrases such as “My name is Natasha” and “I live in Moscow” or scanty poems that I have eyes and I can see the book and the pen in front of me, I see ceiling and floor, I see a window and a door. You know, many years have passed, but I still remember the poem. Apparently the weekly recurrence worked. And what?
I am ashamed, but when I first arrived abroad, I could not communicate with foreigners. At all. No way. Well, except, hello, goodbye and thank you. That was the maximum.
I was consumed by a sense of shame, because next to me there is a sister who speaks excellent English, speaks German, Spanish and Portuguese. And each of our conversation with her ended with the optimistic phrase “Learn English!” I didn’t want to. I had no desire for this.
In the worst weather of the summer of 2010, I left for Italy. Two weeks of walking in the most beautiful cities: Rome, Milan, Florence, Naples. Under the road from one city to another, we watched films about Italy. The graceful “Roman Holidays” with Audrey Hepburn, the spectacular “Italian Robbery” with greetings from Venice, the sunny shots “Under the Tuscan Sun”, which have become Italy's most beloved and symbolic images. In the evenings, in a small room (oh, this piccolo!) I turned on the Italian Rai channel and listened, listened, listened ...
However, I began to learn Italian on my own right away. There were several important and fateful meetings that turned into golden keys to the doors to the world called "Italian language". I share these "meetings" with you. Heartily.
A young man with an interesting name Zhivko greets hotel guests with a wide, disarming smile. A melodious Italian dialect spills around, and he in pure Russian invites you to sit down: "Welcome to Italy! Coffee?" And after a few minutes, a steaming, fragrant cup of espresso appears on a tiny table. So my Italian morning began at the Playa Hotel, it is located on Viserbella Promenade, a 10-minute drive from Rimini. July turned out to be very hot that year, even in the morning hours the Italians themselves are hiding under awnings, miniature umbrellas and behind the bar racks. “Just like in my house,” Zhivko admits, and our acquaintance begins with this.
At the Playa Hotel, which is mainly hosted by Italians and only a few rooms are usually occupied by visiting foreigners, everyone speaks their native language. English does not help in communication, in Italian at that time I could say only 2 words - Ciao and Grazie. Therefore, it was Zhivko who became for me a personal translator. I was alone in a Russian hotel.
Later we met him in the hotel restaurant. On a separate table attached to me for the entire rest of the menu was a menu. Of course, everything is in Italian. Under each name of the dish with a simple pencil, Zhivko wrote a translation. Let it be erroneous, but still such attention is expensive.
I remember once I really wanted milk. Still, coffee in the morning, afternoon and evening is unusual for me. “Milk is a latte,” Zhivko explained and smiled again.
I warmly recall those days, because each of us may find ourselves in a situation where a person who knows how to speak your native language is simply needed nearby. I already have it. Although now we can already speak Italian. If you ever find yourself in the Viserbella area, send Zhivko greetings from Moscow.
And one more Italian inspiration
I don’t remember exactly in which television season, on the First Channel, the show “Ice Age” began to be shown, in which pairs of professionals and amateurs skated on ice. Among them was my beloved couple. They performed one of the program numbers to the amazing and probably the most famous song of Adriano Celentano (Adriano Celentano) "Confessa". By itself, the room under the spotlights was fascinating, but even this amazing voice with a hoarse voice captivated me even more. Guess what I wanted to do? Firstly, to understand what is sung in this song. And, secondly, to sing herself. But for this it was necessary to know Italian.
And then one day, on one of the warm summer evenings, I decided. Ok, I will learn English! Because it is necessary. And I will learn Italian. Because I want to. This difference between “necessary” and “want” played a very important role for me. I know the second language better than the first.
Do not force yourself, friends! Let learning a new language brings satisfaction and joy from what is obtained. And, most importantly, teach for yourself, not for others. After all, how nice to hear in small but successful attempts to pronounce a phrase in Italian, the words "Brava!"
