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Archive for August, 2011

La Famiglia – Part 1 Posted by on Aug 31, 2011

La Famiglia è tutto – family is everything, as we say in Italy. Let’s have a look at how we name the immediate members of our family, beginning with our parents. Here we have a classic example of un falso amico – a false friend, i.e. a word that sounds the same in both Italian…

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Quanti Colori! Posted by on Aug 29, 2011

Bianco, rosso, blu, giallo, verde, arancio, marrone, rosa, nero … White, red, blue, yellow, green, orange, brown, pink, black … There are so many colours! However they never seem to describe the reality that is all around us. Artists use very specific names to describe the colours that they use, e.g. rosso carminio e rosso…

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Beware of the ‘B’ Words – The Easy Version Posted by on Aug 24, 2011

Firstly, well done Bill Rohwer, you win first prize: a beautiful three month old kitten. Let us know when you are ready to come and collect her. Now, here’s the ‘easy version of my ‘b’ word quiz: In Italian we have a confusing group of words beginning with ‘b’ and ending with groups of vowels. …

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Beware of the ‘B’ Words Posted by on Aug 23, 2011

In Italian we have a confusing group of words beginning with ‘b’ and ending with groups of vowels.  All of these words sound very similar, and it can take quite a while to begin to differentiate them: il boia il buio la bua il bue (plur: i buoi) il boa la boa   Complete the…

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Fig Blog Posted by on Aug 22, 2011

It’s the season of plenty, fruit and vegetables in abundance, and it seems that everyone has too much of something! Noi abbiamo troppe melanzane, un’amica nostra troppi pomodori, ed un’altra amica, l’Olga, troppi fichi. – We have too many aubergines/eggplants, a friend of ours too many tomatoes, and another friend, Olga, has too many figs…

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Il Gelataio Ambulante Posted by on Aug 19, 2011

Fa un caldo da morire, sei disperato per qualcosa di fresco e rinfrescante … ecco! il furgone del gelataio. Allora, vediamo che gusti hanno … ma aspetta un attimo, che roba è questa? It’s baking hot, you’re desperate for something cool and refreshing …aha! an ice cream van. Hmm let’s see what flavours they’ve got…

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La Bella Gigogin Posted by on Aug 17, 2011

It’s summer, time for open air events once again. A few evenings ago we went to a free concert in Piazza della Repubblica here in Pontremoli to see our favourite choir perform : Il Coro degli Alpini Monte Sillara di Bagnone, whom I wrote about last year in: il coro degli Alpini. At the end…

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