Learning About Italy And Italian With Memes (ita Audio Subs)

Tutorial Transcript

Hi everyone and welcome back to my channel! Today we talk about memes, which might seem like a very superficial topic, perhaps it is, but I am convinced that you can learn something new about Italy and the Italians from these memes. Obviously I have chosen funny memes, but also that allow me to tell you something more about Italy, right? So it goes without saying that I did some research. So, I would like to start from memes that deal with a linguistic theme that I would like to bring to your attention. That of the accents, in Italian most of the accents are tonic, so they are not written, only a few are written, the graphic ones are the minority of Italian accents. And it is mandatory to write them on the truncated words, that is where the accent falls on the last syllable. Truncated words are: city, university, dad. Reporting the accent is important, also because sometimes it can change the meaning of the word. And now you will understand what I mean. When you write to your dad and forget the accent, but you are Cesare Borgia and nothing changes to you. So in this case the error is justified, because his dad was also the Pope. But in different situations, Dad and Pope are two different people! Then, this is nice because it explains a curiosity. Talk about simple prepositions: of, to, from, in, with, on, for, between, between. And it's funny because when I teach these prepositions, I tend to keep this order, this is the order in which all Italians know simple prepositions by heart. Because we learn in school like this, this is the only order to list simple prepositions! You will never hear an Italian - or maybe yes, but I have never heard an Italian start from to or by, to list the prepositions. As if there was a predetermined order in listing the prepositions. To our ear it can only be that. It also has a certain musicality, I must admit. Beware of false friends. Especially when you have to express your enthusiasm for something. And this meme explains it specifically: in English it says "I'm so excited", but in Italian we can't say "I'm so excited", because it would be from a sexual point of view. So if you want to translate it into Italian, we have to say: "I'm excited", "I'm happy", "I'm so excited". All right? So this meme reminds us that we have to watch out for false friends. Another false friend that comes to mind is a verb that is often used, "to practice", but in Italian you cannot practice a language. In Italian we practice speaking a language, writing in a language, etc. We must pay attention to these things. If someone points this out to you, the answer is not "ah but oh well it's the same". No, because it is not the same! Just on these two expressions, I made two videos, I leave the links in the description and I invite you to deepen this topic. We come now to this, which makes us think of a curiosity about the perception of the various subjects at school. Physical education says, "You always act like you are better than me." He says it to Philosophy and History, Italian and Mathematics. At school there is a hierarchy of subjects, there are subjects that are considered more important than others, both by the students, who therefore have this perception, but this perception is transmitted to them by the teachers themselves. For example, some subjects that are bisfratted, considered minor compared to others, are physical education, the gymnastic hour is considered as a free hour, basically, an hour of leisure. You won't believe it, but Art History is considered a less important subject than other subjects such as mathematics, Italian, philosophy. I remember it very well even when I was in high school. And it's surprising if you think, right? In Italy, the country of art, the material is considered less important than others. Go figure people. Inexplicable things happen sometimes. Another subject that is considered less important is probably religion, because it is not a compulsory subject in school. The parents of the students and the students themselves, when they are of age, can choose whether to follow the religion lesson or not. It is mistakenly believed that the hour of religion is a kind of Catholic indoctrination, in reality, sometimes it is so unfortunately, it depends on the professor you meet. I didn't study how to be a good Catholic Christian during the hour of religion. But I studied the world of religion. That is, other religions, other points of view. What does it mean to be Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, etc. So it was an hour of reflection. Let me know which subjects in your country are considered less important than others, so let's make a comparison. Then, when you represent the sun, the sea for the whole world, but you live in Piedmont and have the same concept of sun as an Icelandic. Here we have to deal with the issue of stereotypes. Of course, in Italy there is the sun, there is the sea, but not everywhere in Italy. There are parts, especially in the north, in the area of ​​the Po valley for example, where in winter you hardly see anything, you don't see who is in front of you, there is so much fog! Let's say we have to look at things for a moment. And then even in Sicily it is cold in winter, it snowed this year, last year. And it's a bit frustrating when I talk to some foreigner who maybe comes from a very cold country and I say: "Ah yes, today in Rome it's very cold". And they look at me and say "Oh well", as if to say "it's not as cold as". Of course, the cold of Rome is not the cold of SIberia, the cold of Rome is not the cold of Norway! I know how cold it is in Norway, I had to sleep in the woods with -25 degrees once, however, due to the climate here, it's also cold here. Do not think that in Italy it is always good weather, that it is always hot, that there is always the sun, because it is not so. In some areas of Italy the sun is hardly visible! Well, then I would say that we stop here, because I don't want it to be too long, I want it to be a light enough video to watch. I hope this video has made you reflect on something, I hope you enjoyed it, that you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching! We will see you in the next one. And if you have other memes to suggest, if you want a sequel to this video, let me know in the comments below. Thanks, see you soon! Hi!