Archive for August, 2012
Una consonante fa la differenza Posted by Serena on Aug 31, 2012
There are times when a single or a double consonant can make a big difference to a sentence, e.g. Mi passi la pala per piacere? (Can you pass me the shovel please?) instead of Mi passi la palla per piacere? (Can you pass me the ball please?), or Mi piace Luca (I like Luke, a…
Allarme per l’Ombrone Posted by Geoff on Aug 30, 2012
A few days ago, in a blog called Il Temporale (The Storm), I wrote about the incredible dry heat we’ve experienced here this summer. I talked about the impact that this siccità (dryness) has had on the environment, and how it had desiccated our orto (vegetable garden). Here’s an article that I found, with some…
Vietato Cantare l’Ave Maria in Chiesa Posted by Serena on Aug 28, 2012
È vietato cantare l’Ave Maria in chiesa! (It’s forbidden to sing the Hail Mary in church!) Unbelievable but true! But why? A couple of weeks ago, actor and film director Michele Placido, originally from Foggia in Puglia, got married to the young actress Federica Vincenti. He asked his old friend Al Bano, a famous pop…
Il Temporale Posted by Geoff on Aug 27, 2012
Quando abitavo in Inghilterra non avrei mai immaginato che un giorno mi sarei augurato la pioggia, ma dopo più di due mesi senza neanche una goccia ero proprio disperato. Sono cinque anni ormai che abito qua in Italia, e sono abituato alle estati lunghe e calde, ma quest’anno è stato eccezionale. Diciamo così, anche Serena…
Insalata Russa Posted by Serena on Aug 24, 2012
Despite its name, l’insalata russa (Russian salad) is originally from Piemonte (Piedmont), a region in the north west of Italy, and, in fact, in France it’s known as "salade piemontaise". According to the Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana Treccani “Insalata russa è chiamata anche insalata italiana” (Russian salad is also called Italian salad). It seems that…
La Scherma Italiana delle Olimpiadi del 2012 Posted by Serena on Aug 22, 2012
The Olympic Games are over, now it’s time to have a little rest and to count our results. In total we brought home 28 medals: 8 gold, 9 silver, and 11 bronze. Nothing compared to the USA or China (we’re only a little country!), but enough to give us a dignified 8th place in the…
Talking About The Past Posted by Serena on Aug 20, 2012
Here’s a brief description of a morning walk. It highlights some grammatical points which will help you when talking about things that happened in the past. Each sentence is translated into English, and for the text in blue we have given a grammatical explanation. Words in red are links to old posts. 1. Oggi ci…