English

April, 2013

We get up at around 9:00.  I’m still tired even though I slept seven hours.  We go down to the dining room for breakfast and, with some disappointment, find that the breakfast selection is exactly the same as it was yesterday.   This time, despite being somewhat hungry, I try to limit how much I eat.  We are going to the conference and have a long day ahead of us.

We go to the “meeting room” to go over our presentations.  We each take turns listening to the other’s “performance” and give each other suggestions then go back upstairs to get ready for the day.  I brought a nice jacket but didn’t unpack it.  I opt, instead, to go more casual, as does Richard.  Pretty soon Sergej comes to pick us up.  Everything is covered with snow; even the street is covered with a fresh layer and there is no sign of the terrible traffic the day before, maybe because it’s lunch time now.  We reach the parking lot of an enormous hotel that stands out against the lead-gray sky which drops snowflakes on us until we’re almost completely covered in just the short time it takes us to get to the hotel entrance.

I’ve never seen such a big hotel.  We go up to the fourth floor and walk inside the conference center.  It’s a spacious room with comfortable blue armchairs and a semicircular structure perfect for the presentations.  The conference is already in progress and a man is giving a lecture via Skype.  I catch sight of Svetlana and Wael who are sitting to the right of the semicircle.  In a few minutes the presentation ends and Dina announces our presence saying “and here are Luca and Richard, two of the most famous polyglots in the world”.  It may be an exaggeration but it gives me a strange feeling.  All heads turn towards us in unison and I wave and smile at Dina and the others, then sit down near Svetlana and Wael, next to a girl with long, curly hair and a nice face.  She asks me if it would be ok to get a picture with me after the conference.  “Sure”, I reply with a smile.  I have my computer with me and it’s getting in the way so I go over to Richard who’s sitting farther back and we put our “artillery” under the table at the back of the room where the girl in charge of the room’s  sound system is seated.

In the meantime, Dimitri Petrov, the “Russian star” of the conference arrives, a man in his fifties who begins a very interesting lecture about language learning.  He speaks with calm clarity.  I’ve already seen some of his videos on YouTube, especially “италиянкси за 16 часов” in which he teaches actors and other celebrities the basics of our beautiful Italian language using his unique methodology.  He’s very popular in Russia where he teaches at the university and participates in radio and television programs.  As soon as Dimitri finishes answering all of the questions from the audience and goes down the steps he is literally mobbed by people asking for autographs and showering him with questions.  It’s a show within a show.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s lunch time.  Dina and Lena, the two organizers of the event, come with us to the restaurant on the floor below and we meet at the speakers’ table.  I sit across from Dimitri Petrov  and Richard.  Of course we talk about languages, specifically about the best method for introducing a beginning student to a new language.  We discuss the fact that the first stage of learning a language is the most delicate.    “What’s the best way to teach a language with grammar as complicated as that of Russian?”  Dimitri whips out a slip of paper and quickly jots down something.  “Here, look at this”, he says in English “it’s just a matter of teaching a few of the basics and then going from there”.  On the paper there is a simple plan for teaching and learning the verbs.  “Knowing how to use the verbs is the key to learning any language” he says with a knowing smile.   From there the conversation moves on to regional languages like Gaelic in Ireland and then turns to Esperanto.  Lena, one of the organizers of the convention, is sitting to my right.  She knows maybe two or three words of English which means that she can’t follow our conversation.  While Dimitri and Richard continue the conversation in English I translate it into Russian for Lena.  She seems relieved to finally be able to follow the conversation.  It’s a nice lunch but doesn’t last quite long enough because we’re on a tight schedule and it’s already time to go back for the rest of the presentations.

We all head back to the conference room and Richard goes in and looks over his presentation one last time and puts on a few finishing touches.  I prefer to stay outside with Svetlana and Wael.  We go to the restaurant on the ground floor.  “Why don’t we get a Russian cognac?” asks Wael.  “Why not?” I answer, wondering to myself if it’s a good idea to drink cognac right before the convention.  I remember my father always saying “modus in rebus”, which means “there is a proper measure in all things”.    While having a little cognac wouldn’t have much effect drinking too much would mean staggering into a room full of people somewhat dazed.    Not the best way to conduct a one-and-a-half hour presentation.  We decide to go up to the bar and order two cognacs, Wael’s treat.  It has a strong, full-bodied flavor.   I sip it very slowly and I relax and chat in Russian and in English with both of them.  We are laughing and joking around and before we knew it, it’s 5:00.

We go back up to the conference room but stay outside and sit on a sort of couch to talk.  During that time Richard and Sergej come out of the room.   “Are you nervous, Richard?” I ask bluntly.  “Luchino,” Richard says as a friendly grin spreads across his face, “you know that I’m English and that the English are cold-blooded animals”.  Italians, on the other hand, are notoriously hot-blooded, however I’m not a bit nervous and the fun, relaxed atmosphere, not to mention the effect of a little cognac relax me all the more.  We take a few fun photos on the couch and then go into the conference room.  It’s time for our presentations.

“Richard is a polyglot who speaks 30 languages”, Dina announces as she walks onto the stage with him.   There is a young woman calmly standing next to Richard.  Her name is Irina Karpova and she will interpret for the audience.   Richard gives his presentation in a relaxed, clear manner.  It’s evident that he not only has a lot of experience learning languages but that he has also established a wonderful relationship with his daughter. One sees it in the inspirational way that he speaks and in his facial expressions.  When Richard speaks one is struck not only by his skill but also by his humanity, motivation, passion for what he does and the tranquility with which he faces new things, whether good or bad.  He’s an extraordinary man whom I’ve had the honor or knowing for five years, thanks to You Tube.

As soon as Richard finishes Dina calls me up to the stage and Richard and I have a nice chat in several languages.   We’re not at all embarrassed; there is an almost magical force when we’re together and we talk as though we were sitting at a table with some friends.  The audience seems to enjoy our language exchange.  Then Richard steps down from the stage and after giving him a congratulatory slap on the back I take my turn.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m even more at ease than before and the slides make the presentation even easier.  After my first lecture we all take a break and go out then come back a short time later for the second part of my presentation, which is even longer than the first.  Unfortunately there isn’t enough time for me to take questions because the presentation ran much longer than expected so Lena and Dina have to cut it short.  As soon as I finish I’m surrounded by people: middle-aged men and young girls ask me for my autograph and many others ask to have their picture taken with me.  I feel like a star, which makes me smile; I like the attention.  After the photos and autographs they bombard me with questions.  Sergej pulls me away so we can go eat.

We sit in a rather picturesque Chinese restaurant on the second floor of the hotel.   The group consisted of: Richard, Svetlana, Wael, Lena, Sergej, Dina, the other Svetlana and Valentin, two of the speakers from the conference.  We talk about everything and Richard tells me about the friction between Greeks and Macedonians and relates an encounter he had with a Greek on a train.  The young man kept asking Richard where he lived and when Richard answered “Skopje” it wasn’t enough and the guy tried to get Richard to say the name of the country.  “I didn’t want to say ‘Macedonia’ “, Richard said “because it would have caused the usual problems”.  Finally Richard got up and left to keep himself from saying what he really thought about the guy’s behavior.    Dinner goes along smoothly.  Wael tells us about his dream of living in America and adopting an American accent.  After an hour or so we finally leave the restaurant.

We all walk to the main hallway in the hotel and say “good night”.  Svetlana and Wael leave together while Sergej and Dina take us back to our hotel.  In the car we talk about all sorts of things; there’s a festive mood and Sergej and Dina are very happy with our presentations.  It’s not over yet, though.  The following day is to be our “master class”, a good four hours for me and four for Richard.  It promises to be the most intense and the most difficult part, with a live audience, an online audience and even a broadcast in Finland.

When we get back to the hotel, despite both being tired, Richard and I keep talking without realizing that it’s now 2:00 am.  Tomorrow morning we have to wake up at 7:00 because my master class is supposed to start at 9:00.  I have trouble falling asleep as scenes from the day keep playing in my mind.  Thoughts flow endlessly, one on top of another.  Finally I fall into a deep sleep.  Who would guess that the next day would be even better than this one?
Audio file of this article at the end of this post

Italiano

VIAGGIO IN RUSSIA – PARTE 4

1 di aprile 2013

Ci alziamo verso le 9. Sono stanco, nonostante le 7 ore di sonno. Scendiamo nella sala ristorante per consumare la colazione, e con un leggero disappunto notiamo che l’offerta delle pietanze è esattamente la stessa del giorno prima. Stavolta, nonostante una discreta fame, cerco di limitare la quantità di cibo da ingerire, visto che ci aspetta una lunga giornata alla conferenza.

Scendiamo di nuovo nella “sala riunioni” per rivedere il discorso. Ognuno ascolta la “performance” dell’altro e ci diamo qualche consiglio reciproco prima di risalire in stanza per vestirci. Ho portato una giacca elegante ma la lascio nella valigia, opto per un stile più “casual”, e così fa Richard. Sergej viene a prenderci con la macchina poco dopo. E’ tutto ricoperto di neve, eppure le strade sono completamente ripulite, non c’è traccia del terribile traffico del giorno precedente. Sarà perché è ora di pranzo. Raggiungiamo il parcheggio di un enorme hotel che si staglia imponente sotto un cielo plumbeo da cui cadono, impietosi, fiocchi di neve che ci ricoprono quasi completamente nonostante il breve percorso per raggiungere l’entrata dell’hotel.

Non ho mai visto un hotel così grande. Saliamo al terzo piano ed entriamo all’interno della sala conferenze. E’ una sala spaziosa, con comode poltrone blu e con un struttura a semicerchio, perfetta per tenere un discorso. La conferenza è già cominciata, e c’è il discorso di un signore che è collegato via skype. Intravedo Svetlana e Wael seduti sul lato destro del semicerchio. La presentazione del signore termina poco dopo, e Dina annuncia la nostra presenza dicendo “ed ecco Luca e Richard, due fra i poliglotti più famosi del mondo” con una certa enfasi. E’ forse un’esagerazione, ma fa una strana impressione. Tutte le teste si girano all’unisono, e lancio un saluto e un sorriso a Dina e alle persone presenti, sedendomi non lontano da Svetlana e Wael, vicino ad una ragazza dai lunghi capelli ricci e dall’aspetto molto simpatico che mi chiede se può farsi una foto con me dopo la conferenza. “Certo”, le rispondo con un sorriso. Ho il computer a tracolla, ed essendo piuttosto ingombrante, decido di raggiungere Richard che si è andato a sedere molto più indietro per andare a posare la nostra “artiglieria” sotto al tavolo in fondo alla sala, tavolo a cui siede una ragazza che coordina l’intero impianto audio della sala.

Intanto arriva Dimitri Petrov, la “star russa” della conferenza, un signore sulla cinquantina che comincia a tenere un discorso molto interessante sull’apprendimento delle lingue. Di Dimitri colpisce la tranquillità e la chiarezza espositiva. Avevo già visto vari suoi video su YouTube, in particolare “италиянкси за 16 часов”, in cui insegna ad attori e personaggi famosi le basi della nostra bella lingua secondo la sua speciale metodologia. E’ molto popolare in Russia, insegna all’università e partecipa a show televisivi e a programmi radiofonici.  Appena Dimitri ha finito di rispondere alle numerose domande che gli vengono rivolte dal pubblico e scende dal palco, viene letteralmente travolto da una multitudine di persone che gli chiedono di firmare autografi e lo tempestano di domande. E’ uno spettacolo nello spettacolo.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Arriva la pausa pranzo. Dina e Lena, le due organizzatrici dell’evento, ci accompagnano al ristorante al piano di sotto, e ci ritroviamo al tavolo degli speaker. Siedo davanti a Richard e a Dimitri Petrov. Ci intratteniamo parlando ovviamente di lingue, e su quale sia la migliore metodologia per introdurre gli studenti principianti ad una lingua. Discutiamo sul fatto che il primo periodo nell’apprendimento delle lingue è il più delicato. “Come fa ad insegnare una lingua da 0 quando si ha a che fare con una grammatica tanto complicata come quella russa?” Dimitri prende lesto un foglietto di carta e scarabocchia uno schema. “Ecco vedi” – mi dice in inglese – in realtà basta insegnare alcune, semplici cose fondamentali e partire da queste*. Sul foglietto ci sta un semplice schema su come impostare lo studio e l’apprendimento dei verbi. “Saper usare i verbi è l’elemento portante dell’apprendimento di una lingua”, mi dice con un sorriso pacato e convincente. La conversazione prosegue sull’argomento delle lingue regionali, come il gaelico in Irlanda, e poi vira sull’esperanto. Alla mia destra siede Lena, una delle organizzatrici del congresso. Sa 2 o 3 parole di inglese, il che non le permette di seguire la conversazione. Mentre Dimitri e Richard continuano a conversare in inglese, le traduco simultaneamente la conversazione in russo. Sembra sollevata di riuscire finalmente a seguire il filo della conversazione. Il pranzo è piacevole ma dura relativamente poco, perché i tempi sono stretti ed è già ora di ritornare a seguire le presentazioni.

Ci incamminiamo verso la sala, Richard entra per dare un’occhiata e l’ultimo ritocco alla sua presentazione. Io preferisco rimanere fuori con Svetlana e Wael. Andiamo al ristorante del piano terra. “Perché non ci facciamo un cognac russo?” Dichiara Wael. “E perché no?” gli rispondo. Mi domando se sia una buona idea bere cognac prima di un congresso. Mi viene in mente mio padre. “Modus in rebus”, e cioè “ci vuole misura nelle cose” dice sempre. Se da una parte pochissimo cognac non avrebbe fato effetto, dall’altra berne troppo avrebbe voluto dire entrare barcollante e piuttosto frastornato in una sala gremita di persone. Non proprio il massimo per tenere un discorso di quasi un’ora e mezza. Alla fine ci avviciniamo al bancone e ordiniamo 2 cognac. Offre Wael. Ha un gusto forte ma corposo, lo degusto con molta lentezza, e mi rilasso chiacchierando in russo e in inglese con entrambi. Nel frattempo, letteralmente “ridendo e scherzando” si sono fatte già le 17.

Risaliamo verso la sala conferenze ma restiamo fuori, e ci sediamo su una sorta di divano per chiacchierare. Intanto Richard e Sergej sono usciti dalla sala.. “Sei teso Richard?” gli chiedo a bruciapelo. “Luchino” – mi dice Richard sulla cui faccia si allarga un sorriso quasi benevolo – “lo sai che sono inglese, e gli inglesi sono animali a sangue freddo”. La battuta mi fa scompisciare dalle risate. Io stesso – italiano, e quindi famigerato bipede “dal sangue caldo” – non sono per niente nervoso, e l’atmosfera distesa e gioiosa – nonché l’effetto di una moderata quantità di cognac – mi rendono ancora più rilassato. Ci facciamo qualche foto divertente sul divano e poi entriamo dentro la sala. E’ venuta l’ora del nostro intervento

“Richard è un poliglotta che parla 30 lingue” dichiara Dina accompagnando l’ingresso di Richard sul palco. Accanto a Richard sta in piedi Irina Karpova, una ragazzetta dall’aria composta che farà da interprete per la platea. Il discorso di Richard è rilassato, chiaro, ed è evidente di quanta esperienza abbia non solo con l’apprendimento delle lingue, ma testimonia del rapporto straordinario che ha stabilito con sua figlia. Lo si vede dal modo ispirato con cui ne parla e dalla sua mimica facciale. Di Richard colpisce non solo la bravura, ma l’umanità, la motivazione, la passione in quello che fa, e la tranquillità con cui affronta qualsiasi cosa, bella o brutta che sia. Un ragazzo straordinario che ho avuto l’onore di conoscere 5 anni fa grazie a YouTube.

Appena finito il discorso Dina mi chiama sul palco, e ci propone di fare una bella chiaccherata multilingue. Non siamo per niente imbarazzati, c’è un’alchimia quasi magica quando siamo insieme, e chiacchieriamo come se fossimo seduti ad un tavolo fra amici. Il pubblico sembra apprezzare il nostro scambio linguistico. Alla fine Richard scende dal palco e dopo avergli dato un colpetto di ringraziamento sulla schiena arriva il mio turno.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sono ancora più a mio agio di prima, e le slide rendonono le cose ancora più facili. Dopo il primo discorso usciamo tutti per una pausa e torniamo dentro poco dopo  per la seconda parte del mio intervento, che è ancora più lungo del primo. Purtroppo non c’è tempo per le domande perché si è fatto molto più tardi del previsto, e alla fine Lena e Dina devono accorciare i tempi. Appena finito l’intervento mi circondano un sacco di persone: signore di mezza età e ragazze mi chiedono l’autografo, e tanti altri si fanno foto con me. Mi sembra di essere una star, e la cosa mi fa sorridere, e fa chiaramente piacere. Dopo le foto e gli autografi scattano le domande, e sono abbastanza numerose. Sergej mi prende in consegna perché dobbiamo andare a mangiare.

Ci sediamo in un ristorante cinese del primo piano dell’albergo, piuttosto pittoresco. Siamo io, Richard, Svetlana, Wael, Lena, Sergej Dina. l’altra Svetlana e Valentin, 2 speaker della conferenza. Chiacchieriamo un po’ di tutto, e Richard mi racconta delle incomprensioni fra Greci e Macedoni e  dell’incontro sgradito con un ragazzo greco in un treno, che insisteva nel chiedergli dove abitasse. Richard aveva risposto “Skopje”, alla domanda “dove vivi?” ma al ragazzo non bastava, voleva che Richard pronunciasse il nome del paese. “Non volevo dire Macedonia perché questo avrebbe creato i soliti problemi” – ha dichiarato Richard. Che alla fine si è alzato e se n’è andato per evitare di dire ciò che pensava di un simile comportamento. La cena prosegue tranquilla, Wael ci racconta del suo sogno di andare a vivere in America, e di prendere l’accento americano. Dopo un’oretta abbondante usciamo finalmente dal ristorante.

Ci salutiamo tutti nella hall principale dell’albergo. Svetlana e Wael se ne vanno per conto loro, mentre Sergej e Dina ci riportano al nostro hotel. Chiacchieriamo in macchina su un sacco di cose, c’è un’atmosfera di festa, e Sergej e Dina sono molto soddisfatti del nostro intervento. Ma non è ancora finita. Il giorno successivo ci sarebbe stato il nostro “masterclass”,  ben 4 ore per me e 4 per Richard, e sarebbe stata la parte più consistente e difficile, con un pubblico in sala, un pubblico on-line e perfino la televisione finlandese. Dopo essere tornati in albergo, nonostante la stanchezza io e Richard continuiamo a chiaccherare finché non ci accorgiamo che si sono fatte le 2. L’indomani ci saremmo dovuti svegliare alle 7, perché il mio masterclass sarebbe cominciato alle 9. Ho difficoltà a prendere sonno e continuo a riavvolgere il film dell’intera giornata, con pensieri che continuano a sovrapporsi l’uno sull’altro senza soluzione di continutà. Alla fine scivolo in un sonno profondo. Chi si sarebbe immaginato che il giorno successivo sarebbe stato più bello di questo.

Audio file of this Italian translation (read by Luca Lampariello) at the end of this post

Russian

1 апреля 2013

Мы проснулись около 9-ти часов. Я устал, несмотря на 7-ми часовой сон. Мы спустились в ресторан, чтобы позавтракать, и оказались слегка разочарованными, что на завтрак предлагается то же самое, что и накануне. В этот раз, несмотря на заметное чувство голода, я стараюсь ограничить количество еды, особенно, если учесть, что нас ожидает насыщенный день конференции.

После завтрака остается немного времени до отъезда. В комнате для переговоров, мы внимательно слушаем выступления друг друга, советуемся, как одеться, а затем поднимаемся обратно в номер. Я привез с собой строгий костюм, но  он так и остался не распакованным. Поэтому выбор пал в пользу стиля «casual», так же поступил и Ричард. Вскоре после этого Сергей приехал за нами на машине.

Всё вокруг было покрыто снегом, кроме расчищенных дорог. Движение сегодня совсем свободное, не осталось и следа от вчерашних пробок. Мы без проблем добираемся до стоянки огромного отеля, который внушительно возвышается на фоне тяжелого темно-серого неба, откуда бесконечным потоком падают снежинки, провожающие нас до самого входа в гостиницу.

Я никогда не видел настолько большого отеля. Мы поднимаемся на третий этаж, и заходим внуторь конференц-зала. Это просторное помещение с удобными синими креслами, расположенными полукругом, что идеально подходит для выступлений. Конференция уже началась, с большого экрана на нас смотрел человек, его речь транслировалась по скайпу. На правой стороне от сцены я вижу Светлану и Ваэля.

Заканчивается презентация, и немного времени спустя Дина объявляет нас с Ричардом, говоря при этом «…мы приветствуем Луку и Ричарда – двух самых известных полиглотов в мире», делая на  этом особый акцент. Быть может это преувеличение и поэтому для нас звучит немного странно. Все, как один обращают на нас свои взгляды, мы приветствуем теплой улыбкой Дину и других присутствующих. Я занял место неподалёку от Светланы и Ваэля, рядом с девушкой с длинными кудрявыми волосами и очень приятной внешностью, которая сразу поинтересовалась можно ли ей сфотографироваться со мной после конференции. «Конечно»  – добродушно ответил ей я.

У меня с собой громоздкий компьютер, поэтому решая избавиться от него, я подхожу к Ричарду, и мы вместе раскладываем нашу артиллерию на столе у девушки-звукооператора.

Между тем приходит Дмитрий Петров, «звезда конференции», мужчина лет пятидесяти, который начинает очень интересный разговор об изучении языков. Дмитрия выделяет его спокойствие и ясность. Я уже видел несколько видео на YouTube с его участием. Особенно мне запомнилась серия “Итальянский за 16 часов”, где он обучает актеров и знаменитостей основам нашего красивого языка по своей специальной методике. Это очень популярно в России.  Он также преподает в университете,  участвует в телевизионных шоу и радиопрограммах.  Закончив отвечать на многочисленные вопросы  аудитории, Дмитрий спустился со сцены, где его ожидала очередная «порция» слушателей, жаждущих получить от него памятный автограф. Это было шоу внутри шоу.

Вскоре наступает обеденный перерыв. Дина и Лена – организаторы мероприятия, сопровождают нас в ресторан этажом ниже. Мы оказываемся за столом спикеров. Я сижу рядом с Ричардом и Дмитрием Петровым. Мы наслаждались приятной беседой и, конечно же, речь шла о языках, о том, какой метод является лучшим для начинающих.

Мы говорили о том, что первая стадия в изучении языка является наиболее деликатной. А так же о том, как эффективнее обучать иностранному языку, грамматика которого столь же сложна для понимания, как и русская? Дмитрий берёт лист бумаги и набрасывает для меня простую схему. “Вот, посмотри”, – говорит он по-английски. На самом деле, достаточно донести некоторые простые и элементарные вещи и дальше продолжать изучение, основываясь на них. На листочке изображена схема, наглядно показывающая как правильно  изучать глаголы. “Умение использовать глаголы является базой для изучения языка”, говорит он с улыбкой, спокойно и убедительно.

Разговор продолжается, и мы  обсуждаем региональные языки, такие как гаэльский в Ирландии, а затем говорим об эсперанто. Справа от меня сидит Лена, одна из организаторов конференции. Она знает буквально несколько слов по-английски, что не позволяет ей участвовать в разговоре. Дмитрий и Ричард продолжают говорить по-английски, а я перевожу их беседу на русский, что бы Лена была в состоянии следить за темой разговора. Но перерыв на обед, к сожалению, быстро подходит к концу, он оказался относительно коротким, не отклоняясь от плотного графика, мы снова возвращаемся в конференц-зал.

Ричард, готовясь к выступлению, ставит последние штрихи в своей презентации. А я решил немного отвлечься и побыть снаружи со Светланой и Ваэлем. Мы идем в ресторан первом этаже. «Почему бы нам не попробовать русского коньяку?» – сказал Уэйл. «А почему бы и нет?» – ответил я, хотя продолжал задаваться вопросом, хорошая ли это затея пить коньяк перед конференцией. Как всегда говорил мой отец: “Modus in rebus” (“всё хорошо в меру”).

Я быстро пришел к приятному для себя выводу, что если выпить немного – то ничего страшного от этого не случится. А вот если переборщить, то можно оказаться в весьма «неустойчивом», даже «шатком» состоянии перед большим количеством удивленных взоров зрителей. Не лучший способ проявить себя в ходе выступления.

В конце концов, мы добираемся до барной стойки, и Ваэль заказывает для нас 2 бокала напитка с глубоким цветом, резким запахом и насыщенным вкусом. Я пробую коньяк очень медленно и сразу расслабляюсь, беседуя на русском и на английском ними обоими. Между тем, смеясь и шутя, мы пропускаем около 17ти стопок.

Мы снова возвращаемся в конференц-зал, но в этот раз остаемся в стороне, чтобы  пообщаться. Ричард и Сергей присоединяются к нам. «Ты волнуешься, Ричард?» – спрашиваю я у него. «Лукино», – отвечает он мне и на его лице появляется доброжелательная улыбка – «Ты ведь знаешь, что я британец, а мы хладнокровные животные». Меня начинает разрывать от смеха от этой шутки.

Я сам – итальянец. И многим известно, что у нас «горячая» кровь.  Но это вовсе не означает, что я нервничаю. Напротив, непринужденная и весёлая атмосфера, а также умеренное количество коньяка помогает мне еще больше расслаблабиться. Мы фотографируемся, а потом заходим в зал. Подошла наша очередь выступать.

“Ричард – полиглот, который говорит на 30 языках,” объявляет Дина, в то время, как Ричард поднимается на сцену. Немного в стороне стоит Ирина Карпова, милая девушка, которая будет переводить презентацию для слушателей. Речь Ричарда спокойна и ясна. Очевидно, что у него не только накопился огромный опыт в изучении языков. По тому, как он говорит, по его вдохновленному выражению лица, по его словам сразу можно сказать о теплом, даже трепетном отношении к дочери, что не может не вызывать уважения.  Ричарда выделяет не только то, как мастерски он владеет материалом, но и то с каким мужеством и спокойствием он справляется с любыми жизненными сложностями, его человечность, увлеченность и целеустремленность. Он удивительный человек, с которым я имел честь познакомиться 5 лет назад благодаря YouTube.

Как только закончилось его выступление, Дина приглашает меня на сцену и предлагает нам поговорить на нескольких языках. Нам это только в радость, у нас очень хорошее взаимопонимание. Мы говорим между собой как будто находимся за столом с друзьями. Слушателям, судя по всему, наш разговор пришелся по душе. В итоге Ричард уходит со сцены, предварительно поблагодарив всех за внимание. Настала моя очередь.

Я чувствую себя ещё уверенней, чем прежде, слайды заметно упрощают процесс. После первой части презентации был объявлен небольшой перерыв, после которого все вернулись на свои места для продолжения. К сожалению, времени для вопросов остается совсем мало, в итоге Лене и Дине пришлось урезать большую часть запланированного времени из-за организационных задержек.

Как только я закончил  презентацию, ко мне стали подходить люди. Девушки разных возрастов просили автографы, многие из них хотели сфотографироваться. Я чувствовал себя звездой. После того как все автографы были розданы и мое сияющее улыбкой лицо осталось на фотографиях со всеми желающими, еще предстояло ответить на многочисленные вопросы. Сергей буквально вырывал меня оттуда, что бы поехать на ужин.

Мы сидели в уютном китайском ресторане на первом этаже отеля. Я, Ричард, Светлана, Ваэль, Лена, Сергей, Дина и еще два спикера конференции – Светлана и Валентин. Мы говорили обо всём понемножку, Ричард рассказал о сложных отношениях между греками и македонцами, вспомнив о недавней встрече с греком в поезде. Тот навязчиво интересовался, где живет Ричард.

Ответом в Скопье, он был явно не удовлетворён и желал услышать название страны. “Я не хотел говорить, что я из Македонии, это создало бы обычные проблемы”, – сказал Ричард. В конце концов, ему пришлось просто встать и уйти, чтобы в красках, не используя всего богатства языка, не сказать, что он думает о таком поведении незнакомца. В спокойной атмосфере ужина, Ваэль поделился своей мечтой переехать жить в Америку и говорить с американским акцентом. Через час или около того, сытые и довольные мы покинули ресторан.

Мы проходим к главному входу в гостиницу и прощаемся, желая спокойной ночи. Светлана и Ваэль уходят, а Сергей и Дина едут провожать нас до отеля. В машине мы оживленно продолжаем беседу, наше выступление произвело должное впечатление на публику и все остались довольны. Хотя, это еще не все. На следующий день нам предстояло проводить четырех часовые мастер-классы. Это событие обещает быть самой насыщенной и напряженной частью программы, с живой аудиторией и даже трансляцией в Финляндию.

Вернувшись в отель, не смотря на страшную усталость, мы еще долго не могли наговориться в Ричардом, и оба не заметили, как стрелка часов предательски подобралась к двум часам ночи. На следующее утро нужно было просыпаться в 7.00, потому что мастер класс запланирован на 9.00. Было сложно уснуть из-за мыслей, которые крутились в голове, создавая непонятный шум и перебивая друг друга, яркие моменты прошедшего дня не уставали появляться перед глазами до того момента, как я все таки погрузился в сон. Кто бы мог подумать, что следующий день будет еще лучше….?

Перевод на с итальянского на русский подготовил Амир Ордабаев. Он также записывает и загружает видео на Ютуб канал YouTube channel Так же Амир изучает итальянский с Лукой.

 Audio files of this post – English, Italian and Russian:

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The new Best language Blog competition will start again today! I would really appreciate it if you could vote for my blog..if you like it obviously :)

I also wanted to thank you one more time for all the nice and competent comments that you daily post on my blog.

Click on the banner below to vote (the polyglot dream is at the bottom of the list)

Thank you very very much :)

Luca

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French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in many countries around the world. Indeed, French is an official language in 29 countries. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l’Agence universitaire de la francophonie, French speakers will number approximately 500 million people in 2025 and 650 million people, or approximately 7% of the world’s population, by 2050.

What some people don’t know is that Canada is one of the countries where French is spoken, primarily throughout the province of Québec, but also in New Brunswick, Ontario, and smaller communities throughout the country. In fact, at the provincial level, French is the sole official language of Québec, and outside of Québec’s largest city, Montréal, English is scarcely spoken. Québec is Canada’s largest province by area and the country’s second most populous province with a population of over 8 million.

So how exactly is Québec French different from the French spoken in France? Are the differences similar to, say, Continental Spanish /Portuguese vs. their Latin American counterparts?

Before delving into this question, let’s first have a quick look at why French is even spoken in Québec in the first place. If you are not interested in the history of the region, you can skip this part and go directly to the next section.

Why French in Canada?

The quick answer to the question “Why French in Canada?” is that King Francis I of France commissioned an expedition to find a western route to Cathay (China), and in 1534, Jacques Cartier planted a cross in the Gaspé Peninsula and claimed the land in the name of the King. It was the first province of New France, but initial French attempts at settling the region were unsuccessful because most of the early settlers did not survive through the harsh winter of the region.

At the time of first European contact and later colonization, Algonquian, Iroquois and Inuit tribes were the peoples who inhabited what is now Québec. The land where these native inhabitants lived was full of unexploited and valuable natural resources, which eventually attracted all of Europe. By the 1580s, French trading companies had been set up, and ships were contracted to bring back furs.

In a nutshell, then, New France (French: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763. At its peak in 1712, the territory of New France extended from Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains and from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, which is over half of present-day Canada and the U.S. combined.

By the early 18^th century, the colony’s total population was limited, however, by a winter climate much harsher than that of France, by the spread of diseases, and by the refusal of the French crown to allow French Protestants to settle there. The population of New France lagged far behind that of the Thirteen Colonies to the south (U.S.), leaving it vulnerable to attack.

In 1754, a surprise attack was launched on a group of Canadien soldiers. This frontier aggression, known as the Jumonville affair, set the stage for what Quebeckers call La guerre de la Conquête (i.e. “The War of Conquest”, known as the French and Indian War in the U.S.). By 1756, France and Britain were battling the Seven Years’ War worldwide.

France eventually ceded most of its North American possessions to Great Britain through the Treaty of Paris (1763), in favor of gaining the island of Guadeloupe for its then-lucrative sugar cane industry. The British Royal Proclamation of 1763 renamed Canada (part of New France) as the Province of Quebec. From this time onwards, the French language and culture was suppressed, and Quebeckers suffered discrimination and repression from the then-ruling British colonists.

Why does Québec French sound like 300-year-old French?

It is often said that the French variance spoken in Québec sounds similar to 300-year-old French. Linguists indeed agree on that fact, but why is that?

First, it is important to specify that the initial settlers of the Nouvelle-France colony emigrated from the old provinces of northwest France, including the Île-de-France (Paris) region. They spoke various provincial dialects, not necessarily mutually intelligible. In other words, some dialects might be spoken in one province, but not necessarily understood by the natives of other provinces.

The initial settlers had to work closely together to survive the harsh Canadian weather, the wilderness, and the isolation. The Île-de-France dialect eventually became the lingua franca, and by 1700 it became the only dialect spoken in the colony, although a limited number of words from other dialects were preserved, from which we have remnants up to this day.

Thus, when the French ceded their North American possessions to Great Britain through the Treaty of Paris (1763), Québec essentially ruptured its contact with France, and from this time onwards Québec French evolved in almost total isolation. At this time, English became the main language of administration in Québec, and for the next two centuries, industry and commerce operated mostly in English, which explains the influence that English has had on French in Canada. Despite this fact, Quebeckers retained their language and their distinct culture.

Québec French these days

The Quiet Revolution (French: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense change in Québec in the 1960s, which had a great influence on the preservation and development of the French language in Québec and of Québec culture. It can also be credited for the surge in Québec nationalism, which remains a controversial topic in modern Québec society (to this day, many Quebeckers still want to separate from the rest of Canada, and Quebeckers in general tend to strongly identify with “Québec” rather than “Canada”).

In 1977, during their first term in office, the sovereignist Parti Québécois, with René Lévesque as its party leader, enacted the Charter of the French Language (La charte de la langue française), known in English as Bill 101, whose goal was (and still is) to protect the French language by making it the language of business in Québec, as well as restricting the use of English on signs. The bill also restricted the eligibility for elementary and high school students to attend school in English, allowing this only for children of parents who had studied in English in Québec.

These days, then, French is still the language most widely spoken in Québec, by far. According to the 2011 Canadian census, 599,225 people (7.7% of population) in Québec declare English as a mother tongue. However, in many areas of Québec, the percentage of English speakers is much lower; in Québec City, the second largest city in the province after Montréal, they represent a mere 1.9% of the total population.

And thanks to the Charter of the French Language, by law almost everything needs to be translated to French. Literally every single label on consumer products is both in French and English, and company names are at times translated into French if the name clearly contains English nouns (proper nouns are OK; some exceptions do exist). For example, the fast food chain “Kentucky Fried Chicken” (KFC) becomes “Poulet Frit Kentucky” (“PFK”) in Québec. And “Staples”, an office supply megastore chain, is known in Québec as “Bureau en Gros”, whereas “Shoppers Drug Mart,” a large pharmacy retailer, does good business under the name of “Pharmaprix.”

Finally, it should be pointed out that the French spoken throughout the province of Québec varies significantly in accent and flavor from region to region and varies depending on the level of education and social status one has (as in most countries). The French spoken in certain countryside regions of the province has a very distinct accent from, say, Montréal French, as well as different slang words. The French spoken in the news in Québec is, however, considered “Standard French”, and has a more European flavor to it. French people would have no trouble understanding the more “neutral” type of French dominating both news and cultural broadcasts, whereas actual French spoken on the streets can be, at times, rather hard to decipher for French people.

The Difference between Québec and Metropolitan French

Before we go any further, it’s important to understand that written French is the same in Québec as in France. Indeed, throughout the province of Québec, people use Standard Parisian grammar. Although some words do differ between Québec and France (for example, we use “magasiner” when meaning “to go shopping”, whereas in France they use “faire du shopping”), the grammar remains the same, and it could be quite hard to tell whether a formal text was written by a French or by a Quebecker.

The big differences that exist between the two French versions are definitely when it comes to the spoken language. Compared with many languages, Standard French (SF) contains a very rich vocalic inventory. This means that French has a lot of vowels (12 in total, but this varies from source to source) compared to many other languages, such as Spanish (which has only 5 vowels, /i e a o u/). According to linguists, however, Quebec French has even more vowels than that of SF (15 or more). If you are familiar with how Portuguese sounds, you will be accustomed to their use of many nasal vowels when speaking. This means that air escapes both through the nose as well as the mouth when speaking, whereas oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation.

Quebeckers also tend to reduce their use of consonants significantly, and to use abbreviations extensively. Articles (le, la) are similar with Portuguese. Instead of saying “le” or “la” (the), Quebeckers will often say “el” (or l’) and “a”. In some cases, “le” becomes “l apostrophe” in front of a consonant. So instead of saying “Il est où le gars qui est supposé réparer la TV?” (Where’s the guy who’s supposed the repair the TV?), we would say “Yé où l’gars qu’yé s’posé réparer a’ TV?” I won’t go too much into the details of Québec French pronunciation and phonetics, both because I’m not a linguist and it’s also boring to read through, but I encourage you to listen to Québec French for yourself and feel the difference. (For funny cartoon-like videos that were extremely popular back a few years ago, check out “Les Têtes à Claques”.)

Although we have seen that due to the Charter of the French Language, by law almost everything needs to be translated to French, it is not true that Quebeckers do not use anglicisms. However, in some cases French people use angliscisms where Quebeckers don’t, and vice-versa.

Finally, Quebeckers use a variety of words that were either created in Québec, or that came from French spoken in the 17^th century from northwestern French provinces. For a list of the Québec French lexicon, see this page on Wikipedia.

Where can I learn Québec French?

First of all, many of you might be wondering: “Why would anyone be interested in learning Québec French? Obviously, French from France is the original and Standard French understood in most French-speaking countries around the world.”

While it is certainly true that the French spoken in France is recognized as the “standard” language, and is usually the version that most people prefer to learn, there are quite a few reasons why someone would want to learn the Québec version instead.

Québec is Canada’s largest province by area and the country’s second most populous province with a population of over 8 million. Québec also has the second largest gross domestic product (GDP) in all of Canada, behind Ontario. It also has the second largest amount of imports, and the third largest amount of exports in the country. Undoubtedly, then, Québec has a very important economy, and opportunities abound for those who would like to start a new life there.

Aside from its economy, Québec also has a vibrant and distinct culture, with an active movie and music scene. Additionally, Quebeckers are often known as open-minded, frank, and bon vivant. Plus, Quebeckers will very quickly warm up and open their minds to you if they see you have made the effort of learning their language, and they will be especially delighted if you can use some Québec slang!

So, in earnest, let’s look at a few resources you can access to learn and practice Québec French.

1. Movies/Videos

-Les Têtes à Claques is a very popular website that posts humorous videos. You’ll get to hear a lot of Quebec slang and funny expressions. If you are an advanced learner of French, you will most likely appreciate watching some of these videos!

-The Québec movie scene is vibrant and active; every year a good two dozen or so movies are released in theatres. Follow this link to take a look at the box office list of the most popular Québec movies, listed by year, or check out the Wikipedia page about the cinema of Québec.

2. Music

Check out this website where the top 200 songs that were the most influential in the 2000s is listed. If you go through that list, you’ll certainly get to know a LOT of musicians! Also have a look at the Wikipedia page where you’ll find an exhaustive list of musicians from Québec.

3. Websites/News

Namke Learn Quebec French

TV5 Québec

Radio-Canada

4. Books

Le québécois en 10 leçons, by Alexandre Coutu. (To see Alexandre’s guest post on Fluent in 3 Months, click here)

French Fun: The Real Spoken Language of Québec, by Steve Timmins

NTC’s dictionary of Canadian French, by Sinclair Robinson

Speak Québec: A Guide to Day-to-day Québec French, by Daniel Kraus

Quebecois Dictionary & Phrasebook: English-Quebecois/Quebecois-English, by Renata Isajlovic and Isabelle Martin

Related Links

That’s it for this guest post everyone! I hope you have enjoyed learning a bit more about Québec, its language, and its culture. If you have any questions, please don’t be shy to ask!! I would be more than happy to help you with anything in regards to Québec French or language learning in general.

If you have a second, please take a look at my website, lingholic, if you feel like it, or drop by my Facebook, Twitter, or Google + pages to say hi! It means a lot to me~

Sam Gendreau

VIDEOS

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English

3 March 30, 2013

I wake up with a slight headache and see that Richard is already occupied with his iPad.  We don’t have much time because we have to meet Svetlana and Tom, my Australian friend whom I met at ISIT, the famous school for interpreters and translators in Paris.  I’m glad to see him again as it’s been almost a year since we last met.  He moved to Russia to take part in a training program and stayed to polish his already incredible Russian.

Richard and I go downstairs to the dining room and serve ourselves at the buffet.  I have to say that I’m not very impressed with the breakfast selection, considering that it was a three-star hotel.   Nowhere do I see the foods that are practically essential for Italians: milk, coffee and sweets.  Everything is savory: sausages, Russian salad, eggs and even smoked fish.  I settle for some tea and fruit juice and…though it might seem too heavy for most of my compatriots, I decide to try a couple of sausages and I even dare to approach the Russian salad.  “Well, we’ll just pretend it’s lunch,” I tell myself.  We seat ourselves at a table near the television which is showing a cartoon that is at least 40 years old:  The Jungle Book, based on the book by Kipling.  “See what it means to be immersed in a language” I tell Richard.  In fact, we get up early in the morning and everyone around us speaks Russian – the waiters and patrons in the bar, not to mention the television programs playing in the background.  It’s a good start to the day if one’s goal, whether primary or secondary, is to improve one’s language skills.  After breakfast we go back upstairs and get ready to go out.

As usual we are running late and head for the metro with our typical haste.  Naturally we end up at the wrong station, getting off one station too early.  We turn, somewhat desperately, to two Russian women who, after a moment of surprise, are clearly happy to be able to explain our mistake in their own language.  We get back on the metro and get to our destination a bit out of breath.  Tom is in front of the entrance to the metro station with his hands in his pockets, visibly numb from the cold, while Svetlana is sitting on a bench and messing with her cell phone, seeming at ease despite the deadly cold.  It’s a genuine pleasure to see Tom again after such a long time.  After the customary greetings we take a long tour of the streets of Moscow.  We walk along the great red walls that circle the Kremlin like a giant brick belt.  I chat with Tom while Richard and Svetlana launch into a long and intense conversation that I can’t hear because I’m a few meters away.

The sky is gray and it’s cold, the temperature being about -2 or -3 degrees Celsius but we hardly notice it because we’re too busy chatting and taking in this new world.  We go by the Russian Parliament and then cross an imposing bridge until we get to a large Orthodox Church.  Tom explains that the church was completely destroyed and then rebuilt after the Second World War.  We take a few pictures of the courtyard (with Richard and Svetlana making funny poses in front of the grand building) then we walk around to get to the entrance.

The inside of the church is as fascinating as the outside.   There is an enormous central nave and the whole church is covered with paintings of saints, alters, decorations and baldachins.   There is an organ that emits a deep, rich sound that envelops the whole church.  Again I see women whose heads are covered kneeling in front of an altar, repeatedly kissing the sacred images.  A few people, men and women of all ages, gather on either side of a space occupied by a priest who sings a powerful litany.  He then walks between the columns swinging a large metal object that sends out the strong smell of incense.  It’s all extremely evocative and I have the same feeling here that I had the day beforein the monastery at Serpokov.  I’m especially impressed with the intensity with which the people live the event.  I’m struck by how quickly we are taken from the hustle and bustle of the outside world where cars and people plod through the snow that covers nearly every square inch of space, under an unforgiving gray sky to this world inside composed of colors, reflections, songs, prayers, intimacy and religious fervor.  “It’s an oasis of peace” is my final thought before, once again, heading out into the every-day world.

Once we are outside I go back to talking with Svetlana and point out to her how hurriedly the Muscovites walk down the street.  “It’s a big city; this is pretty normal”, we both agree.  Really, even though Rome is a “slower” city and probably less cosmopolitan than many European capitals it has many of the same characteristics as most urban centers like traffic, crowds and the rush.

After walking for a couple of hours Richard pats his stomach and announces “I’m running on empty”.  “I think we’re all hungry”, I say with a laugh.  Tom takes us to a street in which, he says, we can choose any restaurant we wish.   As soon as we start down the main street we see two giant stuffed characters, one dressed like Mickey Mouse and the other dressed as another Disney character whose name, I’m a little embarrassed to say, I don’t know.  I stand between the two “giants” (about two meters/seven feet tall) to have my picture taken and, of course, afterward they ask us to pay for it, like the Centurions who rip off visitors at the Colosseum.   Svetlana pretends to delete the photos to satisfy their demands.   “La botte piena e la moglie ubriaca” (literally “the barrel is full and the wife is drunk”) I say with satisfaction.  It’s a typical Italian saying meaning, in this case, “we got the photos and free at that!

We end up at a buffet restaurant that serves Asian as well as Italian cuisine.  We are joined by Wael, one of Richard’s colleagues, who is half Syrian and half Russian.  A big guy almost two meters (6’ 10”) tall with a thick beard that covers his cheeks.  He seems friendly.  Now there are five of us.  We talk for a while longer then stop in at a bar to warm ourselves up.  There we are joined by Lilya, a friend of Tom’s whom he’d met almost two years ago in Paris.  She’s a nice girl with a very cheerful disposition and a perennial smile.   I’m glad to see her again and when we meet on the street we hug (I’d stepped out for a moment to get some air and that’s when she arrived).  Neither one of us can believe how long it’s been since we last met.

We stay at the bar a while and talk about everything.  We separate into two groups: Lilya, Tom and I in one place and Svetlana, Richard and Wael in the other.  We talked a little about everything.  Tom explains to me the intricacies of the Russian number system.  (Despite having an engineering degree, I always have a problem with numbers because I don’t like learning them in any language.)  Then we talk about our plans for the future and our lives in general.  Lilya confesses to me her frustration at not being able to obtain a visa to work in Austria.  “I’d much rather live in Europe”, she says with a hopeful sigh.  We talk for another hour or two then get a phone call from Dina and Sergei saying that they want to join us.

We leave at around 6:00 pm and it’s starting to snow.  Snowflakes lightly land on our noses, mouths and clothing.  They’re soft and pleasant, but I fear that this is only the beginning of a big snow storm.  I was not mistaken.  It starts really snowing.  “You’re not used to this, are you?” my Russian friends ask with rather compassionate smiles.   We come to the entrance of a big library and stop joking around and talking about the weather.  Svetlana lends me her glasses so I can protect my eyes from the snow.   Wael starts laughing at me and says “a real member of the Italian Maffia” and snaps a few fun pictures.  The scene is almost surreal; we are taking photos while wearing sunglasses and standing in the middle of a snow storm.  We end up taking refuge in the library.

Finally we go outside to continue our walk but weather conditions are prohibitive.  Staying outside for a long time is not the best idea.  Despite this, we’re still a happy group that moves in a rather casual manner.  One of us takes a look at something and another goes in a different direction while others are just joking around.  Basically we’re just having fun.  We take loads of photos.

Finally we divide up: Lilya, Sergei, Dina and I go looking for a bar where we can go to warm up a little while Wael, Richard, Tom and Svetlana decide to keep on walking.  The search for a bar proves to be almost futile; they’re all pretty well packed.  In the end we meet back with the others at a shopping center and eat at a fast food place.  There are hordes of people coming and going from everywhere.  “This is why I wouldn’t want to live in downtown Moscow”, Dina says with a sigh.

By now we’re all pretty wiped out after our fun day.  It’s Saturday evening and I’d like to go out and see the Russian night life but I have to accept the fact that we’re all tired, including me.  Besides, the next day is supposed to be the conference.  So we say good night and Dina and Sergej accompany Richard and me back to our hotel.  Once in the room we start, despite the fatigue, to recount the events of the day and to share our impressions and feelings as we walked through Moscow, about the happiness we experienced and our multilingual group.  I spoke loads of Russian during the day, alternating it with English and Italian (which is the language that Richard and I use only for joking around).  “Who knows what tomorrow will bring” is my last thought before falling into a dreamless sleep.

Written by Luca Lampariello

Translated from Italian into English by Teresa Skousen. Teresa has worked as a freelance American Sign Language interpreter.  She is currently working as a tutor in mathematics and American Sign Language and is studying Italian with Luca.

Read in English by Ngofeen Mputubwele. Ngofeen is an American graduate student currently studying law and international development. He also studies Italian with Luca.

Audio file of this article at the end of this post

Italiano

VIAGGIO IN RUSSIA – PARTE 3

30 di marzo 2013

Mi sveglio con un leggero mal di testa, e vedo Richard che è già affaccendato con il suo I-pad. Non abbiamo molto tempo perché dobbiamo incontrare Svetlana e Tom, il mio amico australiano che ho conosciuto all’ISIT, la famosa scuola di interpreti e traduttori di Parigi. Sono contento di rivederlo, è passato quasi un anno dall’ultima volta che l’ho incontrato. Si è trasferito in Russia per fare uno stage e si è fermato per perfezionare il suo già incredibile russo.

Scendiamo nella sala ristorante con Richard e ci serviamo al self-service. Devo dire che non sono rimasto favorevolmente impressionato dal menù offerto per la colazione, considerando che era un hotel a tre stelle. Non vedo gli ingredienti quasi indispensabili per noi italiani: latte, caffè, qualche dolce. E’ tutto salato: salsicce, insalata russa, uova, c’è perfino del pesce affumicato. Mi accontento del thé e succo di frutta, e – anche se può sembrare indigesto alla maggior parte dei miei compatrioti – decido di addentare due wurstel e ci metto vicino perfino l’insalata russa. “Vabbé facciamo finta che è il pranzo” – dico fra me e me. Ci sediamo ad un tavolo vicino alla televisione, che sta trasmettendo un cartone vecchio di almeno 40 anni. “Il libro della Giungla”, tratto dal libro di Kipling. “Vedi cosa significa essere immersi in una lingua” – dico a Richard. Effettivamente alzarsi di prima mattina e sentire subito cameriere e avventori del bar parlarsi in russo – nonché il  sottofondo della televisione – significa cominciare bene la giornata se lo scopo – diretto o indiretto che sia– è quello di perfezionare la lingua. Dopo aver consumato la colazione risaliamo in stanza e ci prepariamo per uscire.

Ci dirigiamo verso la metro con la colpevole fretta degli inguaribili –e un po’ colpevoli – ritardatri, e – ti pareva – sbagliamo stazione, scendendo a quella precendente. Ci rivolgiamo quasi disperati a  due donne russe, le quali, dopo un attimo di sorpresa, sono visibilmente contente di poter spiegare il nostro errore nella loro lingua. Risaliamo sulla metro e arriviamo un po’ trafelati sul luogo dell’appuntamento. Tom è davanti alla porta di ingresso della metro, con le mani affondante nelle tasche e visibilmente intirizzito dal freddo, mentre Svetlana è seduta su una panchina ed armeggia con il cellulare, sembra essere a suo agio nonostante il freddo mordente. Mi fa veramente piacere vedere Tom dopo così tanto tempo. Dopo i saluti di rito cominciamo un lungo tour per le strade di Mosca. Costeggiamo le grandi mura rosso che cingono il Cremlino come un grande cintura di mattoni. Io chiacchero con Tom mentre Richard e Svetlana si lanciano in una lunga ed intensa conversazione che non posso sentire perché sono a distanza di qualche metro.

Il cielo è grigio e fa freddo, la temperatura sarà intorno ai -2, -3 gradi, ma non lo avvertiamo eccessivamente troppo perché siamo troppo impegnati a chiaccherare e a osservare un nuovo mondo. Passiamo davanti al parlamento russo e poi attraversiamo un imponente ponte, fino a raggiungere una grande Chiesa ortodossa. Tom ci spiega che la Chiesa è stata completamente distrutta e poi fatta ricostruire dopo la seconda Guerra Mondiale. Facciamo qualche foto nel cortile esterno (con Richard e Svetlana che si divertono a mettersi in posa davanti all’imponente edificio) e poi facciamo un lungo giro per accedere all’interno.

L’interno della Chiesa è affascinante quanto l’esterno. C’è un’enorme navata centrale  e tutta la Chiesa è tappezzata di quadri di Santi, altari, decorazioni, baldacchini. C’è un organo da cui esce un una voce profonda e intensa che avvolge tutta la Chiesa. Scorgo di nuovo donne con un velo in testa che fanno inchini davanti ad un altare, baciando ripetutamente le immagini sacre. Alcune persone – donne e uomini di ogni età si dispongono ai lati di uno spazio occupato da un sacerdote che canta con vigore una litania, e poi fa un lungo giro intorno alle colonne facendo oscillare un grande oggetto di metallo dal quale esce un forte odore di incenso. E’ tutto estremamente suggestivo e ho la stessa intensa emozione che avevo avuto il giorno prima nel monastero a Serpokov. Mi colpisce soprattutto l’intensità con cui le persone vivono l’evento. Mi colpisce la velocità con cui siamo passati dal trambusto del mondo esterno, in cui passanti e macchina si districano fra la neve che copre quasi ogni pezzettino di superficie, sotto un cielo grigio e impietoso, a quello interno, fatto di colori, riflessione, canti, pregherie, intimità e fervore religioso. “E’ un’oasi di pace”, è il mio ultimo pensiero prima di uscire di nuovo verso il mondo di tutti i giorni.

All’uscita ritorno a parlare con Svetlana, e le faccio notare la fretta con cui i Moscoviti camminano per strada. “E’ una grande capitale, è quasi normale che sia così”, conveniamo entrambi. In effetti anche se Roma è una città un po’ più “lenta”, e probabimente meno cosmopolita di molte capitali europee, ha delle caratterstiche che accomunano molti grandi centri urbani, come il traffico, la folla, la fretta.

Dopo circa 2 ore di camminata, Richard dichiara, toccandosi la pancia “ho un certo languorino”. “Abbiamo fame tutti direi” – dichiaro con una risata. Tom ci porta su una strada in cui – dichiara – possiamo scegliere qualsiasi ristorante. Appena ci immettiamo sul viale ci vengono incontro due grossi pupazzi, uno vestito a forma di Mickey Mouse e l’altro vestito da un altro personaggio della Disney, di cui – ammetto con una certa vergogna – non conosco il nome.  Mi mettono in mezzo a questi due “cosi” alti 2 metri a fare foto, e chiaramente dopo “chiedono il conto al turista”, così come fanno i Centurioni che fregano i turisti al Colosseo. Non ci lasciamo fregare, ci impongono di cancellare le foto e Svetlana fa finta di eliminarle. “La moglie piena e la botte ubriaca”, dichiaro soddisfatto. E’ un tipico detto italiano per dire “abbiamo ottenuto le foto e pure gratis”.

Finiamo in ristorante che offre sia cucina orientale che italiana, self-service. Veniamo raggiunti da Wael, un collega di lavoro di Richard, metà siriano e metà russo. Un ragazzone alto quasi 2 metri con una folta barba che gli copre le guance e un’aria simpatica. Ora siamo in 5. Chiacchieriamo per un altro po’ prima di spostarci in un bar più comodo per stare al caldo. Ci raggiunge Lilya, un’amica di Tom che avevo incontrato quasi 2 anni prima a Parigi. Una ragazza molto solare e simpatica, con un perenne sorriso stampato sulla bocca. Mi fa piacere rivederla e quando ci abbracciamo per strada (ero uscito un attimo a prendere una boccata d’aria e lei era arrivata proprio in quel momento) ci meravigliamo entrambi sul fatto che l’ultima volta che ci eravamo visti risale a così tanto tempo fa.

Restiamo a lungo nel bar, e chiacchero con tutti, si formano due gruppi: io Lilya e Tom da una parte, Svetlana, Richard e Wael dall’altra. Parliamo un po’ di tutto. Tom mi spiega in dettaglio il funzionamento della numerazione delle cifre in russo (i numeri, nonostante la mia laurea in ingegneria, sono sempre stati un problema perché non mi piace impararli in nessuna lingua). E poi parliamo dei nostri progetti futuri, della nostra vita in generale. Lilya mi confessa la sua frustrazione per non essere riuscita ad ottenere la Visa per lavorare in Austria. “Mi piace molto di più vivere in Europa” – dichiara con un sospiro pieno di speranza. Chiacchieriamo per un’altra ora, forse 2, prima di ricevere la telefonata di Dina e Sergej che ci vogliono raggiungere.

Usciamo verso le 18, ed ha cominciato a nevicare. Fiocchi di neve leggeri mi arrivano sul naso, sulla bocca, sui vestiti. Sono soffici e piacevoli, ma temo che siano solo il principio di una copiosa nevicata. Non mi sbagliavo. Comincia infatti a nevicare sul serio. “Non sei abituato a tutto questo vero?” – mi fanno le ragazze russe con un sorriso quasi compassionevole. Arriviamo all’entrata di una grossa biblioteca, e ci fermiamo a scherzare lì davanti e a commentare sul tempo. Svetlana mi presta i suoi grossi occhiali per proteggerli dai fiocchi di neve. Wael comincia a sghignazzare dicendo “un vero mafioso italiano”, e scattiamo qualche foto divertente. E’ una scena quasi surreale, in cui facciamo foto con occhiali da sole nel bel mezzo di una tormenta di neve. Alla fine ripariamo brevemente all’interno della biblioteca.

Alla fine usciamo per continuare la passeggiata, ma le condizioni meteo sono proibitive. Restare fuori troppo a lungo non è il massimo. Nonostante questo, sembriamo un’allegra compagnia che si muove in maniera quasi casuale. Uno osserva una cosa, l’altro va in un’altra direzione, altri scherzano, insomma, ci stiamo divertendo. Facciamo una quantità innumerevole di foto.

Alla fine ci dividiamo: io, Lilya Sergej e Dina andiamo a cercare un bar per riscaldarci un po’ mentre Wael, Richard, Tom e Svetlana decidono di proseguire il giro. La ricerca di un bar si rivela piuttosto infruttuosa: sono tutti praticamente strapieni. Alla fine ci riuniamo tutti all’interno di un grande centro commerciale e mangiamo in un fast food. C’è un’enorme quantità di gente che entra ed esce da tutte le parti. “Ecco perché non mi piace vivere al centro di Mosca”, sospira Dina

Siamo tutti un po’ provati dalla divertente giornata. E’ sabato sera, mi piacerebbe uscire per vedere la “nightlife” russa, ma alla fine mi devo arrendere all’evidenza: siamo tutti stanchi, me compreso. Inoltre, il giorno dopo ci sarebbe stata la conferenza. Ci siamo quindi salutati e io e Richard abbiamo raggiunto l’albergo in compagnia di Dina e Sergej. Arrivati in camera ricominciamo, nonostante la stanchezza, a parlare ripercorrendo la giornata, e condividiamo impressioni e sensazioni vissute per le strade di Mosca e della nostra allegra, multilingue compagnia di Mosca. Ho parlato tantissimo russo durante tutta la giornata, alternandolo ad inglese e italiano (che è la lingua con cui io e Richard non facciamo altro che scherzare). “Chissà che giornata sarà domani” – è l’ultimo mio pensiero prima di crollare in un sonno senza sogni.

Audio file of this Italian translation (read by Luca Lampariello) at the end of this post

Russian

Я просыпаюсь с легкой головной болью, и  вижу, что Ричард уже занят своим iPad’ом. У нас не так  много времени, потому что мы должны встретиться со Светланой и моим австралийским другом Томом. C ним мы познакомились в известной школе переводчиков «ISIT» в Париже. Прошёл почти год с момента нашей последней встречи, и я был рад увидеться с ним снова. Он переехал в Россию, чтобы пройти стажировку и остался совершенствовать свой уже и без того очень хороший русский.

Мы с Ричардом спускаемся в столовую.  Должен сказать, что меню, которое нам предложили на завтрак, меня совсем не впечатлило,  особенно если учесть, что это был трехзвездочный отель. Я не увидел почти незаменимые для нас, итальянцев, ингредиенты: молоко, кофе, сладости. Были разные соленые колбасы, картофельный салат, яйца и даже копченая рыба. Я довольствовался чаем и фруктовыми соками и, хотя это может показаться неприятным для большинства моих соотечественников – я решил съесть два хот-дога и русский салат. “Хорошо, представь, что это обед” – говорю я себе. Мы сидим за столом у телевизора, которому как минимум лет 40, и смотрим “Маугли». “Вот что значит быть полностью погруженным в язык», – говорю я Ричарду. И в самом деле, с самого утра, я слышал голоса официантки и барменов, говорящих по-русски. И всё это на фоне телевидения.  Для меня это значило, что день начался хорошо, ведь моя цель – так или иначе, совершенствовать знание языка.

После завтрака мы поднимаемся в комнату, чтобы немного отдохнуть перед долгой прогулкой. В спешке мы направляемся к метро, и чувствуем себя виноватыми за то, что уже сильно опаздываем.

«Как ты думаешь, не ошиблись ли мы станцией метро, когда вышли на предыдущей?».  Мы, почти отчаявшись, подходим к двум русским девушкам, которые сначала удивились, но потом  явно обрадовались тому, что смогли нам всё объяснить на своём языке. Мы снова выходим из метро, и, немного запыхавшись, прибываем на место встречи. Том стоял прямо перед входом в метро, засунув руки в карманы и заметно дрожа от холода, в то время, как Светлана сидела на скамейке, уткнувшись в телефон. Казалось, что она чувствовала себя очень комфортно, несмотря на суровые морозы. Я очень рад видеть Тома после столь долгого времени. После приветствия мы начинаем долгий путь по улицам Москвы. Мы обходим большие красные стены, которые окружают Кремль, подобно великому поясу из кирпича. Я общаюсь с Томом, в то время как у Ричарда со Светланой завязался долгий и бурный разговор, который я не мог слышать, потому что  находился на расстоянии нескольких метров от них.

Небо серое и холодное, температура была около 2-3-х градусов, но я не чувствую холода, потому что мы слишком заняты общением и изучением нового мира. Мы проходим мимо Государственной Думы РФ,  затем проходим по огромному мосту, дойдя до большой православной церкви. Том рассказал нам, что церковь была полностью разрушена, а затем восстановлена после Второй мировой войны. Мы фотографируемся снаружи (Ричард и Светлана позируют на фоне впечатляющего здания),  затем делаем большой крюк, чтобы посмотреть, что внутри.

Внутри церкви всё также завораживающе, как и снаружи. Есть огромный неф, и вся церковь покрыта росписями святых, будь то алтари, украшения или навесы. Также имеется орган, из которого исходит глубокий и сильный звук, окутывающий всю церковь. Я поворачиваюсь и снова вижу женщин с покрытой головой, которые поклоняются перед алтарем, неоднократно целуя священные изображения.

Мужчины и женщины всех возрастов стояли по обе стороны от священника, который читал молитву. Затем он ходил вокруг колонн, качая массивным металлическим предметом, из которого исходил сильный запах ладана. Это все производило неизгладимое впечатление, и вызывало очень сильные эмоции, то чего у меня не было в день посещения монастыря в Серпухове.

Прежде всего, бросается в глаза интенсивность, с которой люди проживают события. Я поражен тем, с какой скоростью мы переместились от шума и суеты внешнего мира, где прохожие и автомобили пробирались через снег, покрывающий почти каждый квадратный сантиметр поверхности под серым и неумолимым небом к миру внутреннему, насыщенному цветами с отражениями, с песнями, с молитвами и близостью религиозного пыла. “Это оазис спокойствия!” моя последняя мысль перед выходом в мир повседневности.

На выходе я снова говорю со Светланой и я обращаю её внимение на то, с какой спешкой москвичи ходят по улицам. “Это большая столица, поэтому это нормально, что всё именно так.” к такому выводу мы приходим. В самом деле даже Рим более «медленный» несмотря на то, что он больше Москвы. Может быть Рим не такой многонациональный, но в тоже время, как и другие европейские столицы, Рим обладает такими общими для многих крупных городов характеристиками как движение, толпа и спешка.

Примерно через два часа ходьбы, Ричард сказал, касаясь своего живота «У меня чувство голода.» Мы тут все проголодались! ” – Заявил я со смехом. Том ведёт нас по дороге, на которой – как он сказал – «мы сможем выбрать любой ресторан». Как только мы доходим до бульвара, мы видим двух огромных персонажей одетых как герои мультфильмов. Один из них – Микки Маус, и другой – тоже диснеевский персонаж, имени которого как ни стыдно признать, я не знаю.

Я нахожусь между двумя двухметровыми гигантами. Меня сфотографировали и конечно же потом у нас попросили денег подобно Центурионам, которые вымагают деньги у посетителей Колизея. Светлана делает вид что удалила фотографии, чтобы не платить. “La botte piena e la moglie ubriaca” – что означает «Мой барель полон и жена пьяна» произношу я с удовольствием. В этом случае это уместно сказать, потому что мы получили фото и бесплатно.

В итоге мы оказались в ресторане где есть как восточная, так и итальянская кухня. К нам присоединился Уэйл, один из коллег Ричарда. Он наполовину – сириец, наполовину – русский. Здоровый почти 2-метрового роста парень с бородой, покрывающей обе его щеки. На вид вполне дружелюбный. Теперь нас пятеро. Чтобы немного согреться мы решили остаться подольше в баре. Тут к нам присоединилась Лилия – подруга Тома, с которой он познакомился почти 2 года назад в Париже. Она очень жизнерадостная девушка с очень приятной улыбкой. Я очень рад, что встретил её снова, когда мы увиделись, мы обнялись (Я вышел ненадолго, чтобы подышать свежим воздухом и тут появилась она). Никто из нас не мог поверить, сколько времени прошло с тех пор, как мы в последний раз виделись.

Мы остаёмся в баре и говорит обо всём. Мы делимся на две группы: Том и Я на Светлана в одной группе. Ричард и Уэйл в – другой. Том мне детально объясняет как разобраться с цифрами в русском языке. (Несмотря на то, что я по специальности инженер у меня всегда возникают сложности с цифрами, потому что мне не нравится их изучать на каком бы то ни было языке) Потом мы говорим о наших планах на будущее, о том, что у каждого происходит в жизни. Лилия рассказывает мне о том, как она было огорчена тем, что ей не удалось получить рабочую визу в Австрию. «Мне бы хотелось жить в Европе» – с надеждой произносит она. Мы говорим ещё на протяжении часа и потом нам позвонили Дина и Сергей. Они говорят, что с удовольствием готовы присоединиться к нам.

Мы выходим часам к 6 вечера и уже начинается снег.  Снежинки мягко приземляются на наши носы, рты и одежду. Они мягкие и даже доставляют удовольствие, но у меня ощущение, что это начало обильного снегопада. И предчуствие меня не обмануло. Снег пошёл действительно всерьёз. «Ты не привык к такому, так?» – мои русские друзья спрашивают меня скорее с понимающими улыбками. Мы подходим к большой библиотеке, прекращаем шутить и начинаем говорить о погоде. Светлана решила одолжить мне свои очки, чтобы я мог защитить глаза от снега. Уэйл начинает подшучивать надо мной, говоря при этом, что я похож на итальянского мафиози. Он даже сделал несколько фотографий. Сцена кажется почти нереальной: мы фотографируемся в солнцезащитных очках посреди снежного шторма. В итоге мы ненадолго укрываемся  от погоды внутри библиотеки.

В конце концов мы выходим, чтобы продолжить нашу прогулку, но погода отнюдь к этому не располагает. Это не очень хорошая идея много времени находиться на улице. Но не смотря на всё это, мы все очень довольны и группа движется весьма по-будничному. Один из нас что-то разглядывает, другой смотрит куда-то ещё в то время, как остальные просто осматриваются вокруг. Мы просто наслаждаемся прогулкой и продолжаем фотографироваться. В итоге мы разделились: Лилия, Сергей, Дина и подыскиваем бар, чтобы согреться. Уэйл, Ричард, Том и Светлана решают продолжить прогулку. Поиски бара оказываются весьма безнадёжными. Они всё заполнены. В конце концов мы снова встречаем остальных в шопинг центре, чтобы поесть в фастфуде ресторане. Толпы людей заходят и выходят отовсюду. «Вот поэтому я бы не хотела жить в центре Москвы» – сказала Дина.

К этому моменту мы все уже порядком вымотаны после такого весёлого дня. Вечер субботы и я бы с удовольствием бы оценил «ночную жизнь по-русски», но нужно принять факт, что мы все устали, включая меня. Кроме того конференция должна проходит уже на следующий день. Мы говорим всем «спокойной ночи». Дина и Сергей провожают нас до отеля.

Прибыв в комнату, несмотря на усталость мы снова начинаем говорить о прошедшем дне, мы обмениваемся впечатлениями и ощущениями, которые пережили на улицах Москвы, о нашей радости от многоязычной Московской компании. На протяжении всего дня я очень много говорил по-русски, лишь изредка переключаясь на английский или на итальянский (это язык, которой мы с Ричардом используем только для шуток)

«Кто знает каким будет завтра новый день?» – моя последняя мысль прежде чем погрузиться в сон без сновидений.

Перевод на с итальянского на русский подготовил Амир Ордабаев. Он также записывает и загружает видео на Ютуб канал www.youtube.com/user/lingvostart Так же Амир изучает итальянский с Лукой.

 Audio files of this post – English, Italian and Russian:

The post Trip to Russia (III) appeared first on the polyglot dream.

English

March 29, 2013

I get up and, after rubbing the sleep from my eyes, see Sergej and Ksiusha brightening the room with their smiles.  They came into my room to say “good morning”.  Since I fell asleep at around 3:00 am and it’s now only 8:00 am,  I am still a little bit tired but the sunlight that penetrates my window and Ksiusha’s radiant smile give me the strength and energy to face the day.  I move toward the window and look outside.  A splendid winter sun kisses the vast expanse of snow with its rays, above which there is a bright blue cloudless sky.  “I really am in Russia, it’s not a hallucination!” I think, overcome by a strange excitement.  The beautiful scenery increases my enthusiasm.  I slip on my pants and go down for breakfast.

Sergej, Ksiusha and Dina’s grandfather are waiting for me.  In the middle of the table stands a bronze samovar, a container typical of Slavic countries (but also used in other parts of the world such as Iran and Turkey) generally used to heat water.  After a large breakfast of tea and sweets, we are ready for a morning tour of their garden.  Sergej and Dina show me the roses, wrapped in plastic to protect them from the cold, their little greenhouse and a small outdoor pool.  Everything is covered in a layer of snow a meter thick.  I plunge into it like a little kid, chasing Ksiusha who knocks me over into the snow, laughing, jumping around  and throwing handfuls of snow at me and at the others.   I venture into the deep snow and sink into it up to my thighs.  It’s cold but I don’t care.  I’m like a little boy again, discovering something new.  A Roman in the snow: what a strange, euphoric sensation.

After a while we go back into the house where I treat myself to a long hot shower.  When we’re all ready we jump into the car and head into town.  They strongly suggest that I buy some shoes suited to the snowy, icy roads and I heed their counsel.  After shopping we arrive at an imposing monastery surrounded by high walls.  Inside numerous images of saints hang on wooden walls.  There are women whose heads are covered with handkerchiefs coming and going who kiss the icons repeatedly, while bowing and quietly offering prayers and supplications.  In the air hangs the strong odor of incense and the whole monastery is wrapped in silence.  Only the prayers can be heard in the background as they echo between the paneled walls and the vaulted ceilings in the great hall in which  we stand.  In observing the spirituality and religious fervor of these people I am struck by a sense of peace and am somewhat moved.  I turn around and see a gentleman completely dressed in black, with a large beard and a tall hat, also deep black, on his head.  Men and women are approaching him to ask questions, or advice or just to speak with him; he is an Orthodox priest.  Everything is similar and yet so different from our Catholic Church.  Dina tells us that it’s time to go.  I’m almost unhappy to have to leave this mystical place; I would gladly stay a little longer.

After dropping Ksiusha off at kindergarten, we head for Moscow.  It’s time to pick up Richard at the airport.  We wait a long time in the arrival area and then  Richard arrives, accompanied by a young man from England.  It’s always a pleasure to meet Richard and lately we’ve been able to meet more often.  We get into the car and ride to the hotel which is downtown.  Sergej is a little nervous because he knows what’s ahead: rush hour traffic in Moscow.  Richard and I, however, as naïve, happy passengers, continue talking about everything and, as usual, the conversations unfolds in all of the languages that we have in common without our even thinking about which language we’re using.  It changes and then, suddenly, we’re on to the next topic.   Sergej and Dina are particularly amused and record our multilingual conversations, jokes and games.  We are two adults who, when we meet, become like two little boys.  Most of all, though, we are two good friends.  It’s always a great pleasure to speak with Richard.  After a two-hour ride, we finally get to the hotel.   We find Alex Rawlings, who had made an appointment with Richard, waiting for us.  For those of you who don’t know who Alex is, he’s a young English man who won a prize for being the best multilingual student in England.  I’d already had the pleasure of meeting Alex a few months before, at a conference on multilingualism organized in Parma.  After dropping off Richard’s luggage we settle down in a tearoom inside the restaurant of the hotel.

A while later I go outside to wait for Svetlana, a young Russian girl whom I’d met a few months ago on the internet.  She arrives a little late because she couldn’t find the right entrance in this enormous building.  She’s a beautiful girl with a pleasant air, who wears a small green hat on her head, a pair of sunglasses and has a beautiful, radiant smile.   I introduce her to Richard and the others in the group.  I’m struck by Svetlana’s spontaneity, ease and cheerfulness.  She hands Richard and me a подорок (padorok), a small gift, and tells us to open it later.  Then we all go out and head towards the famous Red Square.

We’re a happy group consisting of two Russians, an English guy and an Italian (me) together at Red Square.  As soon as we get off the metro, we walk up a long set of stairs up to a large street lined with massive brick buildings.

We walk about 100 meters and come to a breathtaking sight: an immense square in which stand the Kremlin, churches, and an enormous domed mausoleum.   It is very cold but the sky is a deep, dark blue, made all the more impressive by the light from the streetlamps that illuminate the entire square.  We stay to take photos and make comments, stunned by so much magnificence.  After reflecting, joking, taking pictures and laughing, we all decide to grab a bite to eat.  We go to a type of shopping center next to the square and eat in a sort of sit-down fast food restaurant.   It’s Friday evening and since the weather is so nice we think about going for a walk but decide that we are all too tired and we still have the conference to prepare for.   We say good bye to Alex who will be returning to England the next day and then we say goodnight to Svetlana and agree to meet her the next morning at the metro stop near Red Square.  Dina and Sergej take us back to the hotel.  Naturally, when Richard and I are together we can talk for 10 hours straight without even realizing it.  And, in fact, we do talk at length about our impressions of the day and the plans for tomorrow.  We decide to go ahead and open the gift from Svetlana: a music box for Richard’s daughter  and for me a scarf and a matryoshka (set of Russian nesting dolls).  A beautiful, simple gift that Svetlana would explain the next day.  “I’m dead tired, Luchino, I’ve got to go to sleep” Richard says at about 3am (he always calls me “Luchino” now, a nickname used with close friends).   And now it’s time for me to go to sleep, too.   Another exciting day lies ahead of us.

Written by Luca Lampariello

Translated from Italian into English by Teresa Skousen. Teresa has worked as a freelance American Sign Language interpreter.  She is currently working as a tutor in mathematics and American Sign Language and is studying Italian with Luca.

Read in English by Ngofeen Mputubwele. Ngofeen is an American graduate student currently studying law and international development. He also studies Italian with Luca.

Audio file of this article at the end of this post

Italiano

VIAGGIO IN RUSSIA – PARTE 2

29 marzo 2013

Mi alzo la mattina e dopo essermi stropicciato gli occhi vedo Sergeji e Ksiusha che mi illuminano con un sorriso. Sono entrati in camera per darmi il buongiorno. Essendomi addormentato verso le 3 ed essendo le 8 di mattina mi sento leggermente stanco, ma i raggi di sole che penetrano dalla finestra e il radioso sorriso di Ksiusha mi danno la forza e l’energia per affrontare la giornata. Mi avvicino alla finestra e guardo fuori. Uno splendido sole invernale bacia con i suoi raggi un’immensa distesa di neve sopra la quale si staglia un cielo azzurro privo di nuvole. “Sono proprio in Russia, non è un’allucinazione!” – penso, in preda a una strana eccitazione. Lo spettacolo là fuori mi infonde ancora più entusiasmo. Mi infilo i pantaloni e scendo per la colazione.

Mi aspettano Sergej, Ksiusha, il nonno e Dina. Al centro della tavola si erge un samovar di bronzo, un contenitore utilizzato in genere per scaldare l’acqua, tipico dei paesi slavi (ma usato anche in altre parti del mondo come in Iran e Turchia). Dopo un’abbondante colazione a base di tè e dolci, siamo pronti per fare un tour mattiniero del loro giardino. Sergej e Dina mi mostrano le rose avvolte nella plastica per proteggerle dal freddo, la loro piccola serra, nonché una piccola piscina all’aperto. Tutto è ricoperto da uno strato di neve alto un metro. Ci affondo dentro come un bambino, rincorrendo Ksiusha che mi si butta addosso e mi spinge nella neve, ridendo, saltando a destra e a manca e tirando a me e agli altri manciate di neve. Mi avventuro fra gli strati di neve e ci affondo dentro quasi fino al bacino. È fredda, ma non importa. Sono ridiventato quasi un bambino che scopre cose nuove. Un romano nella neve: che strana, euforica sensazione.

Dopo un po’ rientriamo in casa, dove mi concedo una lunga e calda doccia. Quando siamo tutti pronti, saltiamo in macchina alla volta di una piccola cittadina russa. Mi consigliano vivamente di comprare delle scarpe adatte ai sentieri e alle strade piene di neve e ghiaccio, e io seguo il loro consiglio. Dopo “gli acquisti” raggiungiamo un imponente monastero che si staglia all’interno di grosse mura. Al suo interno, interamente in legno, numerose immagini di santi sono appese alle pareti. C’è un via vai di donne incappucciate che baciano le icone in maniera quasi ossessiva, profondendosi in ripetuti inchini, e mormorando sotto voce preghiere e richieste. Nell’aria aleggia un forte odore di incenso e tutto il monastero è avvolto dal silenzio. Si sente solo una preghiera di sottofondo che riecheggia fra le pareti di legno e le volte della grande sala in cui ci troviamo. Nell’osservare la spiritualità e l’ardore religioso di queste persone vengo colto da un senso di pace e sono quasi commosso. Mi giro e scorgo la figura di un signore completamente vestito di nero, con una grossa barba e con in testa un imponente cappello, anch’esso di un colore nero intenso. Uomini e donne si avvicinano per rivolgergli richieste, consigli o semplicemente per parlargli: si tratta di un sacerdote ortodosso. Tutto è simile e allo stesso tempo così diverso dalle nostre chiese cattoliche. Dina ci dice che è ora di andare. Quasi mi dispiace dover abbondare questo luogo mistico, ci sarei rimasto volentieri un altro po’.

Dopo aver lasciato Ksiusha all’asilo, ci dirigiamo alla volta di Mosca. E’ venuto il momento di andare a prendere Richard all’aeroporto. Dopo averlo aspettato a lungo nella sala arrivi, eccolo arrivare in compagnia di un ragazzo inglese. E’ sempre un piacere incontrarlo, e ultimamente succede sempre più spesso. Ci rimettiamo in macchina per raggiungere l’albergo che è in centro. Sergej è un po’ nervoso perché sa quello che lo aspetta: il traffico moscovita nell’ora di punta. Ma io e Richard, passeggeri ingenui e felici, continuiamo a parlare di tutto, e come al solito la conversazione si svolge in tutte le lingue che abbiamo in comune, senza stare a pensare a quale lingua usare. Si cambia e… oplà, si va avanti con il prossimo argomento. Sergej e Dina sono particolarmente divertiti e filmano le nostre conversazioni multilingue, i nostri scherzi, i nostri giochi. Siamo due adulti che quando si incontrano diventano quasi due bambini. Ma soprattutto, due cari amici: provo sempre un gran piacere a conversare con Richard. Dopo due ore di tragitto riusciamo finalmente a guadagnare l’albergo. Ad aspettarci troviamo Alex Rawlings, che aveva preso appuntamento con Richard. Per chi non sapesse chi è Alex, si tratta di un ragazzo inglese molto giovane che ha vinto un premio per il miglior studente multilingue in Inghilterra. Avevo già avuto il piacere di conoscere Alex pochi mesi prima, in occasione di una conferenza sul multilinguismo organizzata a Parma. Dopo aver depositato i bagagli, ci sistemiamo in una sala da té all’interno del ristorante dell’albergo.

Io intanto esco fuori ad aspettare Svetlana, una ragazza russa che avevo conosciuto mesi prima su internet. Arriva un po’ in ritardo perché non riesce a trovare l’entrata giusta dell’imponente edificio. E’ una bella ragazza dall’aria simpatica, con un cappellino verde sulla testa, due occhialoni da sole e un sorriso che scioglierebbe le montagne. Le presento Richard e gli altri componenti della troupe. Di Svetlana mi colpisce la sua spontaneità, la sua allegria e semplicità. Lascia a me e Richard un “подaрок” (padorok), un regalino, e ci dice di aprilo più tardi. Poi tutti insieme ci dirigiamo verso la famosa Piazza Rossa.

Siamo un’allegra compagnia di russi, inglesi e un italiano (io) alla volta della Piazza Rossa. Appena usciti dalla metropolitana, ci incamminiamo su una grossa strada costeggiata da imponenti edifici in mattoni rossi. Percorriamo un centinaio di metri e ci si presenta davanti uno spettacolo mozzafiato: un’immensa piazza su cui si staglia il Cremilino e altre Chiese, un enorme mausoleo a forma di cupola. Fa molto freddo, ma il cielo è di un intenso blu scuro, reso ancora più suggestivo dalle luci dei lampioni che illuminano l’intera piazza. Rimaniamo lì a far foto e commenti, storditi da tanta magnificenza. Dopo aver contemplato scherzato, fatto foto, riso, sentiamo tutti un’improvvisa voglia di buttare giù un boccone. Entriamo in una specie di centro commerciale al lato della piazza e mangiamo in una sorta di fast-food adibito a ristorante. È venerdì sera, e considerato che fa bel tempo sarebbe bello andare a fare un giro/andarci a divertire, ma alla fine siamo tutti stanchi e la conferenza incombe. Salutiamo Alex che il giorno dopo sarebbe ritornato in Inghilterra, e poi salutiamo anche Svetlana e le diamo appuntamento il mattino seguente alla fermata della metro vicino alla Piazza Rossa. Dina e Sergej ci riaccompagnano in albergo. Naturalmente, quando io e Richard siamo insieme possiamo passare anche dieci ore di fila a parlare senza accorgercene. E di fatti parliamo a lungo delle nostre impressioni sulla giornata e delle cose che sarebbero venute dopo. Decidiamo poi di aprire il regalo di Svetlana: un carillon per la figlia di Richard, e per me una sciarpa e una matrioska. Un regalo semplice e bello, che Svetlana mi avrebbe spiegato il giorno dopo. “Sono stanco morto Luchino, devo dormire”, mi dice Richard verso le 3 di notte (ormai mi chiama sempre Luchino, un affettuoso nomignolo che gli sta particolarmente a cuore). In fondo è arrivata l’ora di dormire anche per me. Ci aspettava un altra giornata affascinante.

Audio file of this Italian translation (read by Luca Lampariello) at the end of this post

Russian

Поездка в Россию. Часть вторая.

Утром я проснулся, протёр глаза и увидел улыбающихся Ксюшу и Сергея, которые зашли в комнату, чтобы сказать «Доброе утро!» Мне удалось заснуть только к 3 часам ночи, а когда я проснулся на часах было 8 утра. Я чувствовал усталость, но солнечные лучи, проникающие через окно и сияющая улыбка Ксюшы придавали мне сил и энергии, чтобы встретить новый день. Я подошел к окну и выглянул наружу. Красивое зимнее солнце ласкало своими лучами огромные просторы снега, над которыми было голубое небо без единого облачка. “Я действительно в России, это не галлюцинация!” – подумал я, пребывая в состоянии странной взволнованности. Происходящее снаружи придавало мне ещё больше энтузиазма. Я оделся и спустился вниз позавтракать.

Меня ожидали Сергей, Ксюша и дедушка Дины. В самом центре стола возвышался бронзовый самовар – ёмкость, которая используется для кипячения воды в славянских странах (также используется в других странах, таких как Иран и Турция).

После плотного завтрака из чая и пироженных мы готовы к утренней экскурсии по саду. Сергей и Дина показывают мне розы, завернутые в полиэтилен, защищающий их от холода; небольшую теплицу и открытый бассейн. Все это покрыто метровым слоем снега.

Я погружаюсь туда как ребёнок в погоне за Ксюшей. Она, улыбаясь и смеясь, толкает меня в снег и, отпрыгивая то влево, то вправо, бросает в меня снежками. Холодно, но это не важно. Я снова стал ребёнком, который открывает для себя что-то новое. Римлянин в с негу, очень странное ощущение.

Позже мы направляемся обратно в дом, где я принимаю долгий горячий душ. Когда все были готовы, мы направляемся в машине в небольшой городок. Мне настоятельно рекомендуют купить подходящие ботинки, потому что все дороги в снегу и во льду. Я решил последовать их совету. Завершив эти покупки, мы добираемся до монастыря, который возвышался за толстыми стенами. Внутри всё было сделано из дерева и на стенах можно было видеть многочисленные изображения святых. Можно видеть как женщины в капюшонах очень усердно целуют иконы, произнося при этом в полголоса молитвы и просьбы. В воздухе сильный запах ладана и весь монастырь окружен молчанием.

Слышно только молитву, которая перекликается в фоновом режиме между деревянными стенами и сводчатым потолком большого зала, в котором мы находимся.

При наблюдении за духовностью и набожностью этих людей меня охватывает ощущение покоя. Я глубоко тронут. Я оборачиваюсь и вижу силуэт человека, одетого во все черное с длинной бородой с огромной шляпой, которая также была глубокого черного цвета.

Мужчины и женщины подходят ближе, чтобы озвучить свои просьбы, попросить у него совета или просто поговорить с ним. Это православный священник. Все с одной стороны очень похоже, но с другой стороны очень отличается от наших католических церквей. Дина говорит, что нам пора идти. Я почти сожалею, что мы покидаем это загадочное место, я был бы рад побыть здесь немного дольше.

После того, как мы оставили Ксюшу в детском саду, мы направляемся в Москву. Настало время встретить Ричарда в аэропорту. Просидев долго в зале ожидания, мы наконец его увидили вместе с молодым человеком из Великобритании. Всегда приятно видеться с ним вживую и в последнее время это случается всё чаще. Мы снова садимся в машину, чтобы добраться до отеля, который находится в центре.

Сергей немного нервничает потому, что знает, ЧТО его ожидает: московское движение в час пик.

Но мы с Ричардом пасажиры наивные и счастливые, мы продожаем говорить обо всём. Как обычно разговор развивается на всех языках, которые мы разделяем. При этом мы не задумываемся слишком долго о том какой из языков использовать.

Мы переключаемся и… оп… уже говорим на другую тему. Сергей и Дина развлекаются снимая наши многоязыковые разговоры, наши шутки и игры на видео. Мы два взрослых человека, но когда видимся мы почти становимся детьми. Но прежде всего мы два близких друга: поговорить с Ричардом всегда очень приятно.

После двух часов езды мы, наконец, добираемся до отеля.   Во время ожидания мы встречаем Алекса Ролингса, который договорился о встрече с Ричардом. Для тех, кто не знает, кем является Алекс: это молодой человек – обладатель приза лучшего многоязычного студента Англии. Я уже имел удовольствие познакомиться с Алексом несколькими месяцами ранее на конференции, посвящённой многоязычию в Парме. После того как мы сдали багаж мы мы обосновались в чайной комнате в ресторане отеля.

Я тем временем выхожу чтобы подождать Светлану – девушку, с которой я познакомился нескольми месяцами ранее по интернету. Она немного опоздала потому что не смогла найти нужный вход в это внушительное здание. Светлана – очень приятная девушка с зеленой шляпой на голове, с солнцезащитными очками и улыбкой, которая может расплавить горы.

Я знакомлю её с Ричардом с другими членами группы. Меня поражает спонтанность, жизнерадостность и простота Светланы. Она принесла мне и Ричарду подарки и попросила открыть их позже. Затем мы все вместе направляемся к знаменитой Красной Площади.

Мы – весёлая компания состоящая из русских, англичан и итальянца (т.е. меня) и находящихся одновременно на Красной Площади. Выйдя из метро и мы отправились по большой улице где выстроились высокие красные-кирпичные здания.

Мы идем дальше и в нескольких сотнях метров перед нами предстаёт более чем захватывающее зрелище: огромная площадь, на которой стоит Кремль, другие церкви и огромный куполообразный мавзолей. Очень холодно, но под небом темно-синего цвета и под освящением уличных фонарей Площадь становится ещё более впечатляющей.

Мы продолжаем фотографироваться и обсуждаем происходящее будучи ошеломленными таким великолепием. После того как мы всё посмотрели пошутили, пофотографировались, мы почувствовали внезапное желание перекусить. Мы направляемся в один из шопинг центров в стороне от площади и едим в своего рода фаст-фуд ресторане. Пятница вечер, хорошая погода в таких случаях принятно куда-нибудь ехать чтобы развлекаться но в конце концов мы все устали и конференция не за горами.

Мы прощаемся с Алексом, которому на следующий день предстояло вернуться в Англию. Затем прощаемся со Светланой и договариваемся о встречу на следующее утро у станции метро рядом с Красной площадью. Дина и Сергей провожают нас до отеля.

Конечно когда мы вместе с Ричардом – то можем говорить 10 часов подряд, забывая о времени.

И в самом деле, мы долго говорим о наших впечатлениях от прошедшего дня и о том что случиться позже. Затем мы решаемся открыть подарки Светланы: музыкальная шкатулка для дочери Ричарда, а для меня – шарф и матрёшка. Простой и красивый подарок, как мне объяснит Светлана на следующий день. «Я очень устал, Лукино, мне нужно поспать.» (Теперь он меня всегда называет Лукино, это уменьшительно-ласкательная форма, которая ему запала в душу). В самом деле и для меня пришло время ложиться спать. Нас ожидал ещё один насыщенный день.

Перевод на с итальянского на русский подготовил Амир Ордабаев. Он также записывает и загружает видео на Ютуб канал www.youtube.com/user/lingvostart Так же Амир изучает итальянский с Лукой.

 Audio files of this post – English, Italian and Russian:

The post Trip to Russia (II) appeared first on the polyglot dream.

English

The morning of February 6^th started out as a beautiful sunny day and I was in a good mood.    After working on my book and going for a run around the park, I was prepared to face the three straight hours of lessons that awaited me.  While checking my email I found a message with the subject line “You are invited to Russia!” boldly written.  It was a formal invitation to go Moscow and take part in a language conference being organized in Russia for the first time.

It immediately piqued my interest and I was especially struck by the enthusiasm of Dina, one of the event’s organizers.  I responded right away and also got my good friend, Richard, involved.   Richard is a polyglot whom I met five years ago, thanks to You Tube.  The two of us decided to set out for Russia.   It was the first time that I’d ventured beyond the Europe and entering a country outside Europe is a little harder than just travelling within the European Union.  After jumping through a few bureaucratic hoops, such as obtaining a visa, we were ready to discover a new world and to embark on a new adventure.

The departure date was rapidly approaching.  I was at once excited and a little worried, seeing as I had to put time and effort into the careful preparation of two lectures that I was to present the day of the conference as well as the masterclass the following day (that was to last a good four hours) in addition to the book I’m working on, lessons on Skype and the myriad of other commitments that constantly occupy my mind.

March 28^th

On the departure day I got up with the strange excitement that takes hold of me every time I’m about to take a trip.  By 6:00 am I was on my way to the station.  It was raining lightly but weather was the last thing on my mind.  On the plane I was thinking about what the country would be like.  I was trying, as I always do, to imagine the people, the streets, the buildings and the sky, gathering images from things I’d read or seen about the country.  But the reality is never quite what we imagine; sometimes it’s even better.  It was the beginning of an unforgettable experience.

Arriving at the airport and getting through the passport check without a hitch, I find Dina waiting for me.  She greets me with a bright smile and gives me a warm hug.  I turn around to see her husband, Sergej, who looks to be in his 30s and has a good-natured air and a warm smile.  “Лука как дела?”  “How are you, Luca?” he says in Russian.  I am particularly eager to discover this new world and I launch into the discussion with unbridled enthusiasm.  We head straight for the train will take us to one of the stations in Moscow.

The first things that hit me are the long, steep escalator that leads to the heart of Moscow and the incredible number of people walking hurriedly in every direction.   I feel a little awkward toting my enormous bags which become an almost insurmountable obstacle for the hurried Moscovites.  “Это час пик Лука”, “It’s rush hour, Luca”, Sergej explains.  Despite the fact that the metro in Moscow works with enviable efficiency (especially when compared to ours in Rome), every car on every route is full and we are stuffed in like sardines, but after two station we are able to grab a little coner and continue our conversation.  We get off the metro and for the first time I really feel the Russian cold.  It’s a dry cold, the sky is clear and there is snow everywhere.  I pick up two big clumps of it and have my picture taken, with the sunset in the background, the frigid wind whipping my face which glowed with the smile of a child.  Only now am I fully aware of being in another world.

We finally reach the car that Sergej and Dina parked not far from the metro.  It takes us toward Serpokov, in the Russian countryside, about 100 kilometers from Moscow.  We have a fascinating conversation in the car, talking about the old Soviet Union.  Sergej tells me how for a full year after the fall of the Soviet Union no one was able to find even a loaf of bread.  “But after the first year things got better”, he says.

After about an hour we are at their house in the country.  I am introduced to Sergej’s mother and father as well as to his daughter, Ksiusha, a beautiful little 5-year-old girl.  “Все это просто моя мечта” – “This is like a dream”, I say with an ear-to-ear grin.  It’s a magnificent two-story house, made entirely of wood and surrounded by a large garden which is completely covered with snow.   The people are warm and, after I put away all of my things in one of the rooms upstairs, we all get ready for the evening meal.  They serve me a typical Russian dish: пельмени (Pelmenj), a sort of meat-stuffed ravioli, some salad, homegrown tomatoes (with a flavor much different than what I was used to) and we wash it all down with Самогон (Samogon), a homemade distilled vodka.  The warmth of the family, the wooden house, the Russian countryside and especially the Samogon invigorates me all the more.

After dinner we go out to play in the garden with Ksiusha for a while.  Sergej “gets me ready” for the Russian winter (which should be spring, but isn’t).  Since it‘s -10 C° (14 F°) he gives me куртка (kurkta) and батинки (batinki) to wear, a big super warm jacket and snow shoes.  I’ve never had to dress this way before.  I feel a little silly because I’m not used to it but it keeps me warm and that is, after all, what’s most important.  Outside there is a full moon and the stars are out.  Ksiusha throws a snowball at me and I get her right back.  We run around between the piles of snow then suddenly land in the deep snow.  I’ve never seen so much snow in all of my 32 years.  In Rome it snows, as we say “every time a Pope dies” (rarely, once in a blue moon).  I’m happy but I’m starting to feel the effects of the long day’s journey.  We go back inside and spend another hour talking to Sergej and Dina then finally go to bed.  As I lie in bed I mentally replay the events of the day: the metro, the streets, the snow, the stars and the conversations in Russian.  It’s all wonderful.  “I’m in Russia, guys” is the last thing I say before drifting off to sleep.

Written by Luca Lampariello

Translated from Italian into English by Teresa Skousen. Teresa has worked as a freelance American Sign Language interpreter.  She is currently working as a tutor in mathematics and American Sign Language and is studying Italian with Luca.

Read in English by Ngofeen Mputubwele. Ngofeen is an American graduate student currently studying law and international development. He also studies Italian with Luca.

Audio file of this article at the end of this post

Italiano

VIAGGIO IN RUSSIA – PARTE 1

La mattinata del 6 febbraio era cominciata con una bella giornata di sole, ed ero di buon umore. Dopo aver lavorato sul mio libro e fatto una corsa nel parco, ero pronto ad affrontare le 3 ore serali di lezione che mi aspettavano. Aprendo la mail, ho trovato un messaggio. “Ti invitiamo in Russia!” – recitava il titolo con una certa enfasi. Era un invito formale ad andare a Mosca per prendere parte ad una conferenza sulle lingue,  organizzata per la prima volta in questo paese.

Mi è da subito sembrata una proposta interessante, e mi ha soprattutto colpito l’entusiasmo di Dina, una delle organizzatrici dell’evento. Le ho risposto rapidamente, e ho coinvolto anche Richard, il mio caro amico Poliglotta che ho conosciuto 5 anni fa grazie a YouTube. Insieme abbiamo deciso di partire alla volta della Russia. Era la prima volta che varcavo i confini dell’Europa, e l’accesso ad un paese extra-europeo è un po’ più difficoltoso rispetto ad un semplice viaggio all’interno della UE. Dopo qualche pratica burocratica da sbrigare – quale comprare il visto – eravamo pronti per scoprire un nuovo mondo, e partecipare ad una nuova avventura.

Il giorno della partenza sarebbe arrivato molto rapidamente. Ero eccitato e un po’ preoccupato, visto che l’accurata preparazione dei due discorsi che avrei tenuto il giorno della conferenza (31 marzo) e del masterclass il giorno successivo (della durata di ben quattro ore) si aggiungevano alla stesura del mio libro,  alle lezioni su Skype, e ad una miriade di altri impegni che mi tenevano la testa costantemente occupata.

28 marzo

Il giorno della partenza mi sono alzato con quella strana eccitazione che mi prende ogni volta che sto per affrontare un viaggio. Alle sei del mattino mi sono diretto alla stazione sotto una leggera pioggia, ma il tempo era l’ultimo dei miei pensieri. Sull’aereo pensavo a come sarebbe stato questo paese. Cercavo – come faccio sempre – di immaginarmi le persone, le strade, gli edifici, il cielo – mettendoli in relazione con quello che avevo letto e visto su questo paese. Ma la realtà è sempre diversa da come ce la immaginiamo. E talvolta è ancora meglio. Era l’inizio di un’esperienza indimenticabile!

Arrivato all’aeroporto di Mosca, e superato il controllo passaporti con una certa disinvoltura, trovo ad aspettarmi Dina, che mi accoglie con un sorriso raggiante e mi abbraccia calorosamente. Mi giro e scorgo suo marito Sergej, un ragazzo sulla trentina con l’aria bonaria ed il sorriso accattivante. “Лука как дела?” – “Luca come stai?”, mi dice subito in russo. Non parla quasi per niente inglese, e la conversazione sarebbe stata solo ed esclusivamente in russo. Sono particolarmente entusiasta di scoprire un nuovo mondo, e mi getto con una passione quasi ingenua nel discorso. Ci dirigiamo subito sul treno che ci avrebbe portato ad una delle stazioni di Mosca.

La cosa che mi ha colpito subito è la ripidia e lunghissima scala mobile che ci avrebbe portato nelle viscere di Mosca e l’enorme quantità di gente che si dirigeva con passo affrettato in ogni direzione. Mi sentivo un po’ a disagio con il mio enorme borsone, un ostacolo quasi ingombrante per i frettolosi moscoviti. “Это час пик Лука” – “Questa è l’ora di punta, Luca”, mi lancia Sergej. Nonostante il fatto che la metro di Mosca funzioni con un’efficienza invidiabile (soprattutto se confrontata con la nostra metro di Roma), ogni vagone ed ogni corsa è affollata, siamo stipati all’inverosimile, ma dopo due stazioni riusciamo a guadagnarci un angolino in cui continuare la nostra conversazione. Usciti dalla metro, avverto per la prima volta il freddo russo. Un freddo secco, con il cielo terso e la neve ovunque. Raccolgo due grossi pezzi di neve e mi faccio fotografare così, con il tramonto, il vento gelido che mi sferza la faccia ed un sorriso da bambino che mi illumina il viso. Solo ora mi rendo veramente conto di essere in un altro mondo.

Arriviamo finalmente alla macchina che Sergej e Dina avevano parcheggiato non distante dalla metro. Ci dirigiamo alla volta di Serpokov, nella campagna russa, a un centinaio di chilometri da Mosca. La conversazione in macchina è coinvolgente, parliamo di Unione Sovietica. Sergej mi racconta di come per un anno intero dopo la caduta dell’Unione Sovietica non si riusciva neanche a trovare il pane. “Ma dopo un anno le cose hanno cominciato a migliorare”, ha dichiarato.

Dopo un’ora circa arriviamo nella loro casa in campagna. Faccio la conoscenza del padre e della madre di Sergej, nonché della loro figlia Ksiusha, una bellissima bambina di cinque anni. “Все это просто моя мечта” – “Tutto questo è il mio sogno”, dichiaro con un sorriso a trentadue denti. E’ una casa stupenda, tutta fatta di legno, su due piani, e tutto intorno si estende un grande giardino, completamente ricoperto di neve. Sono tutti calorosi, e dopo aver sistemato armi e bagagli in una stanza al piano di sopra, ci apprestiamo a mangiare. Mi servono tipico cibo russo: “пельмени” (Pelmenj), una sorta di ravioli infarciti con carne, insalata, pomodori fatti in casa (con un gusto molto diverso da quelli che sono abituato a mangiare), il tutto annaffiato da “Самогон” (Samogon), una vodka distillata fatta in casa. Il calore della famiglia, la casa in legno, la campagna russa e soprattutto il Samogon mi rendono ancora più elettrizzato.

Dopo la cena usciamo a giocare un po’ in giardino con Ksiusha. Sergej mi “prepara” all’inverno russo (che dovrebbe essere primavera ma non lo è). Siccome fanno -10 C° fuori, mi fa indossare “куртка” (kurkta) e “батинки” (batinki), cioè un giaccone super caldo e scarponi da neve. Mai avuto la necessità di vestirmi così. Mi sento un po’ ridicolo perchè non ci sono abituato, ma alla fine mi tiene caldo ed è la cosa più importante. Fuori c’è la luna piena, e si vedono tutte le stelle. Ksiusha mi tira una manciata di neve addosso e io rispondo con solerzia. Ci rincorriamo su grossi mucchi di neve, e improvvisamente affondo nella neve. Mai vista così tanta neve in trentadue anni della mia vita. A Roma – come si suol dire – nevica letteralmente “ogni morte di Papa”. Sono felice, ma la stanchezza di una lunghissima giornata comincia a farsi sentire. Dopo essere rientrati in casa e aver passato un’altra ora a conversare con Sergej e Dina vado finalmente a dormire. Nel letto continuo a riavvolgere e rivedere il film di tutta la giornata. La metro, le strade, la neve, le stelle, le conversazioni in russo. E’ tutto fantastico. “Sono in Russia, ragazzi!” – mi dico prima di cadere nelle braccia di Morfeo.

Audio file of this Italian translation (read by Luca Lampariello) at the end of this post

Russian

Поездка в Россию. Часть первая.

Утро 6 февраля было очень красивое утро и я был в хорошем расположении духа. Поработав немного над книгой, я вышел на пробежку в парк после чего меня ожидали 3 часа преподавания. Открыв свой email, я обнаружил сообщение. «Мы приглашаем тебя в Россию!» – говорилось в теме письма. Это было официальное приглашение поехать в Москву для того, чтобы принять участие в Конференции о Языках. В России такое было организовано впервые.

Это предложение мне моментально показалось очень интересным и конечно же на меня повлиял энтузиазм Дины, одной из организаторов этого события. Я тут же ответил и решил, что нужно вовлечь моего доброго друга Ричарда, полиглота, с которым я знаком вот уже 5 лет благодаря Ютубу. Мы вместе решили поехать в Россию. Мне предстояло покинуть Еврозону в первый раз и это озночало что попасть в стану, которая не является частью ЕС будет сложнее чем путешествовать внути ЕС. После небольшой бумажной волокиды, процедуры подачи документов на визу мы были готовы открыть для себя новый мир и отправиться туда в поисках приключений.

День отбытия настал очень скоро. Я был взволнован и в тоже время немного переживал потому что мне нужно было тщательно готовиться к двум выступлениям Одно из них было запланировано на 31 марта и на следующий день мне предстояло выступать на мастерклассе, который по длительности мог вполне занять 4 часа. И всё это добавилось к моей работе над черновиком моей книги и также к работе с моими студентами в скайпе и к другим заботам, которые занимали мои мысли.

28 марта

В день отбытия я проснулся с какой-то странной взволновоннастью, которая мне присуще каждый раз перед путешествием. В 6 утра я направился к станции. Шёл слабенький дождь, но в тот день погода меня абсолютно не волновала. В самолёте я думал какой может быть Россия. Я как всегда пытался представлять людей, улицы, здания, небо, комбинируя всё это с тем что где-то вычитал или видел прежде. Но в действительности наши представления всегда отличаюся от реальности. И может быть это и к лучшему. Это было началом незабываемого опыта.

Прибыв в Московский аэропорт и довольно легко пройдя пасспортный конроль я увидел Дину, которая встретила меня с доброй улыбкой и крепко обняла. Я повернулся и увидел её мужа Сергея, мужчину лет 30 с очень приятной улыбкой.  «Лука, как дела?» – спросил он меня сразу же по-русски. Он почти не говорит по английский и это означало что говорить предстоит по-русски. У меня появляется энтузиазм особенно когда речь идёт о том чтобы открыть для себя что-то новое и поэтому я с удовольствием включился в разговор. Тем временем мы садимся в метро и направляемся к одной из станций в Москве.

Мне особенно запомнился очень крутой и длиннющий экскалатор который доставлял нас в недра Москвы а также огромное количество людей, идущих спеша в разные стороны. У меня возникло чувство неудобства из-за того что моя большая сумка могла стать припятствием для спешаших Москвичей. «Это час пик, Лука» – сказал Сергей. Несмотря на то что метро в Москве работает с завидной эффективнностью (особенно если сравнивать с нашим метро в Риме) все вагоны, движущийся во всех направлениях переполнены. Тем не менее проехав две станции нам удаётся занять сидячие места и продолжить нашу беседу. И вот мы выходим из метро в Русский холод в первый раз. Ударил сухой мороз, небо было чистым и повсюду лежал снег. Я леплю себе два огромных снежка и фотографируюсь на фоне заката, с ветром дуящим мне в лицо и с детской улыбкой, которая будто освящает это самое лицо. Только сейчас я осознаю что нахожусь в другом мире.

Наконец мы дошли до машины, которую Серей и Дина припарковали неподалёку от метро. Теперь мы направляемся в сторону Серпокова, деревни в нескольких сотнях километров от Москвы. В машине завязывается очень интересный разговорм. Говорим о Советском Союзе. Сергей мне рассказывает о том как на протяжении целого года после распада СССР не удавалось найти даже хлеба. «Но год спустя ситуция начала улучшаться» – сказал он.

После часа езды нам удаётся добраться до их дачи. Я знакомлюсь с родителями Сергея и также с Ксюшой, с очень красивой 5-летней дочерью Дины и Сергея. И тут я с улыбкой в 32 зуба завляю о том что «Всё это просто моя мечта». Это великолепный дом, в котором на обоих этажах всё сделано из дерева а вокруг него большой сад полностью покрытый снегом. Все они очень гостеприимные и разобравшись багажом мы собираемся есть. Мне подали традиционное русское блюдо – “пельмени”, своего рода равиоли с мясом, салат с домашними помидорами (но на вкус совсем другие, не как те, к которым я привык). Всё это запивается Самогоном, самодельной водкой. Теплый приём, который устроила мне семья, деревянный дом в русской деревне и особенно Самогон помогают мне раскрепоститься.

Поужинав мы выходим из дома чтобы немного поиграть с Ксюшей в саду. Сергей меня «подготавливает» к русской зиме (хотя на дворе уже по идее должна быть весна, но это не так). Снаружи всё ещё -10 и это вынуждает меня одеть тёплую куртку и ботинки. Мне никогда не приходилось так тепло одеваться. Я даже чувствовал себя нелепо потому что это было слишком непривычно, но в конце концов это помогает мне чувствовать себя в тепле, а это прежде всего. Снаружи можно видеть полный месяц и множество звёзд на небе. Ксюша бросила в меня снежок и я ответил с готовностью.

За 32 года своей жизни я никогда не видел столько снега. В Риме выпадет столько снега только когда рак на горе свиснет. Я чувствую себя счастливым но усталось и длинющий день дают о себе знать. Вернувшись внуторь и проведя ещё один час за разговором с Сергеем и Диной я наконец-то иду спать. В кровати я продолжаю мысленно прокручивать всё что было сегодня. Метро, улицы, снег, звёзды, беседы по-русски. Просто невероятно. Я в России, ребята говорю я себе прежде чем оказаться в объятиях Морфея.

Translated from Italian into Russian by Amir Ordabayev. He is currently creating videos for language learners and uploads them onto his YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/lingvostart He also studies Italian with Luca.

Перевод на с итальянского на русский подготовил Амир Ордабаев. Он также записывает и загружает видео на Ютуб канал www.youtube.com/user/lingvostart
Так же Амир изучает итальянский с Лукой.

 Audio files of this post – English, Italian and Russian:

:

The post Trip to Russia (I) appeared first on the polyglot dream.

English

According to current estimates, there are approximately 6,000 languages in existence throughout the world.  Some of them enjoy a unique status, those we define as “dominant languages” because they are used as an instrument of daily communication by a substantial number of people.  Among these languages some are used on many continents.  As a language spreads over a large geographic area local variations are created, often similar to one another, but with different vocabularies and, of course, different accents.

The word “accent” can have different meanings depending on how it’s used.  In this article, however, I’ll be referring to the following definition:

1. (Linguistics / Phonetics & Phonology) the characteristic mode of pronunciation of a person or group, esp. one that betrays social or geographical origin.

The status enjoyed by a  particular language is, of course, a result of its history: colonization, migration and immigration as well as (unfortunately) invasions, occupations and wars.  In this context the languages take on a new role.  Not only do they serve as a means of communication but they also take on political and cultural significance.  The language is a distinctive trait of a nation and a people.

This introduction serves, in part, to explain how one’s choice of an accent can sometimes bring about a confrontation with a complex reality and a certain antipathy and misunderstanding, something which could otherwise be difficult to understand.

My experience

I still recall vividly a conversation that I had in a bar in Madrid with a young Colombian.  We were talking about accents and he said “The accent of Spain is ugly.  Every time we hear Spanish tourists talk we laugh and make fun of them. “That statement kind of took me aback.  I’d thought, naively, that having a common language would have created a bond between groups of people separated by an ocean but having common cultural traits that come from having the same language.  On the one hand, it’s undeniably true that there is a “Latin Spirit/Culture”, but on the other hand, one must consider the fact that the Spanish language was imposed upon them by the Spaniards centuries ago through wars and barbarism of every kind that brought about the extinction of entire peoples, also caused by illnesses that were unknown in the new continent and to which the immune systems of the indigenous people were not prepared.  These massacres generated a resentment that was passed down from generation to generation and has never gone dormant, even after so many centuries have passed.

In the course of recent years I’ve noticed that this young Colombian is in good company.  Trying not to generalize, I’ve met many South Americans who don’t like the Spanish accent at all.  Some of them find it much harsher than the variations spoken in South America and in some cases they finish by talking about the conquistadors.  This was confirmed in You Tube when in some of my videos numerous comments appear for and against the Spanish accent and there were mutual misunderstandings (and sometimes insults).  There is even a video by an American girl  who, with great pride, stands up for her decision to opt for a Spanish accent despite the various criticisms and mocking on the part of South American residents of the United States or American citizens of South American origin.

English, French and Portuguese are other examples in which a similar thing happens, though in a different way.  In the case of English, I’m aware that in England the American accent is not well-accepted by a part of the population and I’ve heard with my own ears the statement that the American accent “sounds stupid”.  Obviously this is not a reflection of the entire English population, and I’m sure that some Americans find the English accent unpleasant.  But English is a global language; it is not limited to England and America.

Another case that stands out is that of Portuguese.  Many Brazilians asked me why in the world I would choose the accent of Portugal over that of Brazil which is more widely spoken and is obviously more popular among foreigners as well as native speakers.  Not only is it more pleasant to listen to, they would say, but it’s the language spoken in a country with strong economic expansion.  Effectively, I personally noticed a very high appreciation of the Brazilian variant as compared to the “Continental” one.

Being Italian, I’m surprised by all of this because our language is “confined” to Italy and there are only a few people in the former Italian colonies (such as Ethiopia and Eritrea) who still speak it, so for us it would be strange to hear a drastically different Italian spoken in another part of the world (in which dialects of the immigrants have been spoken since the start of the 20^th century.

However, I understand, in part, these misunderstandings because we have them too, though on a regional level.  Italian has more dialects than almost any language in the world, with an extraordinary variety of accents.  In some places in Italy one need only go 10 – 15 km.  to hear a different accent.  This fragmentation of the accent comes from a fragmentation on a political level.  Until 150 years ago Italy was still divided into many city-states, very different from one another with completely different histories and developments.  There is often a mutual mistrust, antipathy not only between regions but between cities and communities within the regions, something we call “campanilismo”.

Some accents turn out to be pleasant and others, not.

How to choose an accent: my experience with five languages

One of the questions that I’m often asked on You Tube deals with which accent to adopt.

I’ll start by telling you about my experience with English, French, Spanish and German.

The first thing that jumps out at you when you watch my videos is that I speak American English, the “over the pond” variation while I speak the European versions of the other four languages.

Sometimes, at a certain age, one decides to learn a language and considers which variation to learn.  In the case of English, I didn’t have to choose; it was American English that chose me, as I explain in this video.  (LINK)  I had a private tutor who was from Chicago, 95% of the English language films that I saw were American and my friends in Rome were all American.

When I learned French I started at school and the only non-satellite station we received was a French channel.  Moreover, there was a relative dearth of materials in other versions of French (like “Quebequois”,  the French spoken in Belgium, Swiss French and the variations spoken in several nations in Africa).  The same holds true for Spanish: the first Spanish class that I took was taught exclusively in the Spanish of Spain, and for many of the other courses as well.  So it was an obligatory choice.  German was no exception either as only the “hochdeutch” is taught, at least in Italy.  If I’d gone to live in Austria and had learned the language there, I probably would have ended up learning Austrian German, but I decided to learn German at home and the materials that I used only presented the German spoken in Germany.

For Portuguese the choice was a little harder.  There were basically two versions and I finally decided on the European Portuguese because I liked the sound of it even though, as I said earlier, many people like Brazilian Portuguese.

GUIDELINES

Adopting one accent instead of another is, first and foremost, a personal choice dictated by one’s tastes and the materials at his/her disposal.

If you are undecided you can decide according to the following guidelines

Materials

If you are studying on your own, having plenty of good-quality materials is absolutely essential for setting up an effective language studio.  If one version of the desired language has far fewer materials than another, I suggest that you choose the one for which there are more resources.  I’m referring to materials with a hard copy and accompanying audio.  One of my students admitted to me that he opted for the Spanish of Spain, even though he liked it less, because he couldn’t find sufficient resources to learn one of the South American varieties.

Human resources

People are a fundamental resource for learning to speak a language well.  Language is a means of communication and the interaction with other people allows the addition of the emotional, social and behavioral aspects while acquiring a foreign language.  If you have the opportunity to practice a language right away, for example if you have a friend or companion at your side, adopting the accent of the country of origin of  that person could be an essential element in the improvement and the development of not only that person but of all those around him/her.  If, for example, you have a Chilean girlfriend and you have the opportunity to travel to Chile, you’ll be more motivated to learn that variation of Spanish.

That holds true for associations in general.  If there are a lot of people in your town who come from a certain country and you often have the opportunity to meet with them and see them often, you’ll be more motivated to learn that language.  To give you a specific example, it’s much easier to practice American English in Rome than the other forms of English, thanks to the massive presence of Americans in the Italian capital.

Travel

Even without necessarily having any personal relationships with people from other countries there is still the possibility of traveling.  If you often have to travel to a certain location, whether for business or pleasure, it could be an additional motive for learning a specific language.

Work

Even your employment could play a big part in the selection of a language.  If, for example you often conduct business with Brazilians or travel to Brazil as part of your job, learning Brazilian Portuguese rather than that spoken in Europe could greatly ease negotiations or simply business relations.

Tastes

“De gustibus disputandum non est” , the ancient Romans used to say.  Personal tastes are not up for discussion.  As far as language learning, the best students are those who understand right away what it is they enjoy doing and this is naturally true when it comes to accents as well.  Choosing a language you like listening to encourages you to listen more and to spend time with the language.

CONCLUSION

The choice of an accent is a personal one and is directed by personal relationships, work, preferences, availability of materials, travel opportunities and the people one knows.  Often misunderstandings come about because of historical events, aesthetics and phonetics at a continental, national and regional level.

Still, languages remain a means of communication.  If a person is pleasant and speaks with propriety, the accent with which he speaks plays a very minor role and his interlocutor will concentrate more on content than on form.

It’s really not important which accent you use; what’s important is speaking well and establishing an emotional connection, empathizing with the other person.  A pleasant interlocutor is pleasant, regardless of the accent with which s/he speaks.

Here is a video (in English, Spanish and Portuguese) in which my “polyglot buddies” and I talk about our own personal choices as far as accents are concerned.  I hope you all enjoy it!

Audio file of this article at the end of this post

Italiano

SCEGLIERE UN ACCENTO

Secondo le stime attuali, esistono attualmente circa 6000 lingue (o idiomi) sulla terra. Alcune di queste godono di uno status particolare, che si potrebbe definire di lingue “dominanti”, perché usate come strumento di comunicazione quotidiano da un numero consistente di persone. Fra queste lingue, alcune sono parlate in più continenti. La diffusione di una lingua in una vasta zona geografica porta alla nascita di varianti locali spesso simili tra loro, ma con un vocabolario differente e, naturalmente, un accento diverso.

La parola “accento” ha diverse accezioni a seconda del campo e del contesto considerato, ma in questo articolo mi riferisco alla seguente definizione:

“Il modo caratteristico di pronunciare da parte di una persona o gruppo, e che indica la sua origine sociale o geografica”.

1. (Linguistics / Phonetics & Phonology) the characteristic mode of pronunciation of a person or group, esp one that betrays social or geographical origin

Lo status di cui godono alcune lingue è naturalmente dovuto alla storia: colonizzazione, migrazioni ed immigrazioni, e purtroppo, anche alle invasioni, le occupazioni e le guerre.  In questo contesto le lingue non assumono solo lo status di semplici mezzi di comunicazione, ma assumono una connotazione politica e culturale, sono un tratto distintivo di un una nazione e di un popolo.

Questa introduzione serve, in parte, a spiegare il motivo per cui la scelta di un accento può portare, a volte, a scontrarsi con una realtà complessa, e a certe antipatie e fraintendimenti che altrimenti sarebbero difficilmente comprensibili.

La mia esperienza

Ricordo ancora vividamente una conversazione che ebbi in un bar di Madrid con un ragazzo colombiano. Si parlava di accenti, e mi disse “questo accento spagnolo di Spagna è proprio brutto, ogni volta che sentiamo parlare turisti spagnoli ci mettiamo a ridere e li prendiamo in giro”. La frase mi lasciò un po’ interdetto. Pensavo infatti – ingenuamente – che avere una lingua comune cementasse il rapporto fra popoli separati da un Oceano ma, appunto, con tratti culturali comuni che facevano riferimento ad una stessa lingua. Se da una parte questo è innegabilmente vero – la cosiddetta “cultura o spirito latino”, dall’altra occorre considerare il fatto che lo spagnolo è una lingua che è stata imposta dagli Spagnoli secoli fa attraverso guerre e barbarie di ogni tipo, che ha portato all’estinzione di popoli interi, anche a causa di malattie che erano sconosciute nel nuovo Continente e a cui il sistema immunitario degli autococtoni non era preparato. Questi massacri hanno generato un risentimento che è stato tramandato di generazione in generazione e non si è mai veramente assopito, sebbene siano passati tanti secoli.

Nel corso degli ultimi anni ho notato che quel ragazzo colombiano era in buona compagnia. Senza voler generalizzare, ho incontrato molti sudamericani a cui l’accento spagnolo di Spagna non piaceva proprio. Una parte di loro lo trovano molto più duro rispetto a tutte le varianti parlate in Sudamerica, e – in alcuni casi – si è finito per parlare di storia e di Conquistadores. La conferma è arrivata da YouTube, in alcuni dei miei video appaiono numerosi commenti pro e contro lo spagnolo di Spagna, e incomprensioni (e talvolta insulti) reciproci. C’è addirittura un video di una ragazza americana (LINK) che con grande orgoglio rivendica la sua scelta di optare per un accento spagnolo nonostante le varie critiche e prese in giro da parte di Sudamericani residenti negli Stati Uniti o cittadini americani di origine sudamericana.

L’inglese, il francese e il portoghese sono altri esempi in cui succede una cosa simile, anche se con modalità differenti. Nel caso dell’Inglese, mi sono accorto che in Inghilterra l’accento americano non è molto gradito da una parte della popolazione, e ho sentito con le mie orecchie dire che l’accento americano “sounds stupid”. Ovviamente questo non riguarda l’intera popolazione inglese, e sono sicuro che alcuni Americani trovino l’accento inglese sgradevole. Ma l’inglese è una lingua mondiale, non si riduce solo all’Inghilterra e all’America.

Un altro caso eclatante è quello del portoghese. Tantissimi Brasiliani mi hanno domandato perché mai abbia scelto l’accento portoghese di Portogallo, invece di adottare la variante molto più parlata – e obiettivamente più popolare anche presso stranieri e madrelingua – del Brasile. Non solo è più gradevole da sentire – mi sono sentito dire – ma è la lingua parlata da un paese in forte espansione economica.  Effettivamente ho riscontrato personalmente un gradimento altissimo della variante brasiliana rispetto a quella “continentale” .

Da Italiano tutto questo mi sorprende, perché la nostra lingua è “confinata” in Italia, e sono rimaste poche persone che la parlano nelle ex colonie dell’Italia fascista (Etiopia ed Eritrea per esempio), quindi per noi sarebbe strano sentire un italiano molto diverso in un’altra parte del mondo (in cui si parlano spesso dialetti degli immigrati dell’inizio del 20esimo secolo).

Capisco però in parte queste incomprensioni perché ce l’abbiamo anche noi, anche se a livello regionale. L’italiano è una delle lingue più dialettalizzate del mondo, con una straordinaria varietà di accenti. In alcuni luoghi d’Italia basta spostarsi di 10-15 km per sentire un accento diverso. Questa frammentazione a livello di accenti deriva da una frammentazione a livello politico. L’Italia, fino a 152 anni fa era ancora divisa in tanti Stati molto diversi fra loro e con una storia e uno sviluppo completamente diversi. Spesso c’è una diffidenza reciproca, a un’antipatia non solo fra regioni, ma fra città e comuni all’interno delle regioni stesse (il cosiddetto “campalinismo”)

Alcuni accenti mi risultano piacevoli, altri no

Come si fa a scegliere un accento: la mia esperienza con 5 lingue

Una delle domande che mi viene rivolta spesso su YouTube riguarda proprio l’accento da adottare.

Comincerei raccontandovi la mia esperienza con l’inglese, francese, spagnolo, e tedesco.

La prima cosa che salta all’occhio è il fatto che io parli inglese americano, e cioè la variante “d’oltreoceano” mentre per tutte le altre 4 lingue parlo la versione europea.

Talvolta si sceglie ad una certa età di imparare una lingua, e si valuta quale variante imparare. Nel caso dell’inglese, non ho dovuto fare scelte: è l’inglese americano che ha scelto me, come spiego in questo video (LINK). Ho avuto una professoressa privata di Chigaco, il 95% dei film in lingua inglese che ho visto sono americani, e i miei amici a Roma erano tutti americani.

Nel caso del francese, l’ho cominciato a scuola, e l’unico canale non satellitare a disposizione era un canale francese. In più, c’è una relativa penuria di materiale in altre versioni del francese (vengono in mente il “Quebequois” , il francese che si parla in Belgio, Svizzera e numerose Nazioni africane. Lo stesso vale per lo spagnolo: il primo corso che comprai era esclusivamente in spagnolo di Spagna, e così per tanti altri corsi. Era, insomma, quasi una scelta obbligata. Non fa eccezione neanche il tedesco, dove viene impartito – almeno in Italia – quasi esclusivamente l“l’hochdeutsch” . Se fossi andato a vivere in Austria e avessi dovuto imparare la lingua in loco, probabilmente avrei finito per imparare il tedesco austriaco, ma ho deciso di imparare il tedesco a casa, e appunti il materiale che ho usato prevedeva solo la presenza del tedesco che si parla in Germania.

Per il portoghese la scelta si è fatta un po’ più dura. Effettivamente esitavo fra le due versioni, ma ho finito per scegliere quella del portoghese continentale perché mi piaceva di più dal punto di vista fonetico. Anche se, come dicevo prima, a molti piace più il portoghese brasiliano

LINEE GUIDA

L’adozione di un accento rispetto ad un altro è innanzitutto una scelta personale, dettata dalle contingenze  dai gusti e dal materiale a disposizione.

Se siete indecisi potreste decidere secondo le seguenti linee guida

Materiale

Se siete autodidatti, disporre di materiale abbondante e di buona qualità è una conditio sine qua non per avviare uno studio efficace di una lingua. Se una versione di una lingua ha molto meno materiale rispetto ad un’altra, vi consiglio di scegliere per la quale esistono maggiori risorse. Mi riferisco a materiale cartaceo con supporto audio. Un mio studente mi ha confessato di aver optato per lo spagnolo di Spagna – nonostante gli piacesse di meno –perché non trovava sufficienti risorse per imparare una delle varianti sudamericane.

Risorse umane

Le persone sono una risorsa fondamentale per imparare a parlare bene una lingua. La lingua è un mezzo di comunicazione, e l’interazione con le altre persone permette di aggiungere il fattore emotivo, sociale e comportamentale nell’acquisizione di una lingua straniera. Se avete la possibilità di praticare una lingua quasi da subito – se per esempio avete un compagno o un amico a vostro fianco – adottare l’accento del paese di origine di quella persona può essere un fattore essenziale nel miglioramento e lo sviluppo non solo di quella persona, ma di tutte quelle che la circondano. Se per esempio avete una ragazza cilena e avete la possibilità di viaggiare in Cile, sarete più motivati a imparare quella variante dello spagnolo.

Questo vale per le frequentazioni in generale. Se nella vostra città ci sono numerose persone proveniente da una certa nazione invece che un’altra, e avete occasione di frequentarle e vederle spesso, sarete più motivati ad imparare quella lingua. Per fare un esempio concentro, è molto più facile praticare inglese americano a Roma rispetto ad altre varianti dell’inglese grazie alla massiccia presenza di americani nella capitale italiana.

Viaggi

Anche senza avere necessariamente un rapporto sentimentale, esiste sempre l’occasione di viaggiare. Se per motivi di lavoro o piacere frequentate spesso alcuni luoghi invece di altri, questo può essere un ulteriore stimolo per imparare quella lingua.

Lavoro

Anche la vostra attività lavorativa potrebbe svolgere un ruolo rilevante nella scelta di una lingua. Se per esempio dovete fare affari o viaggi di lavoro in Brasile, imparare il portoghese brasiliano rispetto a quello continentale potrebbe agevolare di molto trattative o semplicemente rapporti di lavoro.

Gusti

“De gustibus disputandum non est – dicevano gli antichi Romani. I gusti non si discutono. Nell’apprendimento delle lingue i migliori studenti sono quelli che capiscono in fretta cosa piace fare loro, e questo vale naturalmente anche per gli accenti. Scegliere una lingua che vi piace ascoltare vi invoglierà ad ascoltare di più e a passare tempo con la lingua

CONCLUSIONE

La scelta di un accento è una scelta personale, ed è dettata da contingenze, rapporti sentimentali, lavoro, gusti, disponibilità di materiale e possibilità viaggiare e conoscere persone. Spesso si sono create delle incomprensioni per motivi storici, estetici e fonetici, a livello continentale, nazionale e regionale.

Tuttavia, le lingue rimangono un mezzo di comunicazione. Se una persona è gradevole e parla con proprietà di linguaggio, l’accento con cui parla svolge un ruolo decisamente minore, e l’interlocutore si concentrerà più sul contenuto che sulla forma.

Non importa veramente con quale accento parlate, l’importante è parlare bene e stabilire un contatto emotivo, un’empatia con il vostro interlocutore. Un interlocutore gradevole è gradevole a prescindere dall’accento con cui parla/che ha adottato

Qui c’è un video (in inglese,spagnolo e portoghese) in cui io e i miei “compagni poliglotti” discutiamo delle nostre scelte personali riguardo gli accenti. Spero sarà di vostro gradimento!

Audio file of this Italian translation (read by Luca Lampariello) at the end of this post

Français

CHOISIR UN ACCENT

Selon les estimations actuelles, il y a approximativement 6000 langues vivantes à travers le monde. Certaines d’entre elles jouissent d’un statut unique, celui de « langues dominantes » car elles sont utilisées comme instruments de communication quotidienne par un nombre conséquent de personnes. Parmi ces langues, certaines sont utilisées sur plusieurs continents.

Lorsqu’une langue s’étend sur une importante surface géographique, des variations locales apparaissent, assez similaires entre elles mais avec un vocabulaire différent et, bien sûr, des accents différents.

Le mot « accent » peut avoir différentes significations selon son utilisation. Dans cet article, cependant, je me référerai à la définition suivante:

1- (Linguistique/ Phonétique) le mode de prononciation caractéristique d’une personne ou d’un groupe, révélant son origine sociale ou géographique.

Le statut d’une langue en particulier est, bien sûr, un résultat de son histoire : la colonisation, la migration et l’immigration ainsi que (malheureusement)  les invasions, les occupations et les guerres. Dans ce contexte, la langue prend une autre dimension. Non seulement, elle sert à communiquer mais elle a aussi une signification culturelle et politique. L’accent est un trait inhérent à un pays et à un peuple.

Cette introduction sert, en partie, à expliquer à quel point le choix d’un accent peut provoquer une confrontation avec une réalité complexe, voire une certaine antipathie et de l’incompréhension, ce qui peut autrement être difficile à appréhender.

Mon expérience

Je me souviens vivement d’une conversation que j’ai eue dans un bar à Madrid avec un jeune colombien. Nous parlions des accents et il a déclaré : « L’accent en Espagne est affreux. A chaque fois que nous écoutons des touristes espagnols discuter, on rigole et on se moque d’eux ». Cette déclaration m’avait quelque peu abasourdi. Je croyais, naïvement, que posséder une langue commune aurait créé un lien entre des peuples séparés par l’océan mais qui partageaient des traits culturels communs grâce à la même langue. D’un côté, il est indéniable qu’il existe un « esprit latin » mais de l’autre, il faut savoir que la langue espagnole a été imposée à ces peuples par les Espagnols il y a plusieurs siècles par le biais de la guerre et de la barbarie.

Ces dernières ont détruit des peuples entiers, extinction causée également par des maladies qui étaient jusqu’à alors inconnues sur le nouveau monde. Le système immunitaire des peuples indigènes n’était pas habitué à ce type de maladies. Ces massacres générèrent un ressentiment qui s’est transmis de génération en génération et qui ne s’est jamais éteint, malgré les siècles passés.

Au cours de ces dernières années, j’ai remarqué que ce jeune colombien était loin d’être le seul dans son cas. Sans vouloir généraliser, j’ai rencontré beaucoup de sud-américains qui n’aimaient pas du tout l’accent espagnol. Certains le trouvent plus dur que les variations parlées en Amérique du Sud et parfois, cela finit par une allusion aux conquistadores.

Dans certains commentaires de mes vidéos Youtube, plusieurs commentaires apparaissaient  pour défendre ou non l’accent espagnol et il y a eu des malentendus mutuels (et parfois des insultes).

Une fille américaine avait même publié une vidéo où, fièrement, elle déclarait qu’elle optait pour l’accent espagnol malgré les diverses critiques et moqueries de la part de résidents sud-américains aux Etats-Unis ou de citoyens américains d’origine sud-américaine.

L’anglais, le français et le portugais sont d’autres exemples connaissant le même phénomène, bien que de manière différente. Dans le cas de l’anglais, j’ai conscience que l’accent américain n’est pas très bien accepté en Angleterre par une partie de la population, et j’ai entendu de mes propres oreilles l’affirmation que « l’ accent américain était idiot ». Évidemment, ce n’est pas l’avis de toute la population anglaise, et je suis sûr que des américains trouvent l’accent anglais désagréable. Mais l’anglais est une langue globale, qui n’est pas limitée à l’Angleterre et à l’Amérique.

Un autre cas probant est celui du portugais. Beaucoup de brésiliens m’ont demandé pourquoi diable je choisirai l’accent portugais à celui du Brésil qui est davantage parlé et bien plus populaire auprès des étrangers que des lusophones d’origine. D’après eux, non seulement l’accent brésilien est plus agréable à écouter, mais c’est aussi celui d’un pays avec une forte expansion économique. Effectivement, j’ai remarqué une plus forte appréciation de l’accent brésilien que de l’accent du « vieux continent ». En tant qu’italien, je suis surpris par tout cela car notre langue est confinée à l’Italie et il reste peu de personnes dans nos anciennes colonies (comme l’Ethiopie ou l’Erythrée) qui le parlent encore. Alors pour nous, c’est étrange d’entendre un italien drastiquement différent dans une autre partie du monde (là où les dialectes des immigrants ont été utilisés depuis le début du 20ème siècle).

Néanmoins, je comprends, en partie, ces malentendus car nous les avons également, bien que ce soit à l’échelle régionale. L’italien a plus de dialectes que n’importe quelle autre langue dans le monde, avec une variété incroyable d’accents. Dans certains endroits en Italie, il suffit de faire 10-15 km pour entendre un autre accent. Cette fragmentation de l’accent vient d’une fragmentation politique. Avant 1860, l’Italie était toujours divisé en cités-états, très différentes les unes des autres avec des histoires et des développements complètements différents. Il y a souvent une hostilité mutuelle, une antipathie non seulement entre régions mais aussi entre villes et communautés au sein des régions. Nous appelons ce phénomène « campanilismo ».

Certains accents sonnent bien aux oreilles, d’autres non.

Comment choisir un accent : mon expérience avec cinq accents

Une des questions que l’on me pose le plus souvent sur Youtube concerne l’accent à adopter.

Je vais commencer par vous parler de mon expérience avec l’anglais, le français, l’espagnol et l’allemand.

La première chose qui vous saute aux yeux quand vous regardez mes vidéos est le fait que je parle avec l’accent américain, la version « transatlantique » alors que je parle avec l’accent européen des quatre autres langues.

Parfois, arrivé à un certain âge, quelqu’un peut décider d’apprendre une langue avec tel accent. Dans le cas de l’anglais, je n’avais pas à choisir, c’était l’anglais américain qui m’a choisi, comme je l’explique dans la vidéo. J’avais un tuteur privé venant de Chicago, 95% des films en langue anglaise que je visionnais étaient américains et mes amis à Rome étaient tous américains.

Quand j’ai appris le français, j’ai commencé à l’école et la seule chaîne non satellitaire que nous captions était une chaîne française. De plus, il y avait une relative pénurie de ressources dans d’autres variantes du français (comme le québécois, le français parlé en Belgique, en Suisse et dans plusieurs pays d’Afrique). Même chose pour l’espagnol : le premier cours d’espagnol que j’ai pris était enseigné exclusivement  en espagnol d’Espagne, et pour la plupart des autres cours également. C’était obligatoire.

L’allemand ne faisait pas exception non plus étant donné que seul le « Hochdeutsch » est enseigné, du moins en Italie. Si j’étais parti vivre en Autriche, apprenant la langue là-bas, j’aurais fini par apprendre l’allemand autrichien, mais j’ai décidé d’apprendre l’allemand à la maison, et les ressources que j’utilisais concernaient uniquement l’allemand d’Allemagne.

Pour le portugais, le choix était un peu plus difficile. Il y a à la base deux versions et j’ai finalement décidé d’apprendre le portugais du Portugal car j’aimais sa sonorité, bien que, comme je l’ai écrit plus haut, beaucoup de gens aimait le portugais brésilien.

INSTRUCTIONS

Adopter un accent plutôt qu’un autre est tout d’abord (et surtout) un choix personnel dicté par ses goûts et le matériel dont on dispose.
Si vous êtes encore indécis, vous pouvez choisir l’accent selon les conseils suivants.

Ressources matérielles

Si vous étudiez en autodidacte, avoir bon nombre de ressources de bonne qualité est absolument essentiel. Si une variante de la langue désirée a bien moins de ressources que l’autre, je vous conseille de choisir celle qui a le plus de ressources. Je parle de ressources contenant une version imprimée et un CD d’accompagnement. Un de mes étudiants m’a avoué qu’il avait choisi l’espagnol d’Espagne, même s’il l’aimait moins, car il ne pouvait pas trouver de ressources suffisantes pour apprendre une des variétés en Amérique du Sud.

Ressources humaines

Les gens sont une ressource fondamentale pour bien apprendre une langue. La langue est un moyen de communication et l’interaction avec d’autres personnes permet d’additionner les aspects émotionnel, social et comportemental tout en acquérant une langue étrangère. Si vous avez l’opportunité de pratiquer une langue tout de suite, par exemple si vous avez un ami ou un/une compagnon/compagne à vos côtés, adopter l’accent du pays d’origine de cette personne peut être un élément essentiel dans l’amélioration et le développement non seulement de cette personne mais aussi des personnes autour d’elle. Si, par exemple, vous avez une petite amie chilienne et que vous avez l’occasion de voyager au Chili, vous serez davantage motivé pour apprendre cette variante de l’espagnol.
Cela vaut pour les associations en général. Si vous avez beaucoup de personnes dans votre ville venant d’un même pays et que vous avez l’occasion de les rencontrer et de les voir souvent, vous serez plus motivé pour apprendre leur version de cette langue. Pour vous donner un exemple spécifique, il est plus facile de pratiquer l’anglais américain à Rome que les autres variantes de l’anglais, grâce à la présence massive d’américains dans la capitale italienne.

Voyage

Même sans avoir nécessairement une relation personnelle avec des gens d’autres pays, il est toujours possible de voyager. Si vous allez fréquemment dans un lieu précis, que ce soit pour le voyage ou le plaisir, cela peut être une motivation supplémentaire pour apprendre telle langue.

Travail

Même votre emploi peut jouer un grand rôle dans le choix d’une langue. Si, par exemple, vous faites souvent du business avec des brésiliens ou voyagez au Brésil pour votre travail, apprendre le portugais brésilien plutôt que de parler anglais peut grandement faciliter les négociations ou les relations commerciales.

Goûts

“De gustibus disputandum non est” comme disaient les anciens Romains. Les goûts personnels ne se discutent pas. Concernant l’apprentissage d’une langue, les meilleurs étudiants sont ceux qui comprennent vite ce qui leur plait dans ce qu’ils font, et cela vaut évidemment pour les accents. Choisir une langue que vous aimez écouter vous encourage à écouter davantage cette langue et à investir plus de temps dans son étude.

CONCLUSION

Le choix d’un accent est personnel et est dicté par l’entourage, le travail, les préférences, la disponibilité du matériel et les opportunités de voyage. Souvent, des malentendus surgissent à cause d’évènements historiques, d’aspects esthétique et phonétique à un niveau continental, national et régional.

Mais les langues restent un moyen de communication. Si une personne est sympathique et parle avec décence, l’accent avec lequel elle parle joue un rôle très mineur et l’interlocuteur se concentrera davantage sur le contenu que sur la forme.

L’accent utilisé n’est pas vraiment important ; ce qui est important est de bien parler et d’établir une communication empathique, en harmonie avec l’autre. Un interlocuteur agréable est agréable, peu importe son accent.

Dans cette vidéo (en anglais, espagnol et portugais), mes amis polyglottes et moi-même discutons de nos propres choix en matière d’accents. J’espère que vous allez l’adorer!.

Traduit à partir de l’anglais par Alexandre Avignon et lu par Solal.

Audio file at the end of this post.

Alexandre Avignon (traducteur) est un français qui  possède un DUT Métiers du Livre et une LP en iconographie obtenus à l’IUT Charlemagne (Nancy).

En plus du français, il possède un bon niveau d’anglais, allemand et’italien et apprend en auto-didacte l’espagnol et le néerlandais. Ses rêves sont devenir écrivain, maitriser au moins quatre langues étrangères et voyager. Il vit actuellement à Limoges en quête d’un travail et de nouvelles expériences.

Solal Cohen-Steiner est un français qui vit à Berlin. Il se passionne depuis plusieurs années pour les langues étrangères. Après l’anglais et l’allemand il apprend l’espagnol et le japonais. Il tient un blog sur le sujet, AstucesLangues et aide également ses compatriotes à apprendre l’anglais sur son site Manabi.fr.

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Japanese

アクセントの選択

今日の調査によると、世界には現在約6000語の言語が存在しています。そのうちのいくつかは日常におけるコミュニケーションの手段として使う人が非常に多いため、『支配的な』言語とも言える特別な地位を得ています。その中には２つ以上の大陸で話されているものもあります。広域にわたる一言語の拡大は、地域ごとにその多様性を生み出し、それらは似通ってはいるものの異なる語彙や、当然のことながら、異なるアクセントを持ちます。

『アクセント』という言葉は使われる分野や文脈によって意味が異なりますが、ここでは以下のように定義します。

（言語学／音声学と音韻学）『一部の人やグループによる特有な発音法で、それがその人の社会的あるいは地理的起源を表すもの』

いくつかの言語が得ている地位は当然歴史によるものです。つまり、植民地化や移住による人の出入り、そして悲しいことに侵略・占領・戦争の歴史が生み出したものなのです。こういった意味で、言語は単にコミュニケーションの手段であるだけではなく、政治的・文化的意味を内包した、国家や国民を特徴づけるものとも言えるでしょう。

この概説は、なぜアクセントの選択が時に人を複雑な現実に直面させたり、理解しがたい嫌悪感や誤解を招くことになってしまうのかを説明するためのものでもあるのです。

私の経験

私はかつてマドリードのバーで、ある若いコロンビア人の男性とかわした会話を今でも鮮明に覚えています。彼はアクセントについて話していたのですが、私にこう言ったのです。「スペインのスペイン語アクセントは本当に耳障りで、スペイン人の旅行者が話すのを聞くたびに、笑ってしまうし、それでからかったりするんですよ。」私はこの一言に少し反感を抱きました。なぜなら、共通の言語を持つということは、海を隔てて離れているものの、実際は一つの同じ言語から派生した共通の文化的特徴を持っている人々の関係を結びつけていると単純に考えていたからです。いわゆる「ラテンの精神／文化」であることは否定できない事実でありますが、一方でスペイン語は、何世紀にも渡ってスペイン人が押しつけてきた言語だという事実に目を向けなくてはならないのです。スペイン人は当時「新しい大陸」に免疫の無かった病気を持ちこみ、戦争やあらゆる野蛮行為によって種族の廃絶をもたらしたのです。

この大虐殺が生み出した憎悪は何世代にも渡って語り継がれ、どれだけ年月が経っても消え去ることはないでしょう。

そうして、ここ数年間でこのコロンビア人の彼のように考える人が他にもたくさんいることに気が付きました。一概にすべての南米の人がそうとは言えませんが、スペインアクセントのスペイン語を嫌う多くの南米の人々に私は出会いました。そのうちの何人かは他の南米の人々に比べアクセントがきつく、会話が歴史やコンキスタドールについてまでに発展するようなこともありました。それはYouTube上にも現れ、私のビデオにスペインアクセントに対しての賛否のコメントが多数寄せられ、時には侮辱するような相互無理解の内容が多く見られました。その他、あるアメリカ人女性は自身のビデオで、アメリカ合衆国にいる南米の人々や南米系アメリカ人からの様々な批判の的にされているにもかかわらず、スペインのスペイン語アクセントを選んだことに対して誇りを持って主張していました。

このようなことは過程は違っても、英語やフランス語、ポルトガル語にも似たようなことがあります。英語の場合ですと、英国ではアメリカアクセントの英語はある人たちにはあまり受け入れられないようで、私自身の耳で聞いた話ですが、アメリカアクセントはバカっぽいとまで言われています。これは明らかに全英国人の意見を反映したものではないのですが、アメリカアクセントが受け入れられにくいということを感じたアメリカ人が多いことは否めません。しかし、今や英語は国際語であり、英国やアメリカ合衆国だけに限られた言語ではありません。

もう一つのよい例としてポルトガル語があります。多くのブラジル人が何故より多くの人が話すブラジルアクセントではなく、ポルトガルアクセントを私が選んだのかと聞いてきたのです。確かに、ブラジルアクセントはポルトガルアクセントに比べ、母国語話者だけでなく外国人にもより人気があるのです。それはただ単に響きが良いという理由からだけではなく、聞いた話によると、強い経済成長を遂げている国で話されている言語だからだというのです。実際、個人的にも「大陸の」アクセントに比べ、ブラジルアクセントの方が高い評価を受けているということを感じました。

イタリア人の私としては、これは大変な驚きでした。なぜなら、イタリア語はイタリア国内に限られた言語で、話されているといってもそれはエチオピアやエリトリアなどファシストのイタリアの旧植民地で話す人が少し残っているぐらいです。ですから、イタリア人にとっては20世紀初頭に移民した人たちが話すアクセントのような世界の別の地域で話されている全然違ったアクセントのイタリア語を聞くことは奇妙な感じがします。

ただ、このような無理解が全く理解できないわけではありません。なぜなら、イタリアでも地域レベルではありますが、同じようなことがあるからです。イタリア語は世界の言語の中でも特に方言が多い言語であり、非常に多くのアクセントを有しています。いくつかの地域においては、ほんの10～15km離れただけで違うアクセントが聞こえてくるのです。このアクセントの分裂はそもそも政治の分裂から起こったものです。というのもイタリアは152年前まではまだたくさんの異なった国であり、それぞれが異なる歴史を持ち発展してきていたのです。ですから、地域レベルだけではなく、同じ地域の中でも町や群落レベルで違いがあり、互いに反感を抱くことがあるのです。（それを私たちは“カンパリニズモ”（郷土愛主義）と呼んでいます。）

私にも好きなアクセントとそうでもないものがあるのです。

アクセントの選び方：5つの言語における私の経験

ユーチューブでよく聞かれる質問に、どのアクセントを身に付ければいいのかというのがあります。

ここでは、英語、フランス語、スペイン語、ドイツ語における私の経験を書きたいと思います。

まず、私のビデオをご覧になった方は驚かれたことと思いますが、私の英語はアメリカ英語です。つまり、他の４言語はヨーロッパのアクセントで話しますが、英語だけは海を越えたアメリカのアクセントなのです。

たまにある年齢になってから習いたい言語を決め、どのアクセントを習うのかも選ぶことがあります。しかし、このビデオ（LINK）で紹介したように私にとってアメリカ英語は私が選んだのではなく、私を取り巻く環境がアメリカ英語だったのです。というのも、私の個人レッスンの先生はシカゴ出身でしたし、見ていた映画はアメリカ英語でした。また、ローマにいる友達は全員アメリカ人でした。

フランス語は、学校で習い始めましたが、地上波放送で見ることができたのはフランスのチャンネルだけでした。さらに言えば、ケベクワやベルギー・スイス、その他たくさんのアフリカの国々で話されているようなフランス語のアクセントを学ぶためのテキストが比較的に少ないのです。同じことがスペイン語にも言えます。初めてのスペイン語コースではスペインアクセントだけを教えていましたし、他の多くのコースでも同じでした。要するに、避けられない選択だったのです。ドイツ語においても同じで、ほとんどのコースで標準ドイツ語（ホッホドイチュ）を教えていました。少なくともイタリアではそうでした。もしオーストリアに住み、そこでドイツ語を学んでいたら恐らくオーストリアドイツ語を学んでいたでしょう。しかし、私は自宅で学ぶことにしたので、そこで使った教材はすべて標準ドイツ語だったのです。

ポルトガル語のアクセントは少し選びづらかったです。実際２つのアクセントが選択肢にあり、悩んだ末、ポルトガルアクセントを選びました。先ほど述べたように、多くの人がブラジルアクセントを好んでいますが、私はポルトガルアクセントの音が好きだったのです。

ガイドライン

アクセントの選択は、何よりもまず、自分の置かれている状況や自分の好み、使える教材などによって個人的に決めるものです。

しかし、もしまだ決めていない方は以下のガイドラインを参考にしてみてください。

教材

独学であれば、たくさんのよい教材を用意することは効果的な学習に欠かせないことです。もし、ある言語アクセントが他のアクセントに比べて教材が少ないのであれば、教材の多い方のアクセントを選択することをお勧めします。ここでいう教材とは音声付きのテキストブックです。ある私の生徒は、スペイン語のアクセント選択であまり好きではなかったスペインアクセントを選ばなくてはならなかったという話をしてくれました。なぜなら、ある南アメリカのアクセントは教材が十分になかったからというのです。

人的資源

人は言語学習において基本的な資源です。言語はコミュニケーションを取るための方法であり、言語習得において人とふれあうことは、そこへ感情、社会性、行動性などの要素を加えていくことになるのです。もしあなたが今すぐにでも言語を練習できる機会があるのであれば、それは例えば恋人や親しい友人などになると思いますが、その人の出身国のアクセントを身につけることはその人だけに関わらず、その人を取り巻くすべてのものとの関係を築いていくのに必要不可欠な要素となるでしょう。例えば、もしチリ人の彼女がいて、チリへ旅行をする機会があるとすると、チリアクセントのスペイン語を意欲的に学びたいと思うのではないでしょうか。

こういったことはどんな付き合い方においても言えるでしょう。もし、あなたの町にある国から来た人たちがたくさんいて、よく会う機会があったならば、彼らの言語を学んでみたいと思うでしょう。具体的な例で言うと、ローマでは、非常に多くのアメリカ人がいるおかげで、他のどの英語アクセントよりアメリカアクセントを練習するのが簡単なのです。

旅行

たとえ外国人と個人的な関係を築く必要がない場合でも、旅行する機会はあるでしょう。仕事や余暇でよくその場所へ行くというのであれば、それがそこで使われている言語を学ぶ動機になるでしょう。

仕事

仕事もアクセント選択において大きな決定要因となるでしょう。例えば、ブラジルで仕事をしたり、出張でブラジルへ行くのであれば、ブラジルアクセントのポルトガル語を学ぶのはポルトガルアクセントを学ぶより、ビジネス交渉はもちろんのことビジネス関係を築く上で役に立つことでしょう。

好み

“De gustibus disputandum non est”と古代ローマ人が言っていたように、蓼食う虫も好き好きです。言語学習において優れた学習者とは、何をするのが楽しいのかがすぐわかる人です。そしてこれは当然のことながらアクセントにも言えます。聞きたいアクセントを選ぶと、もっと聞いていたいと思いますし、時間を忘れてしまうものです。

おわりに

アクセントの選択は、個人的なものであり、恋人や仕事、好み、使える教材、旅行の機会、知り合いなどから偶発的に導かれるものなのです。しかし、大陸、国、地域レベルで歴史的、音声的、また耳への心地よさといった理由から誤った捉え方をされることも多いのです。

とはいっても、言語はコミュニケーションの手段であることに変わりはなく、好感のもてる人が言語を正しく話せば,どんなアクセントで話していようと大きな問題ではなく、相手は形より内容に集中して聞いてくれるでしょう。

重要なのはどのアクセントで話すかではなく、上手に話して感情を伝え、相手と共感することなのです。聞いていて楽しいと思う相手はどんなアクセントで話していても楽しいものです。

こちらに、私と私のポリグロット仲間がアクセントに関するそれぞれの個人的な選択について語っているビデオが英語、スペイン語、ポルトガル語であります。是非見てみて下さい。

Translated by: Saeko Hosokawa who is Japanese and lives in London, enjoys learning languages such as English, Italian, Spanish, Chinese. She is also a qualified japanese language teacher, gives private lessons. She hopes to learn French, Swedish too.

Audio file at the end of this post.

LUCA, RICHARD AND SUSANNA TALK ABOUT CHOOSING AN ACCENT IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Transcript of the video

Richard: You speak Brazilian Portuguese

Susanna: It’s a mix. My accent is a mixture of the Portuguese accent from Brazil and that of Portugal.

Richard: How is that possible? How is it possible to speak a mixture of Brazilian and continental Portuguese?

Susanna: It’s because I live in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. No, I’m just kidding. Where I live in San José, California, there’s a large population of Portuguese immigrants from the Azores islands. They have their own radio station. When I was driving to work, I would listen to their radio station. So I started with Portuguese from Portugal. At home, I had a Portuguese language book, Com liçença, Brazilian Portuguese for Spanish speakers. Then I started with Brazilian music. Now I have Brazilian friends and I go to a weekly Brazilian hiking group on Saturdays. We walk and we speak in Portuguese. But when I don’t want to speak in Portuguese, I speak in English and they speak to me in Portuguese. So I hear a lot of Brazilian Portuguese. But I think my vowels are more Portuguese, they are more closed.

But I want to work in Brazil because in Brazil, there’s a big market for English and Spanish language learning.  They are getting ready for the Olympic Games and the World Cup. So I think I need to improve my Brazilian pronunciation to work in Brazil.

Richard: And sing as well?

Susanna: Oh yes and sing “Nossa. nossa. ai você me mata…”

Richard: My daughter is always singing this song. It’s really popular in Macedonia now. My daughter wants to sing this song. I thought it was really odd that she could pronounce all of those words. I didn’t know she could sing all of the words. It’s weird to me.

Susanna: Your daughter can sing the whole song? Wow! She is a very intelligent 5 year old girl.

Luca: She’s Richard’s daughter.

Susanna: Yes, of course, she’s Richard’s daughter. Luca, how did you learn Portuguese?

Luca: I wanted to learn continental Portuguese. There’s always this issue with accents. People wonder why an Italian would speak American English. Or French. Or Spanish, I didn’t know that there were so many misunderstandings between people from Spain and Mexico or from other parts of Latin America, they don’t like the Spanish accent. People ask me why I speak with a Spanish accent. But in Italy it’s normal to learn European Spanish or European Portuguese. When I meet people from Brazil, the first question they ask me is, “Why do you speak with such an annoying accent?”

Normally, Brazilians, well you know, it’s like in American English, the vowels are more open. The French, the Spanish, foreigners in general, think that Brazilian Portuguese sounds nicer than European Portuguese. But there are also political and historical issues. It’s Brazil, it’s important to speak Brazilian Portuguese. But if you speak continental Portuguese, people understand what you are saying, but they don’t like how it sounds. So if you want to work in Brazil, it’s better to speak with a Brazilian accent. Many people say that Portuguese is Portuguese. But the accent is part of the country’s identity. If you speak with a Brazilian accent, it’s different, people will treat you differently.

I’m Italian and I don’t know if I will go to work in Brazil. Maybe I will have to speak slower so people can understand everything I am saying. Normally, the issue is that Brazilians don’t like my accent so they prefer to speak in English. This isn’t the case with everyone. But there are some people who like the Portuguese accent and Portugal. But many Brazilians and other foreigners (non-Portuguese people) don’t like the Portuguese accent. They say it’s ugly.

I think you have to learn a language to say if it’s nice or not. For example, with Dutch or Portuguese, people say they don’t like those languages. But after learning them, it’s a different story. It’s the same with Catalan. When I was in Barcelona, in Catalunya, I didn’t like the sound of Catalan at the beginning but now I like it a lot. The first thing to do is to speak the language. With Brazilians … with Spanish, I get the question about my accent and why I speak European Spanish. At first, I didn’t understand why people asked me this.  I am speaking Spanish. There are many similarities between the different versions of Spanish, the one in Latin America and the one in Spain. But behind the accent,  there are other things that foreigners don’t understand at first but later on they learn when they speak with people.

Susanna: I think we should talk about accents. Sometimes people ask me, “Do you think I should start with Mexican, Peruvian or European Spanish?”

I think you should listen to all of the accents at the beginning. I started with European Portuguese and I don’t have any problems understand Portuguese people when they speak. And I understand almost everything that Brazilians say. But some people tell me, “I started with Brazilian Portuguese and I can’t understand people from Portugal. And I say, “How can that be? I have no problems understanding them.” The same goes for Spanish because my first Spanish teacher was from Spain and I can understand European Spanish and Latin American Spanish because I hear it, I’ve traveled in Latin America.

My parents, in the USSR, only learned British English. So when they came to the US, it was a big shock to hear American English. What do you two do when you are learning a language with various accents? Do you listen to all of the versions of the language?

Luca: At the very beginning I always use a language series like ASSIMIL. This language series generally offers the European version of languages like French or Spanish. I believe that the way one learns a language plays an important role. Learning with a book and listening to the standard European version of the language is different from, say, going to Quebec and being exposed to Quebequois. As for Portuguese, I actually had the choice between ASSIMIL bresilien and ASSIMIL Portuguese from Portugual, and I opted for the Portuguese version so it was a deliberate choice I made. I think it is important to go for one version of the language since the very beginning especially if you want to sound like a native and not mix up accents. You can always absorb other accents later

I think it is important to do that if you want to acquire a well-defined linguistic identity. As said, I the case of French and Spanish it was easy for me. In Italy the only choice you get is Spanish from Spain and French from France, there are no such courses as “argentinian Spanish” or other versions from South America. As for German, ..Germany had a couple of colonies but it is not a language spoken everywhere. One normally learns “hochdeutsch” – German from Germany. Unless you go to Austria or Switzerland and get exposed to other regional variations of the language, one normally learns German from Germany both in schools and in language series like ASSIMIL. English is a special case because American English is wide spread thanks to movies for example. My adive is to choose one accent. You always have time to explore other accents if you want to. Now, this is only my humble opinion and I guess that the King of languages will offer a different perspective

In my case, I first started learning Spanish in Madrid, with a Spanish teacher. I later moved to France and I was exposed to a southern accent, andalusian Spanish, by living with people from Malaga. I then moved to other countries and lived with South Americans, namely from Peru, Ecuador Venezuela, and I picked up a “middle atlantic” accent. Nevertheless, I always go back to castlian Spanish, especially andalusian. I can speak standard Spanish but I got used to andalusian and when I speak the standard version I have to focus on how to articulate every word, and it is more difficult if you have to speak to people for a long period of time. As for German, I lived in a region near Holland, where “low-german” is spoken, so I used to say “dat, wat” instead of “dass, was”. I also had friends from Switzerland, so I like playing with numbers and use th “swiss version” of those. I think that being able to speak with different accents is enriching and gives you the possibility of understanding the people of those countries better, because it makes you aware of differences within the same world. I think that absorbing new accents is a valuable thing to do.

 Audio files of this post – English, Italian, French and Japanese:

The post Choosing an accent appeared first on the polyglot dream.

¿Se puede hablar un idioma no materno con acento prácticamente nativo? Sí se puede… si quieres.

En España había un anuncio de una academia de inglés que decía: ¿si te dieran a elegir entre una pastilla que te diera una pronunciación perfecta y una pastilla que hiciera que tuvieras un inglés perfecto… ?¿cuál elegirías?.

En el ejemplo de la pastilla para una pronunciación perfecta, se escuchaba a una persona que pronunciaba muy bien pero no entendía cuando le hablaban y tampoco sabía muy bien lo que estaba saliendo por su boca… ¡eso sí! su pronunciación era perfecta. Te daban a entender que tenías que elegir entre una cosa u otra, además de que una pronunciación perfecta no te llevaba a nada en realidad, que no era una cosa importante.

Engañas a la gente si empiezas pronunciando muy bien

Creo que este anuncio de radio ejemplifica muy bien lo que piensa la mayoría de la gente, que al principio para qué vas a esforzarte mucho en la pronunciación, la gente va a asumir que tu inglés (o cualquier otro idioma que estés estudiando) es bueno, cuando en realidad todavía no lo es, y la gente nativa te hablará como si supieses mucho más inglés del que en realidad sabes, y tú lo pasarás mal.

Este razonamiento me parece absurdo, ya que no cuesta nada avisar de que estás empezando y que a pesar de que pronuncias bastante bien, tu nivel de inglés es bajo. Tardas 1 minuto en aclararlo y a partir de ahí te hablarán de una manera sencilla que tú puedas comprender.

¿Es importante tener una buena pronunciación?

La mayoría de la gente piensa que da igual, que mientras te entiendan, es suficiente. Está claro que cada cual debe hacer lo que le venga en gana, pero a mí personalmente me gusta cuando escucho a gente no nativa que pronuncia el español (mi lengua materna) sin acento extranjero, me causa verdadera admiración, me parece que una persona con buen nivel y además una buena pronunciación “luce” mucho más. Da la sensación de que sabe más que una que tiene perfecta gramática pero pronuncia de aquella manera. Y es obvio que no hay que elegir, se puede tener ambas cosas.

Incluso hay mucha gente que piensa que mantener el acento de tu país es algo bueno, te da personalidad, suena sexy y es parte de ti. Es una opinión también respetable, obviamente.

¿Cuándo es el mejor momento para trabajar sobre tu pronunciación?

Aquí hay 3 teorías:

1 – Es mejor trabajarla desde el principio.

2 – Otra, es que ya te preocuparás de mejorarla cuando tu nivel en el idioma sea alto.

Mi experiencia es que es mucho mejor esforzarse al principio, ya que si decides trabajar sobre tu pronunciación más adelante, ya llevarás sobre tus espaldas un montón de malos hábitos, que luego va a hacer que tengas que esforzarte el doble para “arreglarlos”.

3 – La tercera, es que no hace falta esforzarse o trabajar para pronunciar bien, que es algo que aprenderás sin darte cuenta, escuchando y hablando mucho.

Para mí, esta teoría suena bien, pero creo que en la inmensa mayoría de los casos, no es verdad. Un claro ejemplo de esto es gente extranjera que lleva viviendo en el país 20 o 30 años y tiene una pronunciación desastrosa. Quizás su nivel en el idioma sea muy bueno pero pronuncian fatal. Esto también demuestra que vivir en el país no es requisito imprescindible ni suficiente para tener una buena pronunciación.

Diría que esta tercera teoría te lleva a pronunciar más o menos bien y serás capaz de hacerte entender, pero solo escuchar y hablar mucho no te llevará a pronunciar realmente bien. Ciertas personas con una habilidad especial para coger los sonidos quizás sí lleguen a pronunciar muy bien, pero para el resto de los mortales creo que no va a llevarnos muy lejos en nuestra misión de tener una buena pronunciación.

¿Se puede llegar a tener una pronunciación casi de persona nativa?

La gente dice que sí, pero solo si aprendes el idioma de pequeña, antes de los 12 años. Más tarde, ya es imposible o cuanto menos dificilísimo… eso dicen.

Tenemos el ejemplo de Luca, que ha aprendido sus idiomas después de los 12 años y mírale cómo pronuncia (¡que asqueroso es, qué envidia le tengo!) (es broma). La gente lo que dice, es que claro, Luca es superdotado para los idiomas y por eso pronuncia como una persona nativa.

No sé si Luca es superdotado, ni si tiene una habilidad innata, pero sé que trabaja muchísimo e invierte muchísimas horas en cada idioma que aprende, quizás si todo el mundo estudiase tanto, con esa pasión y de manera tan eficaz como él, nuestra pronunciación se podría igualar o asemejar a la de una persona nativa, como le pasa a él.

Lo que he aprendido con las clases de Luca

Llevo recibiendo unas cuantas clases de Luca para mejorar mi pronunciación en inglés y, entre otras cosas, me ha hecho ver algo importantísimo :

Que casi más importante que pronunciar bien las palabras de forma aislada, lo que hace que suenes como una nativa es la melodía de las frases. Puedes pronunciar de manera perfecta cada una de las palabras, pero si a la frase no le das la entonación adecuada, nunca sonarás como la gente nativa. Es más, si tienes bien la melodía pero te confundes y pronuncias ciertas palabras peor, sonarás mejor que la persona que pronuncia bien las palabras aisladas pero no entona bien las frases.

Para más inri, además resulta que una palabra tiene una pronunciación digamos estándar, pero según esté al principio, en medio o al final de la frase, tendrá diferente entonación.

Un ejemplo: Madrid es la capital de España. Yo vivo en Madrid.

Y no he acabado, resulta que llevo toda la vida pronunciando mal las frases, ya que nunca me he fijado en esto de la melodía y nadie me ha enseñado y nadie jamás me dijo que esto tenía tanta importancia. Las profesoras y profesores de inglés lo más que te dicen o tratan de enseñarte es a pronunciar las palabras aisladas.

Os dejo aqui dos audios, el primero es leyendo un texto tal y como lo llevo pronunciando toda la vida. (before.mp3 al final del post)

El segundo audio es ese mismo texto después del análisis fonético con Luca, creo que se ve una clara mejora. (after.mp3 al final del post)

No es que ahora ya vaya a pronunciar todo bien de pronto, la pastilla esa no existe. Pero saber cómo y el porqué de las cosas y el análisis fonético que me ha enseñado Luca, hará que poco a poco consiga que me salga de forma natural una pronunciación mucho más decente que la que tengo actualmente.

(Audio del artículo  y de los ejemplos + análisis fonético: al final de este post)

English

Can we speak a foreign language with a native-like accent? Yes we can… if we want to

In Spain there was a radio advertisement of an English school that said “If you could choose between a pill that gives you perfect English pronunciation and a pill that gives you perfect English, which one would you choose”? This was followed by an example of a person who – after choosing the “perfect pronunciation pill” – spoke with a perfect accent but had a hard time understanding both what the other people said and his own sentences. In the other case the same person spoke with a mediocre accent, but he was at ease in every single conversation and seemed to have a great time with the language.  This advertisement is misleading in that it makes you think that you have to choose between one thing or the other, while you can have both if you want.

I think that the advertisement clearly illustrates what most people think. If you work hard on your pronunciation and speak a language with a clear accent, natives will think that you speak the language much better than you actually do. As a consequence, they will start speaking fast to you and you will get lost very quickly.
This way of thinking seems rather absurd to me. In fact, you can simply tell the other person that you are a beginner – even if one with a good accent – and politely ask them to speak in a clear, slow way so that you can understand. It takes less than a minute to do this and clarify the situation.

Is it important to have good pronunciation?

Most people think that accent doesn’t matter, as long as people understand you. I believe that everyone should do what they think is best for them. As for me, I am very impressed every time I see a foreigner speak and pronounce my native tongue – Spanish – with a great accent. To me, these people “shine” more than others who have a similar level of the language, because they create a higher level of empathy with native speakers. If languages are a communication tool and a way to establish a connection among human beings, pronunciation plays a huge role in this.

There are obviously people who don’t share my point of view. For them, keeping your own accent is a great thing. They see it as part of who you are and where you come from, and can even come across as sexy. This is an equally respectable opinion.

When is the best time to work on your pronunciation?

Here are three theories:

1 – It is best to work on your pronunciation from the very beginning

2 – You can focus on learning the language and then refine your pronunciation after you have reached a high level

3 – You need to expose yourself to the language, and your brain will learn the patterns naturally, without any conscious effort.

Let me explain to you why the last two theories don’t convince me.

As for the second theory, in my experience I have seen many people trying to improve their pronunciation after studying a language for a few years. They had developed bad habits, and their brains were so accustomed to repeating certain patterns the wrong way that they struggled enormously to “fix” these bad habits, and their effort was often met with frustration and failure.

The third theory sounds great, but in the vast majority of the cases it is simply not true. A glaring example of this is that of expats who’ve been living abroad for 20 or 30 years. If the aforementioned theory were true, they would be speaking a with a native-like accent. The truth is that even though a number of them know the language very well, only a few speak with  native-like pronunciation. Exposure is one of the best ways to learn a language. Listening and speaking a lot is a must for all of us ambitious language learners, but it is not enough. A few might reach native-like pronunciation with natural, constant exposure, but this simply doesn’t happen for most of us.

Is it possible to achieve native-like pronunciation?

Now, the question that arises is: how can we learn to speak like a native? Some maintain that there is a “cut-off age” after which it is impossible to speak like a native, or at least extremely rare. But let’s consider the example of the very owner of this blog, Luca. He has learned all his languages after the notorious cut-off age, and yet many natives swear by his native-like pronunciation in many languages. I have to admit that I would gladly strangle him sometimes (kidding). Looking at him, most people say, “Well, he is a genius, so that doesn’t count”.

I don’t know whether Luca is a genius or not. I don’t know whether he has an innate ability to pick up sounds, but I do know one thing for sure: he has a huge interest when it comes to “deciphering” the “phonetic fabric” of a given language. He works on his pronunciation with passion and diligence, quality and quantity. Maybe if everyone worked with the same efficient techniques and passion, they would meet his high standards.

What I have learned from Luca’s classes

I have been taking lessons from Luca for quite some time now, and he’s showed me an incredible amount of things I was not aware of.

The very first thing he emphasized is the fact that a language is learned in chunks, not in single words. Usually, people are taught how to pronounce single words but are never shown how to utter sentences or figure out intonation patterns. Luca showed me first-hand that a great melody with some pronunciation mistakes is always more pleasant than a robotic or unnatural voice pronouncing every word perfectly. Intonation conveys meaning. The more natural the intonation, the better you deliver your message.

Luca showed me that the phonetic fabric of a language is dynamic. In many languages – such as Spanish, French, Italian and English – the “phonetic configuration” of a word changes according to its position within the sentence. A word can be “uttered” in two completely different ways depending on if it’s at the beginning or at the end.

If an Italian tries to pronounce these two sentences:

“L’Italia è un bel paese”, and “Mi piace l’Italia!”

He/she will quickly realize that the syllables of “l’Italia” are pronounced in a different way in each sentence.

The same goes for Spanish: España es un pais maravilloso” and “me gusta España”!

What’s more, it turns out I have been mispronouncing English my whole life. Luca was the first one not only to show me that, but also to give me a very practical and easy tool to figure out phonetic patterns by myself and autocorrect my intonation: his phonetic analysis.

Here are two audio files of myself reading a text.

This first one is before I carried out the phonetic analysis, which is the way I had been speaking English until I met Luca: (before.mp3 at the end of this post).

The second one is myself reading the audio after analyzing the text with Luca: (after.mp3 at the end of this post)

I think you can hear clear improvement.

Now, this is not to say that I will now pronounce things perfectly in a heartbeat. The “magic pill” doesn’t exist. Nevertheless, with this great tool and renewed confidence, I am more sure that if I expose myself to the language and pay attention to the patterns, I will dramatically improve my pronunciation, and I have to thank Luca for this.

Written by Berta Fernández, translated by Jana Fadness and read by David Mansaray.

(Audio files of this article + phonetic analysis: at the end of this post)

Related links

I had to torture Luca to let me do this guest post (oh Goddess forgive me!). In case you wondered I also have “what I call” a website.

By the way thanks for reading this post!. And I want to personally thank Jana for her translation into English, David, for reading it so beautifully  sexy and Luca for giving me the opportunity of writing on his blog and for teaching me things that nobody has shown me ever before.

Berta Fernández es  madrileña y estudia inglés, francés, esperanto… y próximamente holandés (con el “método Luca via skype” un método súper eficaz y rápido para llegar a hablar con fluidez en pocos meses xD)

 Media

Phonetic analysis:

 Audio files of this post – Spanish and English:

The post Native-like accent – Berta Fernández appeared first on the polyglot dream.

Bob and Jack were two lumberjacks, each given an area of about 10 acres of thick, old growth forest to cut for the year. They were each paid a fixed amount of money for each tree cut, and both had the same equipment and experience in this field of work. Incentives to finish the work faster included a bonus pay for the person that could finish cutting down all 10 acres of forest first.

At the beginning of the year, in early January, Bob was motivated and full of energy, ready to cut down these trees faster than anybody else. His axe was slightly old and rusty, just as Jack’s, but it had served him well for many years. Although Bob was a lazy man, just as the average Joe, he knew his motivation could get him far. And so he began working in earnest, cutting down his first little tree in a matter of minutes. Bob liked to start with easy tasks first, build up his momentum, and keep going strong for long periods of time. It had worked fairly well for him in the past. On the first day, Bob managed to cut 10 trees, and proceeded to earn a fairly decent sum of money. Bob was, for the most part, willing to work hard when he could see immediate results.

Jack, on the other hand, didn’t cut any tree on the first day. In fact, he didn’t cut a single tree for the first entire week. “What on earth could he possibly be doing?”, Bob wondered. Well, Jack was busy reading, at first. Although he had plenty of experience cutting trees, he felt he needed to delve deeper into specific techniques that he had neglected to refine. While he had a decent amount of experience cutting trees, he had never actually learned how to cut trees.

And so he proceeded to learn the science behind lumberjacking. He got to know how trees grew, which kinds of wood were softer or harder, easier to bend or crack, and at which angle cutting each type of wood worked best for faster results. Most importantly, though, Jack spent a great deal of time sharpening his good old axe. He meticulously sharpened the blade; it became sort of an obsession; he left nothing to chance. He wanted to ensure that the blade would have an optimal cutting ability, and that it would retain its sharpness for as long as possible. After one intensive week of hard study and axe sharpening, he was ready to get down to his business.

By the end of August, Jack had already finished chopping down all of the trees that had grown on his 10 acres of allotted land. Bob was shocked in disbelief. “You’re a genius,” he told Jack. “You’re obviously gifted in lumberjacking. You were born with the lumberjacking gene for sure,” he added. Jack nodded and smiled, and proceeded to relax and drink beer until the end of the year, while Bob was busy chopping down the rest of the trees.

To chop a tree quickly, spend twice the time sharpening your ax

What does this parable teach us? Well, the story of the two lumberjacks exemplifies what I term the “laziness paradox”. We, mere mortals, are often too lazy investing present time and effort for the benefit of our future. Even if these benefits might outweigh the actual costs 100:1, laziness precludes us from doing so. The laziness paradox, then, is that by not spending enough time sharpening your axe, it will, in the long run, take you much, much more time and effort chopping down the forest. And it will cost you a lot of money. It seems counterintuitive, but working hard and being lazy are not mutually exclusive, although this is what most of us have been led to believe. Working or learning smart, on the other hand, is the path of the productive and efficient.

As best-selling author and language enthusiast Tim Ferriss says in his New York Times bestseller The 4-Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferriss. Slow down and remember this: Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant. Being selective—doing less—is the path of the productive.”

Let me give you a few examples. I recently wrote on my blog, 12 tips on how to drastically improve your memory. Spending the necessary amount of time learning serious memory techniques, even if to really internalize these techniques and have them ready-to-use on demand could take a few months, is probably the best decision you could ever make— not only if you are serious about studying languages, but also if you are serious about being successful and about learning and acquiring pretty much any knowledge effectively. It took Moonwalking with Einstein, by Joshua Foer author Joshua Foer a year of practice in order to win the U.S. Memory Championship. Imagine the things you could achieve by having a memory 100 times more powerful than the one you have now.

The art of Memory

When Dominic O’Brien, eight time world memory champion, was still in school, he just about managed to scrape through with passes in French and Spanish. “I can’t help feeling slightly resentful today about the way I was taught. The ability and good intention of my teachers is not in doubt, but I bitterly regret the methods they used,” he says in “How to Develop a Perfect Memory”. After having internalized memory techniques (mostly mnemonics, association, and the The Method of Loci), he managed to learn and actually remember 320 new German words in an hour (after one sighting of each word), his personal best. At the 1991 World Memory Championship (yes, there is such a thing), he won the language event by memorizing the most number of Chinese words in fifteen minutes. Not bad for a dyslexic slow learner.

O’Brien asserts that, when using proper memory techniques (techniques that, by the way, anybody can learn and apply), foreign words can be learned and memorized after just one reading at an accelerated rate of approximately 50 to 150 words per hour. This means that a basic vocabulary of 2,000 words could be learned after just twenty hours’ study. In English, the 2000 most common words account for 80% of the individual words in any English text (Cobb, 2008). Just like any language, English has the habit of recycling a relatively small number of words over and over again, and if you know these words, then your reading power can be enhanced dramatically for a relatively modest learning investment.

I am not saying, of course, that you can learn a language in the space of 20 hours of study. But I think it is clear that it doesn’t have to take five or ten years of hard work either. Daniel Tammet learned to speak Icelandic within the space of a week, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the techniques he used to achieve such a feat were exactly the ones Dominic has used to win his Chinese word memorizing competition.

The Art of Speed Reading

Another example where spending time sharpening your axe would bring in some serious benefits would be in regards to speed reading. Indeed, by learning a few simple speed reading techniques, and spending a few serious days of work applying and practicing those, you could read two, three, or even five times faster than you are now. Tony Buzan, in “The speed reading book” notes that people read, on average, 200 to 240 words per minute. The current speed reading world champion is Anne Jones, with 4,700 words per minute with 67% comprehension. That is, of course, nothing short of amazing, but Buzan mentions that with proper training in speed reading techniques, an average person can easily double their reading speed within a short period of time, and eventually reach speeds of around 1000 wpm.

Tim Ferriss, in “The 4-hour workweek” gives four simple tips on how to read 200% faster in 10 minutes:

1) Two Minutes: Use a pen or finger to trace under each line as you read as fast as possible. Reading is a series of jumping snapshots (called saccades), and using a visual guide prevents regression.

2) Three Minutes: Begin each line focusing on the third word in from the first word, and end each line focusing on the third word in from the last word. This makes use of peripheral vision that is otherwise wasted on margins.

3) Two Minutes: Once comfortable indenting three or four words from both sides, attempt to take only two snapshots—also known as fixations—per line on the first and last indented words.

4) Three Minutes: Practice reading too fast for comprehension but with good technique (the above three techniques) for five pages prior to reading at a comfortable speed. This will heighten perception and reset your speed limit, much like how 50 mph normally feels fast but seems like slow motion if you drop down from 70 mph on the freeway.

How would your life be different if you could read twice the amount of books in less time, and remember information more effectively than you could’ve ever imagined? All it takes is a bit of axe sharpening.

What Are You Waiting For?

The laziness paradox, then, is that we end up working so much harder, so less efficiently, and so much more in the long-term, and I mean so much more, because we are lazy. We are too lazy to review what we study, we are too lazy to learn proper memory techniques, we are too lazy to learn how to learn. In other words, we are all too lazy to sharpen our axes, to invest the time and effort now that will benefit our future. And the sad thing is, I am no exception (although I have made some significant improvements by repeating to myself that being lazy means working much harder in the long-run).

So, what do you think you could do by learning and applying over two thousand year-old memory techniques that have been repeatedly proven to work? How would this change the speed at which you would acquire foreign languages? How would this change the amount of study and review you would need in order to ace your exams at school? How would this change your social life if you’d never forget a name again after being introduced to a person once? Get a couple of post-its, write on them “Remember the laziness paradox” or something similar. And every time your brain feels the need to slack off, take a glance at your post-it and put in the extra effort that will make all the difference for your future endeavors.

Stop working hard and being lazy. Learn how to learn, learn how to memorize, learn how to read, and ride the wave of success in foreign language acquisition, study, and work.

Related links

Thanks so much for reading this guest post on “the laziness paradox”, and don’t forget to check out my website www.lingholic.com!

Media

The post The laziness paradox – Sam Gendreau appeared first on the polyglot dream.

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Luca: Buongiorno a tutti, io sono Luca per quelli insomma che già mi conoscono, oggi sto parlando con il mio caro amico Robert, che è attualmente in Giappone. Ciao Robert, come stai?

Robert: Ciao buonasera, sto benissimo. Qui a Fukuoka sono le 8 di sera e sto benissimo.

Luca: Ah sono le 8 di sera.

Robert: Sì, sì. E in Italia?

Luca: Qui a Roma adesso è mezzogiorno ecco perché mi hai detto “buonasera”, giustamente io ti dico “buon pomeriggio” o “buongiorno. Senti ma – perdona la mia ignoranza – Fukuoka è a Nord di Tokyo?

Robert: No, si trova nel Sud

Luca: Ecco, ho già sbagliato

Robert: Si, si trova nel Sud, circa 2 ore d’aereo da Tokyo

Luca: E come mai hai scelto Fukuoka? Normalmente la gente dice “impara l’accento di Tokyo perché è quello standard”, tu invece sei andato a Fukuoka. L’accento è diverso oppure..? Sai, in Italia abbiamo accenti diversi dappertutto, immagino in Austria anche e immagino che in Giappone sia la stessa cosa.

Robert: Anche in Giappone è la stessa cosa però a dire la verità per me questo fatto non gioca un ruolo molto importante. Essendo uno straniero, lo sai, che io riesca a parlare con un accento standard o con un accento che sia forse un po’ diverso da quello che si considera “l’accento standard” per me non è tanto importante. Insomma, c’è un diciamo dialetto specifico che si parla qui che si chiama Fukuoka-ben o Hakata-ben. Beh insomma è abbastanza diverso come accento e dialetto da quello che si chiama il giapponese standard. Però quando tu parli con la gente qui ti parlano in un giapponese standard. Secondo me, almeno perché io, cioè, non sento nessuna differenza, soprattutto quando si rendono conto che tu sei straniero e questo si vede subito perché non hai la faccia di un giapponese. Allora..e molto probabilmente non parlerai come un giapponese, anche se ho incontrato qualche straniero che parla benissimo il giapponese, sono delle persone che vivono qua già da molto tempo. Sono anche sposate con un giapponese oppure con una giapponese. Insomma ho scelto Fukuoka perché è una città molto piacevole. Non è troppo grande ma non è neanche molto… diciamo …. troppo piccola. E’ di circa 1.700.000 abitanti, qualcosa del genere. Poi è vicino al mare, se vuoi andare in Corea, cioè, non è molto lontano dalla Corea, ed ha un clima molto piacevole e allora ci sono tanti fattori.

Luca: Quindi il fatto che tu stia in Giappone è per vacanze o per perfezionare il giapponese? Cioè qual è il motivo principale per cui ti trovi in Giappone?

Robert: Beh, il motivo principale è che volevo scappare anche un po’ dal mio lavoro. Beh insomma sono delle vacanze però senz’altro vorrei anche perfezionare oppure diciamo migliorare il mio giapponese perché non vorrei neanche parlare di perfezionamento perché ho ancora un livello abbastanza basico per quanto riguarda la facilità di parlare. Anche se a volte riesco ad avere una conversazione per un periodo abbastanza esteso, per esempio due giorni fa ho parlato con una coppia molto simpatica, abbiamo parlato per quasi 2 ore e non ho avuto troppe difficoltà a farmi capire. Certo che ho fatto qualche errore ma i Giapponesi sono molto gentili, e diranno subito che parli molto bene il giapponese. Comunque sono qui per migliorare il mio giapponese e prendo anche delle lezioni private, 2 lezioni ogni giorno con una professoressa che conosco già dalla mia ultima visita qui a Fukuoka, una professoressa molto buona e siamo diventati anche amici, cioè non è solamente una relazione studente-professoressa ma lei veramente è una persona che mi sta a cuore, che mi conosce già molto bene, per me è una soluzione perfetta.

Luca: Beh, senza dubbio andare nel paese è la maniera migliore per migliorare subito le lingue, il che mi porta a farti la domanda successiva, e forse anche un po’ banale. Da quando è che impari il giapponese e soprattutto come hai cominciato ad impararlo? Da autodidatta?

Robert: Io penso che siano più o meno quattro anni. E’ già un periodo abbastanza lungo però ci vuole abbastanza tempo per imparare il giapponese, almeno io ci metto abbastanza tempo. L’ho imparato… Ho cominciato a studiarlo in maniera autodidattica anche se questa è la seconda volta che sono a Fukuoka. Prima avevo già preso qualche lezione a quella scuola privata dove studio adesso. A casa ho utilizzato qualche libro per studiare il giapponese in maniera autodidattica ma utilizzo più o meno i materiali che conosci anche tu, immagino. Avevo comprato ASSIMIL, anche se ASSIMIL non mi piace tanto come piace a te. Poi ci sono altri libri. Io preferisco per esempio  il corso di LIVING LANGUAGE e poi cerco di leggere molto e per questo bisogna sapere i Kanji, questo è già un capitolo molto specifico per quanto riguarda il giapponese, anche se per il mandarino per esempio bisogna sapere gli hanzi, penso sia ancora più difficile leggere i Kanji giapponesi perché ci sono vari modi di leggere i Kanji, c’è la versione giapponese e poi c’è anche la maniera cinese di leggere i Kanji, ma tu queste cose le sai benissimo. Studiare il giapponese mi rende quasi matto, perché ci sono tante forme di leggere i Kanji e poi non ci sono delle regole precise, ma è senz’altro una lingua affascinante.

Luca: Assolutamente. Adesso che stai parlando mi stanno venendo effettivamente un sacco di domande. Allora la prima è, sai, a parte quando e come, anche perché. Io ritengo che una delle cose più importanti quando si impara una lingua è capire subito perché si vuole imparare, visto che la motivazione è una cosa fondamentale, è “la benzina” che metti nella macchina per farla funzionare. Quindi volevo innanzitutto sapere – te le faccio in sequenza – perché hai imparato il giapponese, e poi quali sono le difficoltà che incontri. Un’altra cosa che volevo dirti – siccome anche tu sei una persona che parla tante lingue – in generale si ha la tendenza a pensare che si parlano tante lingue impararne un’altra diventa facile, ma questo non è sempre vero, perché nel caso del giapponese – anche sapendo 10 lingue europee – il giapponese è completamente diverso da ogni lingua europea.

Robert: Per cominciare, mi pare che il giapponese sia una delle lingue più difficili che io abbia mai imparato, perché la sua struttura è completamente diversa, il fatto che ci siano tanti Kanji, che si debbano leggere in maniera differente a seconda del testo che leggi..beh insomma, ma la prima domanda era quale?Perchè mi sono deciso a studiare il giapponese vero? Beh questo è stato più o meno un caso, perché 4 anni fa quando lavoravo fino a lotte inoltrata, ero proprio esausto perché stavo facendo qualche lavoro utilizzando anche internet, su Internet ho trovato un blog di un ragazzo americano che parlava del suo soggiorno in Giappone. Allora lui scriveva con tanto entusiasmo che volevo sapere di più del giapponese e anche del Giappone, perché certo sapevo qualche cosa sul Giappone ma non erano informazioni dettagliate, né sul Giappone né sulla lingua. Mi sono messo a studiare la lingua perché mi piaceva il fatto di poter studiare qualcosa totalmente diverso da quello che avevo fatto fino a quel punto. Però a quell’epoca non sapevo ancora quanto era difficile il giapponese, perché secondo me è una lingua molto difficile. Se non avessi già investito tanto tempo a volte penso che forse non continuerei a studiarlo però mi piace tantissimo perché è senz’altro una lingua straordinaria e poi mi piace anche il Giappone. Mi trovo molto bene a Fukuoka ma anche nelle altre città che ho visitato finora in Giappone, perché i Giapponesi stessi sono veramente accoglienti, simpatici, beh ti aiutano quando vedono che hai difficoltà con la loro lingua.

Luca: Che bello! Allora caro Robert, adesso vorrei parlare un attimo degli aspetti difficili del giapponese e poi vorrei passare a parlare del Giappone perché a parte la lingua, l’aspetto culturale e il Giappone in generale – anche se non ci sono mai stato ma ho un caro amico che ci ha vissuto e mi racconta delle cose abbastanza incredibili – non vedo l’ora anche io di mettere piede sul suolo giapponese. Allora, stavamo dicendo, per quanto mi riguarda, uno degli aspetti più difficili è la sintassi. Adesso per esempio io sto imparando il polacco e non lo trovo così difficile perché la struttura è molto simile a quella del russo. Per me uno dei problemi più grossi quando si impara una lingua è la sintassi. La sintassi è come si direbbe a Roma un “macello”, un casino.

Robert: E poi ci sono anche diversi livelli, sai, di esprimerti. Il Keigo, che è la forma più formale, poi ci sono tante altre forme di esprimersi, e a volte pare siano lingue diverse, e  poi la sintassi è diversa da qualsiasi lingue che io abbia studiato fino ad ora. Veramente per questo ci vuole molto tempo e poi ci sono i kanji come hai detto prima e poi anche il vocabolario non è tanto facile da studiare. Come studi tu per esempio il vocabolario giapponese? Per me è difficile perché ci sono tante parole che sono molto simili, perché non hanno molti suoni, diciamo così, in giapponese – forse questo è un problema che riguarda anche il mandarino.

Luca: Beh, in realtà il problema delle parole non è..la lingua che trovo più difficile per quanto riguarda l’acquisizione di vocaboli e parole è senza dubbio il russo perché per me ha delle parole lunghissime, mentre il giapponese non ha parole molto lunghe. Dipende dalla parola, magari sono 2 kanji e sono 2-3 suoni.

Robert: Ma sono molto simili i suoni non ti pare? Questo per me è il mio grande problema, poi ci sono quelli che si differenziano solo per la lunghezza, e questo è difficile durante una conversazione.

Luca: Sì, è vero, ma io non ho molte difficoltà con il vocabolario. Io penso che – parlo per me, non in generale – gli aspetti “facili” del giapponese sono 2. Uno è il fatto che la pronuncia – loro non hanno molti suoni – e per un italiano la pronuncia non riserva grosse difficoltà. Il problema della fonetica è del “pitch”, quello che chiamano il “japanese pitch” – ne parlammo 1-2 anni fa – sapere come si “canta” una frase in giapponese. Ma la pronuncia stessa per me non è un problema e l’acquisizione del vocabolario…. il giapponese  ha parole non molto lunghe ma come dici tu stesso si assomigliano molto, e però l’aspetto più difficile per me è primo la sintassi – ma ci si abitua con la pratica – e poi il linguaggio che definiscono “keigo”, il fatto cioè che loro abbiano registri linguistici – “boku” o “ore”, se dici “ore wa” (ore significa “io” ma si usa solo fra amici o persone con cui si ha un grado di confidenza elevato, ndr) rischi di fare figuracce senza neanche accorgertene, è come il coreano.

Robert: Ma questo secondo me non è il problema più grave, di fare una brutta figura. Il problema è che forse non capisci neanche quello che dicono, anche se dicono una cosa molto banale. Io per esempio come ti ho detto prima ho avuto una conversazione con una coppia molto gentile, non avevo nessuna difficoltà a capire quello che dicevano, poi sono andato in un ristorante, mi hanno accolto e detto qualche frase in giapponese utilizzando quella forma che loro chiamano il “keigo”. Erano solamente 2 o 3 frasi ma non avevo neanche capito una parola. Beh, capivo più o meno perché sapevo che volevano solo sapere quante perone eravamo e mi avevano chiesto qualche altra domanda standard, ma per capire assolutamente tutte le parole ci vuole molto tempo e per questo che mi sono comprato anche un libro specifico che tratta di questo problema. Si tratta di conversazioni di persone vicino a Tokyo e poi si imparano anche tutte queste forme del Keigo. Certo che in altri tipi di studio puoi trovare delle spiegazioni di queste forme però ascoltando diciamo un dialogo live rende ancora più facile, cioè questo processo di capire come utilizzano loro queste forme.

Luca: E’ vero. E comunque il problema, come mi ha spiegato il mio amico Luca – in Italia si chiamano tutti Luca – e che ha vissuto 10 anni in Giappone è, a parte la lingua che il riflesso della cultura – ma anche una mentalità molto diversa e te ne accorgi dalle piccole cose quotidiane, per esempio mi ha raccontato tanti episodi che mi hanno fatto sorridere. Per esempio, nella metro, da quello che ho capito gli uomini non possono entrar e in certi vagoni, che sono riservati solo alle donne. E lui una volta è entrato i questo vagone e tutte le ragazze lo guardavano male pensando “ma che ci fa questo in questo vagone” e lui non capiva no? Diceva che non capiva perché. Questo è un problema in Giappone, cioè che gli uomini – non tutti naturalmente – tendono a toccare il sedere delle ragazze.

Robert: Esatto. Anche a me è capitato qualcosa del genere, certo che non volevo toccare il sedere di una donna però ci sono questi vagoni specifici solo per donne e poi ci sono tante altre cose che però rendono la metro molto più piacevole della metro di tante città europee, perché è veramente un luogo molto sicuro a paragone con anche con Vienna. Anche se a Vienna non ci sono tanti problemi però in confronto a Tokyo mi sento più sicuro a Tokyo che a Vienna, anche nella città stessa. C’è un livello di sicurezza che per noi europei è quasi inimmaginabile.

Luca: E sai che Luca mi ha anche raccontato una cosa che mi ha sorpreso e che io no sapevo, e cioè che i Giapponesi –non so se questo sia vero – hanno un enzima diverso dal nostro e quindi si ubriacano molto più rapidamente di noi.

Robert: Si, senz’altro. Però non causano problemi, cioè puoi anche andare in giro a mezzanotte oppure alle 2 della mattina.  Ci sono anche persone che possono causare problemi ma in genere è proprio un paese sicuro cioè non ci sono episodi di violenza per le strade che invece si verificano in Austria o altri paesi europei o negli Stati Uniti, e questo è un fatto veramente straordinario, visto che Tokyo è una città molto molto grande. Anche Fukuoka è abbastanze grande soprattutto per un austriaco. Però è assolutamente sicura. Certo, anche qui ci sono persone cattive, dei criminali, ma in genere è una società molto molto sicura, il che ha a che vedere soprattutto con la loro cultura, cioè il fatto che loro tendano a mantenere quello che loro chiamano “uno stato d’armonia”. Chiunque cerchi di rompere quest’ armonia si troverà in difficoltà, questo è un fatto secondo me. Poi ci sono tanti poliziotti per le strade, ci sono agenti per quasi ciascun caseggiato, e poi i poliziotti conoscono bene il quartiere nel quale lavorono. Però io non ho mai visto un episodio di violenza in Giappone. Certo che ce ne saranno, perché anche i Giapponesi sono esseri umani anche loro, ma quello che mi ha stupito e che non finisce di stupirmi è il fatto che c’è poca violenza per le strade, che tra l’altro sono molto pulite. In genere si tratta di una società che – almeno per uno straniero – offre tante opportunità di vivere tranquillamente. Io non vorrei vivere in Giappone come giapponese, perché è un’altra cosa, essendo straniero non sono obbligato a fare certe cose che si aspettano da un Giapponese  e questo comincia già dalla maniera in cui si parla, perché anche se capisco più o meno il keigo non riesco ad utilizzarlo come fanno i giapponesi stessi. Questo è difficile anche per alcuni giovani, ci sono dei corsi per i giovani nei quali loro possono imparare come trattare delle persone che sono superiori a loro nella gerarchia sociale, che è veramente un aspetto importante –da quello che ho capito io, che non sono un esperto di queste cose, sono solo le mie esperienze personali.

Luca: Ne sono sicuro e dopo questa chiacchiera prenderò subito il volo per andare a Tokyo. Ti volevo dire – penso che tu lo sappia, questa è un’esperienza indiretta perché sempre il mio amico Luca me l’ha raccontato – mi ha detto che per esempio in Giappone mangiare per strada non è ben visto

Robert: Questo è vero, anche se io l’ho fatto ieri, perché avevo veramente fame. Non si dovrebbe fare, diciamo che non ho mai visto un giapponese farlo, io l’ho fatto. Diciamo che non stavo camminando per strada, mi trovavo di fronte ad un negozio avevo veramente molta fame perché non avevo mangiato prima di andare a scuola, stavo aspettando un mio amico e ho mangiato per strada. Non si dovrebbe fare ma diciamo che non è un crimine. Non vedrai molti giapponesi che lo fanno e poi non c’è quella tradizione di mangiare fastfood per strada anche se ci sono tantissimi McDonald, ancora più che in Austria,  e poi ci sono moltissimi Starbucks, ma io non ci vado mai. Diciamo che la cucina giapponese offre tante opportunità di trovare qualcos’altro che non mi viene neanche in mente di andare a McDonald per comprare un Hamburger o qualcosa del genere. E poi ci sono tante altre cose che non si dovrebbero fare, per esempio ci sono, c’è quella tradizione del bagno. Andare in bagno – se per esempio vivi con una famiglia – tutta la famiglia utilizza la stessa acqua per fare un bagno e tu dovresti lavarti prima di andare nella vasca da bagno, che è totalmente diverso da quello che facciamo noi, in Austria, in Europa e penso anche in Italia. Se tu vai a fare un bagno ti metti nella vasca e poi utilizzi il sapone……

Luca: Noi tra l’altro abbiamo anche il bidé, questa famosa invenzione ..mi ricordo che un’amica di Luca quando vide questo bidé pensava che fosse per altre cose

Robert: E’ un’invenzione che ha i suoi vantaggi, ma è qualcosa che non si trova in Austria. Sì che esiste, ma qua l’hanno portato ad un livello molto molto elevato, diciamo che è quasi come un bagno termale

Luca: Senti, un’altra cosa che volevo sapere, non so se è vera – è che i ragazzi e le ragazze non si abbracciano per strada e di solito i ragazzi camminano davanti alle ragazze, non so se sia vero o se l’hai notato.

Robert: Che non si abbraccino per le strade questo lo posso confermare, però quell’altra cosa mi pare che sia una cosa del passato più o meno.

Luca: L’impressione è che il Giappone sia ancora un paese maschilista se ho capito bene,

Robert: Forse dall’aspetto esterno, ma una volta che vai per esempio in un bar, vedrai che le cose sono cambiate. Sì, forse, ..non so, io ho incontrato delle ragazze ma anche delle donne che hanno il loro posto nella ditta che mantengono veramente delle posizioni elevate, importanti e poi anche a casa sembra che sia la donna che comanda, però..

Luca: Come in Italia!

Robert: La mamma! Ma anche in Giappone la mamma gioca un ruolo molto importante, essenziale per la famiglia. Che sia una società maschilista, non so. A me non pare che sia così, penso di no

Luca: Un’altra cosa interessante..tu non sei ancora mai stato invitato in una casa giapponese, non hai mai mangiato a casa di Giapponesi?

Robert: Sì, ho mangiato

Luca: E gli hai portato un regalo?

Robert: Sì, senz’altro

Luca: Eh, ma è vero che i Giapponesi quando ricevono un regalo invece di aprirlo lo mettono da parte?

Robert: Sì, lo mettono da parte perché considerano che non sia molto gentile aprire il regalo davanti all’ospite, perché potrebbe essere che non gli piace il regalo, e poi a te on piacerebbe forse la sua reazione. Questo è un fatto e poi ci sono altre cose che non dovrebbero regalare, come cose con la cifra “4”, perché sai che la cifra che ha un po’ il suono della morte, e ci sono tante altre cose da prendere in considerazione.

Luca: Per esempio i bastoncini, io so che per usare i bastoncini non bisogna mai ficcarli nel cibo in posizione verticale, perché quello significa l’immagine della morte, quindi magari noi avremmo la tendenza a farlo e non sarebbe ben visto, sai la cosa che fa sorridere sono queste “incomprensioni culturali”. In Italia se tu porti per esempio un regalo a casa, un Italiano che va in Giappone e vede che i Giapponesi mettono il regalo da parte pensano il contrario dei Giapponesi. Penseranno “il regalo non gli è piaciuto o non glie ne frega niente”

Robert: Esatto, per questo penso sia veramente importante soprattutto quando si tratta di un paese tanto diverso come il Giappone di informarsi prima della partenza, di sapere almeno un po’ della cultura. Quando chiudono gli occhi ascoltando quello che dici per noi è veramente una cosa inaccettabile, pensi “si annoiano, se ne fregano” ed è proprio il contrario: si stanno concentrando. E’ un modo di dire “allora ti ascolto attentamente”.

Luca: Ci sono cose..io non ho vissuto in questa famiglia però ho passato molto tempo in una famiglia francese e mi sono accorto che anche se Francia e Italia sono abbastanza simili ci sono delle cose culturali diverse, per esempio in Francia una cosa che mi ha sorpreso è che l’insalata non si dovrebbe tagliare con la forchetta e coltello

Robert: ma neanche in Austria!

Luca: Allora è una cosa italiana, perché noi non abbiamo problemi a tagliare l’insalata, io non lo considero un gesto..

Robert: Ma io me ne frego…

Luca: …tu magari si ma tu sei una persona aperta che conosce tante lingue, che ha viaggiato, ma una persona che ha sempre vissuto in Austria o in Italia…ho sentito dalle mie orecchie dire a qualche italiano che i Francesi sono “sporchi” perché ..non hanno il bidé. Il che è ridicolo, però alcuni lo pensano perché se tu vivi sempre in Italia e quindi la tua versione è “italocentrica” pensi che tutto quello non assomiglia al tuo sistema di riferimento è strano.

Robert: in Italia il bidé è veramente tanto comune? Perché in Austria è un’eccezione

Luca: Il bidé è una “conditio sine qua non” per noi

Robert: Davvero?

Luca: assolutamente sì. Quando non c’è il bidé gli Italiani dicono “oddio non c’è il bidé!” e infatti c’è uno scherzo, molti Italiani che vanno all’estero hanno dei problemi quando non c’è il bidé perché  non sono abituati a usare la carta igienica..

Robert: davvero?

Luca: C’è un famoso episodio..non entriamo nei particolari, fa sorridere perché le persone che non ci sono abituate hanno qualche problemino e pensano che non si possa vivere senza bidé. Avendo vissuto in Francia – anzi, ancora vivo in Francia – da 2 anni posso attestare al fatto che si può vivere tranquillamene anche senza bidé.

Robert: ma io lo faccio da 44 anni

Luca: E sei ancora vivo! Quindi tornando indietro al giapponese, a parte tutti questi aspetti culturali di abbracciarsi in strada, dei regali, di mangiare, della metro..ce ne sono tanti altri..adesso non abbiamo il tempo di discuterne, ma ti volevo chiedere – tornando indietro per finire l’intervista..ti volevo chiedere..tante persone pensano – e mi hanno posto questa domanda che mi fa sorridere perché è comunque una cosa che pensavo anche io – che se tu sai il cinese, il giapponese diventa facile, il che ovviamente non è vero perché in realtà sono 2 lingue completamente diverse. Ci sono delle somiglianze..Diciamo che ci sono alcune cose che potrebbero aiutare, per esempio il fatto che molto spesso la versione di alcuni kanji o di certe espressioni provengono dal cinese, però diciamo non è un aiuto sostanziale no?

Robert: Ma questo è l’unica cosa, perché non ci sono altri aspetti che queste 2 lingue hanno in comune. Sono assolutamente diverse. La grammatica non ha niente a che vedere con la grammatica cinese, il vocabolario è diverso, a volte ci sono alcune parole che forse suonano simili perché sono state prese dal cinese. Ci sono 2 versioni per leggere i kanji, quella cinese e quella giapponese tradizionale, e questo rende difficile la lettura dei kanji

Luca: Non ti farò la domanda quale delle due sia più facile o difficile perché ognuna ha delle difficoltà diverse, e comunque sono entrambe abbastanza difficili per uno straniero, il cinese magari ha una sintassi molto più facile non “flette” le..

Robert: Ma sai, molti hanno paura dei toni in cinese, anche io avevo paura …. ci sono tanti che ti dicono come europeo straniero non riuscirai mai farti capire in cinese perché non potrai mai parlare correttamene con tanti toni diversi, però secondo la mia esperienza questo non è un grande problema. Certo a volte sbaglio i toni ma la gente mi capisce, io penso che il giapponese sia ancora più difficile da capire perché ci sono proprio queste forme complicate. Per esempio il Keigo che a volte pare una lingua diversa perché ci sono espressioni che non hanno nulla a che vedere con le espressioni che si usano nel linguaggio quotidiano, anche se vuoi esprimere esattamente la stessa cosa. Non ci sono queste differenze in cinese, non ci sono neanche in tedesco né in italiano. In italiano puoi dire “tu” e “lei”, forse qualche altra differenza che però non gioca un ruolo tanto importante secondo me

Luca: Assolutamente. Allora caro Robert, ti ringrazio per questa bella intervista e probabilmente ne sentirete molte altre fra me e Robert prossimamente. Ti auguro una “buona serata” perché stai in Giappone, e io “mi” auguro una buona giornata.

Robert: buona giornata anche a te!

Luca: grazie mille, un abbraccio

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Luca: Hello everybody, I am Luca, for all those who already know me. Today I’m talking to my dear friend Robert, who currently is in Japan. Hi Robert, how are you doing?

Robert: Hi, good evening. I’m doing great. Here in Fukuoka it is 8 pm and I am doing just fine.

Luca: Ah, it is 8 pm.

Robert: Yes. And in Italy?

Luca: Here in Rome it is noon. So this is why you said “Good evening”. Well, I’m greeting you with “good afternoon”. Listen, and I apologize for my ignorance, but Fukuoka, is that north of Tokyo?

Robert: No, it is in the south.

Luca: See, I already made a mistake.

Robert: Yes, it is in the south, about two hours south of Tokyo by plane.

Luca: And why have you chosen Fukuoka? Normally people will tell you to study the accent as used in Tokyo because it is the standard accent. You, however, have decided to go to Fukuoka. Is the accent there different….? You know in Italy we have different accents all over the country, and I guess this is the same in Austria and probably also in Japan.

Robert: Yes, it is the same in Japan. But to be honest, I don’t think this is important at all. Being a foreigner, it does not really matter whether I manage to speak with a standard accent or an accent that may be a bit different from what is considered to be the “standard”. I simply don’t care too much about these things. There is a specific dialect here which is called Fukuoka-ben, or actually Hakata-ben. It differs quite a bit from the so-called standard Japanese. But if you speak to the people here they will use standard Japanese. At least as far as I can tell. You know, I don’t hear any difference. They will speak standard Japanese with you once they realize you are a foreigner and you are easily recognizable as such. After all we don’t really look Japanese, do we? Most likely you won’t speak like a Japanese either, even though I have met some foreigners who have an excellent command of the language. These are mostly people who have been living here for a long time. Some of them are married to a Japanese.

Well, I have chosen Fukuoka because it is a nice place. Not too big but not too small either. It has about 1.7 million inhabitants. Besides, it is close to the sea. If you want to go to Korea, it is not far from here. The climate is very pleasant too. So, there are lots of reasons why I chose Fukuoka.

Luca: Why are you in Japan right now? For business or because you would like to perfect your Japanese? That is, what is the main reason why you are in Japan right now?

Robert: Well, the main reason is that I felt like I had to escape from work for a while.  So, basically I am on vacation here. Of course, I would also like to perfect my Japanese, well maybe not perfect it because I’m still at a rather basic level when it comes to my speaking abilities even though I sometimes manage to have long conversations entirely in Japanese. Two days ago, for example, I was talking to a very nice couple and we chatted for about two hours without me having too many difficulties to keep the conversation alive. Sure, I made some mistakes but you know, Japanese people are very nice. They will immediately tell you that your Japanese is great. Anyway, I am here to improve my Japanese and for that purpose I’m also taking private lessons, two hours every day. My teacher is great. I know her from my previous visits to Fukuoka. She is an excellent teacher and we actually became friends over time. So it is not just a student-teacher relationship. Rather, she is a person that is really dear to me. I know her already very well. So, things are perfect here for me.

Luca: There is no doubt that the best way to quickly improve in any language is to go to the country where it is spoken. That brings me to my next question which actually might sound a bit trivial. Since when have you been studying Japanese and above all how did you get started? On your own?

Robert: That must have been more or less four years by now. That is quite a long time but studying Japanese takes time, at least in my case. I started studying it on my own even though this is the second time I’m here in Fukuoka. I have taken classes before at the school where I am right now. At home I used different textbooks for self-teaching. I guess I’m using more or less the same study material as you. I also bought ASSIMIL, but I don’t like it as much as you. I prefer the course by LIVING LANGUAGE. I also try to read a lot and for that you need to know the Kanji. The Kanji are quite a specific characteristic of Japanese. Even if you have similar characters in Mandarin, the Hanzi, I think it is even more difficult to read Japanese texts than Chinese ones. This is due to the fact that there are so many different ways of reading the characters. Basically, you have the Japanese reading and the Chinese reading. But you know all these things yourself, I guess. Studying Japanese sometimes almost drives me crazy because there are so many ways of reading one single character and there are no precise rules for that either. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating language.

Luca: Absolutely. Now that you are talking about these things tons of questions come to my mind. Apart from wanting to know when and how you got into studying Japanese I would also like to know why you decided to do so. I think that the right motivation is fundamental to any learning process, it is the “fuel” that gets the car moving so to speak. So, why have you started studying Japanese and what are the difficulties you have encountered? And, since you also speak several languages, I would like to ask your opinion on the fact that some people think that if you speak many languages learning a new one will get increasingly easier. But this is not always the case, is it? After all, Japanese is so different from any European language for example that even knowing 10 European languages won’t be of much help, will it?

Robert: Well, to start with, I consider Japanese to be one of the most difficult languages I have ever studied. Its structure is completely different, there are many Kanji to learn and these Kanji have different readings according to the text you are reading. Sorry, but what was your first question again? Why I decided to study Japanese, right?

Well, that was basically just by pure chance. About 4 years ago I was working till late at night and I was really exhausted. I had been browsing the Internet and came across the blog of a young American guy who wrote about his stay in Japan. He was so enthusiastic about what he had experienced that I wanted to know more about Japan and Japanese. Sure, I had known a few things about Japan, but nothing going into any depth. I decided to learn Japanese because I wanted to study something that was completely different from what I had been doing up to then. At that time I did not know yet how difficult Japanese is. If I had not already invested so much time, I sometimes think I’d throw in the towel.  But I really like the language. It is kind of unique and I also love Japan. I feel very comfortable here in Fukuoka and in all the other cities I have visited so far in Japan. Japanese people are really welcoming, friendly and will also help you if they see you struggling with their language.

Luca: Great! So, dear Robert, let’s talk a bit about what makes Japanese difficult and then I’d like to talk a bit about Japan. After all, apart from the language there is also the cultural aspect. Even though I have never been to Japan a good friend of mine who used to live there has told me a lot of quite incredible stories. I can’t wait to get there myself. So, as mentioned previously, one of the most difficult aspects of the Japanese language for me is its syntax. I’m studying Polish right now, for example, and I don’t think it is that difficult because its structure is very similar to the Russian one. For me, one of the biggest challenges when learning a new language is its syntax. The syntax is, as we’d say in Rome, a real “macello”, a total mess.

Robert: And then there are also many different politeness levels: Keigo, the most formal way of speaking, and then there are still so many other levels. These are all almost languages in their own right. And its syntax is also different from the languages I have studied so far. This is why it really takes time to study Japanese. Besides, there are the Kanji as we mentioned before. I also find it quite difficult to study Japanese vocabulary. How do you study Japanese words? I find it challenging because they have so many homophones. Japanese has very few sounds, you know. I find this also difficult with Mandarin.

Luca: Well, as for learning new vocabulary, I find Russian to be the most difficult language. They have some really long words, while this is not the case with Japanese. I mean it depends on the word, but you may have two Kanji or so and that equals about two to three sounds.

Robert: But these sounds are very similar to each other, don’t you think? That is the biggest problem for me. Some sounds differ from each other only by their length and I find this difficult during a conversation.

Luca: Yes, this is true, but I have not had many problems with the vocabulary. I think – and I’m only speaking out of my personal experience now – that there are two aspects that make Japanese “easy”. First, its pronunciation – Japanese does not have many sounds – is not very difficult for an Italian.  The phonetic problem has to do with the “pitch”, the “Japanese pitch” which we talked about like one or two years ago; knowing how to “sing” a phrase in Japanese. The pronunciation itself, however, is not a problem for me. As for the vocabulary, the words are not very long even though, as you mentioned earlier, they are really similar to each other. The most difficult aspect for me is its syntax. You do get used to it though the more you practise the language. Their different politeness levels, like the so-called “keigo”, make Japanese difficult. They have different linguistic registers – “boku” or “ore”, for example. If you say “ore wa” (“ore” meaning “I”, which however is only used between friends or people you know really well) you risk making a fool of yourself in certain situations without even noticing it. It is like in Korean.

Robert: In my opinion this is not the biggest problem though, I mean that you risk making a fool of yourself. The problem is rather that you may not even understand what they say, even if they say something really trivial. As I told you before, I had a conversation with a very nice couple and had no problems at all understanding what they said. But then I went to a restaurant, the staff there greeted me and said a few sentences using the politeness form which they call “keigo”.  They just said two or three sentences but I did not understand a word of it. I mean I knew more or less what they wanted to tell me because I realized that they wanted to know how many people we were in our party and then they also asked a few more standard questions. If you want to understand everything they say in such a situation, however, you really need a lot of studying. For this reason I bought a specific book that deals with these different politeness levels. The book contains several live conversations from people around the Tokyo area. You can learn a lot of “keigo” phrases from that book. You can find similar explanations in other textbooks as well but I think listening to live dialogues makes it easier to actually understand the way they use these different forms.

Luca: That is true. The problem, however, as my friend Luca – everybody in Italy seems to be called Luca – who lived in Japan for ten years has told me is that language also reflects culture and a very different mentality which you may experience in small things of your daily life. He told me a few episodes which made me smile. For example there seem to be cars in the subway which are reserved for women only. One day he went into one of these cars not being aware of such a regulation. All the women just stared at him probably thinking “what is this guy doing in this car?”. And he had no idea what was going on. This seems to be a problem in Japan, I mean that men – of course not all of them – tend to touch the behind of women.

Robert: Yes, exactly. I had a similar experience. Of course I had no intention whatsoever to touch a woman’s behind, but there are special cars for women only. There are also many other things though that make the subway here much more pleasant than the ones in many European cities. It is really safe here – even compared to Vienna. There are not really that many problems in Vienna but compared to Tokyo I have to say that I feel safer in Tokyo than in Vienna, both in the subway and in the city. There is a level of safety that for us Europeans is hard to imagine.

Luca: There is another story that Luca told me and which surprised me, i. e. that the Japanese – although I’m not sure if this is true – have a different enzyme which is the reason why they get drunk so easily.

Robert: Yes, that may be true. But they don’t cause any problems when they are drunk, I mean you can walk around at midnight or at two in the morning. There are some people that cause problems but in general Japan is a very safe country. You won’t find that kind of street violence you may encounter in Austria or in other European countries or in the USA for example and that is something quite extraordinary if you consider the fact that Tokyo is a very big city, and Fukuoka as well, at least for an Austrian Fukuoka is quite big. It is absolutely safe here. Of course, there are also some bad guys here, criminals, but generally speaking it is a very safe society. I guess this has to do with their culture, i. e. the fact that they tend to try and maintain what they call a “state of harmony”. Whoever acts against that harmony is in trouble, this is a fact. Besides, there are lots of policemen in the streets and they know the area they work in really well. I have never witnessed any crime in the streets here in Japan. Of course, there is street crime here as well because after all the Japanese are just human beings like anybody else. What I am surprised about though and this keeps surprising me, is that there is so little street violence. Besides, the streets are also really clean.

Generally speaking it is a society which – at least for a foreigner – offers lots of opportunities to live your life in a relaxed atmosphere. Nevertheless, I would not want to live here as a Japanese, that is a totally different matter. Being a foreigner, people don’t expect the same things from me they would expect from a Japanese. This also concerns the way of speaking. Even though I understand more or less how “keigo” works I can’t really use it yet the same way they do. This is also a problem for some young Japanese people. There are even courses where they are taught how to deal with people who rank higher than they in the various social hierarchies. This is a really important aspect, at least as far as I understand it. I am not an expert though, I am just talking about my own personal experiences.

Luca:  I’m sure what you say is right and after this chat I’ll catch the next plane for Tokyo. There is another thing I wanted to ask you. My friend Luca told me that in Japan you are not supposed to eat in the streets.

Robert: That is right, even though I did it yesterday because I was really hungry. You should not do it and I have never seen a Japanese doing it but I did it. I have to say though that I was not walking around but standing in front of a store. Besides, I was really hungry because I had not eaten anything before going to school. You are not supposed to do this but it is not considered a crime either. You won’t see many Japanese walking around and eating. They just don’t have that tradition of eating fast food in the streets. There are lots of McDonalds, even more than in Austria, and many Starbucks too but I never go there. Japanese cuisine offers so many opportunities to try out something new that the thought of going to McDonald’s to get a hamburger etc. does not even cross my mind.

There are also lots of other things you are not supposed to do. For example, if you live with a family and you want to take a bath you will realize that the entire family uses the same bath water. You ought to wash before you get into the bathtub. This is totally different from how we do things in Austria and Italy too, I guess. If we take a bath, we get into the bathtub and there we use a soap etc. …..

Luca: And we also got the bidé, this famous invention ….I remember that a friend of Luca’s thought that the bidé was intended for something quite different when she saw one for the first time ….

Robert: It is an invention which has its advantages, but you won’t find many bidés in Austria. I mean they do exist but here they have raised the bar to a much higher level. Here they are almost like a spa.

Luca: Listen, there is something else I’d like to ask you and I don’t know if that is true or not. Supposedly, girls and boys don’t hug in public and usually boys walk in front of girls. Is this true or have you noted that yourself?

Robert: I can confirm that they don’t seem to hug in public but the other thing you mentioned seems to be more a thing of the past.

Luca: The impression is that there might still be quite a lot of machismo in Japan, if I understood that correctly.

Robert: Maybe from the outside, but once you enter a bar for example, you’ll see that things have changed. Well, I mean, maybe ….I don’t really know, but all I can say is that I have met some girls and also women who have a high position in their companies and they seem to be the ones giving the orders at home as well ….

Luca: Just like in Italy!

Robert: La mamma! But also in Japan the mother plays a very important role for the family. I don’t think it is a macho society, but I don’t really know. I don’t think it is.

Luca: Another interesting thing… You have never been invited to a Japanese home for lunch or dinner, have you?

Robert: Yes, I have.

Luca: And did you bring them a gift?

Robert: Of course, I did.

Luca: So, is it true that the Japanese when they receive a gift they will put it aside instead of opening it?

Robert: Yes, they put it aside because they think it is impolite to open it in front of you. After all, they may not like what you got them and their reaction could embarrass you. There are also other aspects you might want to pay attention to. For example the number “four”, because it sounds similar to the word for death. There are more things like this.

Luca: For example, the chopsticks. I know that you should never put them vertically into any kind of food because this reflects the  image of death. So, we may do that and this may not be appreciated by the Japanese. It is these “cultural misunderstandings” that sometimes make me smile. If in Italy you bring somebody who invited you into their house a gift it is different. Let’s say a Japanese invites an Italian and if the Japanese then puts the gift aside the Italian may think he did not like it or that he just does not care at all.

Robert: Exactly, and this is why I think it is really important to get as much information as possible before your departure, especially if you visit a country which is as different as Japan. You ought to know at least a little bit about the culture. For example, when Japanese people close their eyes while you speak this would not be well received by a European audience, we might think they are bored or they just don’t care. As a matter of fact, quite the contrary is the case: they are concentrating. It is a way to tell you “I’m listening very carefully”.

Luca: I have spent a lot of time in a French family and I noticed that even though France and Italy are quite similar, there are still cultural differences. For example, I was surprised to see that in France you are not supposed to cut your salad with your fork and knife.

Robert: You should not do that in Austria either.

Luca: Ah, then it is an Italian thing, because we don’t find anything wrong with cutting a salad….

Robert: Well, I don’t care about these things, to be honest.

Luca: You are an open-minded person, you know many languages, you have travelled a lot but a person who has always lived in Austria or in Italy might think differently. I have heard some Italians say that they think the French are “dirty” because they don’t use a bidé. That is ridiculous, but that’s what some people think and if you have always lived in Italy then you have a vision of the world which is very much focused on Italy and everything that is different is considered to be strange.

Robert: Is the bidé really that common in Italy? Because in Austria it is more of an exception than the rule.

Luca: For Italians the bidé is what in Latin is called a “conditio sine qua non”.

Robert: Really?

Luca: Yes, absolutely. If there is no bidé, Italians go like “Oh my god, there is not bidé!” There is even a joke going around saying that Italians going abroad have problems if there is not bidé because they don’t know how to use toilet paper …

Robert: Really?

Luca: There is a famous episode, I won’t go into the details but it is kind of funny because the people who are not used to using toilet paper may have certain problems and they might think they can’t live without a bidé. But having lived in France for two years now, I can attest to the fact that you can easily live without a bidé.

Robert: Well, I have done so for 44 years.

Luca: And you are still alive! Well, getting back to Japanese. Apart from all these cultural aspects regarding the hugging in public, gifts, food, the subway etc. there are many more and we just don’t have the time to discuss all of them right now but I wanted to ask you, going a bit back before we wrap up this interview, well, I wanted to ask you the following: Many people think and they actually asked me this question which makes me smile because it is something that I thought too at the beginning, namely that once you know Mandarin Chinese studying Japanese is easy. This, however, obviously is not the case because the two languages are completely different from each other. There are certain similarities…. I mean there might be a few common things that may help you in your studies, for example the fact that often Kanji or certain expressions were taken from Mandarin, but this is not really that big a help, is it?

Robert: Well, what you mentioned is about the only similarity there is. There aren’t really any other things these two languages have in common. They are completely different. Japanese grammar has nothing in common with Chinese grammar, the vocabulary is different, I mean sometimes you come across a few words which sound similar because they were actually taken from Mandarin. But in Japanese there are two readings for the Kanji, the Chinese and the traditional Japanese reading and that makes reading a Japanese text really difficult.

Luca: I’m not going to ask you which of the two is easier or more difficult because each of them has their own difficult aspects. I think both of them are hard to study for a foreigner. Maybe Mandarin has a much less complex syntax because it has no “inflections”.

Robert: Yes, but you know, lots of people are afraid of the Chinese tones. I was afraid too, I mean there are so many people who will tell you that as a European you will never manage to make yourself understood in Chinese because you’ll never manage to use all these tones correctly. However, based on my own experience I think that the tones are not that big a problem. Of course, I do make mistakes from time to time when using the various tones but the people I talk to still understand what I am trying to say. I think Japanese is much more difficult to understand because there are so many different politeness levels. Let’s take “keigo” which sometimes seems to be a language in itself. There are so many expressions in “keigo” which have nothing to do with the kind of language you would use in your daily life, even though you are trying to say the same thing. These differences don’t exist in Mandarin Chinese, nor do they exist in German or Italian. I mean you can differentiate between “tu” and “Lei” in Italian and there may be a few more differences as regards various politeness levels but these are not that important in my opinion.

Luca: You are absolutely right. Well, dear Robert, thank you very much for this interesting interview. You will probably hearing more interviews from me and Robert in the near future. I wish you, Robert, a great evening since you are in Japan right now, and I wish “myself” a nice afternoon.

Robert: Have a nice day.

Luca: Thanks a lot. Cheers.

Related links

- Robert’s YouTube page

The post A talk about Japan: Robert Bigler appeared first on the polyglot dream.