So...I'm in this "petit ensemble"...i.e. a small chorus of 6 people...5 senior citizen ladies...and ME!!   It's great fun and really stretches me b/c I am more of a pianist than a singer...but still...GREAT FUN!

Those of you who have taken Applied Voice know that when you are singing in a language (let's say...Italian, just for grins!) you have to write the words phonetically so you will know how to pronounce them, RIGHT???  Normally we Americans don't think anything about the way the words look when they are written out like that...but to an Italian, I'm sure it would be HILARIOUS!!

Case in point!  We are preparing for a Christmas concert and, strangely enough, there aren't many Italian Christmas songs...so we are singing alot of English carols...ergo in a FOREIGN LANGUAGE for the Italians!  I have to bite my lip sometimes to keep from laughing when I hear the rest of the ensemble singing my language...but in the same moment, I am reminded what it must sound like to them when I am singing THEIR language!

Here is how an Italian would sing "The First Noel"...This comes straight from the pronunciation guide they handed out last night.

De e feerst Nooel
di-i engels did sei
wos tu sertein pur scibers in feils ue-er dei lei
Tin feils ue-er dei
lei ki-ping deir scip
On e cold winters na-ait
det uo-os so dip -

Nooel, etc.
born is de Kiingh ov Iisrael

This is from the song "A Manger Filled with Love"...
The shedos fell o'or Bethlehem, end o'r thee uit-in uerld
En darkness gatherd 'raun the she-ferds baiding in the fils.
Uen in e moment, song end splendor rent the skais ebov,
En the nait uos filld uith uonders end e menger uos filld uith lov.
(The shadows fell o'er Bethlehem, and o'er the waiting world,
And darkness gathered 'round the shepherds biding in the fields.
When in a moment, song and splendor rent the skies above,
And the night was filled with wonders and a manger was filled with love.)

Ah, thet ai hed sin the She-ferds com tu sik the Lamb,
End lukd uith them on Gi-sas' feis, end totc thi infent hends.
End felt ui them the Father's pis di-send-in from abov
Uen their harts uer filld uith uonder at e menger filld uith lov.
(Ah, that I had seen the Shepherds come to seek the Lamb,
And looked with them on Jesus' face, and touched the infant hands.
And felt with them the Father's peace descending from above,
When their hearts were filled with wonder at a manger filled with love.)

Ai nid not si the Holy Ciaild tu no him for mai King.
Ai nid not hir the vois of he-ven's host ri-e-co-ing.
For ai hev herd the Spirit's uitness uisper from abov
En mai hart is filld uith uonder at e menger filld uith lov.
(I need not see the Child to know him for my King.
I need not hear the voice of heaven's host re-echoing.
For I have heard the Spirit's witness whispered from above,
And my heart is filled with wonder at a manger filled with love.)

So...there ya' go!  Please don't think I am making fun of the Italians...Nothing could be more wrong!  If anything, I am learning more and more from my "cross-cultural experience" and having alot of FUN along the way...and I just wanted to share it with you too!!!

Hope you got a chuckle too!  What an AMAZING world God has created for us to enjoy, no??!!!