Italian identity worth preserving
Italians are quite used to feeling “lo stress”, looking forward to “il weekend” or trying to look “cool”.
But now an influential cultural institute has asked Italians to protect the language and reject “Anglitaliano”.
The Dante Alighieri Society asked people for examples of over-used foreign words and “il weekend” emerged as the worst offender.
The society said the results showed that Italians want their language to receive more respect.
For four months, the society asked visitors to its website, 70% of whomwere Italians, for inappropriate examples of foreign words being usedin everyday Italian, either written or spoken.
Italians, however, are divided on whether they want to throw out English terms in favour of flawless Italian.
Alessandra, a secretary at a travel agency in Rome, said she thought the change was a product of globalization.
“I don’t think it matters if we use English words,” she told the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.
“Often it’s faster, like using ‘il weekend’ instead of ‘fine settimana’.”
However her boss Maria disagreed, saying she would prefer to speak either Italian or English, not a mixture.
“People think it’s chic to use English words, but I don’t like it at all. It’s important to keep language clean,” she said.
The society conducted the survey as part of its campaign to ensure Italian remains a key language in the workings of the EU.