Better Reading Italian

by Gobetti, Daniela

• ISBN13: 9780071391382
• ISBN10: 007139138X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-02-25
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Summary

New reading series brings foreign language acquisition into the 21st century While the world produces more and more reading material each year, from magazines to newspapers to websites, why are most language learners still relying on contrived texts and classic literature for language acquisition? Providing entertaining contemporary texts in the original language, the Better Reading Language series is for those who want to brush up on a foreign language. With the authentic materials provided in this series, readers will be able to peruse a Latin Grammys write-up in Spanish, a feature on Alain Ducasse's favorite recipes in French, or a review of a Milan fashion show in Italian. Readings on everything from music and sports to cinema and contemporary family life are arranged in increasing difficulty within chapters. Along the way, learners will find instruction and exercises to help develop improved reading speed, comprehension, and vocabulary.

Author Biography

Daniella Gobetti, Ph.D., is an author and manager of the Center for European Studies at the University of Michigan.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
How to use this book	p. xi
Il bel paese
Torino: A children's poem devoted to Turin	p. 3
Il Touring Club Italiano: Advertising a tour of Sicily	p. 7
Trieste (I): An early-twentieth-century poem about Trieste	p. 16
Trieste (II): An excerpt from a recent best-seller	p. 19
L'agriturismo: Vacationing at an agrotourism inn in Tuscany	p. 25
Slow food
L'Arcigola: Manifesto of the Slow Food Movement	p. 31
Il mangiarbene: A culinary report on a restaurant in Piedmont	p. 38
Il buon vino fa buon sangue: Italian wine profiles	p. 43
I vini di origine controllata: D.O.C. wine nomenclature	p. 48
La scienza in cocina e l'arte di mangiar bene: Recipes from the 1891 classic by Pellegrino Artusi	p. 52
La moda e il design
Kartell: Web site of a furniture manufacturer	p. 63
Tensione e compressione: The famous designer Bruno Munari	p. 70
Io speriamo che me la cavo: A Neapolitan student's essay on home life	p. 77
Ville, villette, villone: An excerpt from a novel by Carlo Emilio Gadda	p. 83
La moda italiana: A news report on Italian fashion at the Paris shows	p. 90
Costume e societa
Il male di vivere: A feature article on anorexia in laRepubblica	p. 99
La moda maschile: A tongue-in-cheek article on male fashion	p. 105
Il problema demografico: Demographic trends in Italy	p. 111
Il calcio: The soccer scene in Italy	p. 117
La beatificazione: The recent canonization of a Capuchin monk	p. 127
La scuola
Cuore: The classic children's book from 1886	p. 137
La maturita: The nationwide test for Italy's nineteen-year-olds	p. 143
La matematica in rima: Poems to help children learn math and the seasons	p. 148
La gatta: A story written by elementary school children	p. 157
Lessico famigliare
Una citta famigliare: A poem treating Turin as extended family	p. 167
Lessico famigliare: Growing up in a Jewish family between the wars	p. 172
Famiglia cristiana: Personal advice from a Christian magazine	p. 180
Va' dove ti porta il cuore: An old love affair revealed to a granddaughter	p. 187
Sebben che siamo donne...
La Lega: A solidarity song of women workers in the Po Valley	p. 199
Mamma: A popular 1940 song on the mother-son relationship	p. 204
Donna in guerra: The feminist awakening of a young married woman	p. 208
Le donne e la politica: An article on women's representation in Parliament	p. 217
Il femminismo: Italian feminist declarations from the 1970s	p. 225
Lamerica
Americano sono: The return of a novel's protagonist to Sicily	p. 233
Gagliano: An excerpt from Christ stopped at Eboli	p. 239
La luna e i falo: Comparing Piedmont with California	p. 246
Il Dio d'America: A view of the political role of religion in the United States	p. 253
Cincinnati, Ohio: An excerpt from Hymn to a wandering Italy	p. 259
Suggestions for further reading	p. 265
Answer key	p. 267
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.