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I wonder if it is indeed a difference in base language, or just a difference of exposure. I assume that, even without "trying", almost every Italian has more ex

• qalmakka 5y ago
  My personal theory is that it's mostly due to exposure and cultural influence. The English speaking world is mostly refractory towards the non-English speaking world, i.e., books and movies published in Italian will almost always never get an English translation because there really isn't a market for translated novels. In the same way, Italian singers and bands have 0 chances of success unless they start singing in English; that's also the reason why at Eurovision only a very few countries sing in their own languages. This causes people to hear English sounds since their very early childhood - in song, mostly. Movies are dubbed, but in general names of non translatable things are kept as-is, with a "flattened" but somewhat correct pronounciation. English is also a mandatory subject in school. While the vast majority of students suck badly in that subject (I think among my classmates only 3 people, counting myself, had a mark above a passing grade in high school), at least you get that Millennials and some Gen X at least can grasp how stuff is supposed to get pronounced, so they can correct their parents or relatives when they say something completely out of place. I don't think there are enough people knowing a foreign language in English-speaking countries to offset this, so the "creative" pronunciations tend to stick and become the norm.