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.

One midterm short of a heart attack

In an hour I have a midterm that counts for 25% of my grade in the class. I feel horribly unprepared even though I have studied to the best of my ability for it. I don’t think I’ve ever felt confident going into a test of any sort – I always fear for the worst. More often than not this fear has served me well. I study more than I need to for tests, always feeling like I could have a better grasp on the material ; as a result I end up with A’s and B’s.

However, I can feel this habitual stress wearing down on my body and my health. My stomach does flip-flops before any sort of exam. However, I don’t mind giving presentations or writing term papers because those tasks are designed to let me plan ahead and perfect the assignment before it is actually due. But tests challenge me to think of the spot and recall from memory. I don’t have the comfort and luxury of referring back to notes or a textbook.

In a way I envy the majority of the students around me who studied for an hour or so and, upon sitting down in class before a test, don’t seem at all intimidated by the fact that very shortly they’ll be expected to answer 100 questions in 50 minutes. Of course in these situations I want to do well and am glad I studied, but the idea that someone could actually feel prepared for a test and not have a nervous stomach ache just seems too surreal for an over achiever like me.

After this test, I’m done with class for the week. Finally…I am in serious need of some relaxation.