My grandfather spoke it as well. He is supposed to have learned it from some of the fisherman that came to the draga near where he lived. All of the LDS microfilm is in Latin from his area (Karlobag), so I do not know if Italian was prevelent there or not. -----Original Message----- From: croatia-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:croatia-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of DPRSjacksn@aol.com Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2006 12:25 AM To: CROATIA-L@rootsweb.com Cc: tom@croatia-in-english.com Subject: [CROATIA] BIANCHI/BJELE/BIELE/BEAL FROM CAVTAT, CROATIA The more I am interviewing family here in California about my great grandfather from Cavtat, Croatia, the more I am hearing about him speaking fluent Italian. He was born in Cavtat October 5, 1875 and came to America at about age 16. His original Croatian name was Bjele, later changed to the Italalianicized Bianchi while still living in Croatia. When he came to the US, he changed it to Biele and later his Portuguese wife from the Azores Americanized it to Beal! Can someone please comment on the fact that he spoke fluent Italian? Thank you, Denise Jackson (off to visit my roots for the month of September in Cavtat!) ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CROATIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ________________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan service. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit www.messagelabs.com. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan service. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit www.messagelabs.com. ________________________________________________________________________