Italian C1: Advanced level

Japan, U.S. Finance Chiefs Meet on Sidelines of G20 Meeting

(Adnkronos) - Asheville, North Carolina, Aug. 31 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs in Asheville, North Carolina, informed sources said Monday. It was their first meeting since Japanese and U.S. authorities carried out a coordinated currency market intervention in July. Bessent also held talks with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda. Tokyo and Washington conducted a yen-buying intervention in late July to stem the Japanese currency's rapid decline. Although the yen briefly strengthened against the dollar, it has since weakened to around 160 per dollar. The U.S. government has repeatedly called on the BOJ to swiftly raise the policy interest rate amid concerns that the weak yen and falling bond prices may spur selling of U.S. Treasuries. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after the joint market intervention, Bessent indicated his willingness to meet with Ueda on the sidelines of the two-day G20 meeting, which began Monday. The Japanese central bank may decide to raise its policy rate at its next policy-setting meeting in September at the earliest, analysts said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Easy Japanese in Focus as Way to Deliver Info to Foreigners

(Adnkronos) - Tokyo, Sept. 1 (Jiji Press)--Easy Japanese is in the spotlight as a way to disseminate information to foreigners in Japan, especially at the time of disasters such as a recent powerful earthquake that hit the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto. According to a survey targeting foreigners living in Tokyo, 41.3 pct said they want to read information written in easy Japanese, higher than 35.9 pct seeking information in English. "It's probably because the nationalities of foreigners living in Japan have diversified, and fewer people are from English-speaking countries and regions," said Nobuko Inoue of Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation Tsunagari, which conducted the survey and works to promote and raise awareness about easy Japanese. The crux of giving out information in easy Japanese is to avoid using onomatopoeia, mimetic words, words adopted from foreign languages and ambiguous expressions, and to use short and clear sentences, according to the foundation. For example, "kyanseru," which derives from the English word cancel, can be replaced with "yameru" in easy Japanese. "Moraeru," meaning "you can get," can be used for "teikyo-suru," which means to provide. In Kumamoto, people from Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, account for more than half of foreign residents. "We have many people whose native languages are not English," an official of the Kumamoto prefectural government's international affairs division said. "We are trying to provide information in easy Japanese rather than in English." On July 29, the day after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake, which measured up to 7, the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale, WizTry, an information technology company in Kumamoto, created a website to give affected people necessary information, which includes an easy Japanese page for foreign residents. The page for foreigners says, for example: "Mizu wo kubaru basho ga arimasu. Okane wa irimasen," which means there are places where you can get water and no money is needed. WizTry President Kotaro Suematsu said he hopes the company's easy Japanese page will help foreigners who tend to be left out of information. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Usa-Iran, il nuovo piano di Trump: 'mini attacchi' nello Stretto di Hormuz

(Adnkronos) - Il presidente americano: "Passano 30 navi ogni notte sono tante". Poi si arrabbia: "Usare l'arma nucleare? Che domanda stupida..."

Entertainment

La psicologia del fandom delle celebrità

Matteo e Giulia esplorano la cultura intensa, a volte ossessiva, che circonda i fandom delle celebrità, analizzando cosa alimenta l'attaccamento parasociale, i lati oscuri della stan culture e se il fandom possa mai essere una forma di comunità genuinamente sana.

Education

L'università di YouTube

Matteo e Giulia esplorano l'ascesa dell'apprendimento autodidatta attraverso YouTube, i forum online e i corsi gratuiti. Discutono se l'istruzione informale su internet possa competere con la scuola tradizionale e cosa si perda quando non ci sono insegnanti, scadenze o diplomi.

Fantasy

Draghi divisi: Oriente contro Occidente nella mitologia

Matteo e Giulia esplorano la sorprendente divergenza culturale tra i draghi occidentali, bestie avidi da abbattere, e i draghi orientali, benevole divinità dell'acqua da venerare, ripercorrendo come questi archetipi opposti abbiano plasmato letteratura e cinema.