L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 3 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS where? And if not, what hap- pened? Today's Italian-Americans are fluent in English because they acquire the language on the work- place, or by listening to their chil- dren throughout the years. They are integrated into the American society and the younger Italian generations studied the language at school. Therefore the Italian- American language is hardly used today. There are very few older Italian people with limited lin- guistic experience in the Italian- American community and most terms have disappeared. Italians, who came to New York 20-25 years ago, know English because they studied it in Italy, which is opposite to those who came 50- 60 years ago and had little knowl- edge of it. In addition, areas like Brooklyn, Ridgewood, Bronx, and Queens, that used to have a big Italian community are now mainly Latin. As a result, the few Italians left in these neighbor- hoods speak "Italo-spanglish," or a mixture of coded Italian- English and Italian-Spanish, which is a more complex Pidgin language. As a language professor, what do you think is the best way for students to learn a for- eign language embracing not only the linguistic code, but also the culture behind it? Language cannot be separated from its culture, as culture is incorporated into the language. The communicative method is the best approach to teach and to learn a language. However, it is important to incorporate the four learning skills into the lessons: reading, writing, listening and speaking. When we learn a lan- guage we don't only acquire new words but also its culture. Students cannot have reading, or listening comprehension, if they don't know the culture. There are students, who decide to learn a language based on their interest for the culture. Still, this aspect could also lead to some students stop learning the language because they don't feel connected to its culture. Another challenge for students to face when learning a new language is to become familiar with the connotation of words and phrases because of the different idiomatic expressions. After all the years spent in the U.S. and the stories of immigrants you have heard, which one based on language barrier has moved you the most? And why? Back in the days most Italians, who moved to New York and the United States, mostly came from the countryside, or rural areas, of regions such as Campania, Abruzzo, Molise, Basilicata, Puglia, Calabria, and Sicilia. Instead of speaking standard Italian, they spoke regional dialects. This led to some diffi- culties for Italians to understand each other. One of the language barriers that moved me the most was to see grandparents getting older without learning English and be able to communicate with their grandchildren. Italian immi- grants worked hard to put food on the table, buy a house, open a business and send their children to college. They had very little time for themselves and by the third generation, they felt isolated because they weren't able to speak English and communicate with their children and grandchil- dren, who spoke English and were integrated into the American culture. In an article published on La Voce di New York you wrote that most stereotypes, that both Italians living in Italy and abroad are labeled with, are based on the spoken language. Can you indicate a few exam- ples? In that article I conclude by saying that language is our identi- ty and we are valued according to the words we use. If we are artic- ulated and know more than one language, we are admired and respected. It is a fact that people, who don't speak correctly, can be victims of stereotype and preju- dice. Italian people have been labeled, in Italy and abroad, in many different ways because of their spoken language. Stereotypes and prejudice are false beliefs based on generaliza- tions. Italy is a multilingual coun- try where every region has its own language, or dialect. The Italian language began to spread throughout the peninsula when young people migrated from the countryside to cities, from the South to the North and also thanks to radio, television and press that allowed Italian to be spoken widely. Though, Italy was unified only after 1860. During the 50's and 60's Italians, who migrated from the South to the North of Italy, weren't confident speaking standard Italian and they would have been referred to as 'terroni' from Northern Italians. The term comes from a noun, which is formed by terra, Italian for land, and is also asso- ciated with negative personal characteristics such as a 'rude' or 'ignorant'. Many Italian- Americans were discriminated against on their jobs because of their Italian, Brooklyn accent, tone of voice, or body language. What do you think about the integration of a language into another? Considering for example the influence that English has in the everyday Italian language that is spoken in Italy, do you see this change as positive, or negative? As years go by, languages change though. This could both enrich as well as impoverish one's vocabulary. The Italian lan- guage has been changing as much as others. Though, it can be said that the American culture is pret- ty dominant in today's Italian generation. The Italian language is beautiful but lately we read a lot about the disproportionate and unjustified use of English words among the younger Italian gener- ation. Not only is this phenome- non about the language, but also about the social behavior of young Italians. Italian people who came to America fifty, sixty years ago had little knowledge of English. For survival reasons, the migrating groups started to develop their own mixed language called Pidgin. Photo credit: Domenico Condello Continued from page 2

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