I finished two [simple] books not in English

I should have posted this a while ago, because I accomplished it before my summer French and Italian classes started, and the French class is already done, and the Italian one is almost done. 

First of all, it took me a long time to finish reading Suivez La Piste. I just checked my archives, and I did a post about acquiring the book during the early months of the pandemic. I got sidelined by other stuff, but I committed to finishing it this summer because I needed to finish what I started. I was more focused on the audio version, which is fantastic. The voice actors are really good and the narrator is classic. The book has a lot more content than the audio, and the writing tends to be a bit repetitive, but maybe that's to make sure we are grasping the vocabulary.

What's interesting is that when I started reading the book, it was too difficult for me. That's probably why I didn't finish it sooner; I kept getting tripped up by the grammar and vocabulary. But after taking more French classes and translating it on Twitter/X, my French improved to the point that I didn't have to look up many words. The audio is more succinct and emotive, which gave me more motivation to continue.

The other book I finished is way easier, but was still sort of difficult for me, even though it's just A1 level: Due Amiche e un Album di Fotografie. We started reading it in Italian class, then I finished it on my own. I had to get used to the Italian syntax and had a challenging time doing the grammar and comprehension exercises at the end of each chapter. It was a struggle, but I'm proud that I got through it. Surprisingly, it had some German sentences and words in it because it takes place in South Tyrol, where they also speak German. So I had no problem with that! 

Maybe too much

I was really excited to start studying three languages simultaneously, but it's been sort of overwhelming. I study languages every day, but it's casual and happens randomly because I've been translating posts on X/Twitter, which is super-fun and challenging. Taking a class requires finishing homework and studying the concepts that we've learned, because it's not enough to just go to class once a week, and it would be a super-human task to immediately understand everything they tell us. My schedule overall is varied because I work four gigs and take three classes and create content, but I've been feeling sort of scattered.

This evening is the last German class, and then I'll be doing just two language classes: Italian and French. Italian is online and French is in-person. 

I've been studying French at the excellent Alliance Française Chicago for a couple of years. I only started taking classes there because I live nearby and someone recommended it. I'd passed by it for several years but didn't think it would be so great. And I've been studying French on my own and took a couple of online classes because I'd like to go to France one day. Basically, I signed up because I can walk there, and since I had acquired extra time, I wanted to study languages more. Now that I've taken different classes at different places, it is very clear that Alliance Française has the best teachers and a pleasant environment. I feel like I'm stepping into another culture, and all the instructors are totally professional, educated, and nice.

I should write another post about work-life balance because ever since I slowed down a couple of years ago and returned to doing more of what I want, life has been way better.

I will soon be studying three languages simultaneously

The language-learning lifestyle is continuing, and this month I will be taking three different language classes. I've been studying French for a couple years at the excellent Alliance Française, started studying Italian at the beginning of this year, and will be taking a German grammar class.

I'm going to have a lot of homework, though of course it won't be as rigorous as credit homework. Homework in an adult class at a language school can take a couple of hours. And that's in addition to ingesting the language in other ways; it's not enough to just do the homework, because it's just a tiny sliver of what's out there. Now I'll be doing it with three languages at the same time.

The in-person German classes are not near my place, and I don't want to commute late at night. I thought I'd give up trying to find something that fits, then I saw an A2 grammar refresh course at a convenient time. Since I reached A2 at GLS in Berlin, I've wanted to advance but haven't been able to find classes that fit my schedule. But there's a more urgent need because I'm going to Germany in October, and I need to get back to the level I achieved when I was there. I at least have to know how to put a decent sentence together again.

I'm continuing French because the teachers at Alliance Chicago are highly trained, organized, and caring. I've also considered French a friend for several years as I've treated it like a fun pursuit. Now I want to be able to know enough to travel there; I don't want to stick to just the tourist areas. 

If I were rich, I'd amp up the hours and take credit courses to be able to speak and write well. But I'm not rich, so I'm doing what I can, which is important because we all should leave space for enjoyable endeavors. 

Took a German break

Honestly, I haven't actively studied German until recently. I pretty much took a break after I got back from Germany last fall, and wasn't really motivated to do anything with it.

Before my break, I had already watched several Easy German videos and was a member, so I got access to transcripts and exercises. Then I went to Germany with their German-learning and activity program, came back, joined a Discord group with some wonderful people from that trip, and eventually stopped going because of the time difference; they were seven hours ahead of me and while it was Sunday or Wednesday night for them, it was daytime for me, when I was doing things IRL. I cancelled my Easy German membership because I needed to take a break. And since I was back in the USA, there weren't any in-person classes near me, and though I met a couple Germans or heard German on the street, it was so minimal here, I just didn't feel it. 

And I wanted to get back to focusing on French, since I'm taking classes, and Japanese, which I study on my own and by watching some NHK shows (with subtitles). And even Spanish, which my ESL students and coworkers speak, and is pretty much the second language here. It also helps that the Spanish-speakers here are very friendly and will speak Spanish with you, even if you're not that great. If you're interested in languages, learning Spanish is the best experience and is practical, as well. 

I've been watching Easy Italian before going to Italian class and was thinking, wow, what a friendly culture with a beautiful language. So different and seemingly easier than German. Then it hit me: other than reading and sometimes translating tweets on Twitter/X, I hadn't studied German nor looked at Easy German videos for four months. I think it was because some of the people in the Easy German videos were more like media talent than educators offline (and I've worked in both media and education, so I know the difference), and I didn't really want to see them in videos for a while, and I didn't really want to deal with the difficulties with German for a while, either. I just didn't expect that "while" to last more than a few months.

Now I'm over my disillusionment and dread of complex and wordy German challenges, and I'm definitely motivated to keep trying. Earlier this week I had a couple hours before I had to go outside, so I watched 1.5 hours of Easy German videos. Today I plan to read some entries in Meyers Kinderlexicon and probably do stuff in my textbook from GLS (where I studied in Berlin).

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. 

I'm taking an Italian class

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.

What I've been doing since finishing six Duolingo courses

My Duolingo subscription has ended, and I won't be renewing it. At first when I finished six courses a few months ago, I was doing the German refresh exercises. Then I realized I was tired of playing that game, so I started reading more foreign-language sources and watching Easy German, Easy French, and Easy Spanish. 

I also spend time practically every day looking at headlines on Twitter and translating the ones that I understand or am interested in. News in other languages is really hard, even just the headlines. Sometimes I will look at a German headline, for instance, and will perhaps understand the first couple of words, then it will all break down as I continue. I keep reading German like I would read a Romance language. But German puts their infinitives at the end or they split them, and they also don't use prepositions and possessives like the Romance languages do. So as my eye follows along, my mind gets stuck. But yesterday, I managed to translate some German, in addition to Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese tweets.

I also finished writing a draft of a novella. I started on June 1 and finished it on July 11. I was ready to start revising it right away, but then stepped back, realizing that I should restructure the story, so I'm currently doing that. 

I'm continuing to take a French class at the Alliance Française; I started last year, and it is fantastic. The teacher is highly trained and is a native French and English speaker who was born here but grew up in France, so we learn the language as well as the culture. I've realized that it's very important to not only learn the correct words and grammar, but to learn about the country as well. It makes the class more interesting and I'm motivated to find out more about France, where I've never been. Sometimes I look at my brother's old French college textbook to brush up on grammar and language structure, and of course, I have a long way to go. I think I'm going to try to go to France next year to study for a couple of weeks and travel, which I'm doing next month in Germany via Easy German. 

Unfortunately, my book-reading is down; I made the mistake of reading a few books at once, and each is very long, so I haven't finished any of them yet. So I'm concentrating on finishing one before my Germany trip. I've also been watching documentaries and British shows, watching NHK shows, and enjoying life outside of Duolingo. 

Duolingo got me back into intense language-learning, and I haven't stopped. I feel like I'm where I was years ago in the early days of this blog, when my life was more language-focused. This is probably one of the best years of my life.

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.

I finished the French, Italian, and Spanish Duolingo courses!

When I started this post, I had finished the French Duolingo course. 

Then I saw that I was making good progress on the Italian one, so I finished that as well.

Then I decided to finish the Spanish course, and made my goal Easter because it's a public date. I had done the same thing with Japanese and Portuguese last year; I finished Easter night. This year Easter was Sunday, and I finished the Spanish by Thursday. By that time, I was so tired from doing all those lessons and tests in my free time, I relaxed for a bit. 

This is what it looks like when you reach the end: the owl is reading, and when you finish the Daily Refresh, the owl cheers (as pictured above). 

But the app doesn't. Duolingo doesn't have any congratulatory message when you finish because I suspect they don't want you to, which is why I attempted to go past the finish line. What was frustrating was that for the past couple of years, I was making progress on a language course, then Duolingo would add more lessons, extending the paths. Then when I made more progress, they'd add more. Since they kept changing the goalposts, I decided to change mine and play to win.

At this point, all six languages I've finished are on Daily Refresh, and it resets every day. I decided to stick with German until my subscription ends; I'm going to Germany in late summer, so I really need to improve. I was so focused on finishing that I neglected other German sources; now I will spend more time there before my trip. 

Here's what it looks like when you reach the end of Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, and German. The gold color is when you do the extra challenges at the end, but they're all on Daily Refresh at this point. Remember: Duolingo probably doesn't want you to finish, but don't let it discourage you from trying.

Briefly reached first place

I got first place in the highest league on Duolingo, but it happened on the last Sunday in May, right before Memorial Day. But I'm mentioning it now because I forgot to post it a few weeks ago, and it's blog-worthy because such an achievement is difficult. Since then, my language pursuits have expanded: I've been doing Italian on Duolingo every day, am trying to improve my Spanish where I teach (I don't need to speak it well but it's nice to make attempts), and will begin a French course this week. I can read French moderately well, but my speaking is pretty much non-existent, so the class will be helpful because it's immersive and conversation-focused. I'll probably write about it here because I haven't taken an in-person language class in years.

Madrelingua or lingua madre? (Italian translation)

As I referenced in my last post, I found a linguistic blog, or what the the Corriere della Sera newspaper calls "forum," about the Italian language. I discovered it while I was trying to find out what the difference between "madrelingua" and "lingua madre" was. Here's my attempt at translating the explanation:

Madrelingua or lingua madre?

Last February 21, International Mother Language Day was celebrated throughout the world. It was established by Unesco in 1999 to commemorate a revolt that occurred in 1952 in Bangladesh, where many Bangladeshi students were killed in the capital, Dhaka, while protesting for their right to speak their native language, Bengali. 
Many newspapers confused madrelingua and lingua madre, using them as if they were synonyms, though they have two completely different meanings. Madrelingua is "a language that is learned first (Devoto Oli), "a language learned or spoken from parents or ancestors" (Treccani), "language of the native country, learned from birth" (Garzanti); not to be confused with lingua madre "parent of a language family" (Devoto-Oli), "what others are derived from, considered related to them" (Treccani), "a language that developed from another language" (Garzanti). Now here's a question: what is the madrelingua of those journalists?
All the best [many ways to translate this word] 
Ivana Palomba