Anyone up for some Gnagno?

Looking for the gift for those kids who have everything? How about a pack of Triestine playing cards and a quick lesson in "Gnagno." Basically, it's the same as UNO but with skinnier cards and funkier suits.

What?!?

You Never knew the Triestini had playing cards of their very own? Ever heard of the game Scopa?

Whaaaaaaa?!

Well, here you are, my friends. YOU ARE WELCOME! 

We are going to the States this week and guess what we are bringing. Yep, two packs of cards (and some Olive Oil and some trinkets).

In Trieste, quality time with family means playing cards. 

You can buy them in most Tabacchino shops (look for the stores with a big T sign outside). It's what the kids here play when they are skipping school. It's what the senior citizens most love and fight about with their friends.

Having a deck of cards can be a good way to make friends and/or enemies. Either way it's a good way to pass the time.

If cards aren't your thing, don't worry, your new Triestine pals will entice  you into a nice game of Tombola (Bingo basically) after Christmas supper, which is also a great way to practice your numbers in Italian.

Sunday Lessons in Village PR

We finally had some time to get stuff done around the house today so Cristian was out in the driveway cutting wood this morning. See, we have this woodburning stove we use to supplement the regular gas heat (and having fires in winter rocks). Since there are other people at his work with fireplaces and woodburning stoves, they order their firewood together. You can load it up and take it home when you want (company perk, Triestine style). The wood is cheap but you have to cut it to fireplace size yourself, which is a great excuse to buy a chainsaw.

Which brings me to the lessons I learned today.

Lesson 1.
My husband really loves his chainsaw.

Lesson 2.
Chainsaws are Man Magnets.

Within about 10 minutes there was a 3-man fanclub out there talking wood: where to find it, how to cut it, the best ways to burn it.

And in this neighborhood, when men come over to talk anything, you better offer them something to drink. This is met with, "Oh no, I couldn't. You are so busy..." followed by "Oh, alright. Let me bring home the hound and I will be right back."

When they come back, they bring a bottle of wine and you know it's going to be good because it has no label, which means that it is "Domace" and if they didn't make it themselves, someone close by did. This is a precious gift and a gesture of friendship.

Of course, you will not open it (now) because you also have a bottle waiting. It also has no label and is "Domace," fresh from the cantina of someone in the village up the hill. In this case, it is Emil's, the one with the twin boys who just graduated from College. Uncle Boris gets his wine from him, too.

The neighbors stay for two drinks and in that time they talk about what the village looked like 40 years ago, when our house was a small grocery store and the yellow house on the corner was a bar, and the house behind ours was the bakery.

Oops. Look at the time, they drink up, and say their goodbyes. They, too, have a lunch to get to. We call the mother-in-law and explain that we lost track of time. We were cutting wood, the neighbors stopped by and Cicole Ciacole, an hour has passed. In the meantime the washing machine finished its cycle and we still have to hang out the clothes (in our village you hang clothes outside even in winter), then we will be right over. Of course, she says, that's life in a village.

How Not to Look American -- from an American who sticks out

Triestini can spot their own kind from a Kilometer away. "You can tell by the way they walk... Check out those sunglasses!" My husband says, "Italiani in vacanza!!"

The Triestini say the Germans wear sandles with socks and, in summer, they are anywhere they can be naked (boats, nudie camping grounds, anywhere in Croatia...).

Americans are also abbastanza obvious. Use this guide and maybe you can fool the Triestini (not likely), or at least not stick out too much.

1. Yellow gold.

Leave it at home (it's considered old-fashioned) unless it's your wedding ring. White gold is okay.

2. The Diamond Engagement ring.

Triestini don't do engagement rings. They would prefer that money go toward a down-payment for their very own apartment or an awesome vacation. Two rings on one finger means you are a widow/widower and you are wearing your deceased partner's ring.

3.  Bottles and Bottles of water.

What is it with Americans and obsessive hydration? American tourists can be spotted in European capitals wearing contraptions in the Baby Bjorn family designed for holding bottles of water. They seem to be hanging everywhere: on the backpack, over the shoulder, one in each hand. You might as well be wearing a sign that says: "I am not from here, please pick my pocket."

Having a bottle of water with you in your bag is fine. Many Italian cities have water fountains in various places where you can fill up your reusable bottles with "aqua del sindaco," and it is perfectly delicious (Trieste and Rome are great for this). Better yet, why not do like the Italians? Stop at a bar and order something to drink and have a conversation with someone or do some people watching! Be careful what you order if you don't want to stick out. According to my mother-in-law, "Water is for washing." She would order an espresso or a glass of wine.

4. White Tennies.

Italians prefer shoes that can work in both casual situations and in a professional context. Their reasoning is you can never be overdressed, only underdressed. For this reason, it is a safer bet to go dark, which is always more elegant than white, or, godforbid, dirty.

5. How you stand can make a difference.

This video by an ex-CIA Chief of Disguise explains that you can even spot an American a mile away because of how they have a tendency to lean on one leg rather than distribute weight evenly to both legs...

6. How you use space.

Americans are used to having lots of space and not having to touch anyone on public transportation. David Sedaris says you can spot an American on a metro in Paris because they "hug the pole" rather than hold on with one hand so that others can hang on, too.

Same with elevators. Americans will not get on a full elevator. They will wait for the next one. A European will squeeze in and be happy to be so close to the door so they can be the first off.

7. Going to the back of the line.

If there is a line, Americans will go to the back of it EVERY TIME.

I was just in Rome with American friends who have lived in Italy longer than I have. At the conference where we were presenting, they saw a line and went immediately to the back. I did not.

Like a good fake Italian (observer), I went to the front of the line to understand the situation. There were actually TWO lines: one for speakers (no waiting) and one for guests (big long line). I registered immediately and went back to rescue my friends.

All this is not to say that I don't look American. I do. I also sound American, but I do not look or act like a tourist. It's all about situational awareness. You want it to be clear that you know what's up!

You know me, I just want you to fit in!

Let's Stop Being So Available

I had a shocking experience in the Adult Classroom this week (it was not at the Italian American Association, but in a company). I realized that many adults can't detach from their cell phones anymore.

There have been cell phones in my classes for as long as I remember, but the difference is that in the past they were a discreet presence. You would do a hip grab to see if that ringing phone was yours, you might pull it out of your pocket to see who called or where the message came from, if you actually took it out all the way you would be genuinely embarassed to take attention away from those around you.

That has changed. Apparently people are now allowed to disengage on a near constant basis. What I mean by this is that they were physically present in the space (a small group course, workshop format) yet they continued working with their laptops and cell phones as if they were in their office and not in a classroom, and when I say working, I mean checking their emails and text messages and responding to them in real time all the while I am trying to teach the coolest lesson plan I have come up with in a decade and yet I am feeling like an analog dinosaur speaking in Morse Code because they are just NOT FOLLOWING ME AT ALL.

What I wanted to say to these people was this:

JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN BE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY, DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU SHOULD.

The messages I received:
Real people are a waste of time.
Creativity is not useful.
The participant is in no way responsible for the success of a course. 

One student even told me that she "tuned out" because I showed a video that was longer than 4 minutes. Wow.

So it was a depressing day because it didn't matter what I did, there was always going to be something better going on somewhere else.

And it hurt. Boy, did it hurt. I have never left a workshop with less energy than I had going in. I usually go home riding high on the energy of an excellent group making something incredible out of nothing.

At first I couldn't figure out where I went wrong.

Yes, there were a ton of unforeseen annoying obstacles because there always are. Normally we get past them with a little empathy and a sense of humor. Technology that doesn't work the way we want, a room that doesn't fit our needs,  big whoop, we laugh and go to Plan B.

But this time there was no shared understanding. Instead, each glitch was an opportunity to check email again (and rack up nasty feedback points for the form at the end of the day).

Phones and laptops became barriers that never allowed us to connect as human beings, and that broken circuit made all the lights go out on the string.

There is a huge price to pay for this semi-presence.

1. It kills the vibe of an otherwise positive atmosphere.
2. It communicates disrespect for colleagues and the instructor.
3. It substitutes reflection with distraction. 
4. It makes it impossible to create a productive working group.

It's not just in the classroom, though. Even in restaurants, chefs are getting annoyed at people taking constant photos of their food rather than enjoying the experience. One article I read (which I can't find at the moment) linked an increase in complaints for cold food with people taking longer to eat it because they have to photograph it first.

They say success is a string of failures. I count yesterday as a turning point (which is what you call a failure when you don't want to keep feeling like a loser) because it made me approach my next workshop differently. I planned like crazy, put as much paper material together as possible and ordered a room with only chairs. Then I made an excellently detailed plan with a disclaimer.

PARTICIPANTS ARE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED TO REFRAIN FROM BRINGING ELECTRONIC DEVICES INTO THE CLASSROOM.

And just to make my point, I turned off my own phone for an entire six hours. When I turned it back on, I was happy to note a good 15 different fires that had been addressed to me and subsequently (and rightly) extinguished by somebody else because I was not available.

Hooray For Useless Languages!

Today I went into my classroom and made the following list on the whiteboard. See if you can figure out what it all means.

International Cities:
Dubai, Budapest, Nurnberg, New York, London, Manchester, Paris, Lisbon, Bolzen, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Ancona, Milan, Sao Paolo, Dakar.

Professional Sports:
NBA, World Championship Sailing, World Championship Paratriathlon, Formula Indy.

Other Sectors:
Insurance, Toys, Tunneling, Engineering, Food and Bev, Wine business.

Did you get what they have in common?

My students couldn't figure it out either, so here the solution.

These are all of the cities (actually it is a partial list of just the sexiest ones) that I have visited for work in the sectors above (Formula Indy was not work but thanks to languages). I had all of these opportunities because I studied what other people called "useless languages."

The "useless" languages that led to these experiences were French, Portuguese and Italian.  I have lots of others I am working on with varying degrees of commitment as well: Albanian (specifically Kosovan), Triestino (yes, it's a language), Wolof, Slovenian, and, most recently, Swedish.

What are your useless languages? Who knows what doors they will open for you.

Get your Students to talk NOW

Today's post is about teaching foreign language. Specifically, I want to propose an answer and a solution to this question:

Why is it that practically everybody has to study a foreign language, yet so few people actually speak the language they are trying to learn?

Normally I address the student because we all have to take personal responsability for our language learning. This time, however, I address the foreign language teacher.

What students want: To speak the language so they can use it in practical situations (especially while traveling around the world on a mega yacht sipping mohitos with the movers and shakers). I know this because I have asked every student I have ever had. 

What teachers teach: Grammar, which is more often than not taught in the native language and NOT in the target language.

Why do teachers get so hung up on grammar? There are several reasons.

1. It's easy to put a grade on because it is either right or wrong.
2. It's comfortable and familiar.
3. It is a teacher-centered activity (I teach, you take notes, then you do the exercises at home) and therefore easy to control and not noisy.
4. The pressure to follow "a Program"
5. So kids will do well on standardized tests.

Why do teachers teach in their language and not in the target language?

1. Because the students won't understand if I teach in the target language.
2. Because the grammar is so technical, they will lose something if I do it in the target language.
3. I don't feel comfortable teaching in the language because I am not a native speaker.

The problem with the grammar-based approach.

1. It encourages perfectionism, which is the enemy of language acquisition.
2. It is discouraging (see above).
3. It is difficult to apply to real life because the focus is on rules rather than usage.
5. It assumes there is a uniform "ideal" way of speaking (which does not exist) and therefore leads to impossible expectations and fear of judgement.

How many people do you know learned their native language by studying grammar? Just saying. 

I feel that our job as foreign language teachers is to provide as much contact with the target language as possible (you can never get to the point of understanding a language if you never hear it. Simple). The LEAST we can do is use it as our teaching language. Will our students understand absolutely every word? Of course not. Each student will get something out of the lesson based on their experience with the language. The more experience I have, the more I will understand. That being said, I am the teacher, so I will use my entire bag of tricks to MAKE SURE my students understand what is really important in the lesson (that's what tone of voice, body language and cognates are for).

Anybody who teaches teens will know that you get the same blank look from students no matter what language you use. Try it, I am not kidding. So if this is the case, you have nothing to lose by teaching in the target language. It may even keep them a little more alert.

Our second job is to prepare our students to use the language in practical situations. This means setting into motion rehearsed conversations that we repeat a gazillion times until they become so automatic we don't have to think to use them, and we can bend them to fit our real life needs.

Here is one you can start using today in the first five to seven minutes of class. We call this beginning part of the lesson "circle time" because when children are little (pre school- elementary) we sit in a circle on the floor and go through the same information each time (How are you? How's the weather? etc) with flashcards and get them used to asking and answering basic questions. That repetition is comforting and gets them speaking immediately (with no worries about grammar).

Circle time from Middle School to adults looks a little different. I like to go around the room and shake each person's hand and have this individual conversation (I print up a copy and distribute it on day one. I write it on the board when I add a new piece, which is usually once every two to three weeks).

Phase one.

Teacher: How are you?
Student: Fine thanks and you?
Teacher: Fine thanks. Nice to see you.
Student: Nice to see you, too.

Phase one  + Phase two.

Teacher: How are you?
Student: Fine thanks and you?
Teacher: Fine thanks. Nice to see you.
Student: Nice to see you, too.
Teacher: How was your day yesterday? (on Monday you can say WEEKEND)
Student: It was fine.
Teacher: What did you do?
Student: (choose one) I went out with my friends. I went to school. I stayed home.
Teacher: Great. Have a good day!
Student: Have a good day!

Phase one + Phase two + Phase three.

Teacher: How are you?
Student: Fine thanks and you?
Teacher: Fine thanks. Nice to see you.
Student: Nice to see you, too.
Teacher: How was your day yesterday? (on Monday you can say WEEKEND)
Student: It was fine.
Teacher: What did you do?
Student: (choose one) I went out with my friends. I went to school. I stayed home.
Teacher: What are you doing today after school?
Student: (choose one) I'm having lunch. I'm going home. I'm going out with my friends.
Teacher: If I were you, I would do the same! Have a good day!
Student: Have a good day!

FAQs:

Is it repetitive? You bet!

Is it a rigid conversation? Oh yes. No creativity required or desired. I make it clear that this is a formal conversation accompanied by a firm handshake and eye contact. Yes, even if it's the worst day of my life, everything is "fine". This is the rule of grooming talk in English.

Do I do this with every student at the beginning of every class? Yes, I do.

Isn't that a waste of time? No. Here's why.

1. I shake their hand and look them in the eye and we talk to each other. This creates rapport and the human connection that is so important for learning.
2. It is a clear signal that class is starting, yet gives them a moment to transition from their native language.
3. It becomes automatic for them, so it is a positive way to begin. If I don't do it, the students are disappointed!
4. I always remind myself that even if my students learn NOTHING from me, this conversation will be part of them for the rest of their lives. They can use it anywhere in the world and make friends immediately.
5. There is about three years of grammar in that little conversation!
6. I teach many types of students including students who have had bad experiences in the foreign language classroom. This conversation increases confidence, especially when they use it on a real foreign person and they are able to have a real conversation.

Is it noisy?

Yes, because students do not typically go silent the moment the teacher's back is to them and they are not in the spotlight. I don't mind this, as long as I can hear the person I am talking to. If the volume gets too loud, I stop and remind the class to be respectful.

The payoff.

Your students will use it on you even when they see you around town and hearing "Nice to see you" from your students is it's own reward.

We teachers need as many personal victories as we can get.

Kids Playing in the Street

My thought of gratitude for this Sunday evening was supposed to be that the weather changed and it got cold, which normally happens during the second half of August. It did get colder yesterday, mind you, but NOT COLD ENOUGH. It's still effing hot and I don't know what to wear anymore. Because my skorts that I normally wear ALL SUMMER are like ENOUGH ALREADY!! And my jeans are all like YOU'RE TOO FAT and it's STILL TOO EFFING HOT TO FAKE IT!!!

So forget that moment of gratitude, because even at our FAVORITE OSMIZZA this afternoon in San Giuseppe (Zerjal, but please don't go, because it's already too crowded) the women are all grimacing (in the bad kind of way) because they have never suffered such hot weather in September. But they are happy to see me, since we are neighbors.

Instead, I will tell you that the best part of this little Osmizza outing was when the lady at the counter said, after telling me it's never been so hot in September since the beginning of time (and I know she is right because in the last 15 years of proof I have this is absolutely true, and why wouldn't it also be true for the several million years before that?)...

 "Your daughter? Where is she?"

and I was all like: Daughter? Who Dat?!

Because, you see, I live in a PAESE, or a little VILLAGE, where the children leave the den at sunrise and return at sunset because they are PLAYING TOGETHER IN THE STREET.

Is there TRAFFIC? You ask. You bet! Tons of it, but the kids do like we used to do when we were little: scream CAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!! And then they take the ball into their arms, and flatten themselves against the nearest house in order to avoid being run over.

All of us parents know that our kids are hanging out together in one big girl gang (plus a couple of boys) that has a triangle of influence that goes from Anna's place, to Eva's, to Isabelle's. There is always one set of parents on duty, which means that you get a ton of stuff done at the house that you can never get done during the week because your kids are outside and not asking you to do anything for them. Even if they are inside, they are on their own.

So, today, our friends who, in the not-so-distant-past did not believe such a utopia could possibily exist, came over and liberated their monkey with ours, and we went to the Osmizza, had a couple of sparkling malvasia's and came back to our place for one last drink.

We could hear the girls, of course, because they were playing some sort of ball game with a deflated volleyball that resembled a cross between volleyball, rugby, and dodgeball, and created several minor injuries.

But it didn't matter, because there were also three fridges, and three freezers full of ice, and towels all over the place, ready to ice all of those old-fashioned play in the street wounds.

Viva Domenica!