Readers of our previous posts on German and Spanish numbers know that we are big fans of at least learning the numbers in the language of the country we want to visit.
To prepare for a five-month stay in Rome, Italy, we spent a several months learning Italian. As this was several years ago and online programs were not yet readily available, we just used CD's. Neither of us had the time nor the patience to work through a textbook.
Once we arrived in Italy, it was clearly helpful to know basic phrases and be able to ask simple questions. In addition, knowing the numbers proved to be essential.
As a matter of fact, numbers were everywhere. We heard and said them when shopping, when paying a bill, or buying tickets; when arranging a time to meet someone, making a restaurant reservation, or asking about bus or train schedules; when hearing or asking about historical dates, or simply chatting with locals about travels in the past. We were using Italian numbers often during the day and felt pretty good that we had learned them.
Italian pronunciation is quite different from English, so you really have to practice saying the numbers out loud. The good news is that Italian is largely phonetic, which means that letters or letter groups are nearly always pronounced the same way.
Italian Numbers 1-20
With a couple of exceptions, Italian numbers from 1-10 resemble those in English, and are not hard to learn.
Sometimes seeing them written out helps: "uno" (one), "due" (two), "tre" (three), "quattro" (four), "cinque" (five), "sei" (six), "sette" (seven), "otto" (eight), "nove" (nine), "dieci" (ten). Not to forget that Italian "zero" is "zero."
For the numbers 11 to 16, you combine a mostly shortened form of numbers 1 to 6, with the ending "-dici": "undici" (eleven), "dodici" (twelve), "tredici" (thirteen), "quattordici" (fourteen), "quindici" (fifteen), "sedici" (sixteen). Notice the exception: "quindici" (15), where "cinque" (5) becomes "quin-."
For the numbers 17, 18, and 19, the pattern is turned around. You begin with "dici-" and with 17 and 19, you add connecting letter. - for 17, you add "-as-" to say: "diciassette"; - for 18, you say: "diciotto"; - for 19, you add "-an-" to say: "diciannove." The Italian number 20 is "venti."
Once you've memorized the numbers 1 to 20, you've got a good basis for the numbers that follow. And practicing is easy, if you just Play Italian Numbers 1-20
Counting by Tens: 30, 40, 50, etc.
The round numbers 30 to 90 are for the most part delightfully regular. The number 30 is "trenta," but starting with 40, the tens all have the ending "-anta": - "quaranta" (40), - "cinquanta" (50), - "sessanta" (60), - "settanta" (70), - "ottanta" (80), - "novanta" (90).
Italian Numbers 21-99
The other numbers from 21 to 99 should not be too difficult either. (If you know French, you'll probably agree with me.) The Italian numbers are combined as in English: for example, - "ventidue" (twenty-two), - "trentasette" (thirty-seven), - "quarantasei" (fourty-six), - "cinquantatré" (fifty-three) etc. Note that in these combined numbers, "three" is written as "-tré", with an acute accent.
Also, all numbers are said, and written out as one word, without a hyphen.
One thing to remember is that in these numbers, you drop the middle "-i" or "-a" when the second number is "-uno" (one) or "-otto" (eight). So, you say "ventuno" (21) and "ventotto" (28), in contrast to "venticinque" (25), and "ventinove" (29), etc. You do this consistently right through 99: "novantuno" (91) and "novantotto" (98) as opposed to "novantatré" (93) and "novantanove," (99), etc.
The Hundreds from 100-900
The Italian number 100 is "cento." Multiples of a hundred, simply combine the number 2 to 9 with "-cento." So you have: - "duecento" (200); - "trecento" (300); - "quattrocento" (400); - "cinquecento" (500); - "seicento" (600); - "settecento" (700); - "ottocento" (800); - "novecento" (900). And practicing is easy: Just play the Italian Quick Game - Numbers 21 and Beyond
Italian Numbers from 101 to 999
The number 101 is simply combined: "centouno," as are all the other numbers to 999. When written out, these numbers are one word. Here are various number combinations: - "duecentotré" (203), - "trecentonovantotto" (398), - "quattrocentoventuno" (421), - "cinquecentoventicinque" (525), - "seicentoottantasette" (687), - "settecentouno" (701), - "ottocentosessantanove" (869), - "novecentocinquantasei" (956).
Italian numbers from 1000 to 10,000
Note that a thousand (1000) is "mille," but a multiple of thousand uses the suffix "-mila": - 2000 is "duemila"; - 5000 is "cinquemila"; - 8000 is "ottomila"; - 10,000 is "diecimila."
Not to forget that Italian uses a period, where US English uses a comma; and conversely, a comma for the US English decimal point. So, in Italy, ten thousand is 10.000 (with a period).
On the other hand, for the US English decimal point, as in 10,450.10 - Italian uses a comma. The number is written in Italian as 10.450,10 - which can indeed be a little confusing.
Italian Historical Dates
Historical dates, of course, are rarely written out. But there are conventions on how to say them.
In Italian, unlike in English, you use "thousands" (not hundreds) to say a specific year between 1101 and 1999. Note also, that Italian written numbers can get very long because they are written (and said) as one word.
So, 1829 - should it be written out - would be "milleottocentoventinove."
MILLIONS, BILLIONS, TRILLIONS
A point of frequent confusion for speakers of American English are the high numbers that are often quoted in news reports about global finances, as for example, in the recent negotiations between Greece and the European Union regarding Greece's financial obligations.
Italian and English agree on "one million" (1,000,000) - "un milione." (Note that "two million" is "due milioni," for plural agreement.)
But, for the US English "one billion" (1,000,000,000), Italian uses "un miliardo". And the US English "trillion" (1,000,000,000,000) is the Italian "bilione." Some misunderstandings are bound to come up here.
Finding Opportunities
We've found that there are many opportunities every day to really learn and internalize Italian numbers: Practicing them when exercising (e.g. counting numbers of repetitions), while waiting (e.g. counting passing cars or people), or even "counting sheep" before falling asleep.
And, just perhaps, the last suggestion may even have you "learn during your sleep." While not quite the same, recent experiments by seem to indicate that foreign words heard during nonREM sleep may be recalled better later on. We looked into this research later on in Foreign Language Learning While You Sleep?
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. She is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.
It is no secret that the key to learning a new foreign language is maximizing your exposure to it. That's how children learn their first (or second) language. And, that's why immersion programs - ideally in the country where the language is spoken - are the fastest way for adults to learn a new foreign language.
Yes, for some, total immersion can be stressful, especially at the beginning. But, once you get over the shock of not understanding and not being understood, you'll progress fast.
On the other hand, not everybody has the time or resources to spend several weeks in an immersion course. Besides, once you are out of an immersion situation, you still have to continue to learn and practice your new language by using it as much as possible. Here also applies, as with all learned skills: “If you don't use it, you'll lose it.”
Active vs. Passive – Output vs. Input
Reading and listening, so-called "passive" skills, are very important. They provide you with essential language "input."
So yes, at the beginning you should take courses, online or in-person, learn vocabulary, read in your foreign language, and listen to native speakers as much as you can. This includes audios and podcasts, and films and television programs.
Creating a web-browsing habit, for example, with a Chrome-extension and regularly watching a soap or series on your computer or television are great ways to absorb a language passively. But, you also need to "do" something with all that input.
In my experience, you'll make the most dramatic progress and gain confidence, if you create and maintain a few effective speaking and writing habits. At different stages of your language journey, you'll want different activities.
Here are three suggestions each, for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners.
Beginner
1. Learning the numbers, at least to a hundred, gives you a terrific tool for regular practice. Not only are numbers useful for shopping, giving phone numbers to friends or business contacts, paying in a café or restaurant, etc., they are a handy way to practice pronunciation.
Use Numbers for anything countable during your day: count out loud as you do your morning exercises; count as you cut the fruit for your cereal; say telephone numbers in your foreign language before dialing. You can probably think of a dozen more ways yourself.
2. Subscribe to a Newsletter or Blog in the language you're learning, or keep an easy-reader book handy. Several times during the day, take a short break to read a few sentences aloud.
Saying phrases and sentences instead of reading them silently makes a big difference. I read a lot in French, but that doesn't make my spoken French particularly smooth. And although I can speak French quite fluently, reading aloud still works for me now:
A couple of months ago, when visiting family in French Switzerland, I read a bed-time story in French to our nephew's 6 year-old daughter. At first I felt (and sounded) awkward and Céline kept correcting my pronunciation. But after five minutes or so, I got into it. The next day, I noticed that I felt much more relaxed speaking French. The practice I had gotten with reading aloud had boosted my confidence.
3. Copy down phrases that you want to learn. Then, at various times during the day, write these phrases again from memory on a sheet of paper and check against the original for any mistakes.
When we write in a foreign language, we tend to translate first in our head. One way to break this habit, is to practice with idiomatic phrases that don't translate literally. For example: - German: "Das ist mir Wurst!" (literal: 'That's sausage to me!', but meaning: That doesn't matter to me!); - French: "faire la grasse matinée" (literal: 'to make the fat morning', but meaning: to sleep in); - Spanish: "¡A otro perro con ese hueso! " (literal: 'To another dog with that bone!', but meaning: You're kidding me!); - Italian: "In bocca al lupo!" (literal: 'In the wolf's mouth”, but meaning: Good luck!).
(A reader also pointed out the following: "The idiom has a rejoinder namely 'Crepi!', which means 'May [or 'Let'] the wolf drop dead.' It's a typical foreigner's mistake to respond to 'In bocca al lupo' by saying 'Grazie'.")
Intermediate
1. Whether at home or walking around outside, say (aloud) the name of any items that you can see. This seems to be an exercise for beginners, but you'll be surprised how many names of things or actions you can't remember just off the top of your head.
If you have a place where you can put words into flashcards (such as Quizlet.com or Anki), write them in and practice them. Otherwise print or write them out and hang the page on your fridge! Needless to say, whenever you practice, say the words aloud.
2. Several times during the day, talk to yourself for a few minutes in your foreign language. (Or even better, if you can, talk to a partner.) You can comment on what you're doing just then (organizing, running an errand, eating, cooking, cleaning, etc.), you can talk about what you did earlier, or about any upcoming plans.
Even just the effort of changing to another language and searching for words gets your brain going. And if you do this often enough, it will indeed become a habit.
3. At this stage, you're probably ready to participate in groups or forums to practice your writing. There are plenty of foreign language groups on Facebook, etc. that you can join. Start writing comments in the language you're learning and don't worry about making mistakes. If you ask people to correct your writing, you may get that too.
Advanced
1. From time to time, write and memorize a short "lecture" about something that interests you and then recite it from memory, or with the help of a card containing a few key words. Pretend that you have an audience and really make an effort to communicate, convince, or persuade. If you're so inclined, make a video of yourself and play it back. That kind of feedback could be somewhat painful at the beginning, but also enormously helpful.
2. Suggestion #1 above could be also the preparation for speaking with an online language exchange partner or tutor. There are many to choose from. We like languageexchange.com, Italki.cometc.
3. Find a “live” partner or tutor to talk with. There's no substitute for having spontaneous conversations on various topics. This will rapidly increase your fluency, but you have to find a way to do this regularly. I certainly notice that my French fluency always gets a boost when I have my bi-weekly lunches with a French-speaking friend.
Creating a habit is not always easy right away, you have to stick with it, even when sometimes you don't feel like it. Learning to speak and write a language takes time and patience because there are no dramatic results, except for a beginning learner.
Have a look at Lifehack.org's 18 tricks on how to stick with a habit. Some of these tricks may well help you. But above all, have fun and enjoy the new confidence that you're building.
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. She is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.
Disclosure: Gamesforlanguage.com has no business relationship with any of the sites mentioned in the above post, except with our partner site italki. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for further details.
As readers of previous posts know, I am currently learning Dutch. As GamesforLanguage doesn't have a Dutch course yet, I'm using the Dutch courses of Duolingo and Babbel.
I have reached Level 11 and accumulated over 3500 points with Duolingo and am nearing the end of the course. In three weeks, by the end of my 3-month subscription, I'll have Babbel's Beginner Course 4 done as well, and thereby completed a total of 87 lessons and likely several of the Grammar and Extra section lessons.
While my comprehension skills have clearly improved (my principal goal), my speaking attempts with my wife (who speaks Dutch fluently) have just begun and are less successful.Although I now spend about an hour every day with these two programs, and Dutch has many similarities to my native German, I feel that my progress is slower than it should be.
However, using both programs in parallel also gives me a good opportunity to compare them. And here is my take on – the good, the bad, and the frustrating.
The Good
Duolingo - My strongest motivation to continue with Duolingo each day is that I don't want to lose my “Streak” (currently standing at 255 days). Having acquired this daily “Duolingo habit” (now just 1-2 lessons per day) has also made it quite easy to follow up with several lessons on Babbel.
I also like the standard Duolingo lesson setup, which lets me study the 7-8 new words of each lesson for a minute before I start. In many cases I can figure out the meaning from their Germanic roots.
Translating the words and sentences then seems quite easy. A feature that works well for me is the sentence dictation: "Type what you hear." Also, I like it that Duolingo has found a way to often accept a spelling error, as well as (limited) alternate translations.
Having you redo any sentences with errors towards the end of a lesson is a good move by Duolingo and enhances learning.
Babbel – I like how Babbel first teaches you the 4-8 new words or expressions: you hear them, see pictures and spellings, and then have to complete sentences with them by using the scrambled letters of each word. The grammar explanations are also very well done, accompanied with simple examples and exercises that let you understand the grammar points.
What I like most, however, are the short stories or dialogs at the end of most lessons. They require me to fill in the words that I learned in the current or in previous lessons. Not only do these sentences make sense, but they also let me hear and see words and expressions that I don't yet know (but may remember for later).
The Bad
Duolingo – I really don't like translating a Dutch sentence into English by typing the English sentence. I feel that I'm wasting my time as I'm not spelling Dutch. I do understand that it's important to translate from Dutch to English translation to fully understand the meaning. However, I find it faster and more practical to get the translation by clicking on the given English words.
But, what I probably dislike the most, are the nonsensical sentences that come up from time to time. I will never have to use, for example, "mijn neushoorn is een manntje" (my rhinoceros is a male) or "de eenden lezen" (the ducks are reading). A close second is that in a lesson most sentences are totally unrelated and that I therefore forget them quite easily.
Babbel – While there are no parts with Babbel that I dislike quite as much, there are a few features that I find frustrating, as described below.
The Frustrating
Duolingo-I certainly understand that it's difficult to create a program without any glitches. (We are also fighting those in our Gamesforlanguage courses and Quick Games). I find it frustrating, however, that at times the given translation in a word look-up is then not accepted for the translation itself.
I also find it frustrating that the Duolingo app does not give you any grammar information (at least I have not found it), the way you can get grammar help online on a laptop.
Also, the exercises "How do you say ..." and "Tap the pairs" often ignore the gender or number of a noun, or the form or tense of a verb. At times, the correlations are even downright weird.
Babbel - Different from Duolingo, any spelling error during a translation or dictation results in a mistake. You don't have a second try. Moreover, there is only ONE accepted correct translation, which can also be frustrating at times. (This is a technical issue that we can appreciate in our courses as well!)
When I can't remember a word during “fill-in” exercises when using the iPad app, I sometimes wish for a clue, maybe a first letter, etc. (The online/laptop version gives scrambled letters with the “Help” function.)
A final beef that I have with Babbel is the voice recognition feature on the app. It sometimes takes me multiple tries to get the program to accept my pronunciation. My best solution has been to turn this feature off.
100 hours
I originally started learning Dutch mainly to understand Dutch conversations at my wife's family reunion in the Netherlands later this month. Starting with 1 Duolingo lesson per day in January 2015, then increasing it to 1-2 lessons per day in May, I added the 3-month Dutch Babbel course in early June.
Adding up the time that I spent on all lessons to date, I arrive at a little less than 100 hours. While this still seems quite a bit of time, it also is clearly not enough to become fluent in a language (not even to speak about mastery...)
I am encouraged, however, that when my wife speaks Dutch with me these days, I'll understand most of it – although my responses are still halting and incomplete. We are now making an effort to speak as much Dutch as we can during the day. I'm curious to find out when that is going to make a significant difference in my fluency.
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.
Disclosure: Gamesforlanguage.com has no business relationship with Babbel.com other than for its founders having purchased a 1-year subscription to the Spanish course and a 3-month subscription to the Dutch course. No business relationship exists either with Duolingo, except GamesforLanguage's founders are learning several languages with its free courses. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for further details.
A few years ago, my wife Ulrike and I were staying in Ajaccio, Corsica. We had just arrived by ferry from Sardinia and on the drive from Bonifacio to Ajaccio noticed many road signs that did not look French. We had read up on the island by using the Lonely Planet's excellent guide Corsica and were aware of its colorful and dramatic history.
Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio in 1769, just a year after France had acquired the island from the Republic of Genoa. And although this eventually created a strong link to France, we had also heard from French friends that tensions with Paris still existed regarding autonomy, culture, language, economic development, etc. More about that and the Corsican language later.
During a late afternoon walk, while exploring the neighborhood around our hotel, we came by a movie theater and were intrigued by the title of the advertised movie.
Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis
The French movie playing there was “Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis.” We weren't familiar with the movie and didn't know what “les Ch'tis” meant. At first blush, we thought it referred to a phrase in Corsican. I did, however, recognize the name of the actor, Dany Boon, who is also the director of the film.
On the spur of the moment, and although the movie had already started, we decided to purchase two tickets.Groping for our seats in the dark in a nearly empty theater, we just arrived at the scene in which the new director of the local post office, played by Kad Merad, arrives in town during a rainy, miserable night. He almost runs over the other main character with his car, the local letter carrier, played by Dany Boon, who is to show the new boss his apartment.
The dialog that then develops had us soon laughing ourselves to tears: Boon's character tries to explain to his boss that there was no furniture in the apartment because it had all belonged to the former occupant: “c'était le sien” - it was his (furniture). However, in the dialect of the “Ch'tis,” it sounds like “c'était le chien.” (it was the dog)
Maybe you feel intrigued and want to watch the 2008 movie, as we did again a few days ago. The movie is not available on Netflix, but I discovered that you can get it on Amazon either as an instant download or as DVDs in original French, with English subtitles.
How wrong we were...
It was a few years later that we saw the actual beginning of the movie with the set-up of the postal director's involuntary transfer. We had, of course, realized even in Ajaccio, that the movie isn't set in Corsica, but rather in the northern part of France.
When you watch the movie from the beginning, you learn right away how this region is perceived in the south, and why being sent there is seen as punishment. The region, especially the Nord-Pas-de-Calais - quite undeservedly - has a reputation of not only being cold and inhospitable, but really being “in the sticks.”
However, a little “googling” also educated us about the fact that the “chti” or “chtimi” languages are part of the “Picard” group of languages, spoken in the far north of France and parts of Belgium.
A Language or a Dialect?
Picard, is one of the “langues d'oïl,” or “Old French” and belongs to the Gallo-Roman family of languages. Interestingly, Belgium's French Community has recognized Picard as a regional language. France, insisting on the other hand on linguistic unity, only recognizes one official national language.
If you are interested to learn more about the Picard languages, the different spellings and pronunciations, consult this Wikipedia entry, which I also used for much of the “Picard” information. You will also quickly see from the few examples below why the “ch” and “s” sounds can be confusing:
English
Picard
French
Thank you
Merchi
Merci
I am sorry
Échtchusez-mi
Excusez-moi
How much does it cost?
Combin qu'cha coûte?
Combien ça coute?
The Wikipedia article further notes: “Today Picard is primarily a spoken language. This was not the case originally; indeed, from the medievalperiod there is a wealth of literary texts in Picard. However, Picard was not able to compete with the inter-regional literary language, which French became, and was slowly reduced to the status of a 'regional language.'
A more recent body of Picard literature, written during the last two centuries, also exists. Modern written Picard is generally a transcription of the spoken language. For that reason, words are often spelled in a variety of different ways (in the same way that English and French were before they were standardised).
One system of spelling for Picard words is very similar to that of French. This is undoubtedly the easiest for French speakers to understand, but can also contribute to the stereotype that Picard is only a corruption of French rather than a language in its own right.
Various spelling methods have been proposed since the 1960s to offset this disadvantage, and to give Picard a visual identity that is distinct from French.
At the present time, there is a consensus, at least between universities, in favor of the written form known as Feller-Carton (based on the Walloonspelling system – which was developed by Jules Feller– and adapted for Picard by Prof. Fernand Carton).”
In the book When Languages Collide, Brian D. Joseph et al. note on page 161: “In the French linguistic tradition Picard has been labeled a dialect.” But one of the editors then says: “Given that Picard is not a dialect of French, as it evolved side by side with French rather than out of French, I prefer to use the label language to refer to Picard.”
Linguists may argue whether Picard is a dialect or a language, but for those learning French, this distinction is irrelevant. If you're a learner, you're just trying to figure out the meaning of what you hear.
So, if you happen to be in a region where “old French” is spoken, familiarize yourself with some of the basic pronunciation differences to standard French, and you at least, will not confuse “sien” with “chien.”
The Corsican Language
During our stay in Corsica, we learned about Corsican history and culture: Its Italian heritage in medieval times, with Tuscany and then Pisa gaining control. In 1282, the island became part of Genoa until 1768, when it was sold to France.
An Italo-Dalmatian Romance language, Corsican became “gallicised” after France's acquistion. While the Corsican language appeared to be in serious decline for many years, in the 1980s the French government reversed its unsupportive stand and initiated some strong measures to save it.
Although Corsica is a small island, its geography may have encouraged the formation of different dialects: Supranacciu, spoken in Bastian and Corte and generally in the north; Suttanacciu, spoken in Sartène and Porto-Vecchio and generally in the south; the dialect spoken in Ajaccio; the dialects of Calvi and Bonifacio, which resemble the dialect of Genoa; the local dialect of the Maddalena archipelago. A Corsican dialect is also spoken in the norther part of Sardinia.
We found this corsica-isula web site especially helpful and interesting, as it not only provides an introduction to the Corsican language, but also links to other sites and Corsican dictionaries. Corsican also has a rich tradition of writers and poets. To find out more, click here.
We have to confess that in spite of speaking French quite fluently and understanding Italian well, we were never able to understand Corsican conversations in bistros or cafes, maybe also because of the various dialects.
We certainly felt that our Italian helped us more than French for picking up a word here or there. However, the bilingualism of Corsicans is impressive, and we never had any trouble conversing in French.
Corsican Impressions
One of the strong impressions of our 7-day drive through the island - from Bonifacio, to Adjacio, through the middle of the island, Corte, and on to Bastia and Calvi - was this: Corsicans are proud of their land and their language. Nearly all road signs we saw, either had the French name painted over and often, obliterated by bullet holes as in this left picture.
While Corsicans are pleasant and accommodating to tourists like us, they don't particularly like foreigners buying land or even condominiums. While we were in Ajaccio, a small bomb exploded (nobody hurt) at the front door of a condominium, which had just been purchased by a German.
We heard stories about the ill-fated French government's efforts to re-settle people who were called “pieds noirs.” They were French citizens who had lived in Algeria, but fled after the country became independent in 1960.
A good description of this period (and many other facts about Corsica) can be found on page 197 in the Lonely Planet's Corsica. The unrest of the seventies and eighties seems to have abated (but, as the bombing incident mentioned above indicates, it's not quite finished).
We found Corsica a wonderful island to visit. We had lots of great experiences: our arrival in Bonifacio, a small town, perched on a limestone pedestal (see picture); the capital of Ajaccio with its connection to Napoleon; the rugged landscape and the snow-covered mountain tops in April, while we were driving across to Corte on excellent roads (see picture above).
In a museum in Corte we discovered a hand-drawn language atlas which showed linguistic boundaries of individual words, tracing them from the island's south to the north.And we did not even take advantage of the many great beaches, and the snorkeling and diving opportunities that fill the guidebooks.
Just watching “Bienvenue Chez le Ch'tis” again the other day brought back many memories from that trip and made us think again how powerful and ultimately wrong some misconceptions about people, their languages and pronunciations can be.
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.
Readers of our previous posts on German and Spanish numbers know that we are big fans of at least learning the numbers in the language of the country we want to visit. 
Italian Historical Dates
