Archive for January, 2013
Cimento Invernale 2013 Posted by Serena on Jan 29, 2013
This blog is based on various newspaper articles about a winter challenge that took place recently in Milan. Therefore the writing style is very journalistic. Geoff has done his best to translate it into a comprehensible English. Puntuale nell’ultima domenica di gennaio ha avuto luogo la quinta riedizione del Cimento Invernale, una gara di nuoto…
La Macchina, Un Vocabolario Posted by Geoff on Jan 25, 2013
So, you’re traveling in Italy and you’ve got a problem with la tua macchina but your car vocabulary consists of la macchina (the car), le ruote (the wheels) and lo sterzo (the steering wheel). How do you go about telling the mechanic that there’s a strange noise coming from the left rear passenger seat, that…
I Simboli Politici Posted by Serena on Jan 22, 2013
Last week was the deadline for the political parties to “patent” their symbols (comprising their slogan and logo) for the next political elections, which will be held on the 24th and 25th of February. Well, this year we have reached the new high record figure of 184 symbols to choose from! Here in Italy anybody…
Il Gatto Inverno di Gianni Rodari Posted by Serena on Jan 18, 2013
Today is a real winter’s day up here in our little village in the mountains: a lot of crispy white snow, limpid blue sky, and icicles dangling from the drain pipes. Gigia, one of our six cats, has been having fun exploring the fluffy white carpet that has covered our patio, and seems very excited…
Che Ore Sono? Posted by Geoff on Jan 14, 2013
What time is it? A simple question with many possible replies. Let’s start from the beginning. We divide the clock into: ore (fem. hours, singular un’ora, an/one hour) minuti (masc. minutes, singular un minuto a/one minute) secondi (masc. seconds, singular un secondo a/one second) un quarto (masc. a quarter) mezza (fem. half) tre quarti (masc…
Fuga in Monopattino Posted by Serena on Jan 11, 2013
Here in Italy, La Befana (click link for more info) is the traditional end to the season’s festivities, and for children it’s almost like having a second Christmas. Instead of the Christmas stocking they hang up la calza della Befana (the Befana’s stocking), and if they’ve been good boys and girls … who knows what La…
La Poltrona Scoreggiante Posted by Geoff on Jan 8, 2013
Choosing the wrong word amongst those that sound very similar usually just causes amusement, but sometimes the wrong choice can be embarrassing, as Serena explains in her story below. But first let’s have a look at the correct answers to our blog ‘Choose the Right Word’. 1. La cena è pronta. Puoi apparecchiare la tavola…