Local languages and the Salone del Gusto in Turin: Bambara, Piedmontese, Sicilian, general notes

Yesterday night I came back from Turin where I was with a local wine producer at the "Salone del Gusto" which aims to promote regional products from anywhere in the world trying to protect varieties which eventually are endangered. Regional and endangered products are very much connected to regional languages. The results I got from discussions with various people are plenty and so I chose to just tell you three of them.

One thing you have to be aware of is that I am German and speak Italian and Neapolitan and with anyone from the Italian territory I used deliberately a Neapolitan-Italian mix so that what I said was understandable but made clear to people where I lived. 

The sadest answer I got from a stand from Mali (I had to speak French, something I really do not do all too often and I am always astonished that I seem to know more than I tought ): when I asked these people about their mother tongue they told me that it was French, then I said, well, it actually cannot be French, because it is not an African language, so what is actually your mother tongue, the one you speak at home, the one your mother speaks.  They really looked a bit particular at me and then they told me it was Bambara. We went on talking a bit and it was really strange for them that someone actually was really interested in their local language. I hope I made it to make clear that they must use their language, that is Bambara, because otherwise not only their language would die, but also many of the local products they still produce.

With Piedmontese there were of course various situations, because being in Piedmont you can imagine that there were plenty of people speaking that language. I went to the exhibitors one by one, looking at their products, taking photos, talking with them about traditions and I really learnt a lot. (I did the same for many different places). Then when I looked at the brochures I found that they were in Italian, English and sometimes also German or French. I always took some time "reading" the brochure and looking at it as if I was searching for something, but without saying nothing - when they tried to understand what I was searching for I said, well, there is something missing on this leaflet - so they asked: what is missing - and I: well, you have the text in Italian and English, but not in your language. In many of the faces then you saw that big question mark. So I said: I would expect to have the description also in Piedmontese, but it is really strange that I could not find any. For many of them it was some kind of shock - they never expected a German speaking Italian with an obvious Neapolitan accent to tell them that they need to write Piedmontese ... many of them said that most people would not understand, that is most Italians and foreigners, only one of them immediately said: you gave me a great idea, my next brochure will also be in Piedmontese (well it is obvious that I will promote him :-) I then explained (not only to the Piedmontese people of course, but all I had the chance to talk to) that using the local language is like using local products: it underlines the diversity and the being unique of the region and the products of the region. If anybody did this it would be a very positive economical signal, because people love the "really special products" and by distinguishing not only the product with visual aspects but also using the local language they make it even more local and special and therefore more attractive to potential customers.

The only region I found which actually used a longer text in local language was Sicily. In a brochure about oranges and lemons they had a whole page of a poem about these fruits in Sicilian language. I had conversations with various people about the language and actually using it also in business, also for international business. And at this stage the Sicilian producers and also official people I talked to were the most open ones to using their language. They REALLY are considering it their mother tongue and they are proud of it, like it should be anywhere in the word. With "they" I refer to most of the people I talked to during the last days. So thank you Sicily and Sicilians to show how things should be and that it is really possible.

Generally considering we have the situation that most people seem to avoid to show that they use their local language and many, when you tell them not only to talk but also to write say: but that is far to difficult. My reasoning then was: "do you speak English, French or any other language and write it" and very often I got the answer: of course we speak and write English (well actually that was what I expected and so they opened me a door to say: well when you start to learn English, you don't know how to talk, but you learn it and then you learn how to write and you are able to communicate by speaking and writing. When it comes to your mother tongue you only have to learn how to write it, so if you are able to learn English, you are also able to learn your mother tongue ... The strange thing is that this is something people never consider: for them their language is something strange, difficult to write, because this is what people tell them over and over again when they grow up. 

When it comes to local culture and educations, the sector we as Vox Humanitatis work in, we believe that it is relevant not only for people to speak, write and use their own culture to maintain it for the future generations, but it is also necessary to teach it and furthermore it is to be used in business as a way to distinguish their products. Local culture including products, food, music, language and so much more are a mayor motor for economy which nowadays is not considered at all. Well ... considering the actual economical situation wouldn't is be something to think about?