# farsi una cultura



## iPaul

Come traducete in inglese:

farsi una cultura su qualcosa?

*G*razie, ciao!


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## Saoul

Direi "to get to know about", oppure "to study".

Benvenuto. 

Saoul


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## iPaul

*S*peravo in qualcosa di più... "slang", ma magari manco esiste in inglese 

*G*razie per il benvenuto


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## firstcapt

Cosa intendi per "più slang"?
Qualcosa di meno formale tipo: "to grow up (or increase) his own knowledge/culture"?


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## iPaul

*B*ravo, mi hai inteso perfettamente.

*G*razie


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## Memimao

_To bone up on something_ (forse un po' antico)


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## iPaul

Interessato dall'uso della parola bone sono andato a cercare (questo per dire che non l'ho fatto per diffidenza) e su Dictionary.com ho trovato:

"bone up": To study intensely, usually at the last minute: _boned up for the final exam_

Mi confermi? Perchè in questo caso il significato è un po' diverso.


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## Memimao

Sì, il senso originale era questo. Ma penso che "informalmente" può andare. In alternativa c'è "Find out all about..."

Intendiamoci su cosa intendi per "slang", che non è un parlare informale bensì un uso intenzionalmente diverso da quello che dà il dizionario. Gli slang nascono per nascondere.


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## _forumuser_

Il problema e' che non ci hai dato contesto, una situazione tipo in cui useresti quest'espressione.


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## CaruraLeam

Salve a tutti e buon pomeriggio!
Mi chiedevo se fosse possibile per voi aiutarmi a capire come e' meglio esprimere l'idea di "farsi una cultura" in un contesto come il seguente:

"Grazie a te mi sto facendo una (buona)cultura su Sting"
"Thanks to you I am gaining a good knowledge about Sting"

"Farsi una cultura" e' un'espressione che ritengo molto colloquiale in questo contesto,quindi vorrei se possibile da voi un consiglio su come renderla altrettanto colloquiale e giovanile in Inglese.
Any suggestions?


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## pacariss

Io direi "Thanks to you I'm learning a lot about Sting" o per renderla piu' scherzosa "Thanks to you now I know everything about Sting"


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## PublicJohnDoe

Magari anziché "I know everything about Sting", potresti usare "I'm getting to know everything about Sting"


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## CaruraLeam

"Get to know" is an expression that I always use in the spoken language.Don't you think it's slightly different in meaning compared to what I am trying to translate?
What If I want to say in a friendly context:
"Ehi,mi stai facendo fare una cultura su Sting a furia di ascoltarlo a ripetizione!"
"Hey,you're making me get to know everything about Sting keeping on listening to him repeadetly!"
Mi sembra un po' forzata,non trovate?


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## pacariss

Cosi' e' diverso, in questo caso toglierei il " farsi una cultura" e la metterei piu' sul drastico/scherzoso
"If you keep making me listen to Sting, I will hate him for the rest of my life"


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## CaruraLeam

pacariss said:


> Cosi' e' diverso, in questo caso toglierei il " farsi una cultura" e la metterei piu' sul drastico/scherzoso
> "If you keep making me listen to Sting, I will hate him for the rest of my life"



If it's a good idea if you mean to say it with tongue in cheek!!!!
Cheers!


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## NewYorktoLA

CaruraLeam said:


> "Farsi una cultura" e' un'espressione che ritengo molto colloquiale in questo contesto,quindi vorrei se possibile da voi un consiglio su come renderla altrettanto colloquiale e giovanile in Inglese.
> Any suggestions?



It may not precisely fit, but what do you think of:
Thanks for turning me on to Sting.   
It's pretty "slangy." 
***To turn someone on to (something). Meaning: To tell/inform  someone about (something), causing an interest; To cause someone to be  interested in (something). Example: "My brother turned me on to jazz."  (My brother is the one who made me interested in jazz.)


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## CaruraLeam

NewYorktoLA said:


> It may not precisely fit, but what do you think of:
> Thanks for turning me on to Sting.
> It's pretty "slangy."
> ***To turn someone on to (something). Meaning: To tell/inform  someone about (something), causing an interest; To cause someone to be  interested in (something). Example: "My brother turned me on to jazz."  (My brother is the one who made me interested in jazz.)



That's exactly what I was looking for!!!Thank you so much!!!!


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## NewYorktoLA

So glad I could help!


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## Nellieuk

Hi, everyone, 

another option could be .... "He's really got me into Sting". or "Thanks to him I'm really into Sting now"

This expression is used a lot in English when you want to show that something has really interested you and you feel almost quite passionate about it. 

Hope this helps.


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## CaruraLeam

Nellieuk your option is pretty useful!
Thank you very much indeed!


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## ChickenChicken

Ciao,

Come potrei dire: "non è andato (ha frequentato la) a scuola, ma leggendo tanti libri si è fatto una cultura".

My try:

"he didn't/never attend school, but he [fatto una cultura] by reading many books. 

Grazie.


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## You little ripper!

_He had no schooling but [educated himself]/[became quite knowledgeable] by reading a lot_ might be a couple of options.


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## ChickenChicken

You little ripper! said:


> _He had no schooling but [educated himself]/[became quite knowledgeable] by reading a lot_ might be a couple of options.



Ciao,

E' proprio sbagliato dire "he never attend school"?


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## Nellieuk

He was well-read, despite never having been to school.


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## You little ripper!

ChickenChicken said:


> Ciao,
> 
> E' proprio sbagliato dire "he never attend*ed* school"?


That's fine, CC, but remember that 'to attend school' usually means that you went to a classroom to have lessons. It is possible to have schooling at home or by correspondence. 

I like Nellie's 'well-read'.


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## Polpo_D

DOMANDA NUOVA / NEW QUESTION

I'm looking for a good equivalent to "farsi una cultura" in this context, where there is no object.  
_



			Lui è pazzesco. Dovresti sentire le storie che racconta.  Ne ha passate tante pur di farsi una cultura.
		
Click to expand...

_
I'm thinking "to give some insight" "To open your eyes"  Is there anything more precise? 

"He's crazy.  You should hear the stories he tells.   He's gone through so many things it really opens your eyes.


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## symposium

I can't tell for sure, not really knowing what it is that they're talking about here, but I think that in this passage it simply means "get an education": "You just can't imagine the lenghts he went to in order to get an education".


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## TheCrociato91

Polpo_D said:


> I'm thinking "to give some insight" "To open your eyes" Is there anything more precise?



"Farsi una cultura" refers to "he", not to the people listening to his stories. So it's more along the lines of what symposium suggested. That said, I'm not sure get an education is a good equivalent, because to me this implies going to school, college, getting a degree, etc. The WR dictionary suggests "become cultured"; not sure how natural this sounds to you in this context.


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## theartichoke

Very loosely, could it be something like _He's unbelievable / astounding ! You should hear the stories he can tell. He's been through the school of life, all right!_

As Symposium said, more context would be useful (for instance, I can't tell whether there's a positive or negative valence here), but I'm wondering if _pazzesco _means _pazzo_ here, or if it's the figurative sense of "crazy," as in "Wow, that's _crazy_, man!"


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## Starless74

theartichoke said:


> I'm wondering if _pazzesco _means _pazzo_ here, or if it's the figurative sense of "crazy," as in "Wow, that's _crazy_, man!"


It's a colloquial way of saying _he's awsome!_.
About Polpo_D's question, it is unclear whether the man "went through a lot" just to get a proper education (e.g. to afford schooling, moneywise)
or has been through "the school of life" as you suggested. More context would certainly help in that respect.
(For the double meaning of 'farsi una cultura' see also older replies above  )


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## Polpo_D

Thank you all.  

Yes, for context,  the phrase refers to someone who had a difficult childhood growing up in Africa and was then adopted by a family in the US.

I'm thinking then, maybe, "educate himself." 

"To educate oneself"  is a bit more vague and expansive than "to get an education" / "become educated", although still somewhat connected to to schooling.


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## Memimao

I am imagining that the original Italian could have been slightly different.

In any event we're off the a mark. _"Farsi una cultura" _is a very broad expression which refers to a deep involvement in what is going on as opposed to mere context. 

An English expression that might apply is: _He went to great lengths  to get to the heart of the matter _or_ He went through so very much  to get to the heart of the matter._


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## symposium

I don't know. In my opinion "farsi una cultura" can only have the literal meaning of "becoming cultured/educated", and that also seems to be true about the case we're discussing now. The more specific yet less technical "farsi una cultura riguardo a qualcosa" means "to get a thorough knowledge of a subject". How can it mean something different?


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## Polpo_D

Yes, in context,  I believe he's a passionate student so it may be in reference to that


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## TheCrociato91

Agreed with symposium.



Memimao said:


> _"Farsi una cultura" _is a very broad expression which refers to a deep involvement in what is going on as opposed to mere context.
> 
> An English expression that might apply is: _He went to great lengths to get to the heart of the matter _or_ He went through so very much to get to the heart of the matter._


That's not how I personally understand the expression.

A few examples taken from dictionaries under the definition of "culture":

Complesso delle conoscenze intellettuali e delle nozioni che contribuisce alla formazione della personalità; educazione, istruzione:_ farsi_,_ formarsi una cultura_
Cultura > significato - Dizionario italiano De Mauro

Il termine _cultura_ ha due significati fondamentali. Il primo, di origine antica, indica un processo di formazione individuale, fondato sull'apprendimento di alcuni saperi, il cui scopo è lo sviluppo equilibrato e completo della personalità umana. [...] Al primo significato vanno ricondotte espressioni come 'farsi una cultura' o 'essere colti'.
cultura in "Enciclopedia dei ragazzi"

"educate oneself" is close enough, in my opinion.


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