They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks—well, we are definitely trying to prove that age (and youthful stubbornness) is no barrier to a new language.
When we decided we are going to trade our lives in Belgium for Italy, we knew the language was the key to our new world. So, at 50, we decided to dive in. Not in a stuffy classroom, but as a family of three, huddled around a laptop.
Our Digital Classroom: The Preply Journey
We chose to learn online via Preply, and honestly, it’s the most fun we’ve had as a family. We started with Nada and moved on to Maria; we can’t recommend them both highly enough! They’ve had the patience of saints as they navigate our three very different styles:
- Gaby (The Natural): Gaby is a true language wonder. She already had a foundation from a year of Italian classes a few years ago, and she is usually the one saving us when we’re stuck at the hardware store trying to explain a specific bolt. Her secret weapon? She writes everything down. Her notebook is at least ten times the size of Stefan’s.
- Sam (The Sponge): At 11, Sam thinks formal studying is boooooring, but he is definitely the fastest learner among us. While he doesn’t actually use a notebook, he is inseparable from his Italian verbs pocket guide during our classes. Like a sponge, he absorbs everything instantly.
- Stefan (The Spanish Saboteur): Having a background in Spanish is a double-edged sword. Stefan takes the “easy” approach, subbing in Spanish words whenever he’s lost. It rarely works. To make matters worse, Stefan sounds Dutch in every language he speaks—Italian is no exception.
The “Zaino” Incident (and other slips)
The funniest part of learning a language later in life isn’t the grammar—it’s the accidental comedy.
Gaby is the reigning champion of slips of the tongue. While trying to tell a fictive story about her zio (uncle), she confidently used the word zaino (backpack). We spent a good ten minutes trying to figure out why her uncle was being stuffed with water bottles and carried up a mountain.
Fortunately, for Gaby’s uncle, we are now mastering the difference between words such as vecchio and anziano.
We can’t say Italian is an easy language for us. And it is hard to study and do real homework during our busy lives. When we all fail, Google Translate and Reverso are helping us getting through the day. But in all fairness: Google translate does not work whenever there is no internet around. And: the locals in Ripa love the effort, even when they stare at us with glazed eyes trying to understand what we are meaning.
The fine art of the gesture
We all know that learning Italian isn’t just about speaking the language – much of it is also about gestures and other kinds of visual expression. So, Stefan’s (small) brothers donated this fine little book about all kind of gestures. We don’t dare to put most of them in practice yet.. but it sure triggers our curiousity!
