Feb. 27 – Contaminated by English, threatened by WhatsApp, “offended” by abbreviations that are used in text messages and chats, the Italian language appears to be in a crisis today more than ever. A crisis so big, even the entertainment business has turned to it. Enrica Bonaccorti recently said she wanted to create a program on “our massacred Italian language.” “I’d re-make Parola mia of Rispoli” she continue in an interview recalling the 1980s Rai program. Meanwhile, an Italian-Belgian singer, Giacomo Lariccia, began his battle in “the defense of the Italian language” with the song “Piuttosto,” which, backed by the Accademia della Crusca, pokes fun at the latest trends and calles for the creation of the Liberation Front from Rather That (disjunctive). Joseph Antonelli (who teaches History of the Italian Language at the University of Cassino and hosts the weekly broadcast on Radio 3 “La lingua batte”), wrote a book “Comunque, anche Leopardi diceva le parolacce” in which he tells “Italian as it has never been told.” With humor and intelligence, Antonelli challenges the stereotypes of language conservatism and respectability, confronting them one after the other, breaking the unjustified prejudices that are too often handed down to the next generation. So, the language is being “corrupted” and is becoming “uglier” (in the new edition of the Zanichelli dictionary, there are new words like selfie, svapare, wedding planner, and scouting), and a study sponsored by Libreriamo informs us that almost half of the Italian population makes serious grammatical errors. In these hard times, the Italian Cultural Institute of Montreal has decided to host an event on Italia, the way it’s taught, the way it’s learnt, the way it spreads. On March 17 at 6:30pm, a conference on “Italian Language between textbooks and new multimedia tools. A question of method and teaching materials” welcomes Giacomo Pierini of Alma Edizioni, introduced by the director of the Institute, Martin Stiglio. Alma Edizioni is a leader in the production of teaching materials and courses for Italian as a Second and Foreign Language. The seminar will explore the potential related to new technologies in language teaching, with an emphasis on teaching Italian as a foreign language in Canada. (Gil)
