Archive for July, 2017
Ciamioncino, The Singing Trash Collector Posted by Geoff on Jul 28, 2017
Ciamioncino is the nickname of Omar Gueye, a young Senegalese singer from Bergamo in the north of Italy. His name derives from the Italian word camioncino (little truck/lorry), a reference to the trash/rubbish truck which he spends his days following as an ‘operatore ecologico’. So, how did a spazzino (the common name for a street…
Italian Animalistic Expressions Posted by Serena on Jul 26, 2017
It all started a couple of weeks ago when we were walking through the beautiful Tudor Kentwell Hall in Suffolk. From out of nowhere, un pavone (a peacock) graciously strolled into the deserted courtyard. It was like being taken back in time to a magical fairytale kingdom. As the peacock moved around, proudly dragging his…
I Meet A Childhood Hero – English Translation Posted by Geoff on Jul 24, 2017
On our first day back in Pontremoli, after a week away in England, Serena had the unexpected pleasure of shaking hands with a hero from her youth. Here’s my English translation of her blog: I Meet A Childhood Hero Siamo appena tornati da una settimana in Inghilterra, una settimana molto intensa e stressante per motivi…
I Meet A Childhood Hero Posted by Serena on Jul 21, 2017
On our first day back in Pontremoli, after a week away in England, I had the unexpected pleasure of shaking hands with a hero from my youth … Siamo appena tornati da una settimana in Inghilterra, una settimana molto intensa e stressante per motivi familiari. E’ un piacere gironzolare tranquillamente per Pontremoli e incontrare tanti…
Farcela Posted by Geoff on Jul 19, 2017
Here in Italy, we have a wealth of weird and wonderful idiomatic expressions. These expressions tend not to follow the logic of certain rules that you may have learned. Farcela is a classic example. Farcela (to be able/to manage) is used very frequently in everyday Italian, so it’s important to learn how to use it…
Transitive And Intransitive Verbs – Quiz Solutions Posted by Geoff on Jul 17, 2017
Well done all of you who had a go at our quiz on Transitive And Intransitive Verbs you did really well! We asked you to insert the correct auxiliary verb followed by the past participle of the main verb into the incomplete sentences below. Let’s see how you got on. presente: la mamma fa gli spaghetti…
Transitive And Intransitive Verbs – A Quiz Posted by Serena on Jul 14, 2017
A short while ago we published an article about Transitive And Intransitive Verbs. Here’s a quiz in which you have to choose which auxiliary verb to use, essere or avere, when transposing a sentence from the present tense into the present perfect (passato prossimo). How to complete the quiz: Below, you’ll find a series of…