Archive for April, 2019
Confusing Similarities In Italian Words Posted by Geoff on Apr 25, 2019
Italian, confusing? Surely not! 🤔 The convolutions of Italian grammar can be overwhelming, but it’s often the subtleties that can be persistently confusing. Such as my two pet hates, two little groups of words that still occasionally trip me up after all these years. And I guarantee that they’ll trip you up as well, especially…
L’Incontro – Part 2 – Translation Posted by Geoff on Apr 23, 2019
Here’s my translation of Serena’s tale about her parents romantic encounter. Come abbiamo detto, intorno al 1957 zio Bill si trovava a Bengasi come soldato dell’esercito britannico di stanza in Libia, che era diventata dominio britannico. Con lui c’erano la moglie Vicky, sorella di mia mamma, e i due figli, nati subito dopo il matrimonio…
L’Incontro – Part 2 Posted by Serena on Apr 18, 2019
In part 1, I described the events which set the stage for my parents’ romantic meeting in Benghazi, Libya. Here’s how it happened … Come abbiamo detto, intorno al 1957 zio Bill si trovava a Bengasi come soldato dell’esercito britannico di stanza in Libia, che era diventata dominio britannico. Con lui c’erano la moglie Vicky…
L’Incontro – Part 1 – Translation Posted by Geoff on Apr 12, 2019
How did you manage with your translation of Serena’s post, L’Incontro – Part 1? Let’s find out! Cominciamo dalle origini: Let’s begin from the beginning: Papà , cioè Nicola Cricorian, era nato a Bengasi, in Libia, nel 1921 da genitori armeni. Agli inizi del Novecento i suoi genitori, ancora bambini, erano fuggiti dall’Armenia insieme alle loro…
L’Incontro – Part 1 Posted by Serena on Apr 10, 2019
Every now and then, people ask me how come I was born and grew up in Benghazi, Libya. So I’ve decided to write a brief story explaining all. N.B. Today I’m going to write in Italian, my mother tongue. By the end of the week Geoff will publish an English version which should answer any…
Mi Piace Il Verbo Sentire Posted by Serena on Apr 4, 2019
Today, I’m dedicating a poem by Alda Merini (1931-2009) to my dear husband Geoff, who sometimes complains that the verb sentire (to feel) is used for too many different actions: to hear, to smell, to taste, and to feel. In reality, we do actually have specific nouns and verbs to describe i cinque sensi (the…