|
 |
Do all Italians speak standard Italian? | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| ashleyr Newbie United States Joined 5239 days ago 18 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Korean | Message 1 of 23 31 July 2010 at 2:55am | IP Logged | ||
|
Hi, I'm new to the forum and new to language learning. I'm actually still trying to pick
my first foreign language to learn. I'm really interested in Italian. It's a beautiful language and I love opera and art. However, I'm a little worried about all of the different dialects of Italian I've read about. I'm afraid I will learn Italian and then when I visit Italy I still won't be able to speak to anyone. So, is it really true that all Italians speak standard Italian? Or are there still places in Italy where someone who only speaks standard Italian wouldn't be understood? Thanks for any help you can provide! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6378 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes  Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 23 31 July 2010 at 3:02am | IP Logged | ||
|
No, there really aren't any places where standard Italian isn't understood given that the media is all in standard Italian. There are still places where dialects are commonly spoken, but everyone who speaks a dialect, except for some old people, will also speak standard Italian.
5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Nature Diglot Groupie Canada Joined 5236 days ago 63 posts - 80 votes Speaks: English*, French | Message 3 of 23 31 July 2010 at 10:58pm | IP Logged | ||
|
All Italians in Italy nowadays speak standard Italian. The only ones who may still speak a dialect are the elderly in small Italian villages in the south. When talking about overseas Italians however, that's a different story. Most of them solely speak dialect and I'm not only talking about the old people! Here in Canada, it's rare to come across an Italian who can actually speak standard Italian because the only Italian they learnt was the dialect from their grandparents' province. Edited by Nature on 31 July 2010 at 10:59pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| psy88 Senior Member United States Joined 5590 days ago 469 posts - 882 votes Studies: Spanish*, Japanese, Latin, French | Message 4 of 23 01 August 2010 at 12:14am | IP Logged | ||
|
I agree with Nature.In New York City there are several Italian-American enclaves. The (much) older people (e.g. in their 80's +) speak the dialects that they or their parents brought over with them. These are dialects which, most likely do not exist in Italy, due to the natural evolutionary changes that languages experience with time.The immigrants seem to have preserved a language that was not preserved back in Italy. Hence, when some of these seniors visited their home towns, they were not able to use the language they had preserved.As far as their children (in their 40-50's), if they speak any Italian, it is a corrupted blend of the dialect with a lot of English mixed in. Their grandchildren, if they speak it at all, would use what they have learned in school,i.e. the modern standard Italian.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6378 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 23 01 August 2010 at 3:08am | IP Logged | ||
|
In case it wasn't clear, I was referring to Italians in Italy. Edited by newyorkeric on 01 August 2010 at 3:48am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5494 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 6 of 23 01 August 2010 at 5:25am | IP Logged | ||
|
Learn Standard Italian, don't worry about the dialects or other languages of Italy for
now. If you decide to live in Italy, or spend a lot of time in a specific location; you'll naturally acquire that region's way of speaking anyway. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Nature Diglot Groupie Canada Joined 5236 days ago 63 posts - 80 votes Speaks: English*, French | Message 7 of 23 01 August 2010 at 5:35am | IP Logged | ||
Yes. Italians in Italy speak standard Italian and that is the Italian they use in their daily lives, with some regional words thrown in here and there. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ashleyr Newbie United States Joined 5239 days ago 18 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Korean | Message 8 of 23 01 August 2010 at 4:13pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Okay, thanks everyone. I think I have a pretty good understanding of the situation. I'm
still going to learn standard Italian and I'm not going to worry about dialects for now. :) 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
