I speak fluent Napolitano, but not standard Italian
So I’m Napolitano and Cuban. My family in Campania are from Ariano Irpino. My mother came to America in the 80’s from Napoli.
As a kid my mother only spoke to me in Napolitano. And when I’d visit Italy to see my uncle, grandparents, and cousins, all we’d speak is Napolitano.
When it comes to standard Italian, I could pick up what people are saying, and mostly understand it, but I can’t speak it nearly as fluently.
Do people who speak standard Italian understand Napolitano? If I wanted to become fluid in standard Italian, would it be easy for me? I feel like I’m kind of a anomaly when it comes to an Italian person, being fluent in a dialect (which in Italy, means a seperate language) but not in the national language. My family are very proud Napolitanos, and come from a proud Napolitano family that goes back hundreds of years. They’re not nationalist, and they barely even like to be called “Italian“.