Buondì.

A while back, over at EasyItalianNews.com, we had a couple of people moaning about our writers’ use of the term ‘ragazzo nero’ (literally ‘black boy’ but better translated as ‘black guy’) to describe the unfortunate recipient of a rather generous number of police bullets.

The commentors separately made the point that the use of the term ‘boy’ to describe a black ‘man’ is entirely inappropriate in English, which we totally accept. Except that the text was not written in English, but in Italian, where the use of the term ‘ragazzo’ is meant much more kindly (and has no racial connotation), as in ‘not some decrepit old geezer but someone in the prime of life’.

I’m fifty-three years of age, and so mostly past the ‘ragazzo’ stage, in my own mind at least. Elderly neighbours still use the term to me, but my teenage kids would laugh if they heard.

Languages are more complicated than you might imagine: a good rule of thumb is not to assume that what something means in the language you’re not yet totally proficient in is the same as what it means in your own language. It might be, or it might not. Or it might sometimes be, but othertimes not.

So today I moderated another comment, on another breaking news story from the USA, this time about the death of, and political turmoil surrounding, a Supreme Court justice. Here’s what we wrote:

“Prima di morire avrebbe espresso il desiderio
di essere rimpiazzata
solo dopo le elezioni,
ma è probabile che il presidente Trump
cercherà di far nominare
un giudice conservatore
spostando così gli equilibri della Corte
che si ritroverebbe
con 6 giudici conservatori
e 3 democratici.”

https://easyitaliannews.com/easyitaliannews-com-22-settembre-2020/

Karen wrote:

“The US Supreme Court Justices are referred to in the article as “conservative and democratic”( my translation for “conservatori e democratici”), but the term democratic is not correct for the judges because that implies they belong to the democratic political party. A better term would be liberal. Thus the judges in the court may be considered conservative or liberal in their views and court judgements.”

There’s more in this than is first apparent, and reading Karen’s comment again I see that if we were writing this in English we might capitalise the word ‘democatic’, or maybe use the noun, Democrat, were we intending to refer to party affiliation. But also that, using the two terms to indicate different political persuasions, without the capital, does rather seem to suggest that conservative judges are not also democratic in their outlook, which they would surely disagree with.

However, in my reply to Karen’s comment, I tried to focus on the Italian side of things:

“Of course, you’re absolutely correct, Karen. But the word ‘liberal’ would mean something entirely different to someone reading in Italian, or at least it should – something more like ‘free market capitalist’, which is the opposite of what is intended. In Italian, the word has a pretty negative connotation.”

“I haven’t looked at the source articles (in the ‘real’ Italian press) for this piece, but it’s likely you would find that the Italian journalists are using the terms in a similar way that we did. And probably journalists writing in French or Spanish about the US Supreme Court too. Appointed by a democrat = democratic!”

Well yes and no. Approving comments (and occasionaly replying to them) is a job that gets squeezed in between other, bigger tasks. But when I had a moment free later, I did actually take a look at the two source articles to see if the pros had handled the situation better than we did:

Here are some extracts from the first source article:

“Ginsburg, seconda donna a diventare giudice della Corte Suprema, fu nominata nel 1993 dall’allora presidente Bill Clinton ed era considerata una giudice progressista…”

“…Donald Trump e il Senato potrebbero nominare un nuovo giudice e scegliere qualcuno con posizioni e idee molto più conservatrici…”

“…ci sono otto giudici, cinque considerati conservatori e tre progressisti…”

https://www.ilpost.it/2020/09/19/ruth-bader-ginsburg-morta/

As you see, the journalist solves the ‘liberal = exploitative bastard’ connotation problem by using ‘progressive’ instead. Conservative/progressive seems reasonable, and unlikely to offend either party.

However, in the second article, things are rather more confused:

“Usa, addio a Ruth Bader Ginsburg, giudice icona liberal della Corte Suprema”

“…Donald Trump, c’è da giurarci, farà di tutto per eleggere un ennesimo conservatore…”

“…che potrebbe spostare definitivamente a destra quella Corte Suprema attualmente formata da 5 giudici repubblicani su nove”

“…nel 2015 Barack Obama l’aveva invitata con discrezione a dimettersi, per via dell’età avanzata, sperando di farle lasciare il posto a un collega più giovane e di provata fede democratica.”

https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2020/09/19/news/morta_giudice_della_corte_suprema_ruth_bader_ginsburg-267794423/

This time we have liberal/conservative, as Karen suggested, but also republican and, if not exactly democrat or democratic, at least ‘of proven democratic faith’.

So, yes, in theory, judges are not chosen for their affiliation to a particular political party, but in practice? There’s certainly something very tribal about the current situation: one of ours or one of theirs, pro-life or pro-choice, likely to favour this party or that party in a disputed presidential election? It obviously matters to all concerned.

Conservative and progressive works in English and in Italian, but what is actually meant is Republican and Democratic, both capitalised. It’s unsurprising, to me at least, that we foreigners get mixed up!

Learning tip: reading news articles in the language you’re learning about your own country, or a country that you know well, is a good way to build your reading skills and vocabulary, certainly better than just selecting an article at random. When I read in French or Spanish these days, I avoid articles about the politics of either country (so far, utterly incomprehensible) in favour of anything with ‘Boris’ or ‘Trump’ in the headline, on the basis that I’ll already know what’s being written about. Articles about science and technology, or internationally famous people, are good for the same reason. Smartphone reviews, sex tips, stock market crashes – you get the idea.

And the more you read, the more you pick up – not just about the language you’re learning, but about how those writing in that language (and presumably their readers) perceive your country, which sometimes turns out to be much more kindly, and in a less-partisan way, that you might expect!

A lunedì, allora.

Final Reminder!

Here’s a final reminder about this week’s two new ‘easy Italian reader ebooks’, ‘Tumulto a Firenze‘ and ‘La storia di Roma‘, both 25% off the usual easy reader ebook price, but only until Sunday night!

‘Tumulto a Firenze‘, just £5.99 | free sample chapter (.pdf)

‘La storia di Roma‘, just £5.99 | free sample chapters (.pdf)

Both ebooks are intended for fairly advanced students, so lower-level students of Italian should visit our online shop to find something that better fits their level.

Our Catalog page has links to each of our many ebooks, in approximate level order, and to the free sample chapters for each one. Why not take a look?

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OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | Shop

Buondì.

This came in overnight, by email:

Do you offer any coupons or a loyalty program discount? I would like to buy these books but would appreciate getting 25% off my purchase.

Beh, it never hurts to ask, does it? And in fact, when people do ask, I’m always happy to help if I can.

I see you used the 33% coupon already, way back when. So that’s out, otherwise I would have suggested it.

We have a 20% sale coming up very soon, did you know? It’ll begin on Monday 5th October and last for a week. You can save a fifth on everything in the shop.

There are four such sales each year – in the autumn, at New Year, in the spring, and in the first week of July (our new tax year…) If you plan your purchases carefully, there’s no need to pay full price, ever. And if you want to know the exact dates, just ask, as now.

To which I would add, this especially for people taking online lessons with a club teacher, if you stock up on lesson credits in the coming sale, at a 20% discount, you’ll be good until the next sale at New Year, at which point you can do the same, then continue learning Italian at a fifth less than the advertised price until Easter/the spring (whichever comes sooner, usually), then stock up again, and so on and so forth.

We have a several hundred regular students and that’s what most of them do. So why not you, too?

And one further reflection about price/discounts: reading in Italian or whatever language you’re learning is a HABIT (listening too), and one that, once you have managed to establish it, will pay dividends for years to come in terms of improved comprehension, expanded vocabulary, and generally knowing better what people who speak the language you aspire to learn are communicating ABOUT. And HOW. Grammar books only do the how part, and not very well at that.

To encourage people to give reading/listening a try, we have two Italian ebooks in our online shop priced at ZERO. They are ‘Il ristorante‘, written by goodness knows who, a proper ‘easy’ Italian reader with accompanying audio, glossaries and exercises, and ‘La sorpresa‘ which, in contrast, is an Italian/English parallel text – so no audio, glossaries or exercises but a line-by-line translation into English.

Zilch is not a lot to pay to check out two entire texts (albeit very short ones), in my opinion. The idea, of course, is to give people the chance to discover the benefits of reading/listening in Italian for themselves, WITHOUT having to spend money and so risk looking foolish in front of partners, children, colleagues…

Many, perhaps most, of the people who download the free ebooks never go on to buy anything, which is fine. There are other ways of learning Italian – though I suspect that the vast majority of people just give up before they ever get very far towards their language-learning goals.

But for the ones that do become our customers, the following reflection – our ebooks are priced based on:

1.) the cost to produce them (basically, the fees to the writer and others involved – which has nothing to do with the length, by the way – writers get the same no matter if they write a lot or a little, and writing a very simplified, very short text, that still reads like a story is, in fact, much harder); and

2.) the value to the student/customer in terms of learning achieved. Which is, of course, totally subjective and so unscientific, but reflects what I would be willing to pay myself for materials that would help me make progress with the languages I’m learning.

I personally reckon up the value of study materials in terms of the number of beers foresaken. So a story at a level that would challenge me and, at a chapter a day, take me perhaps a week to complete, with accompanying audio, exercises, glossaries etc., would seem well worth the price of a pint in a pricey downtown bar (or a sixpack from the liquor store if you’re more of the drink-at-home type…)

All that said, dependency can take time to develop, hence the the 33% coupon (the ebook equivalent of cheap shots for impressionable young people). Also our regular half-price ‘Book of the Week’ offers, of which I can feel one coming on, perhaps next week…

People often tell me (like all the time, I swear, because I work in a language school and write articles like this one) that, sadly, they haven’t learnt very much. Which doesn’t surprise them that much, though, because they didn’t actually STUDY.

STUDY. I hate that word, and hold it (and schools, and universities) responsibile for the crushed dreams of millions.

It’s a leaden word, don’t you think? Of appeal only to flagellants and bores, its soul-destroying practice being, at the very best, hard to sustain until the desired results are achieved, which they probably won’t be. Study = temporary + fruitless.

“You know? What I do? I never STUDY!” I tell them, “But I try to LISTEN, and READ. Every day! It’s much more fun. And once you get into the habit, the language-learning sort of takes care of itself. Well, it works for me, anyway.”

It’s rare that anyone much listens because EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD is telling them the exact opposite: that sweating over conjugations, beating yourself up over ‘pronomi combinati’ (don’t ask), is the way to go, as well as being much more profitable for teachers and the institutions that employ them.

“And how did that work out for you?” I ask. “Well, I find it hard to remember all the new words I’ve memorised” they tell me, “and I still don’t understand pronomi combinati. It’s all making me rather depressed. I’m thinking of taking a break from Italian.”

Yet again, I pull out my whip and apply it, with gusto, to the expired cavallo: “You know what I do? I try to listen every day, and read…”

One final thing – when we have new ebook out, for the first week only, it’s 25% off the usual price, so several glugs of overpriced beer cheaper than the usual ebook easy reader price.

Upper-intermediate (B2) or advanced students (C1 & C2) should check out today’s P.S.

Others, do yourself a favour and browse the Catalog for something more suited to your current level.

Check the free sample chapters for something you dig, and that you can mostly understand. If what you’re perusing is neither, keep looking until you find something that is. Just like in a real bookshop, or library!

A venerdì, allora.

P.S.

Don’t forget this week’s new ‘easy Italian reader ebook’, which isn’t in the slightest bit easy but does have bad guys and a romantic subplot.

“Get the arms, Luigi, we’re going to town to fight for our rights as workers!”

‘Tumulto a Firenze‘ is set during the wool-workers’ revolt (they were known as ‘ciompi’ – Google it), and heady stuff it is, too. Crowds of oppressed workers invade the city; after the inital confusion the authorities begin to crack down; ringleaders are arrested and made an example of.

‘Tumulto a Firenze‘, just £5.99 | free sample chapter (.pdf)

Also new this week is the ebook version of our recently-concluded summer series of free articles with audio, ‘La storia di Roma‘.

‘La storia di Roma‘, just £5.99 | free sample chapters (.pdf)

Both ebooks are difficult, so beginner and lower-level students of Italian would be well advised to vist our online shop and search for something that better fits their level. Browse our Catalog, which has links to each title, in approximate level order, and to the respective free sample chapters, so you can try before you buy.

P.P.S.

Tuesday’s bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news was a bit of a mess, with several misreadings and, at a certain point, an entire paragraph getting lost. Did you spot it? Me too!

Blame the first-week-back-at-school effect. Our editorial team have promised they’ll try to do better tomorrow.

Read/listen now (it’s free) and/or subscribe and so receive each thrice-weekly bulletin directly in your email inbox each Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday, etc. (also absolutely free!)

And yes, of course, we’re totally trying to turn you into a listeningoholic!

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OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | Shop