Italianese

Learning a new language is difficult, there is no question about it; but being between languages is a world of its own. So now that my lessons are over it’s up to me to practice what I have learned and to perfect my skills. Just yesterday a neighbor invited me up to her apartment for coffee. She is French but has been living in Italy for 35 years, and has two daughters, 30 and 25. All three of them speak Italian and French but she wants to better her English. We have decided to meet once in a while to speak Italian for an hour and English for another hour.

Demetrio has been no help whatsoever. He keeps telling me it’s too unnatural for him to speak to me in Italian. He speaks very fast and has a complicated vocabulary so many times I just don’t understand much of what he says. On the other hand when he speaks to his friends on the cell phone, I can usually pick up 80% of the conversation. When I complain he tries for a day or so then loses interest. Eventually we’ve reached a point in which a new way of communicating has emerged and it is a combination of English and Italian that we call “Italianese“. It goes something like this:

At dinner time I am usually trying to get him away from the computer.
“Amore, la cena e’ pronto.”=Honey, dinner is ready.
“Arrivo”=I’m coming!
“A tavola”=It’s on the table.
“Okay, in a second.”
“It’s getting cold.”
“Adesso.”=Now!

It’s a mix of Italian and English, kind of like Spanglish. Maybe someday he will speak Italian to me but for now he says he does not have the patience.