Archive by Author
The Language of Coffee Posted by Geoff on Feb 1, 2013
Today, our guest blogger Ambra Sancin is going to tell us a bit about what il caffè means to her as an Italian who has grown up in Australia. But first, a quick bio: Ambra is a Sydney-based arts project manager in the cultural/not-for-profit sector and specialise in communications, marketing and producing public programs for…
La Macchina, Un Vocabolario Posted by Geoff on Jan 25, 2013
So, you’re traveling in Italy and you’ve got a problem with la tua macchina but your car vocabulary consists of la macchina (the car), le ruote (the wheels) and lo sterzo (the steering wheel). How do you go about telling the mechanic that there’s a strange noise coming from the left rear passenger seat, that…
Che Ore Sono? Posted by Geoff on Jan 14, 2013
What time is it? A simple question with many possible replies. Let’s start from the beginning. We divide the clock into: ore (fem. hours, singular un’ora, an/one hour) minuti (masc. minutes, singular un minuto a/one minute) secondi (masc. seconds, singular un secondo a/one second) un quarto (masc. a quarter) mezza (fem. half) tre quarti (masc…
La Poltrona Scoreggiante Posted by Geoff on Jan 8, 2013
Choosing the wrong word amongst those that sound very similar usually just causes amusement, but sometimes the wrong choice can be embarrassing, as Serena explains in her story below. But first let’s have a look at the correct answers to our blog ‘Choose the Right Word’. 1. La cena è pronta. Puoi apparecchiare la tavola…
Italian Christmas Traditions – Answers to the Quiz Posted by Geoff on Dec 26, 2012
Here are the answers to our Christmas Quiz. Let’s see how you got on! 1. Dove è nato il poeta Giuseppe Ungaretti, autore della poesia “Natale”? Il poeta Giuseppe Ungaretti è nato ad Alessandria d’Egitto, in Egitto 2. Come si chiama la più famosa torta di Natale italiana? la più famosa torta di Natale italiana…
Quiz–Italian Christmas Traditions Posted by Geoff on Dec 21, 2012
Here’s a little Christmas Quiz for you. Most of the answers can be found in our December blogs of the last four years. I’ve given links to the relevant blogs below. You can answer the questions in English if you prefer. 1. Dove è nato il poeta Giuseppe Ungaretti, autore della poesia “Natale”? 2. Come…
Complicated Hair! Posted by Geoff on Dec 14, 2012
O.k., now that I’ve caught your attention with the cryptic title I suppose I’d better explain myself. There are certain words, or variations on words in Italian that can be infuriatingly difficult to remember. Very often, they are small words that seem like they should be straightforward, such as the dreaded ‘ci’. And this only…