The last Italian class

So for the last 10 weeks, I have been taking an adult Italian class.  I was worried about taking it because the last time I tried to take Italian, the teacher was so ahead of me and everyone else already knew Spanish, so I was way out of my league.

I’m happy to say it was totally different this time!  I feel that I have started to learn some (but need to learn a lot more), and enjoyed the class.

We had a little party today with everyone bringing in something.  It was a great way to end the class.

I plan on taking the next level if it is offered through the county school. Otherwise, I’ll be asking the teacher to be my tutor.  I’m almost panicked about going to Italy and not being able to speak the lnguage/not understanding anything.

There’s still time to study.....

Entry for February 03, 2006

Entry for February 03, 2006

• |02/03/2006 10:00 am
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Last night, Italian class went well. I think I'm over the overwhelmed feeling and the fear of getting embarassed when mispronouncing a word. Good thing too - The teacher kept calling on me - AND there were 16 other students in the room!
The first hour, it was like every other pronounciation, he would call on me, or use my name for the example of a phrase. He even spent time with me when I was mispronouncing - I felt it was more than what he was spending on other people. I'm surprised the other students weren't getting mad.
Now, MAYBE it was because I did some brown nosing - I showed him an audio link that I found for a poem that we are supposed to memorize (or at least try).
Dan left for Canada this morning - at 5 am. A little family bonding time. Harry (Dan's mom's husband), Uncle Don, and cousins Jeff, Pete & Angie (Don's kids) will all be meeting up at the cottage in Canada for what they hope is a FROZEN WEEKEND. Have fun - there was no way I was going. I had enough snow growing up in NY. I had enough snow when we went to Ohio for Thanksgiving!
My weekend will be bonding with girlfriends. Having dinner with my friend, Suzanne, tomorrow and maybe some shopping with Sandy (from work) on Sunday. No Super Bowl parties for me. I may watch for some commercials since they are the highlight

Entry for January 27, 2006

Entry for January 27, 2006

• |01/27/2006 09:39 am
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Man - did I feel stupid last night at class.
A couple of people already know Spanish so, of course, they are almost fluent in Italian already.
I'm totally out of my element. The time I got called on - I totally butchered the word and he had to break it down for me. Funny - the teacher told a story at the beginning of class how he was in Buffalo and a native of Buffalo said an English word and it wasn't pronouned right - Obviously, my western NY accent is going to come out - dropping the r's and t's!
The teacher was pronouncing everyone's name in Italian - of course, he was stumped by mine! He figured it out though - I was named after an ancestor (Dad)!
This is going to be a struggle, but I'll have to get used to mispronouncing words and not getting embarrassed.

Entry for January 26, 2006

Entry for January 26, 2006

• |01/26/2006 10:46 am
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OH - Another day at work - I feel like I'm drowning in paperwork and others people's work that they "need my help" on. Trying to stay calm by listening to music (which I always do anyway).
I'm ready for a vacation, but that leads to getting behind. Neverending.
Tonight I start Italian classes through the local community college. Aunt Helen is excited and said we can start speaking Italian to each other. Luckily, her vocabulary is limited, so I might be able to keep up. Of course, somedays we have a hard enough time understanding (or should I say hearing) each others English!