Page 4 - Italian American Herald - March 2024

4 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | MARCH2024 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD ENTERTAINMENT
Television: Italian offerings are useful tool for language learners at any level Continued from front page
start a conversation, the important thing is to realize when you are just starting out is that practice makes perfect. Visitors to Italy have found that most Italians are happy when you at least try!
When you watch a series or movie in Italian, you not only expand your language skills, but you become more attuned to the culture of Italy. You will see places and foods familiar and not and also get a sense of how Italians live, work and play.
Listening to authentic Italian speakers will help one grasp the inflections used
in the language as well as the correct pronunciations. Although there is a “standard” spoken Italian in Italy, be mindful there are 20 regions with their own dialects that may be heard in programs. For example, the series “L’Amica Geniale” (My Brilliant Friend) is set in Naples so naturally you
will hear some dialogue in Neapolitan. This show is for more advanced learners but does have subtitles if you also want to watch to immerse yourself in the scenery and life in Naples. This is also the case for the series “Inspector Montalbano,” which is peppered with Sicilian.
For beginners, a good strategy is to start with short clips of conversations in Italian. Many of these can be found on YouTube
and should be with Italian presenters to hear the proper pronunciation. One that I found was “Easy Italian,” which features various scenarios including general conversation
and more specific ones such as having breakfast (colazione). These are great because not only do the hosts speak slowly but the conversation also shows up in Italian and English. Another similar series is “Slow Italian – Learn Italian the Natural Way.”
Once you have built up your vocabulary and are comfortable listening to the language, you can search for a program or movie
you have already watched and check to
see if it has been dubbed in Italian. A few familiar programs such as “Friends,”
A major broadcast company in Italy lists types of news programming offered.
“Madmen” “The West Wing,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” “The Nanny,” and “The X-files” were produced for viewing in Italy. As a novice you may want to stop and list unfamiliar words you can then look up as you watch and listen.
When you feel more confident you can watch for longer periods of time and
just try to focus on listening and understanding by context. When
you choose a program or a movie you will need to change
the language setting as soon as you hit
play. You will learn to navigate language and subtitle settings on your television.
Learners who are more advanced may want to now watch programming that was specifically made for Italian audiences, especially
the shows and movies that are
popular with Italian viewers.
Game shows are extremely popular in
Italy, and by watching them you can continue to build your vocabulary as well as gaining insight into modern-day culture. One of the most popular game shows right now in Italy is “I Soliti Ignoti” (The Usual Unknowns). The show presents eight people along with their varied professions or skill sets and
the contestants, or concorrenti, who must correctly match each person presented with the appropriate profession.
At the beginning of the show the eight “unknowns” are introduced as the contestants and the audience can see a list of professions or notable achievements for the eight mystery guests. In the first part of the show the contestant, hoping to win up to 250,000 euro, tries to match each person as they briefly introduce themselves without giving too much specific information. As the field
is narrowed the second part of the game takes place when the contestant must match a mystery relative to one of the eight guests based on their resemblance. The speech patterns are not too fast, so this is good for
beginners to pick up language cadence and vocabulary.
There are a number of series or movies that U.S. viewers can enjoy watching on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. “Luna Park” (Netflix) is a series set in 1960s Rome which starts with a chance meeting between two young women whose lives are mysteriously linked against the background of intriguing occurrences, generational differences, and romance. You
Game shows are extremely popular in Italy, and a good way to understand modern- day culture.