I studied Italian in the late 20th century while I was getting a master's and even got paid to translate it. Then I pretty much dropped it for several years, but started reading it on my Twitter/X account during the pandemic. Then I finished the Duolingo course last year. But I sort of treated it like an auxiliary language because it wasn't as important as French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.
Towards the end of 2025, I started thinking it more often and even started watching Easy Italian more. It seemed like such a beautiful language with such friendly people that I wanted to know more. So when my scheduled opened up, I signed up for the "Absolute Beginners" course (A1.1) at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura and am two weeks in.
At first I thought it was too easy because the teacher speaks English and Italian in class, and the book is in Italian and English; I prefer to have an Italian-only textbook. So the class seems really basic, but I don't even know the entire alphabet and numbers! So I really have to be in this level. The teacher is clearly well-educated and can articulate her teaching methodology and philosophy. She is also really patient and seems to like people; teachers should like people, but as I've said before, not everyone who works with people likes them.
I think part of my problem with Italian was that I had a teacher several years ago who was not very simpatica. She seemed to be annoyed because she kept comparing us unfavorably to students she taught at a prestigious school. And she just didn't seem to like people. That was confirmed when I signed up for lessons at her home, where she ran a kind of Italian-related business, and she wasn't very pleasant or inclusive.
I know we shouldn't base our experience on just one person, but back then there weren't a lot of options, and I didn't want to try to figure out where to go. Plus my schedule and work focus changed, so I really retreated from pursuing foreign languages much.
Now it's much better! The students are friendly and at first I envied some students' knowledge of Spanish, but the teacher clearly told us to put our Spanish to the side and just focus on Italian (good thing my Spanish isn't so great). The ItalCultura school has a good vibe, and even the Italian consulate is cool. It makes me want to go to Italy even more!
p.s. the e-book version of my debut novel is still at Amazon, and the price for the print version has been reduced: buy at the Eckhartz Press site.
