tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post7961305086480335656..comments2024-03-11T11:00:55.829-07:00Comments on Den Nation: When just speaking Italian is not enoughDen nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259526826141331097noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-53619788268164330782014-05-01T05:47:49.264-07:002014-05-01T05:47:49.264-07:00Wow, that sounds really complicated!
In Canada s...Wow, that sounds really complicated! <br /><br />In Canada some of the Italian immigrants' children speak some sort of Italian with a lot of dialect thrown in. That's because their parents only spoke dialect at home when they were growing up and never learned Italian (because like I said in my post, back then children only completed a few years of schooling) and then passed on their way of thinking to their children.<br /><br />I can see how some Chinese children growing up outside of China would grow up speaking English. If one parent spoke Mandarin and the other Cantonese, it would be pretty difficult to communicate. I hope they grow up knowing their parents' culture, though. Den nationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04259526826141331097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-87513498956317385462014-05-01T04:40:35.874-07:002014-05-01T04:40:35.874-07:00Chinese communities living outside of China and Ta...Chinese communities living outside of China and Taiwan do not naturally speak Mandarin or Chinese dialects. It depends on their family education. There are Chinese families in Singapore prefer to speak English to their children, so these children growing up having English as their mother tongue. I have a Malaysian Chinese friend here in France, she speaks Cantonese but understands Mandarin, I speak Mandarin but not comfortable in speaking Cantonese, so we always speak English among ourselves. On the other hand, I have a friend speaking Mandarin to her kids at home, speaks Cantonese to her husband and Hokkien to her mother. So there are three different Chinese languages spoken at the same time at home.Bee Eanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13860357505146690089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-1988619536227667882014-04-30T09:19:54.835-07:002014-04-30T09:19:54.835-07:00I know, it really is awful. She must blame herself...I know, it really is awful. She must blame herself so much, saying that she should have been watching him more. I hope that she doesn't think that, because no parent could watch their children 24/7.<br /><br />These kinds of situations are going to happen when you live abroad whether you want them to happen or not. I am happy to have these kinds of experiences - makes for good laughing material later! (well, I'm not laughing about the woman and her son, but you get the idea).Den nationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04259526826141331097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-58855590930803541252014-04-30T09:15:49.717-07:002014-04-30T09:15:49.717-07:00Yes, it's a terrible story and sometimes when ...Yes, it's a terrible story and sometimes when I remember her it's all I can think of for a few hours (like when I wrote this post). <br /><br />The Sicilian dialects is one of the worst in Italy to understand. I find the Naples dialect, however, to be much worse. <br /><br />In my opinion, Italians articulate very well when they speak Italian. You only need to be around Sicilians speaking Sicilians to start thinking that.<br /><br />I really wish things could get better as well. Honestly, though, it must be the cynic in me, but I don't think the situation is looking up. There are more and more Italians moving to Bordeaux (great for me but not for Italy) as I hear Italian being spoken everywhere. Even in France, which suffers from its own brain-drain, Italians are moving over here in droves. Den nationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04259526826141331097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-1957421402171257702014-04-30T09:10:39.194-07:002014-04-30T09:10:39.194-07:00They don't slow down at all, especially the el...They don't slow down at all, especially the elderly people. And I would even say that they don't slow down for people that don't speak the language well because they are not used to being around foreigners that can't speak the language. You just have to put yourself out there and hope for the best. It's a sink or swim situation.Den nationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04259526826141331097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-72521866993721733652014-04-30T09:07:13.280-07:002014-04-30T09:07:13.280-07:00So you're saying that there are Chinese people...So you're saying that there are Chinese people that don't know how to speak Chinese? After my experience in Sicily, I totally believe what you are saying. <br /><br />I used to think that it was a bad thing that these Sicilians couldn't speak Italian. Now I think that it is really beautiful that they are so connected to their heritage and keep their traditions alive. Sometimes I find Canada (the south at least) to be too homogenous. It's interesting to see how united some countries are on a national level, but how regionally united they are in turn. Den nationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04259526826141331097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-67154917352234713472014-04-30T09:02:18.713-07:002014-04-30T09:02:18.713-07:00You just kind of sit there like a dummy sometimes....You just kind of sit there like a dummy sometimes. It is so exhausting asking everyone to constantly repeat themselves. You just feel like just a pest, such a burden to everyone. I really hate this feeling. So sometimes I would just say nothing and get in trouble later (like in this case). You can't win, can you? Either your pester them to repeat themselves or you sit there and say nothing, oblivious to what is going on. Den nationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04259526826141331097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-34777385015029016272014-04-30T08:57:52.061-07:002014-04-30T08:57:52.061-07:00I can understand my cousin not wanting to talk abo...I can understand my cousin not wanting to talk about it: it's a small town and everyone knows everyone's business. That said, maybe this lady was looking for a fresh, non-Italian face that didn't know about the accident so she wouldn't have to bear yet another person's pity. So yes, I definitely agree, she probably enjoyed conversing with me. Den nationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04259526826141331097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-27246812928218614042014-04-23T05:25:36.162-07:002014-04-23T05:25:36.162-07:00How sad, but I don't think you can beat yourse...How sad, but I don't think you can beat yourself up about it. You said the woman seemed quite open to talking to you: I wonder if it's sometimes others who are more sensitive about blundering into these topics of conversation. After all, it's not as though she would have forgotten about her terrible loss until you brought it up. For some people, it may even be preferable to just have a "normal" conversation instead of being treated with kid gloves by everyone who knows her story. Gwanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13127784431543135980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-20087586526757714822014-04-23T00:43:50.060-07:002014-04-23T00:43:50.060-07:00That is quite tragic. And I could feel for you tr...That is quite tragic. And I could feel for you trying to be open and friendly and not realizing the history involved. Reminds me of my first months in France when I didn't get all the nuances. You never know when to jump in a conversation for fear of the topic changing without you realizing!Milhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02647139896187096733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-56991389151640226332014-04-22T13:46:45.768-07:002014-04-22T13:46:45.768-07:00In my family we speak Hokkien, a type of Chinese d...In my family we speak Hokkien, a type of Chinese dialect. My husband was disappointed as he hoped to learn Mandarin with us but he only hears us speaking Hokkien. The Chinese community in Malaysia speak different dialects, and since not everyone could speak Mandarin, it is not uncommon to see two Chinese speaking English as they don't share a common dialect.Bee Eanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13860357505146690089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-56500766402748923372014-04-22T11:31:39.956-07:002014-04-22T11:31:39.956-07:00Poor woman.
The thing about speaking a language ...Poor woman. <br /><br />The thing about speaking a language pretty well is that people sometimes assume you understand everything. With someone who doesn't speak the language at all, they will slow down, but if you seem to understand the gist, they speak normally and it's easy to miss something.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-84698911816366532792014-04-21T12:33:08.500-07:002014-04-21T12:33:08.500-07:00What a sad story! I really felt for you as well -...What a sad story! I really felt for you as well - I know that I find it harder to follow stories about other people and remember who is who when I'm working in French (where I understand pretty much everything) so it must have been really difficult for you in Sicilian dialect. <br /><br />I really hope that things will get better in Italy too. My friends there seem pretty optimistic about the new prime minister, so that's a start.Canedoliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00793959858820555197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1877199150999254647.post-13024321072269341522014-04-21T11:02:13.961-07:002014-04-21T11:02:13.961-07:00How awful! I really feel for her. What an uncomfor...How awful! I really feel for her. What an uncomfortable situation for you to be in as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com