#Italian understand driver
#Italian understand full

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I say I will do something, I like to do it. Blind Stubbornness: How My Ego Led Me Astray It wasn’t until we found ourselves locked out of our accommodation in Rome, and hitchhiking on a busy dual carriageway in Pompeii, that I realised it was time to leave my ego behind and be honest about my language learning progress. With feigned confidence, I would reply “Of course!” After most conversations, my partner would chime: “Are you sure you got all of that?” I continued getting in as much practice as possible, and although I was always improving, I still wasn’t achieving that very high bar I had told myself all those months earlier that I would achieve by this trip. We were immersed in all things Italian, so I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass me by. “Are You Sure You Got All of That?”Īnyway, off we went on our trip. But at the time I felt like a failure before I was even off the starting blocks. In hindsight it really didn’t matter, it was a tiny mistake and as we all know making mistakes is all part of the process and essential to improving in any language. “You said ‘It’s cold!?’ It’s not cold in England! It’s been the hottest summer in years…”Īs small as it might seem, this conversation really knocked my confidence. Fumbling and nervous in a mild panic, I managed to blurt out in an over the top sing-song like Italian accent Fa freddo!

#Italian understand driver

This is it! I can do it… ‘’How was the weather in England?’’ asked the taxi driver in Italian. This was my first conversation, the main event I spent hours prepping for was finally here. The trip soon came around, and before long, I found myself in the back of a taxi talking to the taxi driver in Italian about the weather in England.

I dutifully “put in the hours.” Why I Felt Like a Failure After Saying “It’s Cold in England” Hours invested = improvement, right?Īnd so it continued right up until my trip. Somehow, I reflected, I don’t think this is a helpful exercise.

He was obsessed with complimenting the hotel on their choice of curtains, repeatedly insisting that the check-in assistant sends this important information back to the hotel manager. After listening to the clip for what felt like the 100th time, Luigi was really starting to annoy me. ‘’I must be fluent in time for the trip!’’ I would repeatedly tell myself as I clicked replay on the audio of Luigi checking into a hotel in Milan. The more I struggled, the more hours I put in. I was drowning in verbs, articles and tenses. I hammered my grammar book for knowledge more than a blacksmith hammers an anvil. Actually, sometimes I even studied whilst eating, working and sleeping. So, with a few months to go before the trip, and for every moment that I wasn’t working, eating or sleeping, I was studying Italian.

But, I could tell from the look in her eyes she felt sceptical. Now, being the ever-supportive lady she is, she would never say it. ‘’It’ll be fine, I’m basically fluent in Italian anyway… kind of.’’ The host of our Airbnb in Florence had specifically said ‘‘we only speak Chinese and Italian.’’ I Reassured My Girlfriend: “I’m Fluent in Italian… Kind of” It wasn’t until we found ourselves locked out of our accommodation in Rome and hitchhiking on a busy dual carriageway in Pompeii that I realised it was time to leave my ego behind… I was looking forward to it, and I expected to impress the locals with my Italian. For years, she romanticised strolling the quaint streets of Verona with a gelato in hand, taking in the historic treasures of Rome at every turn, of being the first person to have their picture taken while propping up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.įor months I’d been hard at work studying Italian to prepare myself for this trip. On top of this, touring Italy had been a high priority on my partner’s bucket list. Our long-awaited holiday, a whole two weeks touring our favourite country – Italy! I was excited not just because of the amazing landscapes, food and culture, but because it was also home to my target language!

#Italian understand full

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