Archive for the year 2008
Man Rides Pig Underwater!! Posted by Serena on Oct 23, 2008
For many people Italian history begins with the Roman Empire and ends with the Renaissance. But we Italians have always been a creative bunch and Leonardo da Vinci was by no means the last to come up with ingenious devices to be employed in both peace and war. At the beginning of World War 2…
Ciao! Salve! Posted by Serena on Oct 22, 2008
Ciao is probably the best known Italian greeting in the world. It’s an informal form used at any time of the day, both when you meet and when you leave somebody (it means “hello” as well as “goodbye”). However, as it’s informal you shouldn’t use ciao in a formal situation, i.e. when you use Lei…
Risotto ai funghi Posted by Serena on Oct 19, 2008
After having enticed you with wild mushroom hunting, I thought I might teach you how to make a nice Risotto ai funghi. Risotto means „cooked rice“ and it is a general name for many Italian dishes. For a perfect risotto it’s best to use Arborio or Carnaroli rice. These two varieties, grown in Italy, are…
Plurals: what a nightmare! Posted by Serena on Oct 13, 2008
Unlike most Western European languages, the Italian language pluralizes by changing the final vowel. But as we Italians are very creative and chaotic, we are not happy with just a couple of changes. Here I’ll try to make sense of the various possible plural forms which you might encounter whilst studying Italian: 1. The…
A trip to Le Cinque Terre Posted by Serena on Oct 11, 2008
Last summer I had the fortune to stay for a few days in Vernazza, one of the five small former fishing villages that form Le Cinque Terre (lit.: The Five Lands) in the Ligurian Riviera di Levante. We stayed in a small apartment on the first floor of an old building located in the harbor…
“Lei” part 2: a brief history Posted by Serena on Oct 2, 2008
Following on from Natasha’s blog, I would like to add a few historical notes. The use of Lei (lit.: She) as a form of respect goes back to the XVII-XVIII century, when it was common not to address somebody important directly, but to use abstract forms such as la Signoria Vostra. E.g. “Cosa pensa la…
Funghi fever Posted by Serena on Oct 1, 2008
I live in an area of Italy particularly famous for porcini mushrooms (boletus), the main ingredients for many Italian dishes. It’s the end of September, the season for wild mushroom hunting and funghi fever is reaching its climax. About two weeks ago we had a big rainfall that was greeted with joy by all the…