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Let’s Rrrroll our R’s! Posted by Bridgette on Jan 15, 2021
Ciao a tutti! I have never talked about la pronuncia italiana with all of you, so I thought it could be fun to discover together how to pronounce a trilled ‘R’, or if you want to get really tecnico – a voiced alveolar trill. If you have been struggling with this, just know that it doesn’t…
The Feast of the Epiphany and the Befana Posted by Bridgette on Jan 6, 2021
Ciao a tutti! Buon anno 2021! Oggi è il 6 gennaio, quindi è l’Epifania! Today is January 6th, so it is the Epiphany! Last year I shared a post about the history of the Epiphany and the Befana that I have linked down below in case you would like to read it and brush up…
Time to say addio to 2020 Posted by Bridgette on Dec 30, 2020
Buongiorno! Finalmente. Siamo arrivati alla fine di 2020. Finally. We have arrived to the end of 2020. There have been plenty of alti e bassi (highs and lows) but I am sure that I speak for us all when I bid it addio! Let’s give it as affettuoso (warm) of a goodbye as we can…
Tu Scendi dalle Stelle Posted by Bridgette on Dec 23, 2020
Tu Scendi dalle Stelle – From Starry Skies Thou Comes As the holidays approach, what better way to celebrare l’inizio (to celebrate the beginning) than by listening to music to set l’atmosfera (the mood, atmosphere)? Composed in the 18th century by Saint Alphonsus Liguori in un stile pastorale (a pastoral style), this is very likely the most…
Le Festività Italiane Posted by Bridgette on Dec 18, 2020
Le festività italiane Buongiorno a tutti e ben ritrovati! Oggi vi parlerò di un tema molto caro agli italiani: le festività durante l’anno. Molte di queste feste sono in prevalenza di matrice religiosa, altre invece sono legate ad avvenimenti storici che hanno coinvolto l’Italia ed il suo popolo Quali sono i cosiddetti giorni festivi, cioè…
Le espressioni idiomatiche con il cibo Posted by Bridgette on Dec 11, 2020
Le espressioni idiomatiche con il cibo – Idiomatic expressions with food Le espressioni idiomatiche are essential parts of learning and understanding a language. They are informal phrases that typically have a meaning different from the meaning of the actual words. Often they don’t even make sense at all. Per esempio in inglese si dice “go…
Winter Vocabulary Posted by Bridgette on Dec 4, 2020
Il vocabolario invernale – Winter vocabulary Buongiorno lettori! Good morning readers! It is starting to feel like inverno (winter) here since yesterday was our first nevicata (snowfall). I have been dreaming about ‘una settimana bianca’ (‘a white week’) which is a common term used in Italy to indicate una permanenza in montagna per un periodo di vacanza di…