Corriere della Sera: Corriere TV

It's not surprising that newspapers in Italy are providing more multimedia content. CorriereTV is a selection of news videos that one can watch and listen to on the Corriere della Sera web site, one of Italy's leading newspapers.

There are dozens of channels, and viewers can watch news stories about events in Italy, international events, economic news, cinema, and more!! It's an easy site to navigate, the videos have great clarity, and the audio files are crisp and clear. There is also a section called Appuntamenti in which various staff of the newspaper do videos on special topics. The Italian journalist and writer, Beppe Severigni, does a show called Punto Italians, and there are segments on health and film by other correspondents of the paper. There are also Telegiornali segments on general news and a Telegiornale segment dedicated to economics and business (i.e., stock market, business news, etc.).

What I like about this site is that the news stories are a decent length (just a couple of minutes or less, although some of the Appuntamenti are longer) which is a great way to practice your listening skills without drowning in a sea of words and expressions you might not know.

Practice Italian With Audiobooks! (updated)

The great thing about audiobooks is that not only can you practice your listening skills but you can also read along if you have the book as well. This can be a great way to double check your comprehension of anything that you've listened to. I think that it is important to hear Italian being spoken by as many different kinds of accents and voices as possible since the way language is spoken is different just like it is in your own native language. I think that this throws people who are learning Italian because they don't always recognizes the differences in their own language.

So where do you find audiobooks?

There are several places that you can find them. Some of the RAI sites have them online that you can stream and listen to. The links for those (Terzo Anello) can be found in the sidebar. Another great site for audiobooks is Il Narratore. Some of them are free to download while others must be purchased. If you're looking for a larger selection, check out an online bookstore, such as Internet Bookshop Italia. To do a search for audiobooks, simply type the word audiolibro in the search box, and you'll receive hundreds of hits.

Another up-and-coming place to purchase audio books is from Lapo Art Films, a company based in Tuscany. They currently have a very enchanting and well-done version of Pinocchio for purchase and, as they have informed me, are in the process of creating future audiobooks. In the meantime, you can listen to excerpts through Itunes (do a search for Pinocchio published by Lapo Art Films) or on their web site (also via RSS feed here:http://www.pinocchioaudiolibro.com/it/feed/pinocchio.xml).

I've listed below some audiobooks that you might find interesting to purchase (you'll probalby have difficulty finding them in American libraries so they'll have to be downloaded or purchased):

• Gomorra by Roberto Saviano
• Scusa ma ti chiamo amore by Federico Moccia
• Vita by Melania Mazzucco
• Caos calmo by Sandro Veronesi
• La Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri
• Un filo di fumo by Andrea Camilleri
• Cuore by Edmondo de Amicis

Many English books are translated and then made into Italian audiobooks. By doing the search that I mentioned above, you might find many Italian audiobooks for works that you might have already encountered in English.

If you know of another place to find purchase or download audiobooks, please leave a comment.

Omnibus Life

A show that I recently starting watching online is Omnibus Life with Tiziana Panella and Enrico Vaime and is one of the many captivating programs that La7 produces.

Omnibus Life is a morning show, beginning around 930am in Italy, which talks about current events and interesting happenings, usually with a more social and/or cultural bent. The episode embedded here is from March 11, 2009 and discusses the business around tarot cards and tarot readings, which are extremely popular in Italy but are often used to prey on innocent people by extracting money from them.

Many of the guests are writers, commentators, lawyers and officials from the government, and the show attempts to discuss issues of the day. If you're looking for other video topics, click on the link "Tutti i video" that is located in the left sidebar on the Omnibus Life web site. The show runs for about thirty minutes. It's a great way to practice your Italian listening skills, pick up some new vocabulary, as well as learning about current events in Italy.

AnnoZero

If you're looking for some lively debate "all'italiana", then check out a very popular RAI television show called AnnoZero - a program which brings together guests from all aspects of Italian politics and current events for lively debates on current events and important issues. This is a great program, and previous episodes can be watched online or live on the web site, and it is one of the few programs that those outside of Italy can watch through RAI's web site without having to be in the country.

Last week's program (on February 5, 2009) discussed a controversial law that seeks to limit wiretaps on telephones and to punish those who publish such converations in the press. The debate proved to be quite "lively". An archive of past shows can also be watched online. The sound and picture quality are quite good, and you're bound to learn a lot watching these programs. Not only will you get a good "language workout" but you'll learn a lot about issues facing Italy and Italians at the same time!

Divorzio all'italiana

Marcello Mastroianni plays the role of "cornuto" very well in Pietro Germi's Divorzio all'italiana (Divorce, Italian Style), and this film is certainly a testament to his skills as an actor and as an artist.  If you're looking to improve your Italian listening skills, what better way than with this exquisite film by Pietro Germi.

This black-and-white film is a comedy on so many levels and vascillates between serious and comedic at various intervals throughout the movie.  Brilliant are the flashbacks and dream sequences, as well as certain sections where the protaganist, Ferdinando (played by Mastroianni), reminds the tape only to see the action of the film "rewound" for the viewer, who is privileged not only to hear by to see the events as they happen.  Flashbacks provide comedic interludes, such as when Ferdinando dreams of his wife being engulfed in quicksand while buried under beach sand or when he wishes her dead, stabs her and then drowns her in the very soap that provokes her anger. 

The film is a flashback of events that happened three years from the "present day" in which the film begins, and we sit back and watch the events unfold through the character of Ferdinando, which provides a unique perspective of the film's events. The story is a silly one on so many levels and begins with Mastroianni's character longing for a divorce from his suffocating wife so that he can marry his cousin, the beautiful Angela.  With divorce being illegal and Mastroianni's character of some importance, he must play the situation carefully.  Mastroianni orchestrates for his wife to fall in love with another so that he can finally be free of her.

The story is so masterful and creative that to reveal it all here would not do it justice.

As a student of Italian, this film provides a plethora of opporunity to test your language skills as well as learn new words as well as experience a wonderful gem of Italian cinematic history.  It's so fun to watch a film without the aid of subtitles, although there were a few instances where I was lost and used the subtitles briefly.

Criterion's web site has an excellent essay on the movie, and I would also recommend the Criterion edition of the film, as it has been restored (although the subtitles, if you need them, are useful but not always completely accurate).  The Italian version (in PAL format) is also available, too.