Il Passato Remoto is a verb past tense really hard to understand for students whose mother tongue is English or German.

We can say that it is an authentic nightmare! 

Don't worry, dear students! You are not alone: sometimes even young Italians and some adults are not able to use this linguistic structure!

Why? Is this verb tense hard to conjugate or to pronounce? No, not all!

These difficulties actually depend on the differences between Italian culture and yours.

Our brain works different because our cultures are different.

In the English language, for example, there are three different types of Future (I'm rulling out the use of Present as a Future): I'm going to study with you, I will study hard, I'm studying Italian tomorrow morning at 17:00.

In the Italian language instead we only have one type of Future: studierò Italiano per sempre, for example.

The main past tenses in English work in this way: Yesterday I studied a lot, today I have studied hard (so now I'm tired!), I have been studying Italian hard for 2 years.

In Italian we have different types of Past Tenses.

My cultural and linguistic explanation is this:

In Italian language FUTURE TENSES are less than in English language and PAST TENSES are on the contrary more than in English!

Why?

Because Italy is a country full of art and history which sleeps in its glorious past while Anglo-Saxon countries are more projected forwards! 

Of course this situation is probably changing a little bit and this is why some young italians don't know the Passato Remoto very well!

We can't predict the future of Italian language but here I'm going to explain you why you should study this tense if your level in Italian is advanced!

1) WRITTEN ITALIAN

In many italian novels, not only classic novels, you always find it (L'amica geniale by Elena Ferrante, for example).

All fairy tales in Italian are written using il Passato Remoto and this is the reason why a beginner learner never should start the study of Italian reading Walt Disney stories in Italian.

2) A FAR PAST

Il Passato Remoto is the most suitable verbal tense to talk about something is dead and "buried" in our memory. We always use it to talk about History, so in documentaries, biographies, at university or at school you can hear it.

3) CENTRAL  AND SOUTH ITALY

It's certainly more used in Central and South Italy! It's quite rare hearing a Milanese or Comasco who talk in Passato Remoto

4) OLD ITALIANS

Italians who are 40 years old at least tend to use il Passato Remoto more than youngers.

5) LICEO CLASSICO STUDENTS

Here you have an exception! Young Italian students who study in Liceo Classico (an Italian kind of school) sometimes use the Passato Remoto because of the influence of Latin and ancient Greek they learn at school.

6) IN TV QUIZ AND BOARD GAMES

Who was the first man to step foot on the Moon? (Chi fu il primo uomo a mettere piede sulla luna?)

7) IN THE COUNTRYSIDE AND IN SICILIAN DIALECT

If you read il Commisario Montalbano by Camilleri you can notice some Sicilians use the Passato Remoto even when they refer to something has happened a short time before!