The rewards of language learning

Getting to know a different country while on vacation there can be a wonderful new experience. 

You can enrich this experience by equipping yourself with a few phrases of the local language, just to enable a bit of communication with the locals, it's usually worth it as they will warm to you very quickly and make it all the more pleasant for you.

Living in the country, however, is a different matter. The situation changes then into having to learn the language just in order to get by in everyday life doing everyday things. 

The following piece talks briefly about my experience of living in Italy, where I learnt my first foreign language, Italian.

I knew some people there who cut short their experience because they didn't get around to learning the language and so felt isolated. I wanted to make the most of it all so I made a special effort to learn Italian and it opened the door to an amazing time. 

Of course this can be relevant for any language/country/culture but Italy was my first experience of living abroad and the one I'll remember most fondly. 

But the message is; embrace language learning, this is what it can give you back;

When it comes to speaking or writing about Italy, I usually find myself using a lot of superlatives. The words "best" and "most beautiful" get used a lot. It might be hard to understand why someone from Ireland, who had only spent 2 years in Italy, can still regard it as his spiritual home and after 15 years still gets homesick for it, but let me at least try to explain the impact and significance the "most beautiful" country has had on my life.

I went to Italy 17 years ago as a 24 year-old seeking adventure. My plan was just to go and have a year of fun before coming home to make a career for myself, I figured I should get this travel bug out of my system before even thinking about getting serious about life. I'd never been to Italy before but I knew there were certain things I already loved about it; the weather, the food, the football and the pretty girls. I went alone because I wanted to challenge myself to a new country, new culture and new language and do it for myself and then at least I'd come home with a new skill, a new language. 

What I found there was anything but a challenge, it was a pleasure, "La dolce vita" indeed.

I organised a job in a bar in Crema, a city in Lombardy, not far from Milan and I flew into Milan on a Friday night in August 1996 ready to start work on the Monday.

Right away I knew it was a place I would enjoy, little did I realise then how much of an impact it would have on my life. Such an impact that as I sit at home and write this 17 years later, my heart still hurts to remember and realise how much I miss it. Trust me, Italy gets under your skin and into your heart. It's a good thing, embrace it. 

I indeed found all the things listed above that I already liked about the country and in terms of girls, I met one of the great loves of my life there. But it was the things I hadn't expected that made the biggest impact on me. The country is spectacularly beautiful, from fresh-aired alpine mountains in the north, to the sun-kissed beaches on the coasts, the rolling plains of Lombardy to the medieval towns dotted around the landscape. You don't need to be told about the beauty of Venice, but what about the breathtaking beauty of lake Garda? Medieval towns with cobblestone streets, ancient castles, lemon trees, olive groves and mountains overlooking the lake. Amazing! You need to see these places to believe.

But the best thing about Italy for me is it's people. As a young foreigner trying to find his feet, what I found was an endless supply of people only too eager to help and put a friendly arm around me. I was invited into many homes and treated like a member of the family, as if I was a cousin visiting from overseas. 

I'm still in touch with most of the people I got to know there and even the ones I'm not in regular contact with still make a big fuss of me whenever I go back. On my first return, 4 years after I'd left to go home, people were coming out of shop doorways to hug me. A wonderfully warm people, full of fun. They certainly know how to enjoy the good and simple things in life; a stroll through the town, enjoying a "Gelato" on a warm summer evening, or just greeting friends and neighbours as they enjoy a coffee while sitting in the piazza. 

The people of Italy speak the most romantic, sexy language in the world and if you can demonstrate an ability to do use their language (4 or 5 words will suffice), just enough to order a coffee, you will instantly be a hero to them and you will earn yourself many pats on the back.

Italy, like many of its European neighbours is experiencing some hard times economically right now but I would have faith that, more than most, it can get back on its feet quickly. A tourist industry that will always be booming due to the country's natural beauties and an upbeat, resilient people are just some of the things Italy has in it's corner. 

It's a country that everyone should experience at least once in their life. And it is an experience, not just a destination. 

You may just lose your heart there but at least it'll have mine for company.