Practice Makes Perfect

Tonight I am practicing the art of a short post.  It's 10 p.m. on Monday night, and I don't have time or inspiration for something longer.  If I don't write at all, however, I start down the slippery slope that ends in utter blog silence.

Tonight I told Grandpa Pietro about all the blogs I read.  I was practicing my Italian.  Earlier he'd asked me if I liked to speak Italian, and I said yes, of course!  Then he pointed out that he was around all week and that I could talk to him whenever I wanted.  So I took my little introverted self out to the living room and we had a nice conversation.  It's always a splash of cold water on my happy little parade (mixed metaphors?) when I realize that I don't actually speak Italian very well.  When I read things on the internet, I understand most of it.  When I watch TV, I can get the drift of the story.  When I speak, however, I am slow.  I have to stop and think a lot, and even then I make silly mistakes.  I completely understand my mistake and how to correct it, even as the other person is explaining it to me.  I have to remind myself, when my ego is feeling picked on, that it was still a mistake.  There's a difference between knowing how to do something and being able to do it.  I haven't really mastered word until I can use it easily in a sentence.  And how can I use it in a sentence unless I'm talking?  Oh, language assimilation must be so much easier for extroverts!

Now you can practice using the comment box... ;)