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Lucky Number Seven – Now It’s Your Turn! Posted by Geoff on Oct 6, 2014
All photos by Geoff Chamberlain In our first two blogs about Amber, the kitten that we rescued three weeks ago, Serena wrote the text in Italian followed by an English translation. In the third blog I wrote in English followed by an Italian translation. Well, here’s part 4, and this time it’s your turn dear…
Why Can’t The Italians Speak ‘Proper’ Italian Posted by Geoff on Oct 1, 2014
… just like I learnt in my grammar book? I know that I mention this topic frequently but I’m very aware that the difference between ‘exercise’ book Italian and colloquial Italian is a major source of frustration for students. A reader recently asked me to write more posts highlighting some of the frequently used expressions…
Lucky Number Seven – Part 3: Amber’s Antics Posted by Geoff on Sep 29, 2014
With photos by Geoff & Serena English text by Geoff with translation by Serena Those of you who follow our blog will have read about the latest addition to our household, little Amber: Part 1 – Lost and Found and Part 2 – Mittens for Kittens. The first two posts were written in Italian with…
What Did They Just Say? Posted by Geoff on Sep 25, 2014
It always seems a bit ironic to me that students of Italian put so much effort into learning their grammar, with all its convoluted rules and exceptions, only to be confronted with what appears to be a totally different language when they finally set foot in Italy. In fact, there is a vast difference between…
Speak Italian Like a Boss! Posted by Geoff on Sep 24, 2014
No, this isn’t another one of those silly blogs promising you that you’ll be speaking Italian fluently in two weeks. It’s simply a few tips, based on personal experience, that may help you to communicate more effectively when you’re in Italy. Let’s look at three important aspects of confidence building: 1. Attitude Have you ever…
Te Ne Vai Posted by Geoff on Sep 18, 2014
Ne is one of those famous tricky little words that is guaranteed to frustrate any student of Italian. A few years ago we wrote THIS BLOG on the subject, and I strongly advise anyone who is having problems with the use of ne to read it through thoroughly. Today though, I’m going to follow Mary…
Are You Paying Attention? Posted by Geoff on Sep 17, 2014
Are you paying attention, and if so, how much are you paying? Here in Italy, we don’t pay attention, we lend attention (prestiamo attenzione). This leads me onto the interesting topic of lending and borrowing. Interesting, because in Italian we use one verb for both actions: prestare. Let’s have a look at how it works…