Language? Allora!
“Allora!” You will hear that expression a lot in Italy. Whether it is said in the middle of a sentence quickly, or at the end of it, or even by itself loudly. Allora is the big hit around here. From what I gathered, it means “then”, “so”, “come on!” and “well” just to name a few, but in reality it is used for basically everything you can think of. I find it fascinating, and thus got addicted o saying it, of course. Today, as I was walking home, one of the people that are hired to draw customers into restaurants started speaking to me in Italian quite fast, and I simply replied by looking straight at him and saying “Allora” very slowly. Everyone around me cracked up, including the guy. Oh, and he replied with a sad “allora” too, of course.
Unfortunately, there is a lot more to the Italian language than the glorious “Allora”… I speak Portuguese fluently, so Italian is not difficult for me. However, I do not know how to speak Italian yet. That causes me to be able to say simple things to Italian people and then get hit with quick and long Italian responses that leave me speechless and with a blank stare on my face. Regardless of that, I do enjoy learning this language and I think it is very beautiful and not that hard at all. I am currently watching a Netflix show in Italian with subtitles in English, and that has been helping my Italian comprehension. I also do Duo Lingo (an app) in Italian, and that helps my vocabulary. I highly recommend both practices.
Most people at restaurants and stores here in Trastevere (the neighborhood John Cabot University is at) speak perfect English, and if combined with the university English bubble, it becomes hard to find yourself forced to speak or understand any Italian at all. However, other neighborhoods of the city and older stores and restaurants sometimes do not have English speaking people, so one must twist and turn in order to get their point across if not knowledgeable with Italian. I would definitely recommend getting out of your comfort zone and getting into establishments you know will not have anyone that speaks English inside, that is an amazing way you will be able to improve your Italian.
People here in Italy will not get mad at you in you don’t speak their language, they also will not get offended. They will try to communicate with you as best as possible, and they will teach you the correct way of saying something if they notice you are trying to speak their language. Italians are very friendly people, so do not be scared. Get out of your English bubble and learn Italian with the locals!
