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

And now an Escher cat

#Escher #caturday #caturdayeveryday

Woot Woot 🤩 🐢

https://www.galapagos.org/newsroom/a-homecoming-for-floreana/

*This February, after more than 180 years of absence, giant tortoises returned to Floreana Island.
Giant tortoises once played a central role in shaping the island’s ecosystems, but they have been gone for more than 180 years. Their return restores a key ecological function and represents an important step in the broader, long-term effort to rebuild what was lost.*

#Floreana #Ecuador #Tortoise #Galapagos #Nature #Science #goodnews

#Polanski's rebuttal of Mahmood's claim that he was "encouraging ppl to cross The Channel"

#green
#asylumseekers

Will historians look back and wonder why the police focused their efforts on Quaker Meeting Houses and never Tufton Street or the private clubs of Mayfair?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyk3gprdj3o