Giulio Cesare Dicton Boot Camp

My first diction coaching for Giulio Cesare was on Wednesday. We're fortunate to have an Italian, Marcello, as one of our vocal coaches/accompanists, and he's also helping us out with the Italian diction. I haven't taken Italian yet, but I did have some diction coachings back at Interlochen with Donna, and I feel like I've got a good ear for languages. So, I thought my Italian would be in at least decent shape.
So, after my lesson, I wnet up one more flight of stairs to Marcello's office, and we begin the coaching. I read the text aloud, and he corrected me. I didn't realize just how many small intricacies there were in Italian diction, like the implied double consonants. I didn't seem to be screwing up on too many ideas, but the ones I did were huge; consonants and vowels. Marcello told me often, "No, you're using too much consonants, and your vowels aren't pure." I actually didn't realize I was putting diphthongs in some of these words, and its harder than heck to not say them. But Marcello was really a huge help. I was able to mention that I hadn't taken Italian yet, and he said, "Oh! Well you're doing well then." And whenever I would come close to saying something correctly, he would sort of jump in his chair and say, "This is best one." So now I have a lot of work to do between now and our next coaching, which will probably be after the Thanksgiving break.
Speaking of Thanksgiving...
It can't come soon enough. End of story. This semester has been my roughest yet in more ways than one, and it has left me totally exhausted. My white noise machine has helped me sleep, but I still haven't felt rested in about a month. So this break and a chance to have some quiet will be greatly appreciated.