Hi,
I know a bit of italian, enough to get around, ask directions and short conversation I can read and write pretty well. We will be in Sicily for 10 days next October and I was wondering if the italian in Sicily is very different (dialect) from the mainland or if I'll be able to get by. Should I brush up on Sicilian?
You should be fine with Italian - yes there is a Sicilian dialect but everyone is taught Italian Italian in the schools. And you will find lots of people speaking English.
While there are LOTS of different dialects in Italy, you shouldn't have any trouble using "standard" Italian in Sicily. AFAIK, the "official" Italian is based on the dialect of Tuscany, and that seems to be the standard that's used throughout Italy.
On the other hand, Rene-Pierre, if you have some Sicilian that you can brush up on, why not brush up on it before you spend ten days in Sicily in October? There probably aren't too many other places you can use it, and you'll likely impress the hell out of various Sicilians.
Yep, what Larry said. Impress the Sicilians.
One little note about dialects in Italy. They're virtually different languages. Americans tend to use the term "dialect" when we actually mean "accent." Certain regions in Italy definitely have their own accents that come out when they speak standard Italian, but the dialects are almost unintelligible to someone who doesn't speak it, even if native Italian but from a different region. Completely different words, spellings, conjugations, etc. There is no equivalent in the US to the phenomenon of dialects in parts of Europe (Italy, Spain, France).
The dialect is spoken only within the intimacy of the family members and very close friends. Nobody in Sicily will speak to you in dialect, they don't even do it among themselves when talking to strangers. It's not considered appropriate. Of course they might speak with a Sicilian accent, but they all speak standard Italian in their daily affairs.
