美语咖啡屋28 Diane, An Italian Opera Lover

Y:各位听众好，欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: Hello I'm Jody and welcome to the American Cafe.

Y: Jody, 听说你下星期是不是要到意大利去？

J: Yes and I can't wait!  I just bought some new clothes for the trip but more importantly I'm learning a little Italian. Piacere! 

Y: 听着很好听，是什么意思？

(pause)

J: Um,  just a minute, (flipping through a book) hold on...

Y: Jody,  我看你以前一定没好好学你的意大利语。

J: You're absolutely right.  I'll try harder. 

Y: 我记得你好象是意大利人后裔，是吗？

J: Yes, I am of Italian heritage H-E-R-I-T-A-G-E, and most of my family comes from Italy. 

Y: 你是意大利人后裔，可是却不会说意大利语？

J: I know, unfortunately, my father's mother and father...

Y: (Translate)你是说你的爷爷、奶奶...

J: ...right. only spoke English in the home. 
 
Y: 他们在家光说英语。

J：I think during that era, that time period, it was very common for European immigrants to speak English.

Y: 他们那时候都急着要学好英语。

J: But you know the best way to broaden your horizons is to learn a foreign language.   

Y: 你说到"broaden your horizons"，你记不记得我们上次在意大利文化节上碰见到的那个女孩Diane?

J: Oh right, Dianne.

Y:  她也是这么说的。下面就让大家来认识一下Diane:

Diane: I'm Diane Adleberg and I live in Falls Church, Virginia.  I'm on my second Italian class and I am not of Italian heritage but I love languages.  And I think it's nice for Americans to broaden their horizons and learn a foreign language. 
 
Y: 她说的"Broaden your horizons"就是扩大视野的意思。Diane说的没错，学外语就是一种扩大视野的好方法，因为你学了一种语言以后，就会自然而然地想学习这个国家的文化。

J: Exactly. And also, Yang Chen, traveling is another way to broaden your horizons and it's fun.
 
Y:  你说的没错。那你这次到意大利去就是很好的机会，可以提高你的意大利语水平。

J：I hope so. (Speaking Italian), what do you think?

Y: 你说得很好。

J：I don't think so, but thanks any way.

Y：Diane说她不是意大利人后裔，可以有那么多外语可以学，她为什么选择意大利语呢！

J: Maybe because it's so romantic!

Y: Sigh.   意大利语的确是非常浪漫。

J: And Diane speaks French already.  But she said that she has always wanted to learn Italian because of an opera that she loves very much!

Diane: Well, I speak French already and I've always wanted to learn Italian because there's a particular opera that I love, La Traviata. 

Y: 我想很多人和她一样是为了听意大利歌剧而学习意大利语。

J: Diane gave us an example of her favorite aria in the opera La Traviata ...

J: What is "aria" in Chinese?

Y: Aria就是咏叹调的意思。

J: Again here is Diane.

Diane: I'll tell you how the aria to my favorite opera goes. It's: "Di provenze il mar il suol" And I've just always loved that aria.  

J: "Di provenze il mar il suol" !!

Y: 听起来很好听，是什么意思呢？

J: I asked her to translate and she wouldn't.  She said we would have to investigate. 

Diane: You know I'm going to translate it for you because it's very poetic so you'll have to investigate.  

Y: Diane说这句话太有诗意

J: Very poetic.

J: If we need to investigate, I guess we have to listen to it first.  Here's the aria from La Traviata!

(Enter music)

Y: Jody， 你听懂了吗？

J:  Understand? No, not  word. But it's so beautiful!

Y: 其实你不需要懂得意大利语来欣赏意大利歌剧。

J: Thanks for joining us on American Cafe.

Y: 我们下次再见。

(Fade music to end)