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Here in the States, today is a holiday set aside to commemorate the “discovery” of America by that navigator from Genoa, Christopher Columbus, or as we call him, Cristoforo Colombo.
Two years ago, to celebrate, I shared a musical number with you, while last year we cooked octopus. Today I’ve chosen to highlight how the Italian language is passed from generation to generation … kinda-sorta. Watch how Great Grandma teaches her Little One the intricacies of the Italian language. The only problem is that the video is far too short. I could watch these two “talk” for hours.
Have a great Columbus Day and to our good friends and neighbors to the North, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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I don’t know how you ever found this wonderful video, but it’s charming and I’m so glad I saw it. I didn’t understand a word of it! LOL! Didn’t matter one bit. 🙂 Happy Columbus Day, John. You never fail to give the man his due. I like that!
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Hi, Debra. A good friend sent it to me months ago and I knew it would find its way onto the blog, one way or another. I doubt either participant knew what the other was saying but they sure did put on a good show. I’m surprised we didn’t hear the “cameraman” laughing in the background. I certainly would have been. 🙂
Hope you, too, are enjoying the holiday!
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There is more than language being passed on here: this little girl knows she is loved and feels secure, is full of trust and fun . . . absolutely wonderful! Happy Columbus Day John and thanks !!
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You nailed it, Eha. There’s a lot of love at that table. 🙂
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I didn’t understand a word of it , but the girl so cute! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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I fared a little better, and understood 2 words. That hasn’t stopped me, though, from watching it over and over again. 🙂
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ciao amico! ti ritrovo in un giorno dedicato all’italianità e questo mi rende orgogliosa ” popolo di poeti, santi e navigatori” questo ci è universalmente riconosciuto…e di pittori no? guarda lo splendido ritratto di Coolmbo del grande Sebastiano del Piombo che hai scelto…e la cucina no? ha ha ha basta leggere qualcuna delle tue favolose ricette tradizionali!
grazie, passa una settimana felice
🙂
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Grazie mille, Ventis. From Etruscan times to the Present, the people of that peninsula have contributed greatly to civilization. This holiday may be named after Columbus but it celebrates so much more, my Friend. 🙂
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What a hoot!
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Couldn’t agree more. 🙂
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Happy Columbus Day! I too did not understand a word but thoroughly enjoyed the video, agree, it is too short. The little girl is so animated, what a cutie!
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I’m with you, Norma. I bet the 2 of them have had many such “discussions”. That’s probably what tempted them to record one. I just wish it was the first of a series. 🙂
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That is too cute! Thanks for sharing
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Isn’t she a doll? So glad someone had the presence of mind to record one of their “discussions.”
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Did bisnonna tell the little girl she was being stubborn? At one moment she touched her head and said something that sounded like “la teshta doora”. In French, if someone says you have “la tete dure” it means you’re being hard-headed. Hilarious, in any case, and amazing the way they could carry on a conversation while speaking simultaneously — and managing not to knock anything off the table!
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Good catch! The only 2 words I understood — she’s speaking in the Sicilian dialect — correspond with “testa dura”, which do mean “hard head.”
I, too, saw the bottles near the table’s edge and wondered how long they’d stay there. Maybe that’s why the video is so short. I should search YouTube for the blooper video. 🙂
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Brilliant – reminded me of my Zia Santa! We learned a little rhyme when we were smaller about Christopher Columbus – Cristoforo Colombo con naso di piombo, con naso di rami, Cristoforo Salami – (for the non Italian speakers it’s Christopher Columbus with a nose made of lead, with a nose made of branches, Christopher Salami)! Total rubbish but I never forgot it 🙂
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Hello, Tanya. Funny how some things from our youth stick with us, no matter how foolish. I have a hard time remembering yesterday’s lunch but I can remember countless nursery rhymes and silly songs. I’ll be sending your poem to Zia to see if she remembers it or something similar. Either way, she’s gonna love it. 🙂
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Awwwwwwwwwww 🙂
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I know! 🙂
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Happy Columbus Day to you too! Very cute video.
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Thanks, Eva. Enjoy those turkey sandwiches. 🙂
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Happy Columbus Day – that little one has invented a whole new Italian language 🙂
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Thanks, MD. How I’d love to sit at that table and watch the 2 of them. I also wouldn’t want to get into an argument with the little one in about 20 years or so. 🙂
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Ha ha – yes she’ll be so well practiced by then that she’ll never lose 🙂
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She is so adorable John. I see that she has learned as well the hand gestures as well 🙂
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I knew that you, Colline, as a teacher of the young ones, would really enjoy this. In a couple of years, I would love to watch her tell the class what she did on her Summer Vacation. 🙂
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Love the hands…that is all part of learning the Italian language I would think. Is the little girl really saying anything in Italian?
And that painting of Chris…I can’t quite decide if he is suppressing a smile or smirking. Maybe he was just waiting for the painter to be done for the day so he could get to his plate of pasta.
Happy CC Day.
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Hello, Angeline. No, the little girl is speaking gibberish, as far as I can tell. How cute is that? You might be interested to learn that there are no “true” depictions of Columbus. While searching for a painting, I learned that he never sat for a portrait. Even this one was completed 13 year after his death. For his time, he must have been camera shy. 🙂
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Haha, I thought so with my minimal Italian skills. I know a little, but I couldn’t get one word she said.
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This is so great! Thanks for sharing it and happy Columbus Day!
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It is a good clip and I;m so glad someone thought to record their “talk”. Too cute.
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Happy Columbus Day! We made meat sauce to celebrate. 😉 Love the video — thanks.
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Isn’t that clip the best?
I had a friend over for dinner last night and showed him how to make pappardelle and served it with amatriciana. We all celebrate in our own way. 🙂
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These two are fantastic. They could take this act on the road.
Happy Columbus Day to you! Here in Canada, we are enjoying turkey with a zesty cranberry-orange sauce. Yum!
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Aren’t they the best? I hope their future is full of many such “chats.” What fun!
Hope you’re enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving, Ruth, and that there’s plenty of leftover turkey for sandwiches. 🙂
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That one always makes me laugh! I just realised that all this time I have been reading about Chrostopher Colombus (he tried to tell us all he found NZ too.. cheeky bugger.. his PR was excellent.. poor fella just forgot to tell anyone where he got the MAPS that lead to these discovies) anyway i have never seen a picture of him.. he was a handsome fellow.. courageous too by the sounds of it.. good morning from new Zealand!.. c
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Well, good afternoon from Illinois! I didn’t know it but there are no known authentic paintings of him. Even this one was painted a dozen years after his death. In our day of cellphone cameras and paparazzi, it’s hard to imagine a time when someone as notable as Columbus could return from the New World 3 times without someone even drawing a sketch of him.
Glad to “see” you, Celi, and wish you and your family wonderful times together. I hope the clock slows to a snail’s pace for you all.
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Happy Columbus Day! Im celebrating by doing nothing 🙂 Feels so good. Loved the video, that little girl is so cute!
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I am so with you, Nazneen. Too bad we didn’t live in the same town. We could meet at a coffee shop and do nothing together. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday!
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Hi John. Happy Columbus Day! I love this video, thank you for sharing with us. 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed the video and I hope you,also, enjoyed the holiday; It’s the last one of the year that involves very little work or preparation. Thanksgiving’s next! 🙂
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Happy Columbus Day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a portrait of Columbus. Didn’t he have long fingers! xx
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Thanks, Charlie. I was surprised to learn that Columbus never sat for a portrait. This one was painted about a dozen years after his death. In this age of paparazzi, it’s hard to imagine a time when someone important wasn’t in some way “captured” for the world to see.
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The video cracked me up, John! 🙂 Happy Columbus Day!
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Me, too! The two of them are priceless.
I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday, Francesca.
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Now that’s adorable and I love the hands going like crazy. My mother in law was Sicilian and father in law from northern Italy. They each accused each other of not speaking ‘real’ Italian…but they both used their hands to talk,
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That must have been something to see. My father’s dialect is very much unlike Italian. When I visited San Marino in May, my Zia kept telling everyone to speak Italian so that I could understand. Well, the truth is, I understood a little more but certainly not enough to be considered fluent. I sold it, though, with hand gestures. 🙂
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Loved the cute video! Those two could talk the hind leg off a donkey. 🙂 Happy Columbus Day.
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“Talk the hind leg off a donkey” What a great saying!!! I have to remember this one. Too funny. Thanks!
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Ahh, we kiss on both cheeks…we talk with both hands…there’s more to that quote…Loved this! 🙂
Here in Seattle the mayor just designated Columbus day as Native Indigenous Day…there are some unhappy Italians in the city… I bet they are throwing up BOTH hands! :))
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It is a great little clip, isn’t it?
Well, your Mayor sure stuck his foot in it, didn’t he? I definitely see the Native American views but there must be a better way to address them than by robbing Peter to pay Paul. 🙂
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Thanksgiving was wonderful up north:) Lots of time spent outdoors and at the table and not much spent online so I didn’t see this until this morning! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
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I did have a great holiday, Barb, and am glad to hear that your Thanksgiving was so nice. I bet your home and table looked fantastic, both decorated beautifully for the holiday. 🙂
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It’s just adorable! …I guess the Italian temperament is there too with everyone talking at the same time – it reminds me of our moments around the table 😉 – Happy Columbus Day then!
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Same here! When I look back, it is a wonder that anyone understood anything being said. Even so, no one stopped talking. 🙂
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Thanks for the smile of the day, John! This video is absolutely adorable. ❤ Forget the reality shows available these days…I could watch these two for hours!
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I so agree with you, Nancy. I wish this clip was a preview for some future program. I’d tune in, for sure. 🙂
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So funny! The best part is that they just keep on going, as if they actually understand each other perfectly… I wonder how long the original “conversation” lasted…
Thanks for sharing and a belated happy Columbus Day. 🙂
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Once those trains started rolling, Ronit, there was no stopping them. 🙂
I only wish the camera had kept rolling. 🙂
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Happy belated Columbus Day John! Such an adorable little girl, just loved it 🙂
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I hope you enjoyed the holiday, too.
They make quite the pair don’t they? I only wish this was Volume 1 of a rather lengthy series.
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Greetings from Montreal, Canada. Yesterday was our Canadian Thanksgiving. Great post, thanks so much for sharing.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the video clip, hopefully while munching on a turkey sandwich. 🙂
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“discovery”, with quotation marks… 🙂 as America has been named after Americo Vespucci…
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super-video, John! btw, turkey meat is THE cheapest one in France! 🙂
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You’re correct, Melanie, of course, but I was alluding to the mounting evidence that Vikings arrived in the North centuries before our Cristoforo made land somewhere in Bermuda.
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Happy Columbus day. I don’t speak any Italian but that little girl has stolen my heart. Thanks for sharing!
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You needn’t speak Italian, Liz. The little girl certainly didn’t but she did get her point across. What a cutie!
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Ha, ha, I put this video up on my blog a while back, too.
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It’s a good one, isn’t it? I’ve been saving it for Columbus Day. Now I’ve got to think of something for St Joseph’s. 🙂
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