Archive for May, 2016
Italian Comprehension Quiz … The Answers Posted by Geoff on May 13, 2016
Here are the translations of the selected sentences from our comprehension quiz on the Coltura del Frassino da Manna. If it’s any reassurance, some of them are pretty challenging … but the important thing is to have a go, perché sbagliando si impara! 1. Per incidere su una pianta così di questa grossezza si scorteccia…
Italian Comprehension Quiz Posted by Geoff on May 11, 2016
Today’s quiz is based on our article Il Frassinicoltore. In each of the paragraphs below you’ll find a section highlighted in red. Translate the highlighted sections into English. Clicking on the times at the beginning of each paragraph (e.g. 1:30) will take you to that part of the video. Have a go, don’t be shy! We’ll…
I Should Have Studied Italian! Posted by Serena on May 9, 2016
I should have studied Italian! Now how would you say that in Italian? This is the second in a series of articles covering the three very important verbi modali (modal verbs): dovere (to have to), volere (to want) and potere (to be able). You can find the first article HERE. Today we’ll examine the conjugations of…
Il Frassinicoltore Posted by Geoff on May 6, 2016
In my recent article, Manna From Italy, I posted a video of the frassinicoltore Giulio Gelardi. Originally I had intended to translate sections of the dialogue into English, but Serena was so taken by what the narrator had to say that she decided to transcribe the whole thing! (grazie Sere). So, here’s the plan: Below…
Manna From Italy Posted by Geoff on May 4, 2016
It would be a wild understatement to say that when I first moved to Lunigiana in Italy I encountered a ‘steep learning curve’. Apart from dealing with the many linguistic and cultural challenges, I also became aware that my new habitat held a vast array of flora and fauna pretty much unknown to me. Growing…
I Must Study Italian Posted by Serena on May 2, 2016
Devo studiare l’italiano (I must study Italian), is something that we hear a lot from you, dear readers. We sympathise, trying to learn a foreign language when you don’t live in situ is really tough! We’re also aware that we do quite a lot of high level grammar articles, such as the compound constructions that…