One of my main goals while being in Italy is to improve my conversational skills in Italian. Outside of school, I have been speaking daily with local Italians. From ordering a cappuccino at the local bar to conversing with local university students, I have been exposing myself to the colloquiums of the Italian language. From my experiences thus far I have come to understand the significance behind some phrases used in daily speech.
For example, I have learned the meaning behind the phrase ci penso io. Ci penso io may have a direct translation of I think about it but, not everything can be directly translated between languages. The expression is used in discussion to indicate that one speaking will do a task themselves. I have already begun using this phrase in my speech without even realizing it. This phrase is commonly used daily by all Italians regardless of age and gender.
Another expression I have often heard in conversation is può darsi. Puo darsi is used in discussion when the object of discourse has a probability of happening. While I have primarily heard this phrase while speaking with other younger students, it is also used by all other age groups. I have not utilized this expression as often as ci penso io; however, it has been useful to understand the meaning.
Through my informal conversations with local university students, I have also picked up some Italian slang. For example, when addressing a group, one will say raga. Raga is an abridged version of the term ragazzi meaning guys. I have also noticed this formula in other slang such as fra, short for fratello (brother).
From my experiences thus far, I have realized that the most efficient way to apprehend a language is not to always perform a word-for-word translation but rather to listen for the context in which certain words are employed.
