Author: Laura Ferries Writer

Teacher and writer from Liverpool, UK. First book of poetry 'Somewhere Between Roses & Oranges' is available now on Amazon. Second book of poetry 'Lucid Dreamscapes' is out now on Lulu.com. Follow me on Instagram @lauraferrieswriter .

Learning Italian: A 20-Month Journey – Tips, Progress, and Insights

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn italian, italy3 Comments

[Click here to read my post featuring 25 Italian expressions for natural-sounding speech]

Going to Italy on holiday but don’t know the language? Wanting to know just enough Italian to use on your holiday without having to learn the grammar and tons of pointless vocabulary and phrases? 

Download my simple, easy and colourful guide to Italian for your holiday in Italy which will give you exactly the word and brief phrases you will need for chatting to the locals in Italian here!

I intended to write the second language learning diary after my 12-day trip to Italy in August 2021; I wanted to track my progress soon after spending some time in the country, surrounded by the language. However, the return to school in September and a few stalls in my learning meant I’m only just getting round to it now, 8 months after the first entry.

My first diary entry detailed the methods I had used and the point I had reached. Admittedly, I don’t adhere to a strict learning schedule as I work full-time and it’s harder when you don’t live in the country of your target language, plus it’s not urgent as my partner speaks fluent English. I have picked it up a bit more recently as I am entered in for GCSE Italian at the school where I work with a colleague, and we are helping each other. I also recently returned from a 6-day trip to Italy where I got to practice some more speaking than usual (more about that later). You can read about two of those days, spent in the Alpine region of Trentino, here.

These have been my main methods of learning Italian since my last blog entry in April 2021:

Continue reading “Learning Italian: A 20-Month Journey – Tips, Progress, and Insights” →

Little Tastes of Austria in Italy: A Two-Day Adventure in Trentino, Italian Alps

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn italy3 Comments

A trip to Italy in the winter to visit my partner’s family made for an interesting experience to see how il natale (Christmas) is celebrated there. The first couple days were spent in his home city of Reggio Emilia to visit his sister then the latter days were spent in Ravenna visiting his mum. We had a couple of days between destinations to go somewhere different and while lots of Italian locations are better suited to the summer, it seemed apt to go to a wintery place this time.

I’d never been to the Alps and having not long seen the movie House of Gucci (where some scenes of the film were shot), I was intrigued to see some of the region and another part of Italy.

Continue reading “Little Tastes of Austria in Italy: A Two-Day Adventure in Trentino, Italian Alps” →

Viva Venice! Exploring Venice and Burano in Just Two Days

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn italy3 Comments

Going to Italy on holiday but don’t know the language? Wanting to know just enough Italian to use on your holiday without having to learn the grammar and tons of pointless vocabulary and phrases? 

Download my simple, easy and colourful guide to Italian for your holiday in Italy which will give you exactly the word and brief phrases you will need for chatting to the locals in Italian here!

Venice

On a recent trip to the north of Italy, after completing five days of quarantine in Quattro Castella in the Emilia-Romagna region, we had a couple of days to visit somewhere before heading on to the second part of our trip to Ravenna on the northeast coast.

Friends who had visited Venice had always spoken so well of the unique canal city and photographs always looked stunning, like a glimpse back in time to a golden era of opera, elegant dress, ornate balconies and orchestras. I’d always thought of it as a place I must visit in my lifetime but had never really made any plans to do so, with other trips and destinations occurring first.

Venice was a mere two-hour train journey from Reggio Emilia with a quick switch at Bologna, so this was the prime opportunity to go!

I liked the idea of travelling to Venice by train, and when we got off at Venice Santa-Lucia station, I was delighted to see that you step off and step out into the street and you are immediately there in the middle of the city, boats sailing along the grand canal, past even grander buildings, people milling round in a watercolour blend of blues, whites, lilacs and golds. It looked like a still-life on a giant canvas, despite all the movement.

Continue reading “Viva Venice! Exploring Venice and Burano in Just Two Days” →

Portmeirion: Experience a Slice of Italy in the Heart of Wales

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn britainLeave a comment

It’s been 18 months since I last left the country, when I visited Reykjavik, Iceland. It had long been one of my bucket-list destinations and I loved every minute but I haven’t been on a sunny holiday for 22 months and even that was visiting Córdoba, Spain, where I used to live anyway. So, technically, I haven’t been on a proper holiday since August 2018- a 3 day trip to Lake Como and Milan. That was 35 months ago.

It’s safe to say that I, like everyone else, am dying for an escape from the same scene of my home country to experience again the joys of a holiday abroad. Britain has some very beautiful places and the Covid-19 pandemic and not being able to travel internationally has had the pleasant advantage of spending more time visiting places here and discovering new corners of the country which had long been overlooked.

Continue reading “Portmeirion: Experience a Slice of Italy in the Heart of Wales” →

Learning Italian: An 8-Month Journey – Tips, Progress, and Insights

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn italian3 Comments

[You can read the second installment of my Italian learning progress diary at 20 months here.]

[Looking for natural-sounding Italian expressions? Click here for my blog post with 25 expressions]

Going to Italy on holiday but don’t know the language? Wanting to know just enough Italian to use on your holiday without having to learn the grammar and tons of pointless vocabulary and phrases? 

Download my simple, easy and colourful guide to Italian for your holiday in Italy which will give you exactly the word and brief phrases you will need for chatting to the locals in Italian here!

Background

I have been learning Italian for approximately 8-10 months now since I met my partner who is from Italy, with varying rates of study. Sometimes I’m able to study intensively, sometimes I learn casually/passively and when work gets busy I can go weeks without much learning at all. He speaks fluent English but I firmly believe that learning his native language too is only fair! Learning a language is also interwoven with learning about a culture and vice versa so that’s another important reason for me.

I’ve been off work for the last 2 weeks for the Easter break so have had much more time to focus on learning Italian. In the UK we have been in a third national lockdown for the last four months due to the Covid-19 pandemic which means there hasn’t been much else to do during this time off! I feel I’ve made a noticeable amount of progress over the last fortnight so thought I would write a blog entry tracking where I am after 8-10 months and what I have done so far. The idea is that I will write another entry in around 3-4 months so I can look back and track how I’ve progressed as it is often hard to gauge. My hope is that international travel will resume this summer and that we will be able to get over to Italy in August (4 months from now) and that I will be able to converse on a basic level with locals in Italian.

One thing I knew from previous language learning was that whatever your learning style, it needs to be multi-sensory, frequent and as immersive as you can make it even when not in a country where your target language is commonly spoken.

Continue reading “Learning Italian: An 8-Month Journey – Tips, Progress, and Insights” →