Rai 3: Cosmo

Learning Italian when it is paired with current events is a great way to learn and improve the language.  A new program on Rai 3, Cosmo with Barbara Serra, is a great way to improve your Italian and learn about the world around you.  Many of you many be familiar with Barbara Serra, who, since 2006, has been the face of Al Jazeera English in London  (She also hosted the Street Food episode on Palermo).  This show is unique in that all of the correspondents are women and includes the reporting of Elisabetta Curzel, Alessandra Viola and Silvia Bencivelli.

Cosmo is an investigative program that looks at issues in our world, such as privacy and nuclear energy, explains the issue or problem by interviewing experts from around the world.  The most recent episode on April 17th focused on nuclear weapons and the arms race.  The great thing about this kind of format is that you have an established context that can help you understand what you are hearing and learn about the world around from an Italian perspective.

Each episode is about an hour in length, and I found myself enthralled through each episode.  The format of the shows make use of special effects, computer models and other tools to help explain the science.  For example, on the most recent program about nuclear weapons, they created computer simulations about what might happen if Rome were bombed by an atomic weapon and the kind of damage that it would have on the city and people who remained.

The shows airs every Sunday at 11:35 PM, but repeats of the episodes can be watched again on Rai.tv.

Aldo Moro

Aldo Moro was an important Italian politician who was kidnapped on the 16th of March in 1976 and held for 55 days before his body was recovered, having been apparently kidnapped and executed by the Brigate Rosse (Red Brigades), a violent anarchist group bent on bringing down the Italian government. Mystery and suspicion still surround the death and kidnapping of Aldo Moro, one of Italy's most successful and popular prime ministers.

If you want to practice your Italian and learn something about this dark time in Italy history, then head to Rai and watch the program, Aldo Moro: Il Mistero -- a series of eight episodes about not only Moro but the people involved in his kidnapping, the aftermath, things that took place before and much more. While this definitely requires being able to listen and understand Italian at an intermediate or high level, with a little patience, you can probably learn a lot from these videos. I find them highly informative, and I think that it's important to learn about Italy's difficult and often complex postwar history.

Moro's kidnapping and subsequent execution is one of those stories that delights conspiracy enthusiasts. Even today there is some doubt as to who kidnapped and murdered him and why, but watching these videos will certainly give you a good grounding in the events that took place over a quarter of a century ago.

image credit: According to Wikipedia, image is in the public domain.

Passaggio a nord-ovest

While many programs take a break in the summer in Italy, there are some that continue, and these programs are generally quite good and are useful in helping to improve your listening Italian skills. One of my favorite shows is Passaggio a Nord-Ovest -- you can watch the episodes through the PC through Rai's web site or, if you're lucky enough to be in Italy, it's on TV on Saturdays at 5:45 PM.

The host of the program is Alberto Angela, a well-known journalist and television personality who often hosts television programs on archaeology and culture (along with his father -- Alberto also holds a degree in Natural Science from La Sapienza). In this program, Alberto Angela crosses the globe visiting cultural sites as well as visiting some unique sites in Italy. There's also a very informative show on the giant squid, its history and research into this unique and amazing creature. The programs aren't always about history and archaeology but a true exploration of our planet into areas and sites that often don't receive a lot of attention.

I've watched about a dozen episodes - they last between 5 minutes to as long as 15 minutes. Alberto Angela is easy to understand, speaks well, and brings a passion and love for what he does -- not only can you listen and improve your Italian, but you can also learn something, too!

Rai.tv -- the new Rai Click

Rai Click is no longer and has been supplanted, thankfully, by Rai TV which functions, in my opinion, much better than Rai Click. If you're in Italy, you can watch TV directly through the site, otherwise, for us non-Italians overseas, we'll have to make do with the many programs and specials that can be watched as streaming video through the site. The video playback feature seems to work much better and is less buggy, and I've had no problem watching programs in the morning, afternoon or evening in the US (Eastern Standard Time). You may experience slowdowns during peak periods but nothing like was experienced with Rai Click.

Search for programs or podcasts by searching thematically or by the name of the show (Cerca tematica or Cerca programma, respectively). The buttons for doing this are located in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

The site pulls together podcasts, streaming video and more into one site so that all your favorite programs and podcasts can be listened to (and in some cases, downloaded) onto your own PC, Ipod or other mp3 device. It's better organized, and you'll find using this site a much better experience over Rai Click.

If you've watched a show on it, leave a comment and let us know how it worked.