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Italian Temporal Expressions Exercise – Solutions Posted by Serena on Feb 22, 2019
Here are the solutions to the grammar exercise which we published earlier this week. Serena: “I met Carla and Massimo at the market this morning. They came back from a holiday in Puglia the day before yesterday.” Geoff: “Why don’t we invite them over for dinner next week end? We haven’t seen them for a…
Italian Temporal Expressions Exercise Posted by Serena on Feb 19, 2019
Here’s an exercise based on our recent articles about temporal expressions. Fill in the gaps in the Italian paragraphs below using expressions from those two articles. You you can find them here: Italian Temporal Expressions – Part 1 Italian Temporal Expressions – Part 2 N.B. in some cases you will have more than one option…
Un Castello Fantasma Posted by Serena on Feb 12, 2019
C’è un castello fantastico, un castello che è rimasto come un fantasma nei cassetti della mia memoria. “Esiste davvero, o l’ho sognato? Dove si trova?” mi sono chiesta tante volte. Mi sembrava di ricordare che si trovasse da qualche parte vicino a Firenze, ma non ero sicura dove. Poi un giorno notai un articolo su…
Cooked Twice! Posted by Serena on Jan 23, 2019
Have you ever thought about the word biscuit? “Yes, everyday!” I hear you say … Biscuit were originally cooked in a two stage process: first they were baked, then they were dried out in a slow oven in order to preserve them. From this process comes the French word bescuit, which itself comes from the…
A Positive Message For The New Year Posted by Serena on Jan 4, 2019
Having celebrated Christmas with a bit of seasonal humour let’s begin the new year with some positive news. 2018 has certainly been an incredibly turbulent and troubling year, especially in terms of international politics. It can often seem that we’ve learnt nothing from the past, and are doomed to repeat our errors ad infinitum. But…
A Seasonal Quiz – Answers Posted by Serena on Dec 21, 2018
Here are the answers to our quiz based on Italian culture during the Christmas period. How did you get on? 1. Qual è il titolo dell’inno natalizio italiano più famoso e chi l’ha composto nel 1754? Risposta: ‘Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle‘, di Sant’Alfonso Maria de Liguori. Alcuni anni dopo Liguori scrisse una versione in dialetto napoletano…
A Seasonal Quiz Posted by Serena on Dec 18, 2018
The Christmas Holidays are just round the corner. How well do you know our cultural traditions for il periodo natalizio? Let’s find out! Here’s a quiz based on Italian culture during the Christmas period. To help you answer the questions, I’ve given some links to previous blogs. Have a go and, if you’re feeling brave…