Opera Italian CAN help in some cases. A friend was driving in Italy and he was lost, so he approached a carabinieri (policeman/guard) and exclaimed: "Sola, perduta, abbandonata!" (Alone, lost, abandoned), which are the opening words of an operatic character's last-Act aria. (Manon Lescaut) The carabinieri was vastly amused - I'd like to think he was an opera lover - and, fortunately, spoke some English. Lucky for my friend, the aria's language was identical to modern Italian, but many of the most popular operas are composed to archaic, poetic texts, or seldom-used expressions, and strange contractions. Puccini's operas have more approachable modern Italian. But I think you'd be better off watching Italian films to learn modern Italian - though subtitles can be dicey at times. That, and opera, was how I learned my Italian. BTW you can find opera libretti ("little books" containing the words and translations) online (opera folio.com). Best of luck - buona fortuna!
MAS
MAS
