I'm planning to live there. I've started Italian lessons few months ago,and i'm planning to continue having those lessons for Two years before i move to Italy. So will my foreign Italian accent play a role on how people will treat me?? will i be judged and be out-casted?? what is the view of Italians towards foreigners? Any information would be very helpful PS: i already speak English, French and Arabic fluently
Other - Italy - 7 Answers
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1 :
this is an awesome question :) italians (in italy) enjoy people who move to italy and speak italian, even if they don't have a great accent. in fact, this is often even better because they tend to want to help you out more because they see that you have entered into their country and are willing to speak and embrace the italian culture. you will not be outcasted, you'll probably be the center of attention because they'll want to learn your new culture. i've been to italy five times in my life, and although i am italian and speak it, i speak the dialect of my region which is what was spoken when my grandparents came to north america in the mid 60s. but as time has moved on people speak a universal version of italian which i didn't speak at the time (now i have learned it)... my accent was of the dialect which no one knew anymore, yet they were all very willing to help me out and were even really interested in learning english and knowing about my culture here in north america. don't worry you'll be fine there, especially if you're going to learn for two years before going. also the fact that you're fluent in french will help your learning process to be sped up greatly. i knew french prior to learning italian which helped me to learn it quicker. also, there is a pretty large arabic speaking community in italy because there are a lot of Moroccan and Tunisian migrants living there, plus the main media corporation in italy RAI has an arabic channel which will help you to make sure you keep up with stuff if you're still not too comfortable with the italian language. sorry i know i wrote a lot, but italy is my passion. hope it helped you :) p.s. i wanna learn arabic, is it hard or easy to pick up the language?
2 :
hello and sorry for my bad English! we Italians are very warm and welcoming to foreigners, especially Westerners!! You do not have any kind of fear, not even for the language. If you arrive that you already know a bit about 'of Italian will not have any difficulty, partly because people will try to help! basically we are one of the most 'warm and hospitable. We do not have no problem to accommodate dozens of people who move in with us, even in recent years, the mentality is increasingly open and inter-cultural. Unfortunately we are Italians who often do not like the other countries. We are the subject of ridicule and discrimination, especially in northern European countries. I hope to be helpful and pleasant stay in Italy. Ciao..!!!!
3 :
I am an American who has been living in Italy for 17 years. I speak italian with a Boston accent and I have been warmly accepted by all people here ( and especially children). The italian people are very appreciative of foreigners who even try to speak italian, however badly. They are always ready to help and if they know any of your language they will try to speak with you using it. They are lovely people, especially my adored italian mother in law!
4 :
At first, if you look for opinions of Italians, you'd better ask this question in Yahoo-Answers Italia. Referring to the accent, you will have a relatively strong accent even when you have learnt Italian in a satisfactory way: it is almost impossible to avoid. And where is the problem? You want to go to a place to live here, so you behave the best way learning the local language: how people treat you will depend on other things. You couldn't expect to live well and to socialize if you didn't want to learn the local language, but this is other question and doesn't depend on Italy: try to imagine an Italian who goes to live in the USA and can't speak English. Think also many native English-speakers who go to any country speaking just English with everyone, expecting to be understood and answered. I don't know what you expect to be told about the view of Italians towards foreigners: Italians are not all the same, nor the foreign people that live in Italy are all the same. I can't think that a person who like to travel and to learn languages like you would regard the matter as so simple. As a general rule, respect the places where you go and the people you meet and you'll be respected, and not to be judged start not judging other people and not putting labels on them.
5 :
I'm italian, and sorry for my english!! Don't worry for your accent, we are really friendly with foreigners..this is my sincere advice..
6 :
Italians are often complimented by foreigners who want to learn and show that they speak Italian. they don't like foreigners who live there and try to force another language or habits. Italians are very proud of their language and culture , especially their dialect..depending what part of Italy you are in.
7 :
i like american accent :O
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