Delhi celebrates Italian language week

New Delhi, Oct 24, (IANS) Italian Language Week is being celebrated in the capital, as in other parts of the world, through film screenings, photography exhibitions and lectures under the theme 'Italian Language and the Sea'.

Organised by the Italian Cultural Institute, the celebrations began Monday and will stress on the intermingling of cultures through the chosen theme.

'It is a week-long celebration in the world at different Italian institutes and embassies,' Patrizia Raveggi, director of the cultural institute here, said late Tuesday.

The sea has been chosen as the focal point of this year's theme because a large part of Italy's history was based on the sea. The sea has inspired poets and artists from many parts of the world, has dictated joyful and melancholic songs to its inhabitants through its various moods.
Patrizia said intermingling of cultures had gained importance in today's world.
'Mixing of different cultures has become very important as it teaches a lot about (each other), helps an individual to grow in terms of education and in finding them better job opportunities,' she said.

The cultural week will include an exhibition of photographs by the Italian Geographical society, Rome, screening of Italian films, lectures and a tribute to late opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who died earlier this year.

The University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia, will also be hosting events marking the Italian Language Week celebrations.

Italian Language Week: The Art of Words Annual Project

Italian Language Week: The Art of Words Annual Project Celebrates the Italian Language Join the Discussion "Italian, on a par with Spanish, has bestowed the greatest number of words on the Anglo-American tongue"KIAORA3 "L'Italiano e le arti della parola" (the Italian language and the art of words). That's the theme chosen for the second annual "Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo" (Week of the Italian Language in the World), which will take place from October 14th to the 19th in Italy. The project is being organized by the Ministero degli Affari Esteri (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the management of the ministry's Cultural Promotion, with the collaboration of the Accademia della Crusca, the Società Dante Alighieri, the Fondazione Corriere della Sera, RAI International, and RAI Educational.

Institutions Promote Italian Language and CultureThe initiative, inaugurated with much success in 2001 both in Italy and abroad, renews the commitment of Italian institutions to the promotion and diffusion of the Italian language and culture in the international arena. To underscore the importance of the cultural initiative, a number of institutions, such the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, the Ministero dell'Istruzione, the Unione Latina, and the Fondazione Cassamarca all actively support activities and events during the Week.

Events to celebrate Week of the Italian Language in the World include a nation-wide writing contest, a video conference, radio and television shows on RAI, and special online multimedia features.

Number of Foreigners Learning Italian RisesThe Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo comes at an auspicious time for the Italian language. According to a recent study, there has been an increase in the number of people outside Italy studying Italian. In the last five years, the number of foreign students studying Italian at cultural institutes has increased by almost 40%. And, according to the university La Sapienza of Rome, the number of pages in Italian on the Internet has also increased to 3.96% of the total. Although Italian ranks nineteenth in the world for the number of persons who speak it, the data shows that Italian is in roughly fourth or fifth position in the number of courses attended by foreign students.

Much of the increase in demand has come from commerce, industry and tourism. However, traditional motivations for learning the language remain: Italian is still considered a language of culture and also a way for Italian immigrants to maintain contacts and ties with their distant homeland.

7th week of Italian language opened in Astana

October 23. KAZINFORM /Bauyrzhan Mukanov/ The 7th week of the Italian language

Italian language and sea has been opened today in the National Academic Library in Astana, Kazinform correspondent reports.

Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Italy to Kazakhstan Bruno Pasquino took part in opening the event.

“The week of the Italian language is being held in Kazakhstan for the second time. The opening of an exhibitions on 'Salgari Sea' (Italian writer) and 'Amerigo Vespucchi' (ship) took place within the frame of the week,” he said.

An Italian film will be demonstrated within the frame of the event.

UNE celebrates 'Italian and the Sea'October 23, 2007

The University of New England is participating in a world-wide celebration of the Italian language and Italian culture this week.

The theme of this year's celebration – the seventh annual Settimana della lingua italiana nel mondo ("Week of Italian Language in the World") – is "Italian and the Sea".

The Italian Section in UNE's School of Arts has organised a half-day program of short illustrated talks, Italian music, poetry, food and wine, and finally an Italian feature film, on Thursday 25 October in Arts Lecture Theatre A2, beginning at 1 pm. Everyone is welcome to this free public event.

Benjamin Thorn and Cecile Michels will perform the music on authentic instruments (ocarinas, recorders and harp), and illustrated talks by Eric Acheson and Anna Cavallaro will evoke the maritime history and architectural splendour of Sicily.

Brennan Wales (Convener of Italian at UNE) will give some short poetry recitations, two students will read brief, sea-inspired Italian compositions of their own, and another student will sing an early 17th century love song with a sea-related theme.

Refreshments, served at 2 pm, will be followed by the screening of the film Mediterraneo (directed by G. Salvatores) – a romantic drama set on a Mediterranean island during World War II.

Short addresses by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor Margaret Sedgley, and the Head of the School of Arts, Associate Professor Kerry Dunne, will begin the program at 1 pm. Brennan Wales said that UNE's participation in this year's "Week of Italian Language in the World" was made possible – as in previous years – by the generous support of the Italian Consulate General in Sydney. "Our relationship with the Consulate continues to be a very productive one," he said, "and is of great benefit to us and our students."