Remember ‘Video Killed The Radio Star‘ from far away 1979?
These days it seems that video content is ubiquitous.
I seldom bother to put on a CD any more, though my house is full of them.
Still less frequently will I dust off an LP and frighten the cat with a blast from the stereo system I bought with my first salary, way back in 1988.
Instead I just type whatever tune I fancy into Google, and there it is, on YouTube, ready to listen to.
That said, maybe video didn’t quite kill the radio star!
I still tune my computer in daily to listen to BBC World Service radio (good for news, sport, and interesting documentaries…)
And the rare occasions that I drive anywhere, I look for Rai Parlamento on my car radio.
So, maybe radio has it’s uses after all.
Which brings me to today’s advanced Italian listening exercise, an extract from a radio program, of course. With questions to answer, and a transcript you can use to check your understanding.
Click here to give it a go.
Or here for the video version (only joking, that’s not really a link!)
But if the C2 listening series is too ambitious, don’t fret.
You’ll find plenty of easier exercises on our site. Browse the levels on our Free Italian Exercises page.
P.S.
Not got time to try and sell you something today. But do check out this article on our sponsor school’s website
Maria Iramendy says
June 27, 2015 at 8:49 pmDear Daniel: in questo audio non capisco che cosa vuole dire sta di fatto. Neanche la parola vabbè che c’è scritta due volta. Una volta vabbè e la seconda vabè. Non trovo questa parola su nessun dictionario.
Grazie,
Maria
Daniel says
June 28, 2015 at 3:19 pmHi Maria,
Apologies for the delay in replying – I was away from a good internet connection.
Allora, to try to answer your questions, first please remember that the transcript is exactly that, a transcript of speech. It’s not intended necessarily always to be formally correct. The purpose of our listenings are to help you improve your comprehension, and Italians use the term vabbè (or vabè) all the time in speech.
As regards dictionaries, I usually Google things I don’t understand… For vabbè Google links to plenty of explanations, but this one gives an overview of the range of different ways Italians spell the word: http://www.linkuaggio.com/2012/01/vabbe-o-vabe-o-va-beh-quali-sono-le.html
Ditto for ‘sta di fatto’, which I didn’t know either, but isn’t hard to guess. The dictionary at Repubblica.it gives this explanation:
5 Fatto sta che, Il fatto è che, Sta di fatto che (con valore dichiarativo enfatico): f. sta che ho deciso di partire; il f. è che sei arrivato in ritardo; sta di f. che hai sbagliato