Author Archives: Elisa Dossena

TOP TEN REASONS TO LEARN ITALIAN

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Here are some that I found surfing the web:
1. Why do you think Mozart composed most of his operas in Italian rather than in German?
2. According to UNESCO (the cultural and educational agency for the United Nations) the most of the world’s cultural heritage sites are in Italy.
3. Italy is one of the top economies in the world, and many employers are seeking people who speak both Italian and English. An estimated 7,500 American companies do business with Italy and more than 1,000 U.S. firms have offices in Italy, including Chrysler, IBM, General Electric, Motorola, Citibank. Many Italian firms have offices in the U.S.
4. If you like arts, music, design, architecture, opera, food, etc. this is the reference language. Knowing Italian is greatly beneficial in several career fields. Italy is a world leader in the culinary arts, interior design, fashion, graphic design, furniture design, machine tool manufacturing, robotics, electromechanical machinery, shipbuilding, space engineering, construction machinery, and transportation equipment
5. The Italian language is the closest to Latin, the common ancestor of all romance languages.
6. Italian developed from Latin and an estimated 60 percent of the English vocabulary also comes from Latin. Knowing Italian may help improve your scores in English.
7. No need of subtitles to see Fellini’s, Visconti’s and Pasolini’s movies!
8. A recent study showed that enrollment in Italian language classes at U.S. high schools and colleges is growing 15 to 20% faster than enrollment rates for Spanish, German and French.
9. Italian is recognized as one of the most beautiful spoken languages on the planet
10. Italian has the highest number of words for describing food!
🙂
Students, what are your reasons?

2013 Year of Italian Culture in the United States

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ANICA and AIE, with the support of the Ministry for Economic Development, bring “Words on Screen – New Italian Literature into Film” to New York, to promote Italian film production and publishing industries. The guests of the initiative include director Salvatore Mereu and writers Nicolai Lilin and Simone Lenzi
June 3 – 4, 2013, New York, Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò
tutti

Please click here for a list of events for 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the United States

2013: Italy Inspires U.S.

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“One word, spectacular. The Boxer at Rest, on loan from the National Museum of Rome, will be unveiled in the United States for the first time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York this June 1 and remain on exhibit through July 15, 2013 as part of the Year of Italian Culture in the United States” from HuffPost Art and Culture.
the boxer

“BELLA CIAO” across languages, cultures and music styles

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April 25th: LIBERATION DAY – Festa della Liberazione.
The song “Bella ciao” was sung by the anti-fascist resistance movement active in Italy between 1943 and 1945.

Italian version/ versione italiana:

Spanish version:

Japanese version:

English version:

« Una mattina mi son svegliato,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
Una mattina mi son svegliato
e ho trovato l’invasor.

O partigiano, portami via,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
O partigiano, portami via,
ché mi sento di morir.

E se io muoio da partigiano,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
E se io muoio da partigiano,
tu mi devi seppellir.

E seppellire (Mi porterai) lassù in (sulla) montagna,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
E seppellire (Mi porterai) lassù in (sulla) montagna
sotto l’ombra di un bel fior.

E (Tutte) le genti che passeranno
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
E (Tutte) le genti che passeranno
Mi diranno «Che bel fior!»

«È questo il fiore del partigiano»,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
«È questo il fiore del partigiano
morto per la libertà!» »

Happy Birthday Italy!

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17 marzo 2013. Anniversario dell’Unificazione d’Italia. Italy cel­e­brates the 152th anniver­sary of its uni­fi­ca­tion as a sin­gle state.

Buonanotte all’Italia, Ligabue (2008)

Buonanotte all’Italia deve un po’ riposare
tanto a fare la guardia c’è un bel pezzo di mare
c’è il muschio ingiallito dentro questo presepio
che non viene cambiato, che non viene smontato
e zanzare vampiri che la succhiano lì
se lo pompano in pancia un bel sangue così
Buonanotte all’Italia che si fa o si muore
o si passa la notte a volerla comprare
come se gli angeli fossero lì
a dire che si
è tutto possibile
come se i diavoli stessero un po’
a dire di no, che son tutte favole

Buonanotte all’Italia che ci ha il suo bel da fare
tutti i libri di storia non la fanno dormire
sdraiata sul mondo con un cielo privato
fra San Pietri e Madonne
fra progresso e peccato
fra un domani che arriva ma che sembra in apnea
ed i segni di ieri che non vanno più via
di carezza in carezza
di certezza in stupore
tutta questa bellezza senza navigatore
come se gli angeli fossero lì
a dire che si
è tutto possibile
come se i diavoli stessero un po’
a dire di no, che son tutte favole

Buonanotte all’Italia con gli sfregi nel cuore
e le flebo attaccate da chi ha tutto il potere
e la guarda distratto come fosse una moglie
come un gioco in soffitta che gli ha tolto le voglie
e una stella fa luce senza troppi perché
ti costringe a vedere tutto quello che c’è
Buonanotte all’Italia che si fa o si muore
o si passa la notte a volersela fare…

Why do the Italians live longer than us? Perché gli italiani vivono più a lungo di noi?

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By Fergus Walsh, Medical Correspondent, BBC News Helath.

What is it about the Italians? They smoke more than us, they earn less, their economy is in even worse shape than ours, they spend less on healthcare, and yet – they live longer. Not just a bit, but a whopping 18 months more on average.
CLICK HERE TO KNOW WHY/ CLICCA QUI PER SAPERE PERCHE’

litalia-a-tavola