Are you looking for an Italian surname? Do you need more information about your family heritage?
This is the right place to start your genealogy search.
I have heard that English is a required course of study for children in Italy. as a mandatory 2nd language. If I were to send an email to the civil records where my grandfather is from, would they be able to read it and respond?
My Italian is VERY limited---mostly what I picked up when my grandmother was saying "naughty" words that she didn't want me to understand...usually when she was upset with the neighbors up the street..."no good washer woman" sounded much prettier in Italian than it does in English...haha!!!
Gratzie!
ChrisAnne
ChrisAnne~
On this journey, with my brother, Bill;
searching our lineage
surnames: Faitella/Salmoiraghi
from Lombardy Region, Civo; and
on my mother's side -- Lattanzio from San Benedetto
You may get lucky, but you are better off writing in Italian. In many of the smaller towns, the people speak only Italian. When we visited our small town in Foggia, there was not one person who could speak English...although some knew simple phrases from their school lessons. Try www.circolocalabrese.org for form letters and look under resources.
Dear Chrisanne the clerks who work in the civil recorfds office may very well not know englsih since it has onlhy been in the late postwar years that english became mandatory int he schools. Simple letter sin english to home with children may fare well but official letters are often required to be in Italian as well so if you go to www.mangeruca.com you can find the appropriate form letters you will need for your purposes. =Peter=
Hi Chrisanne,
in italy other language are mandatory in the schools like spanish, french and german. it is possible you'll find clerks that spoken french or spanish (or only italian) but many little town have a official website in english so it is possible send a question to them...
take a look to : http://www.theitalianheritage.it/?conte ... ng=english
I'm searching lost relatives and descendant of my greatgrandfather Vincenzo Genualdi (or Gennaldi or Genuardi) and my greatgrandmother Concetta Davola (their sons: Angela, Carmela, Antonio, Bartolomeo, Ernesto, Simone, Riccardo, Maria) went in Chicago,Ill., and New Orleans, in 1880-1920 from Sicily. Other family related : Jacobucci or Jacopucci (from Central Italy).
I used the babel fish translator system from alta vista to type out a short email stating what limited information I had. I'll give that a few weeks.
I hope to get somewhere in all of this; although I have gotten a lot of ground covered; just not enough. I've managed to find my great x5 grandparents on my mother's side; but I have only gotten as far back as my great grandmother on my father's side. But...I'm not giving up yet!!!
I'm too stubborn (good Italian trait!!!)
Thanks for everyone's help
ChrisAnne
ChrisAnne~
On this journey, with my brother, Bill;
searching our lineage
surnames: Faitella/Salmoiraghi
from Lombardy Region, Civo; and
on my mother's side -- Lattanzio from San Benedetto
Hey, ChrisAnne, you are much better off using the form letters suggested by Peter and me. Unless you have some basic handle on the Italian language or type very simple sentences, Babel Fish and the like can have comical results. For example, it translates "Cara Chris Anne" as "Expensive Chris Anne," not "Dear Chris Anne" as it is meant to be read.
Italians have not invented coffee, yet the passion they have for it makes the rest of world believe they discovered it. Around the end of the sixteen century, it was Venice where coffee was first introduced. Thanks to its trade relationship with the Eastern countries. Initially, coffee was considere...
words that she didn't want me to understand...usually when she was upset with the neighbors up the street..."no good washer woman" sounded much prettier in Italian than it does in English...haha!!! 
