One interviewed said:

“ …my nonno identified as a communist and so he participated in the war as little as he could. He worked as a medic, but he was also part of the underground… So, he was part of a network of people that would move weapons to do the communist resistance, so my family temperamentally experience prejudice because of this connection to fascism but they actually fought against that... So it was I think that was a really difficult thing for my nonno because he couldn't be more different and he did not support the fascism, he did not hold those policies at all… he was a communist and socialist and a freedom fighter and so then to come to a country where you are treated poorly in part because of the things your government did that you have spent your life fighting against it was a very difficult experience for him …. They had very difficult life in Italy…so many people like him came to Canada to a better life…”

Another said:” My dad’s grandparents came to Canada for work…”

So, many Italians immigrated to Canada because of the war; some of them had negative experiences, and this made them keep less attachment with the country. Therefore, they integrated more with Canadian society.

However, everyone came to Canada for a better life, and for that, they need to integrate with society. Indeed, some respondents said that they want to see their children well integrated with the new environment, so they don’t feel uncomfortable. Many parents want to see their children’s success in studies, indeed, they want to see them as doctors, engineers, advocates, and so on. This means children need to learn the language, they need to use it every day, so they become familiar with it, otherwise, they will struggle at school. Struggling at school means low academic performance, hence no higher education. Here is one example of one interviewee:

“.. I know when my sister… she went to school she's actually struggled the first because she did only speak Italian…”.

So, the second generation had quickly learned English. They are bilinguals, but they raise their children, the third generation, to be English monolinguals, because they feel that by doing so their children will not struggle with the language at school as they had to.

Another concern is the effect of dialects: Some families want to speak Italian with their children, but this often ends up confusing them. Here is a story of one interviewee’s family:

“ io con il mio primo figlio parlavo italiano con lui , quand’era.. quand’era proprio piccolo, meno di 1 anno, parlavo sempre italiano quando potevo. Però mio marito non parla italiano, ma parla dialetto, parlava inglese con lui, allora il piccolino si confuse quale lingua doveva parlare. Quando mio figlio era con i miei genitori, mia mamma e mio papà gli parlavano italiano, noi italiano siciliano ma italiano con lui..lui rispondeva in italiano, allora capiva, però quando lui comincia andare all’asilo, la tutti parlavano inglese, lui parlava in inglese con gli amici durante all’asilo e poi nella scuola...”.

Translation :

 “With my first son I spoke Italian with him, when he was… when he was small, less than 1 year old, I always spoke Italian when I could. But my husband does not speak Italian, but speaks dialect, so spoke English with him, then the little one confused what language he had to speak. When my son was with my parents, my mum and dad spoke to him Italian, we speak Sicilian but Italian with him... He answered in Italian, then he understood, but when he starts to go to kindergarten, everyone spoke English, he spoke in English with friends during kindergarten and then in school... ".

Almost all members of the first generation speak dialects instead of Italian and so their children (the 2^nd generation). But what happens when the members of the 2^nd generation marry Italians but with different dialect speaking? Here there is a need to choose a common language which is English and continue with it among the next generations.

“ quando ho inconrato mio marito si parlava inglese e anche lui di famiglia italiana,ma  loro parlano dialetto italiano e io non so parlare dialetto napolitano e cosi la lingua in comune era inglese, allora parliamo inglese..”.

Translation:

“When I met my husband, we spoke in English and He is also from an Italian family, but they speak Italian dialect and I do not know how to speak Napolitan dialect and so the language in common was English, then we start to speak English..".

These are some factors that the second generation evaluate in regards to the language they are going to speak at home with their children.