Monday 30 May 2011

L'omo e la scimmia


Una poesia di Trilussa in dialetto romanesco, che si abbina bene alla foto della mia scimmietta di peluche!

L' Omo disse a la Scimmia:
-Sei brutta , dispettosa:
ma come sei ridicola!
ma quanto sei curiosa!
Quann' io te vedo, rido:
rido nun se sa quanto!...


La Scimmia disse : - Sfido!
T' arissomijo tanto


e adesso la versione in italiano:

L’Uomo disse alla Scimmia: “Sei brutta, dispettosa ma come sei ridicola! ma quanto sei curiosa! Quando io ti vedo, rido: rido non si sa quanto!…” La Scimmia disse:” Sfido! T’assomiglio così tanto! “

Saturday 21 May 2011

How to say "stop"!

To stop typically can be translated as smettere and fermare. There are of course other possible translations, but I'll concentrate on these two, which are the most common and also the most commonly mixed up. As it is impossible to single out a rule that categorically says when you should use one or the other, the best thing to do is provide some examples of usage, which will show that smettere tends to be used in a more generic and abstract manner than fermare:

Smettere

Devi smettere di fumare
You must stop smoking

Mi stai dando fastidio, smettila! (smettila here is a generic request to stop doing something)
You are annoying me, stop it!

Ha appena smesso di piovere
It has just stopped raining

Smetto di fare questo lavoro se non mi danno un aumento
I’ll stop doing this job if they don’t give me a rise

Fermare

Ferma la macchina, voglio scendere
Stop the car, I want to get out

Ferma la registrazione
Stop the recording

Fermarsi (reflexive)

Fermati, mi stai facendo male
Stop it, you are hurting myself (I’m asking you to physically stop what you are doing)

Fermatevi a dormire a casa nostra
Stop to sleep at our house (we can put you up for the night)

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Proiezione di Io Sono l'Amore

















On Friday 20th May at 6.45 pm in the Griffith lecture theatre the following film will be screened:

I Am Love (2009)

The film, directed by Luca Guadagnino, follows a haute bourgeoisie family through changing times and fortunes, and its disruption by the force of passion. The cast is led by Tilda Swinton as Emma Recchi. Co-producers Swinton and Guadagnino developed the film together over an 11-year period.
The film premiered in the United States at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, and premiered in both the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival.
The title is taken from a line from the aria 'La Mamma Morta', which is explored in the film Philadelphia (starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington), a scene which Emma is watching while in bed with her husband, during the film. The film's soundtrack uses pre-existing compositions by John Adams.

Thursday 5 May 2011

Two greedy Italians

Cliccate sul link sottostante per vedere un bel programma TV della BBC sui legami tra cibo e famiglia in Italia:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b0110c5x/