ESL FOR THE NATIVE ITALIAN SPEAKER

DATA ANALYSIS AND LANGUAGE COMPARISON

Attilio’s Production Correct English Form ErrorHe sing opera well. He sings opera well. Wrong tense of the verb.We are to go to vacation. We are going on vacation. Wrong way to use an

infinitive.We speaka well. We speak well. In Italian, the verb ending

changes as the pronoun changes from singular to plural. While using an “a” on the end of a verb is stereotypical of those speaking Italian, there is a valid reason for this confusion when speaking in English.

I eats the orange. I eat the orange. Tense confusion – singular and plural.

A stereotype of those whose first language is Italian is that they tend to add an “a” to the verb ending when speaking English. For example, “I speaka;” “We walka,” etc. There is a valid reason for this language error – in Italian, the verb form changes with every subject in Italian. Io canto translates into I sing. “Lei canta” translates into we sing. This may also affect usage of tense.

VERBS

Attilio’s Production Correct English Form Error

I feel very chills. I feel very cold. Incorrect word choice.

Does the hotel have a gymnastic?

Does the hotel have a fitness center?

Incorrect word choice.

I’m feeling half and half. I’m feeling OK. Italian slang does not translate well into English.

Gassy water Sparkling water Incorrect word choice.

Face of dirt Dirty face Incorrect use of adjective form.

Attilio still seems to have some problem transitioning from Italian to English especially in some of the “slang” words. When asked how he is feeling, he replied “ half and half,” a loose translation of mezza mezza which means half and half in Italian. When in Italy, you can order water with or without gas, which means natural spring water or carbonated water. He prefers “gassy water,” a term unfamiliar with English-speaking wait staff. In addition, he still seems to have a problem with adjective placement. In Italian, it is very common to put the adjective after the noun. The red apple spoken in Italian is “una mela rossa” or the apple red. It is only through repetition and a conscious effort that the Italian speaker can make that transition. Because Attilio has been speaking English for many years, his ear is now accustomed to hearing the adjective before the noun. However, he does occasionally slip into the Italian formulation of the phrase.

VOCABULARY

Attilio’s Production Correct English Form Error

I have no need of to eat. I’m not hungry. Preposition not needed.

He can’t wait get the dog. He can’t wait to get a dog. Missing preposition.

Arthur is tired to walk the dog.

Arthur is tired of walking the dog.

Incorrect preposition; lack of gerund.

I notice that Attilio tends to use the preposition “to” inappropriately at times. He either omits a needed preposition or inserts one when it is not needed. “Of” seems to be the preposition that causes the most confusion. This is because there is often no correspondence between the preposition he uses in Italian and the one needed in English.

PREPOSITIONS

Attilio’s Production Correct English Form ErrorShe took a walk. He took a walk. Confusion in pronouns

describing male/female.

She looks good on the sidewalk.

It looks good on the sidewalk. Confusion in pronouns describing inanimate objects. He usually uses the feminine pronoun.

It’s hard to learn the English. It’s hard to learn English. Unnecessary article.These kid is so cute. Those kids are so cute. Confusion in singular and

plural pronouns.

He also seems to use the feminine pronouns “she, her, etc.” when he should use “he, his, etc.” All nouns in Italian have gender; even inanimate objects are either masculine or feminine and you can tell by the last letter of the word. If a noun ends in “a” it is usually feminine; if it ends in “o” it is usually masculine. In addition, adjectives are also assigned a gender in Italian. If a noun is feminine, then the adjective that describes it is also feminine.

ARTICLES, POSSESSIVES AND PRONOUNS

Attilio’s Production Correct English Form Error

I got my hairs cut. I got my hair cut. Confusion in translating the Italian form into English.

How many years are you? How old are you? Confusion in translating Italian into English.

You can come with I. You can come with me. Using the wrong pronoun.

vacash vacation Truncates the last syllable of the word.

occurrence.

I found interesting that Attilio, as a barber by trade, still referred to cutting hairs rather than hair. Even after discussion, he corrected himself to use hair but said, “Sometimes kids hair are hard to cut.” While using the word correctly, he still thought of it as plural.

A very interesting language idiosyncrasy among native Italian speakers from the Naples region is the truncation of the last few letters of the word. I found this most common in pronouncing names. For example, Attilio would refer to some of his friends as, Louie Letteer (Louie Lettieri), Anna Troncal (Anna Troncale) or Jimmy Freed (Jimmy Freddo). He also truncates other words, prosciutto becomes prosciutt and vacation becomes vacash. This tendency seems to emanate from the Neapolitan dialect where truncation of words is a common.

CONFUSION OF WORDS