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Salut Ciao and Hola!
By Rebecca in Learning in Freedom
May 27, 2011

My daughter is trying to learn three languages: French, Italian, and Spanish. She loves finding similarities among the three. Her French note cards are written in green pen; Spanish in red and Italian in black.

Since we aren't hailing taxis and introducing ourselves to each other here at home, she uses Google Translate to look up phrases she can actually use around the house. "Ferme ta bouche," "Chiucli la bocca," and "Cierra la boca" are phrases that mean, “I love you.” She uses one of these phrases to express her thankfulness when I offer constructive criticism.

Yesterday she did a lesson from each language using Mango Languages while I was hand washing dishes beside her.

Judging from the phrases that the program used to teach each, I imagined some differences in the three cultures. From the phrases she was learning in Italian, I got the feeling that Italians are concerned about how YOU feel, while the Spanish are more interested in telling you how THEY feel. They feel tired. According to the program, the French are hungry and they seem to be more concerned with where you are from and what languages you can and can’t speak.

The good news is that they all want you to have a good morning! “Bonjour!” “Buongiorno!” and “Buenos dias!”