Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The segment looks at how Mussolini patterned his fiercely nationalist rhetoric after poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, while harkening back to the glory of Imperial Rome. The song in the segment refers to Balilla, an 18th century Genoese boy. In 1746, Balilla threw a stone at an Austrian official of the occupying Hapsburg Empire, which led to the War of the Austrian Succession.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Mussolini forbade the use of dialects and the minority languages that were spoken in the regions bordering the countries to the north in favor of one language for all. Italians were bombarded by fascist propaganda and Mussolini's very frequent speeches.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Me Ne Frego [I don't give a damn], was one of the mottoes of Fascism, coming originally from the writings of Gabriele d'Annunzio and employed by storm troops during World War One as a war cry for courage and daring, with the meaning, "I don't mind dying for freedom." The motto gives the title to this documentary about the influences of Italian Fascism on the Italian language. It was produced by the Istituto Luce Cinecittà, with materials from the historical Luce archives, and narrates the obscure attempt by the Fascist regime to create a new and unique language, a new “Italian” that fit the dogma of the dictatorship.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
What does it mean to be a European? Is the variety of languages in Europe an obstacle to actual unification? Umberto Eco explores these questions and offers some interesting insight.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Anna describes her delivery, from the first contractions to that magic moment when nothing else matters.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Anna speaks about her prenatal and postpartum experience with the Italian National Health Service. She also discusses the five-month maternity leave that working women receive.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Anna has recently become a mother! She shares with us some of the experiences she had during her pregnancy.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Marika's friend, Anna, is back to wish us all a Merry Christmas, and to share what Christmas means to her.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Silvia is an editor (in real life) for Il Fatto Quotidiano (The Daily Event), a national newspaper with some special characteristics. Silvia tells us what kind of news she covers, and some of the problems she encounters.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Tiziano Ferro talks about his relationship with pen and paper. Familiarize yourself with sonno and sogno, both of which have to do with the night.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Tiziano Ferro starts off his "eco-tour" sponsored by the Italian electric company, Enel. He suggests small ways in which each of us can save on energy.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy Sicilian
Adriano introduces us to his girlfriend, Vladi. She is pretty, sociable and speaks five languages. He talks about their common interests and hopes their relationship will last forever.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Anna and Marika are seated in an historic park, and reflect upon the meaning of life. In the end, they arrive at the conclusion that despite what's bad, life is marvelous and should be lived to its fullest.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Pasolini is asked what he thinks about progress and development. He is also asked about the inspiration he seems to have taken from subjects of the New Testament of the Bible.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Pasolini talks about how he moved from literature to cinema, and how his ideas about language changed. He talked about providing Italians with an opportunity to demonstrate racism, perhaps for the first time, with his movie, Accattone.
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