Thoughts on Learning Italian 

Italian is a fourth language for me. But of the four, it is in one way my favorite. Italian has a tempo and openness to it that is much greater than English and equal to French and Spanish. On top of that, it has a musicality that is uniquely charming. And that is why, when I’m in Italy, I make an effort to speak it.

I bring a pocket-sized grammar with me, and work from that. But this time, due to an unhappy circumstance (see “Notes From My Journal,” above), I was without one. So, I bought a phrase book, the only one I could find. It was Italian for French speakers.

That wasn’t a huge problem. The level of my Italian is basic, but my French is pretty strong. And so, I used it. And received a surprising bonus for doing so. I discovered that, contrary to what I had always assumed, Italian is much closer to French than it is to Spanish.

Italian and French and Spanish are all descendants of Latin. And all share many of the same linguistic aspects, such as genderized nouns and pronouns. But French is much, much closer to Italian than Spanish is in terms of vocabulary and grammar. So, from now on, when I am wanting to say something in Italian, instead of thinking first, “How would I say this in Spanish?” I’ll think, “How would I say this in French?”

I recognize this is probably more exciting to me than it is to you. But if you happen to speak French, and struggle with Italian, this is cause for celebration.