​Weathering the Storm with the WP#202

What do tennis, basket, volley, and kick have in common? Why do you ask? Well, since I am a teacher of English with mostly Italian students, and that schedule continues to get busier and busier along with the travel side of my work life, I have learned different patterns of Italian speech when they translate from Italian to English. Of course, having my beautiful bride, who is Italian, as you know, also using these types of things and the sporting season on all fronts, in full swing, I had been thinking about these language nuances. Maybe I spoke about this before, but it was in the back of my mind. I ask again, what do those words at the beginning of this paragraph have in common. Well, it is what the Italians, in translation call those sports. Tennis is tennis, so no change, but in the case of basket and volley, they do not call the sports by their “full” name. They play basket and they play volley, not basketball and volleyball. They also do not play football (or as we in America call it), soccer, but calcio, which literally means kick, so never mentioning the object used in these sports. ​

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Why this as part of the blog for this week is because I was doing a lot of comparison and contrast to the two different languages and in my English classes looking at the differences and similarities. Of course, language is the basis of any culture and very important in the development of a culture over the millennia. Being in one of the ancient capitals of the world, sometimes feeling, due to its stone age mentality, that it is a far cry from a modern society, I have asked many Italians during the lessons or simply socially, why, and using shorter terms for the noted sports above. Yes, we say tennis, we don’t say tennis ball is the sport, but we do say baseball, basketball, volleyball and technically, football, if you want to use the international name for the beautiful sport. The answer I received more times that not, is that Italians, are generally lazy. This is not my thought process, as I know many hardworking Italians and, in fact, many hard-working people from all over the world, especially in my industry and in the educational field. ​

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When they said lazy though, I don’t think they meant lazy in the strictest terms, but actually, in the lifestyle and that life was more important, of course, I agree, and not taking things so seriously. In terms of the language, also, the commentary, from many was the use of English words in the Italian communication. Why? “Because they liked they thought the English language was cool.” A quote from my wife, actually. I use the example of saying weekend, versus fine settimana. There is a lot of English used by Italians in their everyday conversations from simply OK, to more complex words, and the reason, that they find English cool. And, also, the importance of English as the international language. Keep in mind that there are 44 countries in Europe alone, according to the UN and as such, there are at least 44 languages or more, including regional dialects in any number of these countries, so to communicate with each other, even if two people have a common language root, be it the Romance, Germanic, Slavic or Finno-Ugric language family. 

They can’t communicate in their mother tongue with another from another country whose language is different, so English it is and even in some countries, whose mother tongue is English, words are different be it the boot or the trunk, the life or the elevator, the underground, or the subway, just to name a few. Languages are a living breathing thing and words are adopted into a language for many reasons, and as for the Italians, it is “cool”. Thank you, Rosa. So yes, besides food, religion, family, and other aspects of daily life, that is culture, but the glue is language and that is forever evolving, so I should not be surprised that more and more English is adopted into the English language. By the way, weekend from German word wochenende, as the base of the English language is Germanic, but thanks to one William the Conqueror in the year 1066, crossed the English Channel and conquered the land, his native tongue, French, so that became a huge influence on the English language.

So, when I am teaching English to my Italian and other students, I try to communicate different ways to say different things, since English is such a melting pot of a language. No wonder, it is so confusing for foreign speakers. Too many choices and too many exceptions, but that is how I felt 50 years ago, when I learned French, having  lived in Poitiers for a year and later, when I had to learn the actual grammar, back in the states after having lived the French language for a year. Just an aside, the French have been very rigid over history to adopt words into their “pure” language. Apologies to my French friends and colleagues. Most other languages seem to adapt foreign words into their languages, not necessarily freely, but the French wanted to retain their pure French for as long as possible. The funny thing is that those who live and speak the language in other countries outside of France, have their versions, dialects per se, but this is the same, be it German, Spanish, Italian and yes, even French. I learned German in school and someday, I may even learn Italian. Actually, each day, my vocabulary increases, and I am somewhat functionally fluent. ​

In the end, I share these thoughts with students, clients, colleagues, friends and sometimes family, as I am at heart, an educator and have been for over 37 years in many different capacities. When I plan a trip to a destination, in the e-portfolio, I provide key words and phrases in that language, but also dialectal options for that specific country or region, be it Quebecois, which is different than French, just ask them, or terms the Brits use or the spellings they use and the members of their commonwealth, words like centre versus center or neighbourhood versus neighborhood. America did not follow the British spellings as they wanted to be different once we separated through a revolution, but Canada, stayed in their sphere, so they retained the spellings and for the record, centre comes from the French (Merci Guilleaume). For me, it is most important to become a part of the culture in which you find yourself, be it for life, a holiday or vacation, or just because, so here is to basket, volley and calcio (kick). Thank you as always for your support of our crazy little world and we maneuver through the daily grinds of our work and personal lives together. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.