On the first day of my move to Italy, I thought I would try out my few basic phrases I knew in Italian with my new neighbors.

Hello, my name is Susan. I only speak a bit of Italian. Nice to meet you.

Buongiorno, mi chiamo Susan. Parlo solo un po’ italiano. Piacere di conoscerla.

That seemed enough for the time being until I could start learning a few more phrases and slowly progress. What a surprise when I met my first neighbor, Teresa, while dragging my luggage along the stone streets to my house. I tried my little intro speech feeling hopeful that she would be a sympathetic older neighbor and be patient with me. Big shocker…. She looked at me with that “I have no idea what you are saying.” So I assumed my pronunciation was horrible - which I’m sure it was. I tried a few more times then we both gave up and I continued on my way feeling dejected and confused. She looked at me with no sympathy; only annoyance. More about Teresa later….

I had the same issue with a few other neighbors I met that day and over the next few days. “What was going on?” I asked an Italian friend of mine who speaks English. He said,

He said: Of course they don’t understand you - they don’t speak Italian!

What?! I asked. What do they speak? I’m so confused.

He said many of the old-timers in my neighborhood only speak the local dialect - Guardiolo. It is only spoken here in Guardia Sanframondi and if you drive just few kilometers to the next small town, they speak another dialect.

Watch and listen to Giovanni say “Cherries” in Guardiolo, the local dialect in Guardia Sanframondi.

So, let’s learn some Guardiolo!! Giovanni Ceniccola, my friend and someone who has helped me tremendously since moving here is teaching us the local dialect for "cherries" today. 🍒

I struggle saying the Italian word for cherries in Italian “ciliegie.” There are just too many vowels! But I love saying it in dialect.

English: Cherries 🍒
Italiano: Ciliegie 🍒
Dialect: Cerasa (I think). 🍒