So you got dragged to a couple of evenings at the opera and -guess what?- you LIKED it! And now you've been thinking about learning enough Italian language to allow you to follow along when that lady with the large lungs starts singing something that makes the rest of the people in the audience break into tears!
Well, Italian is the language that Giovanni, Pacini and Vivaldi composed in, but it is also the language of Ennio Morricone, composer of the music for some of the world's finest spaghetti westerns ever filmed!
And if it wasn't opera or horse opera that caught your ear, perhaps it was the creations of gentlemen like Maserati and Lamborghini that set your soul afire, somewhere between 0 and 200 mph! Italian designers of premium FAST cars are world renowned and for good reason! Formula One has been an Italian stronghold for decades, almost since auto racing began!
Or maybe your eye was drawn to the works of a master artist like Corrado Feroci, Michelangelo and Da Vinci, whose work has inspired tens of thousands of artists and admirers through the ages. You just want to appreciate their art in the language they used while crafting their master-works, is that it?
Or is it that you're an admirer of the female form, or a well-suited male form, and names like Baroni, Laura Biagiotti, Giorgio Armani, Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo turn you on? Make you want to jump on a plane and fly over to Roma?
The depth, breadth and excellence of Italy's past and current artists and designers is pretty much a given today, as these world-leaders can attest. Italy has a certain je ne sais quoi that produces eye-pleasing creations in cloth, oil-paint, marble, architecture, opera, shoes, speedboats and more, much, much more! Sometimes only a matter of proportion or color, material or cut, Italian elegance is apparent to all but the eyes and ears of barbarians.
The range of Italian speakers you would have access to today is such that it could be difficult NOT to find people to speak with in Italy, whether in the city or in the countryside. And make no mistake about it, Italian countryside is world-renowned for its beauty and the variety of floral growth enhancing the beauty of the hillsides, estates and villas.
But maybe you've set your heart (and stomach) on learning Italian cooking from someone actually living in the farmland of southern Italy, so you can not only grasp the essence of the foods and spices required, but also pick up on the nuances of Italian exclamation and gesture!
Whatever your motivating desire, you can learn Italian language and, in learning, immerse yourself in Italian culture for a life-enriching experience that goes far beyond Benvenuto! Puoi parlare lentamente?
Buona fortuna!