Speaking another language on the phone can be a challenge

I woke up yesterday morning to a WhatsApp message from Juri, my downstairs neighbor: “ciao paul ti posso telefonare?” It was a nice courtesy to ask before he called, since we have a nine-hour time difference. Of course, I said yes, I’d be available, but my answer came with a bit of dread. Is there something wrong with our house? Did a pipe break? Is the roof leaking? But beyond these possibilities, a major part of my reluctance was knowing that I’d have to speak Italian over the phone. Why couldn’t Juri just write to me?

Aurora

It's not that I’m afraid to make mistakes when speaking Italian. I already know I make a million mistakes a minute, and I can accept that. But the combination of the lack of visual cues, the sometimes fuzzy connection, and the inevitable pauses when I have to mentally translate and then come up with the correct Italian words that really bother me. In a face-to-face conversation, I have a better chance of understanding what is said, and the people I’m speaking to can read the confusion on my face when they start talking too quickly. They can also observe that I’m processing the information and working on coming up with a response. On the phone, I feel rushed. Taking five seconds to answer what may be a simple question makes me feel stupid. Or maybe I should say it reveals that I am stupid, which is perhaps what the person I’m speaking to is thinking. Maybe Juri thinks my Italian is better than it is, because I usually communication with him via email or WhatsApp, where I can take my time or even use a translation program.

In any event, Juri did call, and nothing was really wrong with the house. He wanted to paint his veneziani (blinds), and he wondered if I wanted to do ours as well, so we could share the cost of the painting contractor. I said no, because I had painted our veneziani myself last fall. I had noticed that the paint on the metal parts—the hinges and latches—had become worn, and the metal was starting to rust. The rust had made some stains on the walls, something we’ll have to deal with in the future. I had asked Juri this spring if he had any paint of the proper color to cover the rust stains, and he said he would ask the painter. I didn’t ask about this, preferring to wait until we return to Italy to discuss this again in person.

I recently watched a very funny skit by a bilingual Italian woman who offers online language lessons. Aurora often posts humorous conversations with herself that highlight the frustration of learning a new language, and her skit about speaking on the phone cracked me up. It perfectly captures the frustration of being an imperfect language learner and then having to use the phone. You probably need a Facebook account to watch this, but if you can, it’s worth a couple of minutes of your day: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BwyMbvBz5/