Tuscany recommendations?

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MarcusT
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Re: Tuscany recommendations?

Post by MarcusT »

Vorpal wrote:
MarcusT wrote:Sorry Vorpel. It may be a generational thing, but now a days, most kids (last 20 yrs) don't go near Latin unless their parents force them to take it. A second language is mandatory in schools. English, German, French and Spanish are mainly studied and in that order. They already have a big enough work load in their studies, they don't need to add a dead language to increase their burden.

I wasn't trying to start a big debate or anything. I don't doubt that most younger Italians don't study Latin, anymore. Just like in most other countries where it used to be common.

Cyril Haearn asked if one can use Latin. The main point of my answer was
you can find people who know Latin, but I think you're more likely to find people who speak English

Maybe I should have left off the bit about people studying it in school. Or said that people used to. Or merely that I knew Italians who had studied it. I have to admit that I assumed that what my friends told me about their school experience was still correct, which I probably shouldn't have done, but it really wasn't meant to eb the important part of my psot.


Not really a debate, just more of a conversation. Are you sure people were not talking about Ladino, the dialect used in the Trentino-Alto Adige region?
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Vorpal
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Re: Tuscany recommendations?

Post by Vorpal »

MarcusT wrote:
Not really a debate, just more of a conversation. Are you sure people were not talking about Ladino, the dialect used in the Trentino-Alto Adige region?

I had several lengthy conversations with a few people about differences in my Latin classes in school and theirs. I also talked with various of my colleagues about education because it is something I am interested in.
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Tuscany recommendations?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

nirakaro wrote:I assume that Cyril Haearn, who asked about it, knows some Latin (though may not speak it like a native :D ). I did A Level Latin, and though I've never tried to use it in Italy, it does make it a lot easier to pick up a bit of Italian.

We all use a lot of Latin as Conrad writes, I had a bit of Latin at school but now I speak German better than most forum (lat!) members. Used to speak Oxford English

Gattonero asserts that Tuscany is the place for standard Italian, is that right, like Oxford English or Hochdeutsch?

Is the difference between North and South like the N-S difference in English?

I am just interested in languages, controversy, arguments, learning, Meinungsbildung (German: opinion forming)
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nirakaro
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Re: Tuscany recommendations?

Post by nirakaro »

I've been told that it wasn't until the 1970s that the majority of Italians spoke Italian as their first language. So regional languages – Piedmontese, Venetian, Sicilian, Neapolitan etc., are still widely spoken (and are different enough that I've seen, e.g., a Piedmontese-Italian dictionary in a bookshop). People can shift registers into standard Italian (which is, I understand, the Tuscan dialect), but in informal settings may shift back to a form that Italians from a different region wouldn't necessarily understand.
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Tuscany recommendations?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

nirakaro wrote:I've been told that it wasn't until the 1970s that the majority of Italians spoke Italian as their first language. So regional languages – Piedmontese, Venetian, Sicilian, Neapolitan etc., are still widely spoken (and are different enough that I've seen, e.g., a Piedmontese-Italian dictionary in a bookshop). People can shift registers into standard Italian (which is, I understand, the Tuscan dialect), but in informal settings may shift back to a form that Italians from a different region wouldn't necessarily understand.

Sounds just like Germany which is made of many provinces or kingdoms but Italy is better because: "our land is girt by sea" (quote from Australian national anthem) so less argument about borders

German spoken in Switzerland is so different from standard German, it is subtitled or spoken over
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MarcusT
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Re: Tuscany recommendations?

Post by MarcusT »

It's really not correct for us to hijack this thread, but...
There is a difference between a dialect and regional accents/inflections. In Italy there are dialects that are recognized as separate distinct languages. 4 regions that are recognized and considered autonomous regions for their distinct language and culture are; Sicily, Sardinia, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli Venezia Giulia. As mentioned, the 70's were a period where they tried to get Italian to dominate the land and people were actually shamed for speaking their dialect. In the last 20 yrs or so, that has changed and the people are proud and protective of their culture and language.
The non dialect Italians sometimes feel intimidated by dialect speakers and will depreciate them. Now a days, most dialect speakers can easily switch between their tongue and Italian.
The official Italian language was taken from Tuscany, perhaps because it had the least external influence or because the most powerful family at the time were in Tuscany (the Medicis).
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millerfrancis
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Re: Tuscany recommendations?

Post by millerfrancis »

To avoid heavy traffic in Tuscany, I would recommend considering Via Francigena. This post :arrow: https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/the-via-francigena-a-journey-through-the-good-life-in-tuscany/ is good.
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