On Maundy Thursday at 9:00 PM—that's April 21 this year—you might find yourself within a dark forest, the right road having been lost. That's when The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, in New York City, presents the annual reading of key selections from Dante Alighieri's Inferno. This dramatic literary event will take place in the nave of the Cathedral, near The Poets' Corner, with selected Cantos read by honored guests, distinguished poets, eminent translators, visiting scholars, and Dante Reading regulars.

There's an interesting discussion on Language Log, a collaborative linguistics blog about language use in the media and popular culture, regarding a translation into the Italian for a warning sticker on a plastic bag for a CD and instruction manual for a flat-panel display. The author flags the nonexistent term soffocazione and theorizes:

"So the instance of 'soffocazione' on the Dell bag might either come from an over-educated person given to using old-fashioned words (or from the translation lexicon of a computer program filled out with such forms), or from an under-educated person who performed a quasi-regular morphological derivation, and didn't check the results (except perhaps for apparent cognate correspondence to English)."

Then there's the quasi-unintelligible quadrati di gioco reference in the warning.

If you've decided to learn Italian again after years of inactivity, think of it like restarting a workout program to get back into shape. You can't rebuild all that lean muscle mass during one long weekend of exercising at the gym, nor is it possible to relearn Italian in a few cram sessions. That only leads to aches, pains, and frustration, and increases the likelihood that your new initiative will be abandoned even before reviewing the Italian alphabet.

If Diego Della Valle, the head of the Tod's shoe and bag empire, can help pay for the restoration of Rome's ancient Colosseum, why can't others assist in restoring lesser known historic monuments (in Tuscany)? That's the concept behind Adotta un Monumento (Adopt a Monument), an initiative under the direction of the Direzione Regionale dei Beni Culturali, delle Soprintendenze dei Beni Architettonici, Paesaggistici, Storici, Artistici ed Etnoantropologici di Pisa e Livorno e di Firenze, Prato e Pistoia. Businesses, foundations, corporations, and individuals are being encouraged to provide financial support for the restoration of more than twenty works of art throughout the region.

One sculpture up for "adoption" is located in Piazza Mino (in Fiesole). Executed by Oreste Calzolari and titled Incontro di Teano, the bronze, clay, and stone work of two figures on horseback captures the historic meeting between Re Vittorio Emanuele II and Generale Giuseppe Garibaldi that took place on October 26, 1860.

File this under "advertisements that include mini-lessons in Italian pronunciation" (e.g., Chicco, the Italian baby care brand). Brioschi, an antacid for upset stomach relief, has the following instructions in printed marketing material as well as on the packaging: "Say Bree-OS-kee."

On the assumption that Italians don't require assistance in pronouncing the product's name, the Italian packaging simply claims that digestivo rinfrescante dissetante is indicated for aiuta contro il gonfiore.

Middlebury College, a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, now offers IT 101 Italiano Espresso, a lively and fast-paced course that is the equivalent of three full semesters of beginning Italian in just one. The accelerated course load includes two hours of daily mandatory lectures Monday-Friday. In addition, every week there are two 20-minute quizzes, two compositions, two required meals at the Italian language table, and two screened films (attendance optional). If students aren't dreaming in Italian by the end of the semester, it might be time to stop drinking coffee!

The Italian Journal Magazine, founded in 1949, was originally as an academic publication containing essays on Italian cultural, political and sociological ideas, often written by academicians. The magazine, recently redesigned, continues to present Italian thinking and achievement in an updated, richly visual, graphic format. Each edition focuses on a theme relevant to Italian history and culture.

The Italian Academy Foundation (IAF), established in 1947, produces concerts, symposia, and special events year round throughout the United States and Italy. IAF works with select international charities for fundraising and awareness efforts such as L'Aquila Redivivus, an IAF initiative for the restoration of the Castello di Celano, damaged during the 2009 earthquake in Aquila.

Middlebury College has announced the continuation of the Premio Famiglia Fede scholarship, which provides funding for one complete year of graduate study (one summer at the Middlebury Italian School, in Vermont, followed by an academic year abroad in Florence, at the C.V. Starr-Middlebury School in Italy), and culminating in the awarding of an MA degree in Italian from Middlebury College.

The scholarship is targeted to students who have already embarked on a business career path and/or are seeking a career in business embracing the Italian language. The applicant must have a minimum of three years' work experience following the completion of an undergraduate degree, and must have embarked on a stated business path that incorporates Italian.

Applications are welcome from candidates working in a wide variety of business fields, including the fashion/textile industry, the restaurant/food industry, the viticulture/wine industry, and any other field or business path which incorporates the Italian language. The Premio Famiglia Fede is not intended for candidates from the teaching profession.

Application deadline: April 1, 2011.

On March 17, 1861, Italy officially became one nation after almost a half-century struggle (il Risorgimento). ITALY@150 is a series of activities throughout the United States organized by the Embassy of Italy in Washington, DC, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy as well as the long-standing friendship between the U.S. and Italy.