Mastodawn

Mathias Hvid Egekvist Mar 10

Story of loveliness for you all because you've been so well behaved recently.

I dated an Italian guy for about 3 months six years ago, and my mum decided it was time to start learning Italian.

The relationship didn't last but my mum never stopped learning Italian by herself in retirement. She's never had a teacher or been to a class; she's taught herself from apps and lots of books I've thrown at her.

She speaks Italian with the strongest English accent you've ever heard. There's no doubt to anyone that she is not a native speaker.

So last week she went to Turin for a couple of days, and she came back *buzzing*. She's been to Italy before and spoken Italian but this time was different.

She was having conversations in Italian with everyone about everything. Basic conversations but she was doing it and loving it.

In one restaurant the waiter couldn't possibly believe that she was an English person speaking this language. English?! English people only speak English! What the actual?! He was so overjoyed at her efforts that he kept bringing her all sorts of free food and limoncello until she asked him to stop.

When I spoke to her a couple of days ago she said it's so weird that you sit at home and learn this language but it doesn't mean anything. It's all nonsense. But then you go to a different country and say the nonsense words and people actually understand you!

I've always loved learning languages and this just warmed my cold, dead heart a wee bit.
#LanguageLearning #Italian #languages

@miffyhelen That’s a lovely story! How did she study the language from home?

Godfrey642 Mar 10

@andycarolan @miffyhelen

I use Babbel. Its very good and tailored to age and your interests.

DuoLingo was once very good but since AI took over its become very childish by comparison.

@Godfrey642 Thanks for the info! My son used to use DuoLingo, but ditched it because of that inclusion of AI @miffyhelen

Godfrey642 Mar 10

@andycarolan @miffyhelen

I think AI is also used to some extent by Babbel as well. Im not sure how much but I just find it overall easier to follow the lessons and get explanations about grammar.

@Godfrey642 @miffyhelen It’s getting more difficult to find companies that don’t use AI now

@andycarolan @Godfrey642 My mum is firmly on the AI-fueled owl train with Duolingo. I've given her various textbooks and children's books but on the whole it's just her, that app, and a grammar book to explain what the app doesn't.

@miffyhelen Ugh AI lol. @Godfrey642

Godfrey642 Mar 10

@andycarolan @miffyhelen

Im with you there. I hate it.
Avoid it like the plague - didn't ask for it and resent it being rammed down my throat.

Dr. Figuring-things-aut Mar 10

@miffyhelen what a wonderful story!!!

Stefan Eissing Mar 10

@miffyhelen Congratulazione por lei Mama! ❤️

I love this so much!

MacPsych 🏳️‍🌈Mar 10

@miffyhelen Lovely! And well done your mum.

Affienia Mar 10

@miffyhelen I love this. So pleased your mum was able to out those well earns skills to use.
I am also happy yet horrified by how pleased people are when the English give it a go as our reputation is as per your story.
My dad, a bald Englishman in the 80s, looked like a football hooligan but never was, learnt to ask for the room key in Spanish when we were on holiday and the reception staff loved him for it.

Jon Roach Mar 10

@miffyhelen forza Mama!

Alexis Bushnell Mar 10

@miffyhelen that's so beautiful, I love that!

eswillwalker Mar 10

@miffyhelen Same is true in France. Work on it and try speaking French. The French people are so wonderful and generous. No one ever gives us a side eye. Even in Paris. It shows you care and so then they care.

Rob van Kan🔻Mar 10

@ELS @miffyhelen Agreed. One of the main problems of English speakers is that a lot of them simply assume that everyone speaks English. And that's untrue (I should know, out here in rural Calabria you get nowhere with English), and impolite to boot.
Simply asking if people speak English already goes a long way.

Mike Taylor 🦕Mar 10

@ELS @miffyhelen I was right with you till I got to "Even in Paris"!

Arratoon Mar 10

@miffyhelen That’s lovely.

Giles Goat Mar 10

@miffyhelen Congratulazioni mamma, continua cosi' , l' Italiano e' una lingua difficile anche per gli Italiani. And please don't ask me "what is the rules for putting accents on words ?" .. I am Italian born and bred .. I NEVER KNEW IT, I know "the accent goes here and NOT there because THAT is the way that word is spoken" don't tell me about 'open e', 'closed e' 'long a' .. I NEVER understood it either ! And yes we have so many tenses that many are only in books and even more dialects around 😊

@miffyhelen Haha! That's brilliant.

@miffyhelen
Nice story and totally true

Adam Jacobs 🇺🇦Mar 10

@miffyhelen Oh, that is indeed a story of superb loveliness. Thank you for sharing!

coldclimate Mar 10

@miffyhelen this was lovely to read, thank you

WellsiteGeo Mar 10

@miffyhelen It's a simple act of respect. And people appreciate it.

Godfrey642 Mar 10

Its simply good manners and kindness to learn the language of wherever you go.

Make a point of learning:
Hello/ goodbye
How are you?
Please/ thank you
Id like please (then point)
The bill please
That was a delicious meal.

I speak French and German fluently and Spanish conversationally but also loads of others from Turkish to Thai in very basic form as above.

It brings so much joy to locals when they hear someone try and communicate in their language. Its a sign of respect and we need that these days.

Sonja Schulte Mar 10

@miffyhelen So thís is what it's like to learn a different language for an English speaking person! Not having the words around you at any time except when you go there. So they feel like 'nonsense words'. I understand better now.

@SonjaS It's infuriating how many English people have the stance that everyone in the world everywhere speaks English, so why should they bother learning another language?

Whenever I say I'm learning Italian/Japanese/Maori I almost certainly hear the words, "why?! You know they speak English over there, right?"

They can't comprehend a world outside of their own because English is everywhere here. Trying to get hold of books or films in another language is so difficult, but it's easy to get English translations or dubbing.

I get really mad about it. So my solution is to try and learn *all* of languages.

@miffyhelen @SonjaS My French is absolutely dreadful now, for lack of use. And I fear that I might be past the point where I could easily learn something else.

fritzoids Mar 11

@miffyhelen @SonjaS

Because I grew up speaking Spanish, German, and English at home, I decided to speak English to my German children and have their father speak German to them. As soon as they started going to nursery school, they began answering me in German instead of English... until we went to meet up with my US-Canadian relatives. Suddenly more people were speaking in English than just their silly old mother and my children started speaking in English to me again
The brain needs a reason

Darth Osler Mar 10

@miffyhelen I have studied 3 languages and that spark was only really there for me with ASL. It is such a vibrant language. It's a joy to use

ADHDeanASL Mar 10

@autolycos It’s an amazing and beautiful language. I can’t speak to other spoken languages, but ASL has got it over English by a country mile. @miffyhelen

caffetino Mar 10

@miffyhelen That's lovely!/Che carino!

@miffyhelen Wife the Third is learning Italian; she was supposed to have gone there for a singing competition but had a medical issue and couldn't travel. She's kept it up, though.

ladydeirdre Mar 10

@miffyhelen it doesn't matter if it's perfect, the fact that you're trying shows that you care. And that is what matters. I've bumbled my way through Italian, Spanish, German, and French. Every time people were so accomodating and friendly.

Debbie Goldsmith 🏳️‍⚧️♾️🇺🇦Mar 10

@miffyhelen
My Dad learned Italian for a trip to Venice. It was his sixth or seventh language, I think; he already knew a little of it from long years of watching opera.

His proudest moment came when he successfully insulted a rude Venetian merchant in Italian, by saying "Thank you, you've been very polite."

Paper Moon Mar 11

@miffyhelen Learning languages is the most wonderful thing! I remember having this buzzing feeling that you've described, the first time I spoke English to a real person from an English-speaking country, not a soviet textbook. I can never forget it! I now speak several languages and there has been a first time asking for directions in Switzerland, buying a train ticket in Amsterdam, thanking a Japanese chef for a delicious meal, but I can never forget the first-ever time, it was magical!

@miffyhelen
November 1993, I'm in Rome, and trying to book a seat on a train to... well, anywhere, it was sunday, and it seemed like everything was shut apart from McDonalds and far too many gelato cafes - and there is only so much gelato you can eat in the middle of winter, even if it's shirt-sleeves weather!
Anyhoo, I'm queueing at the ticket office at Roma Termini (the main train station) and the person in front of me was having an argument with the person behind the counter in a way that made me think they were English.
It seriously sounded almost Geordie, and quite a few people in the queue, as well as the guy behind the counter, seemed to be having as much difficulty understanding them as I was.
The man standing behind me was Italian but spoke better English than me (I noticed this all over Europe!), and told me that this was someone from one of the outlying provinces (I forget which one), he even used the word "yokel" to describe how they were commonly portrayed in the Italian media (and thus how they were regarded by most Italians).
And that was how I discovered that other languages have accents as well!

I also discovered that a lot of people, especially in the service and retail industries, are delighted to find that an English person is making at least a token effort, and will happily try to teach you more, before giving up and dropping into English.
Except for the gruff German bloke, who growled "Please stop butchering my beautiful language - speak English instead."

fritzoids Mar 11

@stuartb @miffyhelen

my German father (who enjoyed his year in London) once told me "The Germans are so xenophobic. Everywhere else they dance when you try to speak their language; but the Germans just switch to English and then they complain that none of the foreigners in Germany speak German."

So, I apologize for the gruff German bloke.

@fritzoids @miffyhelen Brits tend to be similar, except that there is no way most of us are going to speak anything other than our native English.
The fact that English is largely made of words that aren't actually English in origin completely escapes them.
Wasn't it Terry Preatchett who said that English mugs other languages, and rifles through their pockets looking for loose vocabulary?

@stuartb @miffyhelen You have at least dozen of dialects in Italy, with also variations inside each Region. Even us Italians could not understand a word of something told in another dialect.

@miffyhelen in high school I was really bad in foreign languages, except English. French and German a disaster.

600 (53 years old) days ago my husband introduced me to Duolingo. I finished the Spanish/English course a couple of months ago. Started again Spanish/Dutch. Also started French/Dutch (summer 2025, on vacation in France) and Swedish/English (Christmas 2025, because I want to go there). I actually really love learning new languages.

You can learn anything if you want to!

@miffyhelen More power to your mum 💪! One is never too old to learn a new language

Giles Goat Mar 11

@miffyhelen Forgot to say THE MOST IMPORTANT ITALIAN SENTENCE "Mamma e' sempre mamma" 🥰 Your mum should know what it means.

@miffyhelen Thanks for this lovely story... I stumbled over a nice little detail: when I read that your mom decided "it was time to start learning Italian", I assumed it was YOU who should start learning. And I came to think of her as a VERY thoughtful mom... 😜😅😂🥰

@toooobeeee I have a close friend from Firenze so I had to learn Italian years ago just for him 😁

Maria Mannone Mar 12

@miffyhelen Wow!! And Italian is a very hard language to learn. (I'm a native speaker who teaches Italian to tandem partners for language exchanges).

Carsten Raddatz Mar 12

Beautiful story. This goes to prove (which nobody needed, but there you go) that reviving a language you once had learned can do good on so many levels. This can be as good as learning a new language, personally rewarding, and making the world turn non-nonsense.

@miffyhelen Italian isn't very widespread outside Italy border, and usually you could expect more from descendant of Italian immigrants from America (both North and South) and Australia.
A foreign interested into learn my language without some cultural ties is unusual and catch our attention.

@miffyhelen That is a lovely story! Good for your mom keeping at learning that language. It's so wonderful when you get proof that all that effort pays off. I know from my own experience when I started learning Spanish.