Hanoi hosts seminar on Italian language

Advantages and prospects for Italian speakers as well as experience in
learning the language were discussed at a seminar in Hanoi on Oct.
14.

The seminar, the highlight of the Italian Language Week in
Vietnam , drew the participations of the ambassadors of Argentina ,
Pakistan , Switzerland and Venezuela , the director of the Goethe
Institute and a number of Vietnamese students.

Writer Mario
Fortunato, former director of the Italian Institute of Culture in
London , said that the first heritage of the nation is its language and
Italian is the language of a nation rich of cultural heritages.

Italian is also the language of cuisine, arts, fashion, architecture and
design and renovation, said Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrea
Perugini.

The Vietnamese translation of a masterpiece of Italian literature “If this is a man” was launched on this occasion.

The autobiographical book was written by Italian writer and chemist
Primo Levi, who based the book on his own experiences in a Nazi
concentration camp during World War II./.

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Vietnamese urban culture interests Russia

The State Museum of Oriental Arts of Russia on October 5 held a
seminar focusing on traditional and modern features in Vietnamese urban
culture on the occasion of the 1,000 anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

At the seminar, Le Thanh Van, political counsellor of the Vietnamese
Embassy, delivered a speech on several aspects of cultural cooperation
between Vietnam and Russia , underlining the significance of the
cooperation between the two countries and their museums.

The seminar was well oriented, matching benefits of the two nations’
people in expanding and boosting traditional friendship and strategic
partnership between the two countries, Van said.

He
pointed out three measures to strengthen bilateral ties in culture:
increasing the exchange of delegations and cultural experts; organising
art, cultural exhibitions and seminars; and encouraging students to
research culture in each country.

Ten speeches were
presented by Russian experts from the State Museum of Oriental Arts,
the Institute of Oriental Studies , and the Institute of
Asian-African Studies , focused on the development of Vietnamese
contemporary culture, Dong Son civilisation, Vietnam ’s city
architecture and Southeast Asian culture.

Notably,
first proofs on the construction of the One-Pillar Pagoda, languages in
advertising boards in Hanoi and the capital city’s culture during
1964-1965 were discussed at the seminar.

Advertising
is a strong element of culture, said Irina Samarina, a lecturer of the
Russian State University for the Humanities and an expert of the
Language Institute under the Russian Academy of Science, who showed
images and advertising language she collected in Hanoi to express
her love for the city./.

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