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Jersey Shore

 Language Learning Forum : Music, Movies, TV & Radio Post Reply
10 messages over 2 pages: 1 2  Next >>
LorenzoGuapo
Triglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 6435 days ago

79 posts - 94 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: French

 
 Message 1 of 10
10 August 2011 at 10:49pm | IP Logged 
This post is not about if you like the show or not but looking at it from a linguistic point, the cast is in Italy this season and the majority not all of them are of Italian descent. The only one who claims to speak Italian is Vinny, however it seem like he is having trouble with the language, he even says that he only understands the language when it is spoken slowly. My question to you all would u consider someone proficient in a language if they only understand it when spoken slowly or would u look at their language skills as if they are at a basic level. I think he may understand the language to an extent but if he can't hold a simple conversation, he should state that he knows a little Italian and not the whole language.
1 person has voted this message useful



patuco
Diglot
Moderator
Gibraltar
Joined 7006 days ago

3795 posts - 4268 votes 
Speaks: Spanish, English*
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 Message 2 of 10
11 August 2011 at 12:54am | IP Logged 
I have never watched the show. However, whilst watching other channels, I have seen previews for it and, from the look of these, I don't rate their English very high, let alone their Italian.
7 persons have voted this message useful



carlonove
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5977 days ago

145 posts - 253 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian

 
 Message 3 of 10
11 August 2011 at 2:04am | IP Logged 
The few Italian-Americans who speak Italian these days speak it as a home language which they never need to read or write. Most speakers know an Americanized southern or Sicilian dialect, and don't have the constant exposure to the standard dialect through television and other media the way peninsular Italians do. There are also many Italian-Americans who can understand the language with high comprehension but not speak it. I wouldn't be surprised if someone who spoke an American variant had trouble communicating in standard Italian, but since a brief glance at that show usually makes me nauseous, I have no interest in finding out what the case may be.
1 person has voted this message useful





newyorkeric
Diglot
Moderator
Singapore
Joined 6370 days ago

1598 posts - 2174 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian
Studies: Mandarin, Malay
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 Message 4 of 10
11 August 2011 at 2:59am | IP Logged 
Yup, I can't stomach that show either. But it's not surprising that an Italian-American who can say mamma mia or gabbagool thinks he can speak Italian. It's a pretty common attitude.

Edited by newyorkeric on 11 August 2011 at 3:05am

1 person has voted this message useful



tibbles
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5182 days ago

245 posts - 422 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Korean

 
 Message 5 of 10
11 August 2011 at 7:15am | IP Logged 
I thought in season one that Vinny mentioned that his mother is from Sicily, so he probably can understand only that dialect.
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newyorkeric
Diglot
Moderator
Singapore
Joined 6370 days ago

1598 posts - 2174 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian
Studies: Mandarin, Malay
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 Message 6 of 10
11 August 2011 at 7:30am | IP Logged 
They must all be fluent in Italian...Rosetta Stone sent the cast its Italian course!
2 persons have voted this message useful



carlonove
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5977 days ago

145 posts - 253 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian

 
 Message 7 of 10
12 August 2011 at 3:09am | IP Logged 
newyorkeric wrote:
They must all be fluent in Italian...Rosetta Stone sent the cast its Italian course!


Hopefully they'll be prepared if they encounter any Italian supermodels.
3 persons have voted this message useful



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