Italian or English?

In my first five years, I heard only Italian, rarely a word of English. Both my parents were in their teens when they arrived here from Italy and Italian was their natural form of expression. As a result, when I can’t think of a word in English, I remember the word in Italian. It’s an odd situation because it serves no purpose, and of no use with only-English speaking people around me.

On a few occasions Italophiles are delighted to hear an Italian word, but not most Americans. What to do? Find some Italians at a Casa Italiana lecture at Columbia and talk to your heart’s conent in your childhood lingo? Either that, or keep my Italian mouth closed.