Capisco!

I'm leaving for Italy in less than a month!

I'm so excited and can't wait. :)

So in preparation, I've finally begun to learn un po' (a little) Italian. I do so in hopes that I won't be completely helpless when I reach Siena. However, the best I can say yet is "parlo inglese, non capisco italiano" which translates to "I speak english, I don't understand Italian".

Being the linguist that I am, I can't help breaking apart and analyzing Italian as I learn it. For example, I can see that the majority of words have stress that falls on the penultimate (second to last syllable) and there appear to be very few different diphthongs.

I feel much more comfortable learning Italian than I ever did while learning German. I believe this is because Italian is so similar to French (which, after long years of studying it, has become quite easy for me to speak).

Needless to say, I do love learning and studying languages. But I do favor certain languages. For example, I do not care for German - it is harsh and (in my opinion) linguistically confusing. And while I think French is by far one of the most beautiful languages, the singing quality of Italian makes it the most fun to speak.

I am excited to get to Italy where I'll be entombed in this amusing language.