Sounds like a fair trade.

I never learned all the rules of English grammar. Never wanted to. Because I intended to break the rules. So that I could cultivate my own way of writing. A style that makes me comfortable. I don't want to write like a fine writer. One who obeys the rules. Grammatically correct all the time. Hell with that. I like short sentences. Few words. Maybe even sentences that aren't sentences. Technically. Based on rules of grammar. I like to be stupid. Free to make mistakes. Intentionally. And unintentionally. I don't have to be proper. But I think I've learned how to communicate. Effectively. You should see some of my love letters. The ones that you'll never see. Because they are private. Anyway, I'm trying to learn Italian. I'll never learn it in an effective manner. Because people are trying to teach it to me properly. I don't want that. I want to speak Italian the way I speak English. And that would take years and years and years. More years than I have left. But still, I'm gonna make myself understood. In Italian. Basic. Simple. Italian. Maybe one word at a time. Like a baby. But I'll never speak Italian like an educated adult. Fortunately, my Italian girlfriend teaches English and English literature. She speaks proper English. She knows the rules of grammar. Better than me. So maybe she can teach me proper English. I've yet to master it. Not that I want to. Could be I'm better off just teaching myself. So I don't get too proper. And I'll try to teach her my kind of English. Meanwhile, she can teach me her kind of Italian. Proper Italian. Accent and all. Sounds like a fair trade. --Jim Broede