Archive for August, 2011
Piccante Piccante Posted by Serena on Aug 15, 2011
A few days ago I was doing a bit of shopping in our local supermercato when I spotted some nice looking cheese in offerta (on offer): Pecorino Piccante 11,90 euro al chilo – spicy hot pecorino 11.90 euros a kilo. “Com’è questo formaggio?” – “what’s this cheese like?” I asked one of the ladies at…
I Tortelli di Dina Posted by Serena on Aug 12, 2011
Stamattina, siccome Serena è impegnata, tocca a me, suo marito Geoff, scivere il blog. This morning I went round to see our neighbour Dina in order to fix her old kitchen cupboard which is a bit the worst for wear. The works, however, had to be postponed because the kitchen was being used as un…
L’Invasione dei Gattini Posted by Serena on Aug 10, 2011
Ciao a tutti, sono Mimì la Gatta. Fino poco tempo fa ho condiviso la casa di Serena e Geoff con mio figlio Cocò, ma adesso, da qualche settimana, c’è tutto uno sconvolgimento. La casa è stata messa sottosopra da una marea di gattini, e non sono neanche miei! Hello everyone, I’m Mimì The Cat. Up…
Imperfetto e Passato Prossimo – Quale Devo Usare? Posted by Serena on Aug 8, 2011
Occasionally students of Italian tell me that they are confused about whether to use the passato prossimo (present perfect) or the imperfetto (imperfect tense), and don’t really understand the difference between the two. A while ago I wrote a blog on the subject which you can find here: passato prossimo e imperfetto, but I think…
Fabrizio De André – Giovanna d’Arco Posted by Serena on Aug 5, 2011
(N.B. for the not too computer literate: clicking on the blue text below will take you to a web page or video) Fabrizio De André – (born: Genova, 18 febbraio 1940 – passed away: Milano, 11 gennaio 1999) was one of our most important and revered cantautori italiani (Italian singer songwriters). I recently heard for…
Agosto Posted by Serena on Aug 2, 2011
The month of agosto (August) is named after the first Roman emperor Ottaviano Augusto (Augustus), who died on the 19th of August 14 AD. Festività (Festivals): Traditionally here in Italy agosto is the month when all the factories close down. Everybody goes on holiday to the seaside, the countryside, or up into the mountains, and…