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Tina_Joanne

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Everything posted by Tina_Joanne

  1. I think it depends on the circumstances. In my case, my grandparents spoke Trevisan, an Italian dialect. Since I spent every day with them from the time I was born to the time I was six years old, I learned Trevisan pretty organically. The problem, of course, was when I started to study the universal Italian (ie. the Italian Italy uses in schools and government offices). The grammar rules are pretty consistent across dialects (at least Italian dialects), but pronunciation, vocabulary and idioms vary widely, so that's where I'd get tripped up. To this day, my Italian is mash-up of the standard language and Trevisan. Personally, I think the Trevisan is prettier, and my relatives get quite excited when I use it. =)
  2. Honestly, I kind of wish I could. But my second language is Italian, which isn't exactly exotic, and both cities I've lived in have had enormous Italian communities, so it's never been safe to assume that nobody within earshot would understand. I just figure that, wherever I am, there's at least one person who speaks enough Italian to be offended. =) And, in the end, I do feel like it's rude to use a language that not everybody in the conversation can understand. I'd be insulted, so I don't do it. Besides, I generally use Italian when it's the common language of everyone I'm with. There are definitely times, though, when I wish I could speak Swahili, or another language that's less common than Italian. =)
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