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As with the Summer
Olympics, the Winter Olympics takes place every 4 years. This year,
from 10 - 26 February 2006, the Winter Olympics will be taking place
in Torino, in the Piemonte region of Italy with millions of spectators
and viewers around the world expected to watch them. The games are
intended to promote the spirit of many different sports and bring
together many athletes from around the world. There will be almost
3000 athletes from 82 National Olympic Committees competing. Seven
sports will be presented: Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Curling, Ice Hockey,
Luge, Skating and Skiing and these will take place in eight competition
sites: Bardonecchia, Pinerolo, Pragelato, Cesana-Pariol, Cesana-San
Sicario, Sauze d'Oulx, Sestriere and Torino itself.
The goal of the
Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better
world through the Olympic Truce, which was honoured for 12 centuries,
making it the longest standing peace accord in history. In the 20
and 21st centuries, the Olympic
Truce once again calls upon humanity to lay down its weapons
and work towards building the foundations of peace, mutual respect,
understanding and reconciliation - if only for the two week period
of the Olympic Games. In 1999, 180 countries of the United Nations
agreed to observe the Olympic Truce during the Sydney Olympic Games.
The Olympic Truce Foundation has now been established to work towards
achieving its goals.
The official
languages of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are French
and English. However, at IOC Sessions, simultaneous translation
is also provided into German, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. In the
event of any discrepancy between the French and English in the Olympic
Charter or any other IOC document, the French text prevails. Of
course, for the Winter Olympics in Italy, Italian will be an official
language of these Games too.
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italian
at the turin winter olympics
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If you want
to win a 'medaglia d'oro' in Italian, start training now in time
for the Winter Olympics that starts this Saturday with its official
Opening Ceremony on Friday 10 February 2006. And some of the words
aren't so hard!
'Discipline Olimpiche
Everything's got a name, and Olympic sports are no different. Here
are the Italian names for sporting events that athletes will compete
in at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games.
- biathlon - biathlon
- bob - bobsleigh
- combinata nordica - nordic combined
- curling - curling
- freestyle - freestyle skiing
- hockey su ghiaccio - ice hockey
- Olympic disciplines - discipline Olimpiche
- pattinaggio artistico - figure skating
- pattinaggio di velocità - speed skating
- salto - ski-jumping
- sci alpino - alpine skiing
- sci di fondo-cross - country skiing
- short-track - short-track
- skeleton - skeleton
- slittino - luge
- snowboard - snowboard '
(source: About
Italian)
An Official
Winter Sports Lexicon has been linked to the Torino Winter Olympics
official site which is very useful and interesting. You can input
any word related to the Winter Olympics in its search box and it
will come up not only with an explanation but also with a translation
in English, Italian and French. There are also 91 words related
to the environment and weather conditions, also in English, Italian
and French. Very handy if you want to expand on your vocabulary!
You may also want to take a look at the Official
Winter Olympics Site and then in 'search' look up 'language'.
There are a few interesting articles that come up including one
about the scarcely known Italian language called 'Occitan'. It apparently
comes from the region of Piemonte where the games are to be held
and the authorities want to promote this old and hardly-spoken language
through the use of the mass media and to promote linguistic rights.
It's a great idea and proves that almost extinct languages can be
brought back to life through events such as the Olympic Games.
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getting
to grips with italian
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The Italian
language is spoken by approximately 60 million people in Italy as
the official language and elsewhere around the world. Italian is
one of the official languages of the European Union.
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top
5 ways to learn Italian
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If you're going
over to Italy, either as a volunteer or to watch the Olympics, then
you really should make the effort to learn a bit of Italian. At
the very least it could be useful and may help you to get a couple
of beers and something to eat - and even find somewhere to stay.
And it's not too late - even now you can tuck your phrase book into
your hand luggage and have a quick peek while you're travelling
out to Italy.
Make your trip memorable and enhance your time in Italy by learning
the language and getting to know the culture. English may well be
understood in parts of Italy, but don't just speak English!
Here are our top 5 recommended courses for learning a bit of holiday
Italian before you go - or while you are there!
1. pigeon
Italian
2. teach
yourself Italian conversation
3. quick
& simple pimsleur Italian
4. bbc
get by in Italian
5. teach
yourself world cultures: Italy
To find out many
more of the best and most innovative ways to learn Italian, then
take a look at our Italian
language page for more Italian
language courses>>
If
you'd like to find out more about the Winter Olympic Games and Turin
2006:
The website of the International
Olympic Committee
The website of the Turin
2006 Winter Olympic Games
The next summer
Olympics will take place in August 2008 in Beijing so start learning
your Mandarin! For more or the best and most innovative ways to
learn Mandarin, take a look at our Chinese
language page for a selection of Chinese
Mandarin language courses>>
Also,
visit our Language Advantage Courses
for more of the best and most innovative language courses in the
world.
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with any new language and cultural providers and other developments
in the language world, please subscribe to our newsletter at www.languageadvantage.com/newsletter.
You'll also be able to take part in free giveaways, competitions
and discounts.
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