Archive for September, 2010
Quanti Anni Hai? Posted by Serena on Sep 13, 2010
‘Quanti anni hai?’ (How old are you?). This, and the corresponding reply ‘Ho dodici anni’ (I am twelve years old) is something that students of Italian learn within their first few lessons. The first thing to note is that we use the verb avere (to have) instead of essere (to be), i.e. ‘Ho dodici anni’…
Giovinezza Posted by Serena on Sep 9, 2010
Looking through some family photos the other day, I came across one of my father taken in 1930 in which he is proudly wearing the uniform of the Balilla (Opera Nazionale Balilla or ONB, Mussolini’s paramilitary fascist youth group). For more info see this link: Opera Nazionale Balilla My father, who is now 89, remembers…
Buone Notizie Posted by Serena on Sep 6, 2010
I don’t usually spend much time reading the news. We all know that bad things happen, but if we are to believe the media, the world is a pretty evil and dangerous place. I’ve never understood this obsession with brutte notizie (bad news), and when I pick up a giornale (newspaper), or read the news…
Colloquial Italian – 4 Posted by Serena on Sep 3, 2010
It’s been a while since I’ve written one of my colloquial Italian blogs. In these blogs I discuss the meaning of those little expressions or words which we Italians tend to use all the time, but which are rarely learnt in Italian classes. So, without further ado, here is another small collection with, as usual…