Archive by Author
At the Bank in Italy Posted by Serena on Nov 13, 2015
The setting: In a bank in Italy The characters: A bank employee and a prospective client. Impiegata: “Buongiorno. Come posso esserle utile?” Employee: “Good morning. How can I help you?” Cliente: “Buongiorno, sono la signora Santini, vorrei chiedere informazioni sull’apertura di un conto corrente” Client: “Good morning, my name is Ms. Santini, I’d like some…
My Father’s War – Part 4 – POW Posted by Serena on Nov 10, 2015
Chapter 3 of my father’s memories ended with his arrival at a French POW camp in Marrakesh, Morocco, in June 1943. Here are some of his recollections from the three years he spent as a POW in North Africa. Links to previous chapters: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 C’è un episodio che mi ricordo…
Giovanni’s Italy 2 Posted by Serena on Nov 9, 2015
We recently published an article by our friend Giovanni in which he spoke about his experience of commuting between work in Tuscany and his family in Puglia. Here, in this second version of his article, Giovanni goes into more depth with a level of language that is more challenging for the student of Italian. Sono diversi…
Is Modern Art A Load Of Rubbish? Posted by Serena on Oct 29, 2015
Geoff and I have a pet hate for the type of ‘intellectual’ modern art which needs a long pretentious statements posted next to it in order to distinguish it from any of the other banal everyday stuff that surrounds us. Unfortunately, a lot of modern art does seem to be simply intellectual rubbish … and…
Giovanni’s Italy Posted by Serena on Oct 21, 2015
Here’s an article by our friend Giovanni who’s from Puglia in the south of Italy, but currently lives and works in Toscana. I asked Giovanni to write us something based on his observations about the differences between these two regions. Chi conosce l’Italia sa che è impossibile conoscere l’Italia. Anyone who knows Italy knows that…
Something’s Afoot! Posted by Serena on Oct 16, 2015
I recently wrote a short dialogue about buying shoes in Italy called ‘In A Shoe Shop In Italy’, which somehow ended up becoming a series of short stories about Carmela and her Italian shoe obsession: Chapter 1 , Chapter 2, Chapter 3 Well folks, you too can now develop your own Italian footwear obsession with my handy…
At The Supermarket in Italy Posted by Serena on Oct 13, 2015
The setting: a small and friendly supermarket in a old sleepy town in Italy The characters: Serena and the staff at supermarket Il giovane cassiere, all’entrata del supermercato: “Buongiorno!” The young cashier, at the supermarket entrance: “Good morning!” Serena: “Buongiorno!” Poi, parlando tra sé e sé: “Allora, vediamo la lista della spesa: pere, uva, funghi…”…