(continued)
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| South Zeal - "Dartmoor Folk Festival ' traditional English dances are not a male prerogative ... |
My travels takes me close to a corner of the tent where a blond woman wearing traditional dress was spinning skills with the wool using a traditional spinning wheel moved smoothly with a pedal. I was born and raised in the city and although not as long ago I was a kid watching those magical gestures so agile and so old ... Some traditional instruments are now also disappeared from our countryside and their occasional occurrence magnetically attracts me. So the gesture involved dall'arcaicità I stopped watching the scene: the lady no longer young attractive but still kept her head lowered slightly to follow with their eye movements of the regular cast and only after a while - almost as if you were suddenly aware of my presence - he looked at me a hint of a mild and gentle smile, flattered, perhaps, that maybe my attention for her unusual. To spare his polite smile with a polite greeting began almost by accident a short conversation. I do not remember anything of what we said, certainly nothing special, perhaps circumstantial phrases, and probably also exchanged a few words about the work he was doing, the only thing I remember is that certainly told me that the area was also if I remember exactly where in South Zeal or a neighboring village. While trying to use my English in the best possible way to easy to understand that she was a stranger and could not understand the pronunciation of my nationality I asked where they came from, when I said "I'm Italian" I saw the expression change completely of the face and his friendly kindness was replaced by joy mixed with astonishment and - displacing completely - he told me in an Italian rather than proper English accent and the spiccatissimo " How nice! We study 'den! We really like his tongue! "and hint that I was regularly with other people to study His words ... filled me with a childlike joy as if I had received a gift most desired but never even dreamed of! Still pleasantly stunned by the discovery of the lady - when they saw a distinguished gentleman - he drew the attention and pointing to me said, "It is he who teaches us his tongue! . The new partner - a man in his seventies by the typical appearance of an English country gentleman suddenly popped out from a novel by Dickens or a Wodehouse novel: not very tall, bald, smiling, wearing a jacket, tie and knee-length trousers with shoes English all the distinctive style in shades of beige and brown. Once informed my Italian vigorously shook my hand and - say it is his role as teacher of Italian - you said happy to also tell him my knowledge of the lessons held regularly where several people took part in the district ...
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| South Zeal - "Dartmoor Folk Festival ' generations united by a common passion |
Imagine my state of mind: there, in a small English village far away geographically and mentally from a cosmopolitan city like London, in a place where, completely intoxicated by this total "inglesicità, I bask in it as a cat on a sofa suddenly and unexpectedly find myself listening to my speech with an accent familiar and pleasant - in St. it time - so "exotic"! And the thing I most proud of is that those people studying Italian, simply because they had pleasure in doing so! Not for "business" or necessity but only for the fascination that my Italian language and culture have on them. This discovery was also a nice shot at my presumption: even then, not in spite of my short knowledge of English because I was wrongly convinced of their almost total unresponsiveness to learn and use a foreign language in their full awareness of the role of "universal language" acquired by their language all over the world. Not for pride or for "grandeur" as our French cousins, but simply because it was not necessary ... And if I had never imagined to meet an Italian-speaking English, I would expect to find in London or indeed, perhaps, in some cities university certainly not in a remote farming village in the southwest!
For me it was an absolutely amazing: I was alone in England for more than a week and more a week I was using only the local language, almost "forgetting" Italian (to the point of often surprising to think in English) when, suddenly, I find myself talking my language - on request - with the British ! And it was gratifying eager to see them trying to listen, perhaps to steal some words from my best rudimentary decision making - no more and no less - what I did in all previous days to clean up (as possible) my English from Italian cadence.
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| South Zeal - An unusual traffic due to the many festival visitors congested main street otherwise quiet ... |
In England and in South Zeal are back again over the years and I also ricapitato to find English speaking Italian, but that episode so simple, perhaps as trivial, it was nevertheless one of the most intense emotions that I have to point that even today, years later, he tried again to remember strongly the feelings lived then!
Unfortunately, however, not always the use of Italian culture was synonymous with ...
Unfortunately, however, not always the use of Italian culture was synonymous with ...
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| South Zeal - "Dartmoor Folk Festival ' fun for kids ... of all ages! |
