some thoughts on dialetti

During my first summer in Reggio Calabria, I suffered from my first bout of culture shock. I had been warned that it would happen, but when it finally hit me, it was not what I expected. I had imagined stunned silences, double-takes, and teary breakdowns fueled by frustration. Instead, I could never get over the feeling of being unsettled.
I even felt unsettled in my linguistic capabilities. At that point I had studied Italian for three years. I was the Italian language poster child at LaGuardia high school and beyond that, I was passionate and confident. So when I arrived in Reggio and realized I could not understand a word that my youngest host brother, Gabriele, said to me, I was shocked. I listened carefully. I would ask him to repeat. And still - nothing. It wasn't until Chiara yelled at him, "Per favore, parla in italiano!" ("Please, speak in Italian!"), that it hit me: he was speaking in dialetto calabrese.
Italy has more than thirty distinct dialects, each pertaining to a region or village. They are not just variations on Italian, nor are they exaggerated slang: they are completely different languages. As more and more of the younger generation moves away for college and leaves the home at an earlier age, the oral tradition of dialects is slowing wearing away. However, it is still a strong aspect of Italian identity. It represents how different each region is; depending on which European power conquered which city-state between the 11th and 19th century, the dialects can derive from different languages completely (there are composites of Spanish in Neopolitan dialect, and reflections of Portuguese and Arabic in Sicilian). Most importantly, it symbolizes the importance of the paese - a word that means both "town" and "country" in Italian, accurately portraying both the singularity and the collectivity of this nation's pride.
Allora, my Italian students are extremely interested in dialects in the USA. I know that dialects exist, but I don't know them well. How would I, when the country is so big, and I've traveled more outside the US than I have within? I attempt to explain this to my students, but my flaky descriptions of regional slang and unsatisfactory impersonations of different accents have left them hungry for more.
And so, I have decided to teach my last lesson on Ebonics. I'm starting with a brief historical background, followed by a selection from the song "Ebonics" by Big L, and then on to a more mainstream pop song, preferably one that they know and love (I'm thinking "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z, the Italians go crazy for it). This is the closest I can get to drawing a parallel on this topic between Italy and the USA, and hopefully they'll find it interesting. At least I'll go out with a bang.