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Archive for September, 2016

Italian False Negatives Posted by on Sep 14, 2016

One of the questions that we are most frequently asked by readers is: ‘why oh why is there a non in the expression finché non or fino a quando non (meaning: until)?’ Ah, the dreaded pleonastic non, enemy of every student of Italian! Well, this is one of those cases in which you just have to…

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An Italian Knight’s Tale Posted by on Sep 12, 2016

Variety, as they say, is the spice of life, and we do endeavour, dear readers, to bring you plenty of it in our articles. That’s why we’re always on the lookout for interesting guest bloggers who are able to share their own personal experiences and passions, and bring you new perspectives on life in Italy…

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Eccoci Al Mare! Posted by on Sep 9, 2016

If you’ve studied Italian in language classes or from books, it can be an unsettling surprise to arrive in Italy and find that colloquial Italian is peppered with words and expressions that no one ever told you about. One such word is ecco. You hear it all the time, but it’s difficult to pin down exactly…

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Cielo E Mar Posted by on Sep 7, 2016

In my last post I recounted the story of my mother’s meeting with the famous Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli, and described how he gave an impromptu performance for her and a small group of blind girls on the beach in Pesaro. One of the arias that Gigli sang during that brief encounter was Cielo e…

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My Mother Meets A Famous Italian Tenor Posted by on Sep 5, 2016

Often, whilst working at the telaio (loom, see this post), I find myself daydreaming. And so it was that, weaving and dreaming, a memory came back to me, a story from my mother’s childhood that she used to tell us when we were kids. This story would bring tears to my eyes every time I…

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Rebuilding Italy Posted by on Sep 2, 2016

In my previous blog, La Terra Trema, I looked at some of the long term implications of Italy’s recent disastrous earthquake. I suggested that you tried to read Renzo Piano’s opinion on how Italy should tackle the logistics of rebuilding what has been destroyed and safeguarding that which still stands. Here is my English translation of…

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