So you think you can speak Italian?

Fran and I have often mentioned our friends in this blog, however we have not always run pictures of them. I am herewith going to try to do that. To the left is my friend, and summer neighbor, Angelo.

Angelo is kind of special to me, because he always tries to encourage me, in a discouraging sort of way, to speak better Italian. The first summer we were here, we were sitting around and folks burst into song. Angelo told me that if I wanted to learn Italian, I should sing a different Italian song each day as I walked to and from the beach. After listening to the gathering singing, I told him that I already knew the words. They went Io da tada tada tad, e lei da tada tada tada. He looked around, laughed, and told me I was probably right.

Anyway, he always corrects my verbs, and if I begin to understand everything he has said, he starts to speak faster. Now he is on a new kick. When he sees me, and we talk for a minute or two, he switches to Sicilian, and then checks my understanding. He wants me to learn Sicilian, and he is being my 'Dutch Uncle', in terms of investing his time by saying things first in Sicilian, then in Italian, but not telling me specific words, or making it any easier for me.

If I learn to speak Sicilian, and I do want to learn, and I am beginning to understand it when people speak it around me, it will be because of folks like Angelo.

Bravo, amico mio.