I've already written something about it, and so did Luca here.
Here's the fact: I love learning new languages and, among them, I have to point out that english always had a certain attraction on me.
It's not only the fact that it's one of the easiest languages to learn, it's (and that's even more important) that it's so incredibly useful!
(Sometimes I think it's such a pity I'm the only son: if I had a brother or a sister, I would have bothered him/her so much to simply talk in english every single day.)
Everytime I'm in another country I notice that people are usually surprised that I'm italian and I'm able to speak english: we have a really bad reputation about our knowledge of english, and I think it might also be because all of our movies and tv shows are in italian.
Recently I've finally decided to put and end to this: it's time to learn from other countries (especially from those in the north of Europe) and start watching movies in english (no subtitles allowed)!
Travelling it's the best way to improve our english but, as it's quite hard to travel 365 days a year, while we are in Italy we can easily do something helpful just by watching a movie in its original language (which is something quite normal for many people around Europe!).
This evening, for example, I've watched "The Woodsman" (I bought the DVD in Kaunas, 'twas pretty cheap) a very emotional movie with Kevin Bacon as a main character.
The plot is about a man who did awful things (he was a pedophile) and is trying to deal with his past everyday of his life, in different kinds of situations: at the working place, with his partner, when he's alone with himself.
Facing prejudices while trying to start a new life: will good intentions be stronger than the rest?
I won't reveal any other aspects of the plot: you've probably understood what kind of movie it is, and if you've found yourself interested I might suggest you to give it a try.
Will it ever come the day in which italians won't be so well-known anymore for their ignorance regarding english?
We'll see.
So far, I can only say that once you've seen a couple of movies in english, you'll find it hard to switch back to italian.
Try it and you'll see it by yourself!
(International friends: will you keep on complaining in Skype now that my blog is written in english?
Hm...maybe I should ask myself first: will I keep on writing it in english?
Same answer as above: we'll see.) :)
Update: in the comments Marika suggested us to see this video: it's funny and quite eloquent about the topic. Have a laugh!
[tags]english, movies, original language, overall, knowledge, english, italian, The Woodsman[/tags]
7 comments in “Go for the original language! (updated)”
Novembre 16th, 2007 at 09:44
It has been a while now since I started watching movies in their original language. They are always better! You can appreciate the sounds of the environment more, since when the movie is translated in our language, to cut out the original voices there is a loss even in other sounds (as you know sound waves have different and overlapping lengths, so you cant delete only voices).
Moreover, in the original language, you can appreciate the real skill of actors: you can’t understand why a certain actor or actress won a Oscar Prize without listening his or her original voice and interpretation.
Finally, in original language we don’t have to tolerate bad translations like the one for “Eternal sunshine of a spotless mind”.
Novembre 16th, 2007 at 11:49
…will I keep on writing it in english?
Please, do it!
Novembre 16th, 2007 at 17:11
Who told that italians are not good english-speakers???:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZq7j1DX3Aw&feature=related
Novembre 16th, 2007 at 18:37
Mat:
Yep.
I agree, it’s not only the actors’ voice, it’s also about all the sounds from the enviroment!
Cutting wavelenghts always has a not-so-positive side-effect!
Sangi:
I won’t plan anything: I’ll simply take things as they come.
Sometimes articles spring out of my mind in english, some other times in italian.
I’ll just follow the feeling!
Baltic Man:
Wow, such a perfect pronunciation!
It’s really not hard to do better than that…
Novembre 19th, 2007 at 16:24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1TnzCiUSI0
Sorry, I just couldn’t resist
Novembre 19th, 2007 at 18:57
It’s ok Marika, we even share the same point of view about this topic!
Novembre 20th, 2007 at 14:28
I was of course joking. I really think it is just cute when everyone has his/her own accent. If you like to make fun of mine, you just have to find an interview with an (ex?) formulaone driver Mika Häkkinen…
Apart from jokes, I don’t think you (=italians) are so bad. You just like to believe so. A bit of practice and you wouldn’t be worse than anyone else…
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