I struggled to learn the language when I moved to Italy. Adopting a dog allowed me to practice conversing with others.

Wed, 02/14/2024 - 15:31

Kristopher Milicevic and his dog, Lucky, in Italy, — After Kristopher Milicevic adopted his dog Lucky, strangers in Italy stopped to talk to him, which helped him with his Italian.
Courtesy Kristopher Milicevic

My wife and I moved to Italy in 2019 and I knew I'd have to improve my skills with Italian.
But when I got there, I had a hard time learning the language.
After adopting our dog, people were friendlier and it became easier to learn conversational Italian.

I moved to Italy in 2019 with a basic understanding of Italian and a desire to continue to improve my speaking skills. I quickly discovered that developing skills in a second language is no easy feat.