My personal story of re-learning a second language as an adult

As an adult, speaking Italian became very difficult for me. When I was young, my grandmother lived with us and the main language in the house was Italian. She immigrated to Canada in the 1950s and was unable to speak English, so, in order to communicate with her, we needed to speak Italian. When she moved out of the house English became the main language of the household, and as a result, my ability to speak Italian nearly disappeared. This motivated me to learn how to speak it again and in 2014, I began my journey to re-learn the Italian language.

My journey began in a conversational Italian class.  While having conversations with the class, I tried my best to answer questions as quickly as possible. There was a critical voice in my head that said, “Don’t embarrass yourself” and “Don’t make a mistake.”  My negative thoughts impeded my ability to recall words and string together a sentence. New words and phrases also created a barrier when trying to speak Italian. Simple phrases such as, “Che ora e?” and “Come stai?” which mean, essentially “What time is it?” and “How are you?” no longer sufficed. I needed to learn new words and phrases if I wanted to carry a conversation. This was most evident when I went to Italy as it was here that I felt like an outsider. I did not understand a majority of the words and I could not engage in conversation as much as I would have liked to. Not only was there a lack of comprehension but responses were just as difficult. During my studies in Florence I learned new vocabulary, however the rate of information flowing my way was overwhelming and I could not pick up as much of the language as I wanted. Perhaps, it was my impatience and unrealistic goal of wanting to master the Italian language in just a few weeks. However, with time, I realized this was not going to be an easy process and patience, compassion and perseverance were going to be my best friends if I wanted to continue on this journey.  

Writing and reading Italian on the other hand, produced quite an opposite effect for me. Writing and reading were always easier mainly because it was an activity I could do alone. There was no audience, no time constraints and when reading, the words were already on the page so no need to feel pressure to think of a word. This way, you’re in control of how long it takes you to read or write something. In addition, when you make a mistake, the only witness is yourself, which can lessen the tendency to be self-critical. Writing in Italian was so easy for me that it felt as if the DNA of my ancestors was in my hand, moving that pen. I felt embodied by the language, and with each written word I felt transported back to that small village where my ancestors originated from. I finally felt empowered and knowledgeable. Reading Italian also came easy to me. I knew the sound of the Italian alphabet quite well, and therefore I was able to pronounce each word. Reading felt effortless—so much so it was as if I was singing a song, all the notes flowing perfectly together. I felt like I was creating a delightful melody, like the violin strings from a composition by the Italian composer Vivaldi, and again this made me feel connected to my heritage. 

My aim is for the act of speaking to feel as easy as reading and writing. I need to remind myself that the process of learning is like fine-tuning an instrument. You need to approach it step by step—if you jump ahead, the notes won’t sound right. Likewise, when learning a language, you need to learn each step from beginning to end and, most importantly, you need to practice. So, keep that instrument close and pick it up daily.