(From left to right: Laura, Brian, Tony and Alena)
Laura –
Laura was born in Rome. She has lived here all of her life. She has been the clerk at Acqua & Sapone for two years. Laura got the job because she knew the boss of the store. She says, laughing, that nothing is interesting about the store, the products they sell or her job. She said that a better way for us to learn Italian is to listen to the radio and music, but she was very kind, indulgent, and good natured during the interview. When we asked her some things that American students like us could from Italians, she said that we should learn “buona cucina,” meaning good cooking. We therefore asked her what her favorite Italian food was, and she said she liked “tutti i tipi di pasta,” with sauces from all different regions of Italy. She especially like Roman cooking, including spaghetti with carbonara sauce.
New words learned during the interview:
La radio – the radio
Comessa – store clerk
Carbonara – pasta with cream sauce and pancetta
Alena –
Alena was born in Romania. She has lived in Italy for four years, and her Italian, including the Roman dialect, is perfect. We mainly talked to her about the Italian language, and she told us many interesting things about the Roman dialect, also know as Romanuccio. She told us that she didn’t actually learn proper Italian, but rather the Romanuccio because that was the first Italian she was exposed to. Some interesting things about Romanuccio are that they have an entirely different word for coat pockets. Whereas most Italians say >>>>>, Romans say “saccocia.” Also, Romans say “magniare” instead of the traditional “mangiare,” and “nammo” instead of “andiamo.” When we asked her why she came to Italy, she said that she was looking for work. She had some friends in Rome, and one of them turned down a job at Acqua & Sapone, Alena volunteered to take the job in her place. She agrees with Laura that nothing is interesting about the job itself, but she is very outgoing and loves to talk to the people who come in. She also told us that she loves animals and had three cats back in Romania.
New words learned during the interview:
Magniare – mangiare (to eat)
Romanuccio – the Roman dialect
Saccoccia – coat pockets in the Roman dialect
