I am exploring the idea of taking a short term Sicilian language (not Italian) course in Sicily. Has anyone in this forum community done that? If so, what school did you use? Any recommendations from personal experience?
Posted by
New England
1662 posts
Googled and found this: https://www.italianfoundation.org/programs/fiori-blu-di-sicilia-language-school-palermo-sicily-50-discount-course-fee/ - Maybe check it out
Posted by
OP
back in the Americas
733 posts
Thanks Girasoli, I will take a look at those.
Posted by
New England
1662 posts
You're welcome.
Also, a search pulled up these choices too - https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=visicom&hsimp=yhs-mystartone&type=exnt__msext__travitaly__2_18_11__searchbox__null__yr&gdpr=0&p=is+there+a+sicilian+language+course%3F
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Girasoli, my reading of the first one is that they teach standard Italian, not Sicilian. Here's how they describe themselves:
Sicilian Italian Language School is accredited by the University of Siena, and is home to DITALS exams; certification for the teaching of Italian language for foreigners.
I would be very surprised to find any language school for Sicilian. Looks like your best bet could be studying it online. Good luck.
Posted by
New England
1662 posts
Ahh ok, Michael. I linked the Google page for other sites for the OP to check out. There are a lot of dialects in the Sicilian language.
eta: To Pat, here is an excerpt from the second link, Whether you’re a foreigner or an Italian, Sicilian is a complicated language that you can only hope to understand. We could spend hours listening to this wonderful and melodious language that hides a magic world dating back almost a thousand years inside its devious words.
You'll probably have fun learning to speak and master phrases and key words in Sicilian, but it can be complicated. My family spoke Sicilian, but, it was usually slang and a varied dialect, lol. In Sicily though, most will understand the "true Italian." Some words can be figured out between Sicilian and Italian.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=learn+sicilian+language
This one has a "Catanian" dialect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TTyKWEXyFU
Check Amazon for audio learning CD's.
Posted by
OP
back in the Americas
733 posts
Yes, I am finding that the language courses offered are Italian, not Sicilian, although some do offer Sicilian culture and history classes. My grandparents came from Sicily in the early 1900s and as a kid my aunts and uncles and grandparents all spoke Sicilian to each other but never directly taught my generation, in fact they avoided teaching it to my generation. So I learned some songs, prayers, and some common phrases, (both good and some not so good!) and lots of food words but now I would like to learn more. I am using an online website to learn some very basic Sicilian but I want more and so I am researching my options bcause I think it would be neat to take a class in Sicily. Thanks for helping out with your suggestions.
Pat