Blog – Page 20

Why I wanted to study Italian

THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE FOUNDATION / June 21, 2022 / Blog /

Written by: Colin Grant, a team member of The Italian Language Foundation, earned a Bachelor of Arts & Science from Indiana University. He majored in Media Advertising with a Minor in Italian. Colin utilizes his creative skills in media, advertising and Italian to support ILF’s social media and website content.

I decided to study Italian in college for many different reasons. I am not ethnically Italian and I didn’t know anyone who spoke Italian growing up. My family has a lot of Irish ancestry and would always have big family Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations. As I started high school I hoped to be able to study Italian, the unique culture fascinated me and I wanted to learn about it as well as the rich history that surrounds all of Italy. I am also a big Formula One fan and Scuderia Ferrari is my favorite team. One of the initial reasons for wanting to learn Italian at the start of high school was so that I could read about Ferrari in Italian and be able to know what the local motorsport journalists were saying. I was disappointed to discover that Italian was not one of the languages offered at my high school, and I instead studied Spanish for all four years.

As I was starting college and learned I had a language requirement, I immediately decided to take an entry-level Italian class. Going into my first class only knowing two or three words in Italian, I was happy to see how much my Spanish knowledge helped me. While there are huge differences between the languages there are also many similarities that made learning the grammatical structure much easier, as it already seemed familiar in some aspects.

The more I learned about the Italian language the more I learned about Italian culture. Many cultural aspects were new to me and interesting to learn about in class, but fascinating to be able to participate in. The university also had an Italian club, in addition to Italian classes, that held events to learn about cultural aspects such as learning to make a type of pasta from scratch, learning how to play an Italian card game, and much more. This was very intimidating at first as trying to learn a new skill in a new language can be very difficult and frustrating, but it quickly began to feel less intimidating. As I learned about Italian culture and differences between regions of Italy, I became more motivated to learn the language so that I could get a true sense of the beautiful and unique Italian culture.

ILF announces the Emerging Leaders Council

THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE FOUNDATION / June 17, 2022 / Blog /

Sustainability is a compelling and necessary part of our future. The Italian Language Foundation (ILF), established in 2008, recognizes that its future depends upon the commitment of competent young leaders.

That is why the ILF is pleased to announce The Emerging Leaders Council. This initiative will ensure the sustainability of our vital mission: the promotion and support of Italian language education nationally.

What is the Emerging Leaders Council? It is a vital part of the Italian Language Foundation, led by young professionals, ages 20’s and 30’s who have a vital interest in Italian language and culture. Members of the Council need not have Italian heritage, nor must they be fluent in Italian. Council members are diverse in their educational backgrounds, race, ethnicity, nationality, and geographic location.

The founding members of the Emerging Leaders Council are Marianna Cuomo Maier and Anna Tallarini. Registration is required for all members.

These dynamic young women will lead the Council and will accept the suggestions of their fellow members in guiding activities and programs. Council members can serve as mentors to high school and college-level members of the ILF. They may offer their insights and experiences in blogs that will be published on the ILF website and posted on social media platforms.

Council members will enjoy social gatherings and invitations to attend Italian cultural events. It will be an opportunity to network with similarly-sentimented young people, and to share ideas for the enhancement and growth of the Italian Language Foundation.

The Rhino statue of Brescia: discover Stefano Bombardieri’s incredible work of art

THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE FOUNDATION / June 1, 2022 / Blog /

There is a rhino in the heart of Brescia, a city in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy, situated at the foot of the Alps. The wild animal does not come from the remote areas of Africa, but it is a figment of Stefano Bombardieri’s imagination. Stefano Bombardieri is a conceptual artist and sculptor who became famous for his bronze statues of wild animals and mythological figures. Both the size and the placement of the statues make his work impossible to forget.

Bombardieri always aims at creating fictional and confusing works of art that leave the public speechless. The hanging in mid-air rhino caught everyone by surprise when first placed in Quadriportico della Vittoria. Tourists and locals have been wondering about the meaning of such a bizarre statue, which could be hidden in the full name of the masterpiece: “il peso del tempo sospeso – rinoceronte” (literally: The Weight of Suspended time – Rhinoceros”.

This is not the first time that the Italian artist chooses wild animals as enormous subjects of his works. There seems to be a connection between the artist’s works and environmental topics such as the exploitation of natural resources and the consequential destruction of the wildlife habitat.

The statue is today a must-see tourist attraction for contemporary art enthusiasts and curious tourists, which will remain available to the public and free until December 2022.

La statua del rinoceronte a Brescia: scopri l’incredibile opera d’arte di Stefano Bombardieri

THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE FOUNDATION / June 1, 2022 / Blog /

C’è un rinoceronte nel cuore di Brescia, una città lombarda situata ai piedi delle Alpi. L’animale selvaggio non proviene dalle selvagge lande africane, ma è frutto dell’immaginazione dell’artista bresciano Stefano Bombardieri. Stefano Bombardieri è un artista concettuale diventato famoso per le sue statue in bronzo di animali selvaggi e figure mitologiche. Sia le dimensioni sia il posizionamento delle sue opere le rende impossibili da dimenticare.

Bombardieri mira sempre a creare un’ambientazione fittizia e confusa che lascia lo spettatore senza parole. Il rinoceronte appeso a mezz’aria ha colto tutti di sorpresa quando è stato posizionato per la prima volta nel Quadriportico della Vittoria, a due passi dall’omonima piazza. I turisti e gli abitanti locali si sono interrogati sul significato di questa statua bizzarra che potrebbe essere celato nel nome completo dell’opera “Il peso del tempo sospeso – rinoceronte”.

Non è la prima volta che l’artista italiano sceglie animali selvaggi come giganteschi soggetti delle sue opere. Sembra esserci una connessione tra i lavori dell’artista e la tematica ambientale come, ad esempio, lo sfruttamento delle risorse e la consequenziale distruzione dell’habitat della fauna selvaggia.

La statua è oggi una tappa turistica obbligata nella città sia per appassionati d’arte contemporanea sia per turisti curiosi e rimarrà aperta al pubblico e gratuita fino a dicembre 2022.

A Living Link To Home

THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE FOUNDATION / May 28, 2022 / Blog /

Written by Margo Sorenson, author of over thirty traditionally-published books for young readers, Margo Sorenson spent the first seven years of her life in Spain and Italy, devouring books and Italian food and still speaks (or tries!) her childhood languages. Her most recent Adult/YA novel, SECRETS IN TRANSLATION (Fitzroy Books, October 2018), (with research help from Gabriele, Carmela, Manuela, James, Erika, Katie, and Margherita) takes place in Positano, with many wonderful experiences shared together with Italians—as well as delicious meals. www.margosorenson.com

After our first return trip to Italy since growing up there as a child, the pull of my childhood language and my love for Italy was stronger than ever. I’d been continually studying my Italian for years, but, after our family’s memorable trip back, the need to share what it felt like to come home again to Italy was stronger than ever. I wanted people to know and appreciate Italy’s stunning beauty, her artistic marvels, and the generous, warmth of her people.

As a writer, I knew this feeling needed to be expressed in a novel, and an earlier experience in Switzerland had already sparked the idea. Authors love to ask the question, “What if?” My “what if” question was, “What if you could understand and speak a language, but no one else knew you could? What if an American girl was fluent in Italian and could understand everything Italians were saying, but they didn’t realize she could—and because she could speak both languages, she discovered a dark conspiracy that threatened those she loved?”

To create a novel that would celebrate Italy and her rich culture, as well as the welcoming Italian people, I needed a great deal of help from our wonderful and generous Italian friends. They filled me in on all sorts of ideas for possible conspiracies for Alessandra to discover, as well as help with the wine industry (grazie, Gabriele! www.buondonno.com), and the limoncello factories, (grazie, Manuela and James and Carmela!) and I spent months researching and reading newspapers in Italian. I was told that Il Quotidiano Italiano is the most objective https://www.ilquotidianoitaliano.com/.

I studied books and asked plenty of questions of our Italian friends and sent drafts via email to Italy to make sure the events and experiences that Alessandra went through were accurate. Our friend Carmela (on Instagram @carmencitaitaly80) made numerous trips in Positano with her camera, taking pictures of la torre Clavel and other Positano landmarks for me so I could use exact and accurate details. Nikki (on Instagram @nikkipositano) took beautiful photographs of la Spiaggia Grande. Other friends, Katie and Margherita, vetted all the Italian in the manuscript (I didn’t want to be embarrassed, and it was fun to see how they called out a few words I’d slipped in of my “Napoletano” dialect!). Because of these friends, their willingness to help, and the reassuring flow of emails, I could feel as if I were actually back in Italy, myself. I loved writing the manuscript, because each time I picked up my pencil or typed on the keyboard, I was coming home again.

Italy is a beautiful country and the people are warm and generous, a wonderful place to make the kind of discovery that Alessandra is finally able to make, and I hoped it would resonate with readers of all ages. It’s so meaningful to find that Alessandra and her story have touched so many readers, and that even those who’ve never been to Italy have told me now they really wanted to visit. The magnetic pull of my childhood home, Italy, is vibrant and alive, thanks to our Italian friends and their generosity.