Archive for September, 2015
In a Shoe Shop in Italy Posted by Serena on Sep 30, 2015
The setting: It’s the end of the summer, shops are advertising very attractive saldi di fine stagione (end of season sales). A young lady is browsing the windows of a very expensive negozio di calzature (shoe shop), obviously tempted by l’occasionissima (the fantastic bargains). She enters the shop ……. Commessa: “Desidera signora?” Shop assistant: “Can…
“I Like You!” Posted by Geoff on Sep 28, 2015
A reader recently left a comment on my article I Would Have Liked asking for more “curly conjugations”. I was particularly taken by that phrase, and immediately decided to adopt it as a blog theme. So, where better to begin than with one of the curliest of all Italian constructions: piacere. And to keep things nice…
Down On The Farm In Italy – The Solutions Posted by Geoff on Sep 25, 2015
Isn’t it frustrating when something that should be simple turns out to be surprisingly difficult? Farm animals, animal noises, the things that we learn in nursery school in our mother tongue, become illusive. Are we really at the pre-nursery stage in our studies of the Italian language? Not really. The problem, as I so often…
In a Bookshop in Italy Posted by Serena on Sep 23, 2015
Lats week we took a visit to la biblioteca (the library) in a small town in Italy. Today we’re going to una libreria (a bookshop) to buy some … books! And beware of the ‘false friend’, libreria, which sounds so much like library. Libraio: “Buongiorno, desidera?” Bookseller: “Good morning, may I help you?” Cliente: “Buongiorno!…
Down On The Farm In Italy Posted by Geoff on Sep 21, 2015
Paintings by Antonio Ligabue (1899 – 1965) We’ve had a lot of comments from readers who were disappointed not to have received our September quiz due to the changes that were made to our e-mail system. So I’ve decided to rectify the situation with a little story based largely on the vocabulary from the quiz…
Italian Quiz – September 2015 – The Solutions Posted by Serena on Sep 18, 2015
This blog is dedicated to Elaine, the only person in the whole wide world who had a go at our September quiz! Elaine, when you come to Pontremoli you can collect your prize: a beverage of your choice at a local bar, okay? As for the rest of you …. no treats for you! We…
At the Library in Italy Posted by Serena on Sep 17, 2015
Based on a True Story! Here’s a bit of useful library jargon for you in the form of my memory of our first visit to our local library. The setting: a small public library on the first floor of a semi derelict XVII century building hidden in a desolate part of a sleepy Italian town…