Last night I decided to watch one of the Oscar-nominated shorts Le Pupille. About 3 minutes in I realised that it was in Italian and that the subtitles had not been activated. It was my moment of truth. Would two years of Italian Duolingo finally pay off? I dug in and listened hard. Thankfully the film was very visual and most of the characters - children and nuns - spoke in a very simple, clear, easy to understand language. To my amazement I rated my comprehension at about 65%. I was especially happy to understand a complicated sentence about a child being guilty because she listened to the lyrics of a song even if she didn't join and sing. I've always wanted to speak Italian ever since I saw my Dad conversing easily with the mechanic at our local Esso station. He spoke about 7 languages while I struggle to be fluent in two. Speaking another language is like wearing a costume or acting on stage - freedom from yourself - but Italian is almost like being able to play an instrument or sing, such is its musicality.