I thought I would share my favorite new musical obsession with you. I love the cover art, and loooove a few of the songs on this new CD of mine. We are about to embark on a great new journey in learning to speak Italian. Many of the songs on this CD are either IN Italian, or have some Italian lyrics. Don’t let that scare you off, though. I got it at Starbucks… and for under 15$, you can pick up a copy for your Valentine.
I have had these songs playing in my head since I picked up the CD. The sad thing is… since I don’t know how to speak Italian yet, I can’t SING with them. I just mumble incoherently to the tune and blare out the few words I do know. I sound like a huge geek. That’s OK, though… since everyone else in my house is doing the same thing!
Here’s a quote from the inside cover:
“Step inside, it’s pure romance, baby. Passione, if you know what I’m saying. Amore, my friend! Sure the smoke gets in your eyes. Sure the rhythm plays an unforgiving bongo beat on your heart. Small price to pay for one bella notte weaving its magic spell of enchantment around you on a long, drifting, drunken note. Now… come dance with me or call for another cappuccino.”
Here’s the line up:
Lhasa – de cara a la pared
Dean Martin – on an evening in roma
Louis Prima & His Orchestra – just a gigalo/i ain’t got nobody
Pink Martini – amado mio
Paolo Conte – via con meLhasa – el desierto
Rosemary Clooney – mambo italiano
Bobby Darin – beyond the sea
Ennio Morricone – titoli (from a ‘fistful of dollars’)
Domenico Modugno – nel blu dipinto di blu (volare)
Paolo Conte – alle prese con una verde milonga
Lou Monte – that’s amore
Muhal Richard Abrams, Sharon Freeman, Chris Stein & Deborah Harry – la dolce vita suite
I’m off to rest my eyes and get to bed. See you tomorrow! Ciao, baby.
Buzz Words: Starbucks, off-topic, coffee, songs, music, life, cool, Italian, various artist, Italy, Valentines, groovy, fun, personal, geeky
I saw your post about your local library not having the Rosetta Stone. You might take a look at BBC Languages. A lot of it is free, and they do have Italian. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/index.shtml
Italian should be great fun to learn.
P.S. I wouldn’t be anonymous if blogger would let me post under my name (Jude), but the new blogger is too grumpy for that. 🙂 Oh, wow, this time it’s working. The anonymous comment above was left by *me*.
Bonjour ma blogging amie!
Ah am ze French conterparte to your Italien gee-quish-ness. Ah luve ze differont Romanze languages!
Zey are like ze sweet sound of ze angelz.
You are just too cool. 🙂
I’m not crazy about Starbucks coffee but I keep recieving gift cards.
Now I know what to spend them on!
I’m curious – how many languages are you doing with your kids (or plan to do)? We’re doing Latin this year. I really haven’t thought past this year (K & 2nd) in terms of languages.
Jude – thanks for that link. I am sure it will be invaluable in the coming days. I am not sure where to start. Our little stab at Latin this year was a complete flop. I actually lost the book somehow in mid-semester and we only recently found it. It was only a workbook, however… so it wasn’t a complete program and did not have software like what I am wanting to do with the Italian. Also, it is nice to have a goal to shoot for. We are going to try and save up to go over and visit a friend at the end of our studies after a year or so… and we know some people who we can converse with (or more likely: who can correct our grammar when we don’t do it justice).
Erin – I love the way the French language sounds more than any other. If I had a choice, it would be the one I would pick. The practical side of me, however, won over when we originally set out to learn SPANISH (not a hard decision when you are a TEXAN and more than 50% of your state is of Hispanic bloodline). I still plan to learn Spanish, but only AFTER we learn Italian. Our choice in Italian was not really romantic and mysterious… it was practical – and forged by the endearment of friendship.
Debbie – Geeky is cool? Well, then I may be the Queen of Cool. 😉 No, Starbucks coffee is nothing up against Italian espresso made on the stove. I don’t mind getting a decaf hazelnut latte now and then, however… and I love their mugs, Christmas and Valentines goodies, and some of their music CDs.
As for your homeschooling language questions, I think if you can do Latin and one other language, you are doing more than a lot of people. If I had my ‘druthers’ (as my grandma used to say), I would learn Spanish, Hebrew, Italian, French, Latin, Greek, Russian and Arabic. I doubt I will get to ALL of those, so I’ll just take one step at a time… Italian and then Spanish. We will be doing Latin while we work on those because Latin is kind of the ‘decoder’ for the Romance Languages.
I’m certainly no expert at anything much… so if you want a professional opinion, you’ll have to ask elsewhere! 😉