Speaking Italian

So I realized something today...nobody in this part of Italy is ever going to understand me when I speak Italian. I had an epiphany at a gas station this morning trying to have a simple conversation with the attendant, and I finally think I know why nobody seems to understand me.

I've been studying Italian pretty regularly using Rosetta Stone. The software has really helped me with my vocabulary and reading, but it's done nothing for my speaking. Part of this is that I often turn off the voice recognition because it kind of stinks (the one bad thing about the software). But I think there's a bigger reason why people don't understand me. I'm listening to REAL Italian when I do my daily lessons. But people in Italy speak all kinds of different Italian in the form of "dialects".

So when I'm listening to people I find myself trying to hear if they are speaking dialect or Italian or something in between. I can often hear the Triestino dialect now, but in the time it takes me to realize they are speaking this instead of Italian I get lost in the conversation. Then when I speak it often comes out wrong, or they just don't understand me because...well...I'm speaking Italian.

My absolute favorite example of my frustration speaking to people is saying the number 2. "Due" in Italian. Pronounced "doo-ay" ("ay", like in "day"). Simple right?? But in Trieste they say "doo-uh". OK, fine...I get it. I'll just say "doo-uh" when I try to order 2 cappuccini. But then they look at me confused and ask: "doo-ay" (read: "do you mean doo-ay)? But when I ask for "doo-ay" cappuccini they look at me confused and say: "tre" (which is 3...pronounced "tray")? Ugghhh!!!

Today at the gas station I tried to get "venti Euro" ($20). If you've been to Starbuck's, you know how to pronounce "venti" right? Simple enough. The attendant looks at me confused (as usual) and says: "pieno" (full)? I say: "no, solo venti" (no, only 20). He says "si, benzina" (yes, gas). I say something like: "io voglio solo venti Euro di benzina" (I only want $20 of gas). He says: "si, pieno" (yes, full). Usually, this is where Kristen and I give up and just take whatever we get! But today I was determined to only get $20 in gas. This went back and forth for like 5 minutes before he finally says: "ohhhh, venti Euro". I have no idea what I said or how I said it that he finally understood me!

By the way...we don't have this problem speaking outside of the Trieste area in case anyone is interested. Ah, Italy.