1) Made a friend online who lives in Rome. There is a site called FriendsinRome.com that gives tips, advice and such but also includes a forum where people who want to exchange languages can meet. I have started chatting with a woman named Lorella who will help me practice my Italian while I help her with her English. That also gives me a brain to pick on what bars, restaurants and shops are good in the area. Always best to ask a local right?
2) Downloaded some Italian music. I figured it might help me to pick the language up more easily. So far I am digging Alessandra Amoroso and Emma Marrone. There are several Italian Radio stations on iTunes that I listened to first and when I found something I liked I would download it.
3) Listened to Earworms Rapid Italian (an audiobook that I am using to learn Italian vocab) while painting. I'm an artist and there are some local art shows coming up that I am in. I hope to be able to sell some stuff to earn more money before the trip.
School too of course.
I also did a little shopping to get some of my list of things to bring. I am lucky though because I am going to be able to borrow some things I will need.
I can't believe how close it is getting to the trip. I am so excited! It seems like it is always just in the back of my mind.
I have android and I found this app called TuneIn Radio and it has a lot of Italian radio stations. I thought I'd be alright when in Rome since I speak Spanish fluently. Well, I was wrong... some words are exactly like in Spanish but a lot others are unrecognizable. Radio was a good wake-up call, but I'm trying to find TV or movies. Good luck in your language-learning!
ReplyDeleteI am not fluent in Spanish but still pretty familiar. I have a friend who moved to Italy from Texas. (she met a guy on a vacation in Rome and a year later they got married!) She told me that you can often get by with using Spanish if you have to but it is of course good to learn as much Italian as you can. It actually seems to be some of the things that are super similar to Spanish where I get tripped up. Pretty easy to get mixed up and say it wrong. The words that are completely unfamiliar are kinda easier to remember for what they are.
DeleteFor anyone who wants to learn some Italian I highly recommend Earworms Rapid Italian and the podcast from Radio Lingua called My Daily Phrase Italian. They teach you useful words and phrases with emphasis on pronunciation not grammar.