VOA美语咖啡屋 Lesson 68：Dianne, the Italian Opera Lover

 

VOA美语咖啡屋 Lesson 68：Dianne, the 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 spoke¹ 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: 

实录1: 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! 

实录2: 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 aria² 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. 

实录3: Diane: I'll tell you how the aria to my favorite opera goes. It's: "Di provenze il mar³ 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. 

实录4: Diane: You know I'm going to translate it for you because it's very poetic⁴ 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)

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 aria   

n.独唱曲，咏叹调

参考例句：

• This song takes off from a famous aria.这首歌仿效一首著名的咏叹调。
• The opera was marred by an awkward aria.整部歌剧毁在咏叹调部分的不够熟练。

3 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

4 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。