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King Cavalier II's avatar

My grandma was a mail order bride from Italy who never learned English but had 13 children in a coal mining town in western PA. She would say: “se entrambe le parti parlano è già qualcosa”, which loosely means: If you’re talking then that’s already something.

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MaryAnn's avatar

I wish I had known my Italian grandparents—came through Ellis Island as newly-wed 19 yr olds. My grandfather was also a coal miner and did not speak English, but he understood it. He learned a lot listening to people talk about him as if he did not know what they were saying.

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Pat Wetzel's avatar

One always learns more by listening vs speaking

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