Why do some people believe that learning a second language is a waste of time and money? And what is the best way to learn a language? At school? In this blog post I’m going to try to answer these questions, showing the positives and the negatives of learning another language. The study of a…
The upsides and downsides of working as a translator, by Giulia Crudeli
To all those language students who desire to become translators. A translator offers a very special and exceptional service, as he or she, represents a bridge between two languages and cultures. The translator’s job is interesting, exiting and gratifying. Below is a list of what I think are some of the most important upsides of…
The world’s happiest country, by Kinga Kosycarz
According to a number of rankings, Denmark is considered an unrivalled leader of world happiness surveys. But is it possible to measure the level of happiness in diverse societies? Why do some societies seem to be happier than others? Here I will try to explain why Danes, despite their climate, find it easier to find…
Can public transport solve Italy’s smog problem? by Alessandro Felici
In recent years Europe has had to face an unexpected problem regarding the health of its citizens: air pollution. Until not so long ago, it seemed that this problem would never cause trouble to our territory and that it was a situation problem affecting only cities such as Beijing and Hong Kong. Data tell us…
Your life is worth more than a degree, by Veronica Fiacco
Thoreau said: ‘Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.’ Don’t be resigned to that. Break out!–Dead Poet Society Some people believe that university is the beginning of a prosperous life, others say it’s a waste of time and money. However, Italy has a contradictory situation: in 2017, a Eurostat press release indicated that only 26.2% of…
Reality Bites, by Veronica Fiacco
“[answering the phone] Hello, you’ve reached the winter of our discontent.” – Reality Bites Movies and books have the power to show us not only who we are, digging deeply into our consciences and personalities, but also who we’d like to be, what we’d like to do. Once out of high school, you think life…
We seal our fate with the choices we make, by Brian Antonini
There are some things we can’t escape. And other things we just don’t want to think about: Death is one of them. As human beings we are taught to be grateful for what we have because Life is a gift, Life is precious and we all must live it to the fullest since it only…
A Clockwork Orange nowadays (2): mind control and police brutality by Eva Imperi
In my previous post, I dealt with the question of free will. Now I will proceed with two other topics in A clockwork orange: mind control and police brutality. Since the Ludovico Technique is related to the former question, I will briefly explain this treatment which I only made brief reference to in my previous…
Is body language part of a culture? An Italian example, by Sara De Rossi
There is no need to have been to Italy to know that we are famous all over the world for our entertaining and unintellegible gestures with arms and hands. When you are travelling in Italy you don’t only see beautiful cities or amazing landscapes. You try new food, explore the Italian language or note some…
Does our body speak for us? by Sara De Rossi
A few weeks ago I was looking for an interesting Ted Talk to watch. I did not find anything that inspired me enough so I just checked which ones had more views, and found out that one of the most famous Ted Talks ever is about body language. After watching it I decided to write…
Notte prima degli esami, by Veronica Fiacco
This is a trip down memory lane. I am now a student at Roma Sapienza University, but just six years ago I was taking on one of the greatest challange of my life: the last year of High School. And believe me, that means only one thing: Maturità (literally, maturity). The Maturità is actually the Italian…
A Clockwork Orange nowadays: the question of free will, by Eva Imperi
Articles about juvenile delinquency in the Italian press have made me think about Anthony Burgess’s novel A clockwork orange and I wonder: is repression an adequate answer to this worrying phenomenon? Despite all the security measures taken, it is far from disappearing. It may be objected that since they are hardly recent, both the novel…
