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Una Gita Culturale – Part 2. Posted by Geoff on Oct 24, 2017
At 10:30 on Friday morning, we successfully navigate our way into the centre of Parma and, leaving our car in the dark, narrow, and very expensive underground car park, emerge just a few meters from Il Palazzo della Pilotta, right on the edge of il centro storico. Price shock number one: “Quattordici euro per sei…
A Musical Quiz Posted by Geoff on Oct 20, 2017
Music can be a great way to learn a language … if you can manage to find the right songs. Here’s one by Annalisa Scarrone that’s not too abstract and contains some very useful grammar. In the lyrics below, see if you can spot all the instances of il congiuntivo (the subjunctive) and il futuro…
La Lista Della Spesa Posted by Geoff on Oct 16, 2017
When you’re learning a language you need to use every opportunity to reinforce and internalise the grammar and vocabulary. Sometime, the most mundane of tasks can help you achieve this objective, such as writing una lista della spesa (a shopping list). Who knows, it might even make your shopping experience a little bit more fun!…
Tutto A Posto? Posted by Geoff on Oct 9, 2017
Tutto a posto? is a phrase that you’ll hear all the time in Italy. It’s commonly used when friends and acquaintances meet each other: Ciao, come va … tutto a posto? Hi, how’s it going … everything okay? Well, that seems nice and straightforward, you say … so where’s the catch? The catch is that…
Grandfather Ciro Posted by Geoff on Oct 5, 2017
Here’s my English translation of Serena’s article Nonno Ciro. Poco fa, aprendo Google Italia, ho scoperto che era la Festa dei Nonni, così ho deciso di scrivere un breve ricordo sui miei nonni materni (quelli paterni non li ho conosciuti, purtroppo). Not long ago, upon opening Google Italy, I discovered that it was Grandparents Day…
When is a non not a not? Posted by Geoff on Sep 26, 2017
The Italian word non means ‘not’, right … beh, non sempre! (well not always!) The pleonastic non is a rather sneaky little character who likes to hang around in otherwise straightforward sentences with the sole purpose of confusing hapless students of Italian. Well dear readers, fear not, for we know his dirty little tricks and…
Beat It! Posted by Geoff on Sep 18, 2017
In Italian, you’ll often encounter groups of words deriving from the same root which have subtly different meanings. Battere, sbattere and abbattere are one such group. With three words all based on the root battere (to beat), it can be difficult to know which to apply in a particular situation. Let’s take a look at…