Radio Series – Italian Community in Guernsey

Welcome back to our interview series on BBC Radio Guernsey! Accent has teamed up with BBC Radio Guernsey to discuss Guernsey’s rich international community and chat all things language, migration and culture.

Join us this week for our penultimate interview in which BBC Radio Guernsey’s Claire Cathcart interviews Accent’s director, Anna Lisa Detassis, and Italian teacher Francesca Graziani to find out about Italian culture and community on the island. We hear about the major influx of Italians who came to Guernsey in the 60s and 70s and brought their love of eating and restaurant with them, and how the Italian community stemmed from this migratory flow.

Half-Guernsey, half-Italian Francesca talks about growing up bilingual and her experiences living in Italy, and Anna Lisa was born in Trento, Italy but has since lived in various places – from Kazakhstan to Germany – and speaks many language including French, German, Russian, English and Spanish.

They recommend some authentic and perhaps less touristic holiday destinations in Italy away from the bigger cities’ inescapable throngs of people. Anna Lisa recommends Puglia as the best region to visit for an exceptional culinary experience. Listen to hear which are the remaining two Italian-run restaurants in Guernsey!

Anna Lisa also discusses the Italian football team, what the game symbolises for Italy and gives her predictions for the Euro match…

We hear a poem by Italian poet Giosuè Carducci, first in Italian and then in English, which Anna Lisa analyses for us.

Find out if Italian really is the language of love, and if there is any truth in the stereotypes that British people have about Italians, including the famous one that Italians can’t queue…

At the end of the interview, we hear an Italian conversation that you might hear in an Italian bar, and are taught what a cornetto is (hint: nothing to do with ice cream!). Francesca explains why people want to learn Italian, the type of students she teaches, and why you should learn Italian if you want to go those lesser known corners of Italy.

Tune in next week to hear our final interview featuring Accent’s Japanese teacher Tomoko Neil joined by Naoko Mauger to discuss Japanese culture, community and language and how these intersect with Guernsey.

Ciao!