Week of the Italian language in the world 2024

Italian language lovers, here's an article for you!

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"Who reads a book in Italian can dream with eyes open wide, because our language is a treasure that belongs to the entire world".

This is the translation of the topic of the Week of the Italian Language in the World (October 14-20, 2024): books' key role in conveying our culture, values and identity. Reading a book in its original language can be tiring and that's why sometimes we try but it ends up reading the translation. I started reading books in the original version only as soon as I realised how it can be useful to enrich our foreign language vocabulary. But there are also other reasons. 

Cagliari, photo from Pexels

My experience as a teacher of Italian language at L'Accademia, a successful school of Italian Language for foreigners in Cagliari, always allows me to think about foreign language learning and my first language from different points of view.  As a student, I've experienced the struggles caused by the learning process, and as a teacher, I've known all the difficulties and the satisfactions of teaching. As a writer, I'm having a new different experience: how to express my thoughts and feelings in the right words.

I'm writing this blog in English, but I decided to write my first novel in Italian (Una mamma tutta sgangherata), not only because I'm obviously more fluent in my first language, but also because many nuances can't be translated perfectly from one language to another. The tone of my novel is ironic but I'm aware that I couldn't translate it perfectly into English: my irony is much more effective when I write and speak Italian.

It's incredible but, like many foreign language speakers, our personality changes, depending on our language. We have a perception of each foreign language created by our learning experience, sometimes mixed with certain stereotypes. For example, when I speak English I feel more direct, and precise, I go straight to the point. When I speak French I feel more sophisticated and elegant. When I talk in Spanish I feel more lively and outgoing. When I speak Italian, I feel more emotional, that's why I am capable of expressing all the shades of my feelings.

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Many concepts we express are strictly linked to the place where we live and it's almost impossible to convey the same emotions in another language. My novel could be translated technically perfectly into English or any other language, but something will always be missed. It takes place in Italy and many characters are Italian, so to understand their lifestyle, way of thinking and state of mind it's important to read the book in Italian. That's why it's crucial to read every book in the original language. 

The more a concept is tied to a specific culture, place or niche, the more specific language we should use to express it. Sardinian people are said to speak one of the most correct forms of Italian but sometimes we have to use our dialects to give the idea. The Sardinian language is often the final touch when we want to be more specific and even the Italian language is too general to express a concept. Sometimes we can even express something with a word that is only used in our town, or in our family.

Sardinia, photo from Pixabay

Not only should we read books in the original language as much as we can, but we should make sure to update our knowledge by adding books written in contemporary language. I still remember going to France for the first time for a long stay. At University I read tons of novels in French and my speaking was incredibly elevated, correct and fluent. But I didn't have any idea of the contemporary French language, I used to speak like a literature book. Everybody was surprised by my academic French, and it took me months and several contemporary French books to update my vocabulary.

In my novel, I wrote some words and expressions in English and French, with some Sardinian words too (because the main characters are Italians from Sardinia), to give a slice of the contemporary Italian language, which is spoken now by a niche of people interested in the fashion and personal development field. Our language is evolving every day and this evolution reflects our lifestyle, more than we might think. My novel covers topics like social media, content creators, influencers, style experts and in this world, we are getting more and more used to hearing and reading words and expressions in foreign languages, especially English. We might not like it, but this is the reality, and I wanted to picture it, even in its funniest and ridiculous aspects. Indeed, we often already have the right word in Italian, but we try to use the English equivalent, and less frequently  French or other languages, to look "cool", in fashion, and "à la page".

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What about you? What's your experience with reading books, in Italian or other foreign languages?

To be updated on the evolution of the Italian Language and culture, visit L'Accademia's interesting blog and don't miss the next article, with a selection of three books that you should absolutely read, in Italian, of course!