Spinoff thread: American and Italian culture Q and A thread.

[mjkacmom]

I exist! About cultural differences: Yes, there are plenty. But not only between Northern, Central, and Southern Italians. Literally every region was a separate kingdom and territory up until less than 200 years ago. People lived different lives, spoke different languages (more than just dialects, sometimes), ate different food, and had different traditions.
Literally from one village to the next, we locals already notice differences. Of course, when you look at the whole Country, the north/center/south differences are even more evident. Italians really love to hold on to those differences, for better or worse, as part of their identity, and it is a very interesting topic to explore.

As per stereotypes: I would never say that Southerners are lazier, or that Northerners are colder people, but of course, people still say that the weather & the food have a big influence on people's attitudes and cultures.

My 97 year old FIL speaks the Italian he learned from his parents who moved to the US as young adults, but I doubt anyone in today’s Italy would understand him. I really enjoyed this article which explains why Italian Americans (and even non Italian Americans) have odd pronunciations for things. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articl...agool-the-italian-new-jersey-accent-explained

 

[Buzz Rules]

To be honest, I didn't even know about it In my defence, we just moved back from Germany!


The weather was nice, finally not terribly hot as in the previous weeks! In the Bologna area, we reached 104° and air conditioning is not as popular as in the US.

@Buzz Rules how come your Italian is so good??

I studied 4 years of Spanish in high school and I'm trying to learn some Italian in my spare time. But to be honest, on the Disboards, I just type English into Italian using Google translate.

 

[Buzz Rules]

To be honest, I didn't even know about it In my defence, we just moved back from Germany!


The weather was nice, finally not terribly hot as in the previous weeks! In the Bologna area, we reached 104° and air conditioning is not as popular as in the US.

@Buzz Rules how come your Italian is so good??

Can I ask how you speak English so well? I thought most Italians don't like to speak English unless they really have too (granted, this is just what I have heard and is probably inaccurate).

 

[Buzz Rules]

To be honest, I didn't even know about it In my defence, we just moved back from Germany!

 

[Buzz Rules]

The weather was nice, finally not terribly hot as in the previous weeks! In the Bologna area, we reached 104° and air conditioning is not as popular as in the US.

How do Italians keep cool during heat waves? Beach days and Italian Ice/Gelato?

 

[Once.Upon.A.Time]

Italian Disboarders (if you actually exist at this point), is there an actual difference culturally between Northern, Central, and Southern Italians or is that just an inaccurate stereotype?

My family thinks so. So does my husband’s family.

 

[Buzz Rules]

My family thinks so. So does my husband’s family.

That seems to be the concensus.

 

[valval]

Can I ask how you speak English so well? I thought most Italians don't like to speak English unless they really have too (granted, this is just what I have heard and is probably inaccurate).

I moved to Germany right after University and English was much easier to learn than German for me, as a communication language in the beginning. I always worked in English, and then I met my husband (American).
Daily practice at work in an international team, and later at home with my husband definitely did the trick for me. Now that we're back in Italy, I feel almost bilingual, and we switch languages back and forth according to the mood

I don't know the exact stats, but based on my personal experience, the only Italians who speak English are people who decided to have experiences abroad (student exchanges or work) or work in the tourism industry in the popular areas of Italy.

How do Italians keep cool during heat waves? Beach days and Italian Ice/Gelato?

Old houses are built with bricks/stone, and keep much cooler naturally. AC is getting popular in recently built homes, and everyone in between is at the mall in the hottest hours of the day
Schools are closed from mid-June to mid-September, therefore most kids are at summer camps at the pool, mountains or at the sea, or somewhere with grandparents. In the hottest weeks (mid-August), is tradition for everyone to take 1-2 weeks off work and travel or go to the beach.

 

[Buzz Rules]

I moved to Germany right after University and English was much easier to learn than German for me, as a communication language in the beginning. I always worked in English, and then I met my husband (American).
Daily practice at work in an international team, and later at home with my husband definitely did the trick for me. Now that we're back in Italy, I feel almost bilingual, and we switch languages back and forth according to the mood

That's really cool. You should be really proud given that I know English is a really hard language for some non English speaking people to learn. Is English taught as a second language at a young age in Italian schools and are the school lunches actually better (I heard that in college/university from an arrogant Italian classmate, so I have no clue if that is fact or fiction)? Do grade/educational levels follow a similar style to American or British models? We have nursery school (Pre-K and Kindergarten), then elementary school (grades 1-6), junior high school (grades 7 and 8), high school (grades 9-12), and then college/university or trade school/apprenticeship/workforce. Is your husband from the Northern, Southern, Midwestern, or Western part of the USA? I ask because some words in American English are different depending on where you grow up. Our cultures are different depending on where you go within the USA, similar to how you described Italy in your previous post. Accents change according to region but I'm sure you know all of this given that you said you have international experience.

I don't know the exact stats, but based on my personal experience, the only Italians who speak English are people who decided to have experiences abroad (student exchanges or work) or work in the tourism industry in the popular areas of Italy.

Yeah, that's what many Americans have heard as well.

Old houses are built with bricks/stone, and keep much cooler naturally. AC is getting popular in recently built homes, and everyone in between is at the mall in the hottest hours of the day
Schools are closed from mid-June to mid-September, therefore most kids are at summer camps at the pool, mountains or at the sea, or somewhere with grandparents. In the hottest weeks (mid-August), is tradition for everyone to take 1-2 weeks off work and travel or go to the beach.

Fun fact, the portable air conditioner wasn't invented until the 1940's but early AC experimentation started back in anchient Egypt. People go to the mall or other cooling centers to cool down here in the summer as well. In the North, school is on the same school year schedule as Italy's. The last couple of weeks in August (pre Covid era) is often a time when most Americans (in non hurricane prone regions) plan a small end of summer vacation (do you use the British version "holiday" instead?).

 

[Buzz Rules]

@valval , I'm curious, how did you find the the Disboards in the first place? I always find it interesting how international Disboarders find a primarily North American message board. Also, what sports are popular in Italy besides Calcio? What comes to my mind is skiing, snowboarding, track and field, sailing, swimming, water polo, and horse riding.

 

[dvcgirl67]

My 97 year old FIL speaks the Italian he learned from his parents who moved to the US as young adults, but I doubt anyone in today’s Italy would understand him. I really enjoyed this article which explains why Italian Americans (and even non Italian Americans) have odd pronunciations for things. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articl...agool-the-italian-new-jersey-accent-explained

This is great! My husband, who has been learning Italian for quite a few years will get a kick out of it too. He’s Italian-American and so his entire family activity speaks “sopranos Italian “. And being from New Jersey I’d the words “gabigool and mozadel” my whole life. My 92 year old father in law was the youngest of five and didn’t retain whatever Italian was spoken at home, but i suspect it’s quite different from the Italian my husband is learning today

 

[firefly_ris]

I am curious what the differences are between italian culture (those that still live in Italy) versus the Italian-American culture (the ancestors who came to America around ww1 and post ww2).

I am interested also. My mother's family came to the US in 1912 from Messina, Sicily. I grew up on a lot of Italian American cuisine and desserts (such as seven layer rainbow cookies which I make every Christmas). My understanding is many dishes were modifications of their homeland variety due to a lack of availability of certain ingredients, so they modified and made do with what was here.

I wish people in my family had passed down the language. My family immigrated to Baltimore City. My great grandmother spoke only Italian and was often embarrassed to go to the market because she had trouble communicating. This was worse during WW2 as there were a few businesses who would not serve her. So I know my grandmother and my great aunts all spoke italian because they couldn't communicate with her otherwise - plus two of my great aunts were born in Sicily and lived there for a bit. But by the time I was born my grandmother hardly spoke it and never taught it to me or my mother.

My grandmom and great aunts all ended up with the old Bawlmerese accent with some random stuff thrown in there. My grandmom always called pasta "basta"- she insisted her mother said that. I have no idea why.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Is the hand gesture stereotype for Italians based on any facts or is it just an inaccurate generalization?

 

[firefly_ris]

Is the hand gesture stereotype for Italians based on any facts or is it just an inaccurate generalization?

Well my family definitely all does it. I apparently do it enough that when I first came around my husbands (polish/german) family they all pointed it out. I was raised on hand gestures (and throwing slippers, and waving spatulas around...). These days I only personally do the hand gesture part!!

 

[Buzz Rules]

These videos are meant with all good fun.

 

[Buzz Rules]

To be fair, I think most Americans do hand gestures without thinking about it, regardless of heritage. I do it when I speak passionately according to my family (I didn't realize it until this thread).

 

[Skippy918]

I am interested also. My mother's family came to the US in 1912 from Messina, Sicily. I grew up on a lot of Italian American cuisine and desserts (such as seven layer rainbow cookies which I make every Christmas). My understanding is many dishes were modifications of their homeland variety due to a lack of availability of certain ingredients, so they modified and made do with what was here.

I wish people in my family had passed down the language. My family immigrated to Baltimore City. My great grandmother spoke only Italian and was often embarrassed to go to the market because she had trouble communicating. This was worse during WW2 as there were a few businesses who would not serve her. So I know my grandmother and my great aunts all spoke italian because they couldn't communicate with her otherwise - plus two of my great aunts were born in Sicily and lived there for a bit. But by the time I was born my grandmother hardly spoke it and never taught it to me or my mother.

My grandmom and great aunts all ended up with the old Bawlmerese accent with some random stuff thrown in there. My grandmom always called pasta "basta"- she insisted her mother said that. I have no idea why.

My great-grandpa immigrated via Ellis island. the rest of the family came over after ww2 and settled in little Italy in Manhattan. They moved to brooklyn later on. My grandpa wanted us to learn Italian but we weren’t interested. My mom lost her Italian once she started school.
My grandma sounded a lot like Nonna Romana in the video. They are from the same city in Italy.

 

[Skippy918]

Well my family definitely all does it. I apparently do it enough that when I first came around my husbands (polish/german) family they all pointed it out. I was raised on hand gestures (and throwing slippers, and waving spatulas around...). These days I only personally do the hand gesture part!!

I can’t talk without my hands. At big family gatherings, somebody would inadvertently knock a beverage over.

 

[GAN]

How do Italians keep cool during heat waves? Beach days and Italian Ice/Gelato?

Thick skin...

 

[Buzz Rules]

Do Italian Disboarders have any questions for Americans? I sometimes feel these threads can become one-sided and otherwise become dull for a period if I'm the only one asking questions. I don't mind doing it but I don't want to be the annoying poster either.

To answer a previous post, in my view Italian American culture is different to traditional Italian culture in a couple of ways. First, Italian Americans almost all speak English as their first language vs (as @valval has stated) most Italians rarely speak English. The second being, (based on Italian Americans) most Italian Americans see themselves as American first and Italian second (while still being a huge part of their lives). Most Italians seem to see themselves as what ever region first and Italian second (maybe this is changing with each new generation?). This in particular reminds me of the way the USA saw itself during the Civil War era when Americans saw themselves more of a citizen of their state then an American (in a national sense later on). Would most on here say Italian American culture is distinctly different between states? The last major difference I have seen so far is that in some ways American culture seems to be more progressive and evolving in comparison to Italian culture that may be seen as traditional and more conservative (in values, I'm not talking about politics) in some ways. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. I have also heard, and this is solely based on that, that men and women in Italy date/get married later in life compared to their American counterparts. I have no clue if it's true or if it varies based on the Northern, Central, and Southern cultural traditions. I would like to know if that's mostly an inaccurate stereotype.