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When I was in Rome I was determined to use my admittedly limited Italian every chance I got. Seems I speak Italian with an American accent so I'd barely get started talking before the person I was speaking to chimed in with English. At one restaurant, I kept slogging away in Italian while my waiter kept replying in English! Eventually, a man from England who was sitting at the next table said. You may as well give it up. Your waiter is actually from Hungary and while he speaks Italian as well is much more comfortable in English! I try to learn how to say Hello, please, thank you very much, and help in any country I am visiting. Those phrase books are pretty useless because even if you manage to say "Is this the way to the train station?" the reply you get, if spoken entirely in the other language will not be a simple "yes" or "no, go that way." I went in search of a restaurant in an off the beaten track neighborhood in Rome with some friends. As the only sort of Italian speaker I was in charge of accosting various folks for directions. My "Is X restaurant on this street," was met with a lot of sympathy and a lot of words that I did not understand! But guess what? We found the restaurant. I ordered in Italian. We got tons of food and had a wonderful time.

<blockquote data-quote="sailboat" data-source="post: 969470"><p>When I was in Rome I was determined to use my admittedly limited Italian every chance I got. Seems I speak Italian with an American accent so I'd barely get started talking before the person I was speaking to chimed in with English. At one restaurant, I kept slogging away in Italian while my waiter kept replying in English! Eventually, a man from England who was sitting at the next table said. You may as well give it up. Your waiter is actually from Hungary and while he speaks Italian as well is much more comfortable in English! I try to learn how to say Hello, please, thank you very much, and help in any country I am visiting. Those phrase books are pretty useless because even if you manage to say &quot;Is this the way to the train station?&quot; the reply you get, if spoken entirely in the other language will not be a simple &quot;yes&quot; or &quot;no, go that way.&quot;&nbsp; I went in search of a restaurant in an off the beaten track neighborhood in Rome with some friends. As the only sort of Italian speaker I was in charge of accosting various folks for directions. My &quot;Is X restaurant on this street,&quot; was met with a lot of sympathy and a lot of words that I did not understand! But guess what? We found the restaurant. I ordered in Italian. We got tons of food and had a wonderful time.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="sailboat, post: 969470"] When I was in Rome I was determined to use my admittedly limited Italian every chance I got. Seems I speak Italian with an American accent so I'd barely get started talking before the person I was speaking to chimed in with English. At one restaurant, I kept slogging away in Italian while my waiter kept replying in English! Eventually, a man from England who was sitting at the next table said. You may as well give it up. Your waiter is actually from Hungary and while he speaks Italian as well is much more comfortable in English! I try to learn how to say Hello, please, thank you very much, and help in any country I am visiting. Those phrase books are pretty useless because even if you manage to say "Is this the way to the train station?" the reply you get, if spoken entirely in the other language will not be a simple "yes" or "no, go that way." I went in search of a restaurant in an off the beaten track neighborhood in Rome with some friends. As the only sort of Italian speaker I was in charge of accosting various folks for directions. My "Is X restaurant on this street," was met with a lot of sympathy and a lot of words that I did not understand! But guess what? We found the restaurant. I ordered in Italian. We got tons of food and had a wonderful time. [/QUOTE]