Are the regional languages of Italy such as Neapolitan taught in Schools?

[u/Ratazanafofinha]

I’m currently watching My Brilliant Friend and sometimes I notice them speaking Napolitano (sorry, don’t know how to spell it), and other times Italian (like Elena with her teachers). I’m Portuguese so I understand some Italian, but not well enough to notice everytime which language they are speaking.

This made me wonder wether any of the “dialetti” are taught in school, either like Mirandese is in Portugal (as an optional extra subject in school in its region) or as the co-official languages in Spain (like either half or all the subjects taught in Basque or Catalan).

How are the regional languages of Italy taught in school?

[u/mushroomnerd12]

Hi! Neapolitan learner here(spelled Napoletano in italian). No, most regional languages are not taught in school(i wish they were because some minor ones will probably die out within a few generations). They don’t have any official status whatsoever, and speaking it at school is not allowed or even looked down upon(amongst students people still do tho, outside of classrooms). Recently there’s been a wave of “Renaissance” of “dialects”: people are more educated about them(recognizing them as languages instead of mere dialects), holding some classes here and there about orthographies(there’s several in Neapolitan but most people don’t know any) and poetry, and just more open to speaking it in public in general. Plus its heartwarming to see the popularity of new generation singers/musicians such as Liberato, Geolier, and my personal fav La Niña.

[u/estudos1 → u/mushroomnerd12]

Hi! Interesting! What do you use to learn the language? What are your resources?

[u/mushroomnerd12 → u/estudos1]

There are several books that can be decent starting points(in italian tho): Come imparare il napoletano in 30 giorni(a pretty good overview), Vall’a capì(I use it mainly as a grammar guide, good examples too but some vocabulary are outdated). Getting a good nap-it dictionary is also helpful(especially if you want to read poetry). However my original goal was to actually speak it, so I take lessons on Italki. Watching/listening to as much content as possible is a must too. Obvs tv shows like gamorrah, l’amica geniale, mare fuori yadayada, but also various shitposting pages, movie dubs, tiktokers, you name it. Like any language, I try to immerse myself in it whenever I have time.

[u/AnthroSounds]

While not explicitly outlawed, Italian dialects are not taught in school (as far as I know, but there might be a few exceptions). This is probably due to a combination of them being actively and heavily suppressed in the past and the persisting shame around speaking them, since they are considered rough and vulgar (especially so for the Southern ones).
Despite this, Neapolitan is frequently spoken by the people in and around Napoli, and is vastly used in the arts, like in Eduardo De Filippo's comedies or more often in music (someone's already named a few artists but I also recommend 99 Posse, 'E Zezi Gruppo Operaio and since I love funk, Nu Genea and the albums "Napoli Segreta" and "Napoli Segreta vol. 2").

Neapolitan is spelled "Napoletano" in Italian, and "Napulitano" in Neapolitan, though there are no standardized grammar/spelling rules for our dialect.

[u/lauciello_nap]

Neapolitan and all other dialetti (local languages) of the southern Italian peninsula are not taught in school. Transmission is purely from parents (and grandparents) to children, or via friends. Over the course of last century there was a huge shift from widespread use of Neapolitan for almost all situations (with Italian being used only in the most formal settings including school and especially as a written language) to a widespread use of Italian, with Neapolitan mainly used for informal situations or music.

[u/Illustrious_Land699 → u/lauciello_nap]

Why do you act as if those from the center or the north are taught in school? Hahaha

[u/lauciello_nap → u/Illustrious_Land699]

Non ho detto questo. Semplicemente mi sono limitato a parlare di ciò che so, visto che non conosco la situazione al Nord; non mi sorprenderebbe se ci fossero delle lezioni di friulano, per esempio.