Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Itanglish

Photo taken by Wes Shealey at la Remiera Francescana
One of the most pleasant surprises of the many we've had since moving to Venice is the seeming ease with which our son has adapted to or accepted living with two languages. He appears quite content to switch between the two languages as needed, adjusting to the linguistic context in which he finds himself.

I'm impressed with this not least of all because, in contrast, if I've been spending hours reading (or thinking) in English and am suddenly called upon to speak Italian the grinding of my mental gears as I try to make the shift is, I'm pretty sure, audible--at least to any poor dogs in the vicinity. To them, and to myself, it's like the gnashing of the motoscafo gears one hears when seated outside at the rear of, say, the 4.1 line as it pulls into its next stop.

But Sandro is not only happy to speak whatever is being spoken in any room he walks into, but is equally content to, for example, alternate between speaking English to the British mother of one of his friends and Italian to the friend himself (who speaks only Italian) at her side.

I suspect it's his sensitivity to linguistic context that explains an oddity in his speech I sometimes notice when he's with his Italian friends and he pronounces English words that he knows perfectly well how to pronounce in English as an Italian would pronounce them.

Of course there are a lot of English words commonly in use in Italian--perhaps too many. They're quite literally everywhere you look--on advertisements, packaging and T-shirts--and I'll admit that when I'm speaking Italian and find myself approaching one that has been fully adopted by Italians I rush to it as a barefooted man crossing the blazing hot sand of a beach rushes to a stray beach towel: with great relief and a momentary release of all effort. I don't, for example, pronounce "email" as an Italian would pronounce it. No, I happily slip back into my native pronunciation, as, after all, it is an American English word and isn't one generally supposed to pronounce foreign words as they're pronounced in their original tongue? (I don't after all pronounce "schnitzel" as "sknitzel".)

But when he's playing with his Italian friends, Sandro pronounces even the simplest English words--ones he's used with us almost since he began to speak--as an Italian.

Thus, that good old all-American word "Okay" becomes, when he is playing with Cosimo or Iacopo or Costanza or Alvise, something that sounds like: Oh-kah-eee.

"Crackers" takes on an Italian article and become "ee crah-kairs".

The simple exclamation "Wow!"suddenly takes on a couple of extra syllables and sounds like: "Oh-wah-oh!"

"Batman" is transformed into "baht-a-mahn," and "Spiderman" slips into the guise of "spee-dehr-mahn."

Then, once he's taken leave of Cosimo or Iacopo or Costanza or Alvise, and is back among just his parents, all the above words revert back to their normal American pronunciation.

Jen and I find this charming and amusing but, actually, I realize now, it's much more than just that. If the aim of speaking is effective communication, if the goal of socializing is to connect and be understood, then it makes sense to pronounce words--regardless of either their or your origin--in a way that your listener will understand. There's certainly a good deal of pressure for any child to fit in with his or her new classmates or surroundings, and part of that is to sound like one's new classmates. But even in adulthood, there's lot to be said for making an effort to be understood, to be willing to step forward onto someone else's terrain, foreign and awkward though it may feel. It's a big part of being a good traveler, but also of being a good neighbor--a citizen of the world, as they say, whether at home or abroad.

 Sandro is picking this up at an early age. I'm still learning it.

19 comments:

  1. I wish I had been brought up bi-lingual. My first sentence to an Italian is-'Posso parlare Inglese per favore'. In reality, I'm quite pleased if they say no, as it forces me to practise my very limited Italian. Lovely to hear your boy is doing so well. Fascinating to observe how language is developed.

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  2. Sorry for butting in, but... Puo parlare Inglese per favore? :)

    Posso means you can speak English.

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    1. Thanks for the correction sashha. See what I mean about limited Italian?

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    2. You are welcome! I'm also defeated by this language all the time. I can buy a ticket, order a meal, understand a text, but sometimes when I try to have even a basic conversation in Italian I stumble and stop.

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    3. It's probably best to stay out of discussions of foreign language, but as I understood what Andrew was trying to say to Italians--that is, politely ask if it was okay if he spoke English to them--he asked the question correctly. I think the only thing that made it seem incorrect is a typo: a missing question mark.

      But with that question mark it seems fine--and I understand and sympathize with your hope, Andrew, that your listener will say, "Yes, it's fine if you speak English." I've sometimes used this question on the phone, as I don't like speaking Italian on the phone if either I or the other person (or both) is/are using cell phones. I just can't hear clearly enough on a cell to be sure that I'm hearing correctly--it's hard enough in person. But otherwise I'm with you: one must force oneself to practice, no matter how trying it sometimes is!

      How much easier it would have been if my parents, both of whose first language was Italian, would have spoken to me and my siblings in that language. But, as it is, I'm discovering things about language acquisition I'd never really thought of. It is fascinating, and even a little mysterious.

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    4. A lost opportunity for you Siggi but your parents probably thought that English would be the most useful option at the time. Thanks for the puo/posso comment. It reminds me of school days when teachers were asked, 'Can I read this?' and the reply was 'I'm sure you can but whether you may is a different matter.'

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    5. I like your old teachers' response--but, egads, now it's raised the whole matter of "potere" vs "riuscire" (at least in my mind) and I am determined not to go there!

      And, yes, having spoken only Italian when they started school in the US, both of my parents probably had very ambivalent feelings about their mother tongue and saw no benefit at all in it for us...

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    6. You are right. Now when I give it more thought the posso option looks more polite, one asks if it's OK if he speaks English, and the sentence beginning with puo may a doubt in the vis-a-vis ability to communicate in today's lingua franca.

      Perhaps even possiamo can be used - Can we speak English, please? - but somehow I feel a better-sounding option could be found.

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    7. I've meant: may imply a doubt. Skipped a word.

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  3. Spiderman and Superman are pronounced almost the same as they sound in English, but Mickey Mouse is renamed, he is Il Topolino, and this name change makes me smile every time I think of it.

    In a book I read recently there are several examples of the Italians’ usage of English, some of them hilarious: a beauty salon was opened by an Italian proprietor, he chose the name “Top one” for it, but soon discovered that the locals are avoiding the new parlour. Most of the people approaching the salon read “Top one” as Topone, a big rat, they shrugged and walked away.

    It’s really very, very nice your family speaks Italian in Italy, there are some expats who still “don’t need it”, they think “these Italians MUST learn some English”.

    If Sandro’s future is here being bilingual is the only way to go, and probably Italian will take over with the years.

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    1. We speak English at home to try to keep a balance between the two languages, otherwise Sandro would go the way of his friends here with one Italian parent & one English-speaking parent: they understand English pretty well but can't speak it. It will take extra work to maintain this balance as he gets older, but it's committed to doing so.

      Perhaps older kids says the names of superheroes as an English speaker would, but I've only heard them said with a very very strong Italian accent. Topolino is funny, and there are other Italian versions of famous English language figures, such as Trilli (a popular name for dogs) for "Tinkerbell", and another name that escapes me at the moment for the Tow Truck character from CARS.

      In any case, what a shame it would be to live in a country and not learn the language! Even if it's a struggle there's so much to be gained from simply the effort itself.

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  4. I love this post! Sandro sounds like such a wonderful young soul.

    I often say "posso parlare" as well, having understood it to mean "may I".

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    1. I'm happy to hear you liked the post, Susie, thank you. And I've yet to be corrected when I've used "posso parlare" in the way you say you have--even by those Italians who perhaps even take a little pleasure in making corrections. (There are a few.)

      And, yes, Sandro's a sweet boy, full of surprises.

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    2. Thank you for the confirmation on the usage of "posso". Even with my filthy pressroom language, I am exceedingly polite. ;)

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    3. I think one of the best things about politeness is the way it makes one's filthy language (pressroom or otherwise) stand out to much greater effect!

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  5. As your son is growing into his second language (mine was born into Greek, German, English) you should take the chance of your own profit by learning about multilingualism. Most interesting! I can see you are enjoying the experience.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilingualism

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    1. It's definitely a very interesting experience, Brigitte. Having grown up in a household & culture that dismissed a second language as "unprofitable" (though both my parents were bi-lingual), it's fascinating to watch Sandro's developing sense of language & languages. For a time he was in a French language playgroup, which he enjoyed, and he also expresses interest in Chinese (thanks to some former classmates)--though a Chinese playgroup in Venice is not so easy to find. My wife & I have enjoyed 2 books on the subject: Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds by David C. Pollock & Ruth E. Van Reken, and Raising a Bilingual Child by Barbara Zurer Pearson.

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  6. I love this post, also. Sandro came to live in Venice at a very good age, it seems, and it's obvious he is not the least bit self-conscious about changing the linguistic gears on demand. (With no grinding.) He may be a bit young, but will his reading experiences be bilingual, also?

    Yvonne, who now has 19 weeks of agony

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    1. They're bilingual at present, Yvonne, and we're determined to keep them this way as he starts to read--and write--himself. The challenge in an Italian-language culture is to keep his English reading & writing skills up, but we're lucky in that at least English is a hugely-appreciated language here, without stigma attached. As opposed to, say, the sad case of a Romanian boy we've met here who--in spite of the fact that both his parents are very well-educated and accomplished--refuses to speak Romanian, as it and those who speak it have been so thoroughly demonized by the kind of folks who support La Lega Nord. Ah, Italy (& plenty of other places) need to grow up...

      19 weeks does not sound so bad--better than triple-digit days. If it's any consolation, this place is still rotten with tourists these days.

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