Today I learned a new term in Italian.
I have tried to learn Italian on and off for the better part of 3 years. However, I haven’t ever needed to put my skills to the test until I visited my family in Sicily this week.
I’ve listened attentively, but despite my best efforts, most of the Italian spoken to me goes right over my head. However, every once in a while, I will catch something that I previously was not able to.
In my case today, this happened with the term piano piano. People kept saying it, I kept hearing it, but I had no clue what it meant. As it turns out, it has a lot of potential meanings.
The word piano itself can mean many different things: level / floor (noun), piano (noun, short for pianoforte), plan (noun), quietly (adverb), softly (adverb), slowly (adverb), and so on. You get the point. It’s a versatile word.
So depending on the context, the word takes on an added layer of meaning when someone says piano piano. It could mean to go carefully, to take your time, to go little by little, to not worry, to be quiet, to be gentle, to calm down.
I love this phrase because it is a perfect reminder for how I should approach the more stressful moments of my European adventure. If you are prone to worrying about what could go wrong like I am, start saying to yourself: piano piano.
Or in other words, take it one step at a time. Go slowly if you need to. Be careful and calm down.
It’s rare that such good advice can be summed up in two words.
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Today I learned a new term in Italian.
I have tried to learn Italian on and off for the better part of 3 years. However, I haven’t ever needed to put my skills to the test until I visited my family in Sicily this week.
I’ve listened attentively, but despite my best efforts, most of the Italian spoken to me goes right over my head. However, every once in a while, I will catch something that I previously was not able to.
In my case today, this happened with the term piano piano. People kept saying it, I kept hearing it, but I had no clue what it meant. As it turns out, it has a lot of potential meanings.
The word piano itself can mean many different things: level / floor (noun), piano (noun, short for pianoforte), plan (noun), quietly (adverb), softly (adverb), slowly (adverb), and so on. You get the point. It’s a versatile word.
So depending on the context, the word takes on an added layer of meaning when someone says piano piano. It could mean to go carefully, to take your time, to go little by little, to not worry, to be quiet, to be gentle, to calm down.
I love this phrase because it is a perfect reminder for how I should approach the more stressful moments of my European adventure. If you are prone to worrying about what could go wrong like I am, start saying to yourself: piano piano.
Or in other words, take it one step at a time. Go slowly if you need to. Be careful and calm down.
It’s rare that such good advice can be summed up in two words.
