First Italian Class - Heather Kraft

Allora.

I don’t think I have heard any word as much as this popular Italian phrase during our time here. Our Italian teacher was especially fond of it, like many other natives I have passed by. It is a cultural word, something of lingual filler, with a rough translation of “then.”

Hopefully soon the constant battering of frustrated alloras will cease as our Italian approves. Today was our first day of Italian class which we are taking through Italiadea, a nearby school for teaching Italian to foreigners. Mary met us at the Portone and led us on a short walk through the Campo to find our building. Our classes are in a Piazza but at first we went to the Piazzo, which was across the street. We quickly found out where we should be and crossed the street but not before Mary told us about the building we had been in. Vatican City was not the only gift of land from the Romans, other cites within the Rome were given as well. The building we accidentally stumbled on was one of those buildings; technically part of Vatican City.

Mary took her leave after we were seated in class. We were treated with a lecture on how to learn a language and encouraged to give it our all and not be afraid of our peers. Then we were introduced to our teacher, Paola.

We began by learning our alphabet and our pronunciation. Unlike English, the “ch” sound is hard, like an English k. For example, chiave (“key”) is pronounced key-ya-vay. We also practiced our “gli” sound, which is a particularly Italian sound, similar to “lee.” After two hours we left with practice books and the ability to ask “What does that mean?” (Che cosa significa), “My name is..” (Mi chiamo..) and recite our alphabet.

After being let out, the class scattered to grab a quick lunch before Mary’s class. Richelle, Cami, Kelly and I grabbed a quick bite of pizza before heading to the Campo de Fiori for shopping in the market. We ran into Lisa who gave us some quick tips on buying meat.

The Campo Market

After that it was time for Mary’s class which was spent on the topic of the topic of Florence, guilds and Dante. We discussed the Boundelmonte murder which was the origin of the Guelf and Ghibelline conflict; a civil war that would divide Florence over the next hundred years.

Allora.

Ciao belli!

YUM!