Fish Gelato

Learning the Italian language is a little like learning to ride a bike. It seems simple at first (after pizza and pasta, bella and baci, ciao and grazie what else do you need to know). It is a relatively easy language to read and speak because it is phonetically spoken, meaning that you sound out the letters speaking it the way it is written. And if you believe everything you read on the Internet Italian must be the easiest language to learn. Almost every Google search for learning Italian brings up the following

• Easy Italian Learning
• Learn Italian in 10 days
• Learn Italian in 10 minutes
• 10 Ways to Instantly Learn Italian

But like learning to ride a bike it does take time and a dedicated effort and if you lose your balance you’ll be sure to take a fall, like my friend did when he tried to order a cone of gelato in Italy.

The set up – When ordering gelato in Italy you will be presented with a staggering array of flavors and colors displayed like works of art. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer number and variety of flavors with names like lampone (raspberry), limone (lemon), stracciatella (chocolate chip), gianduja (chocolate hazelnut) frutti di bosco (“fruits of the woods” –wild berries), mela (apple), pera (pear) and pesca (peach). And here is where my friend lost his balance. “Vorrei un cono  con  pesce gelato per favore (I should like a cone with FISH gelato). Of course he meant pesca (peach) gelato. The Italian word for peach (pesca) is very close to the Italian word for fish (pesce). He lost his balance over a word ending and everyone laughed in good fun.