Welcome to the New Fluenz Commons! We’re excited to have you here! This is your space to connect, share, and learn with fellow language learners. Feel free to jump into conversations, ask questions, and get inspired.
Italian as spoken in films -- Standard Italian or regional dialects?
-
I'm just beginning Level 5 Italian. I'm becoming more interested in watching films and television shows in Italian in order to hear it spoken. But I've also become aware that what we Americans call "Italian" is not the language spoken throughout Italy.
I had been aware there there were different dialects from the different regions, but I thought of these dialects as differences in pronunciation, but of the same language, like the different regions of the United Kingdom or, for that matter, the United States. But I've become aware recently that these different dialects in Italy are virtually different languages in that a person speaking Sicilian is not understood by someone who speaks Veneziano. I recall one of the characters in "My Brilliant Friend" asking in an angry voice, "Am I supposed to speak to you in Italian?" as if that were an onerous and ridiculous requirement for conversation.
This brings me to my question. If I'm watching a film or television show on Netflix from the Italian films and television shows category, how confident can I be that I'm listening to Italian, and not some regional dialect that is not Italian? My ear is nowhere near good enough to detect the difference. Or are movies and television shows recorded in standard Italian (but with regional accents) as a general practice?
Does anyone know?
Thank you to anyone who can provide insight regarding this.