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Italian Grammar Quiz Posted by Serena on Jan 17, 2014
How many of you made a new years resolution something like this: “This year I’m going to really make an effort to study Italian”? Well here’s a little quiz to give you a kick-start. This quiz highlights some subtle but important grammatical differences. See how many you can solve. 1. It keeps the wind off…
Who Won the Lottery? Posted by Serena on Jan 15, 2014
La sera del 6 gennaio, giorno dell’Epifania, è stato estratto il biglietto vincente della Lotteria Italia per il valore di 5 milioni di Euro! Il biglietto milionario era stato venduto in una tabaccheria di Lecco, in Lombardia. Siccome ho un amico, Giuseppe, che abita a Lecco, gli ho scritto su Facebook facendogli gli auguri per…
The Living Dead or How to use the Present Participle in Italian Posted by Serena on Jan 9, 2014
Hands up who knows what the participio presente (present participle) is. What, no one? Well it’s not really that surprising, in fact the present participle is not even usually found in Italian language books for foreigners. The present participle is easily recognisable by its particular ending: –are verbs (such as tremare) change their ending to…
Il Cenone di Capodanno Posted by Serena on Dec 30, 2013
For most Italians New Year wouldn’t be the same without il cotechino con le lenticchie (cotechino with lentils). According to popular folklore, eating this dish for either il Cenone di Capodanno (The Big New Year’s Eve Dinner) or on the First of January will bring good luck to the rest of the year. Il cotechino…
Apologies! Posted by Serena on Dec 26, 2013
When I lived in England I used to teach several classes a week of Italian and also Yoga classes for adults. The courses used to start in September with ten to fifteen students per class, but by mid November they were reduced to three to four students per class. This wasn’t due, as I thought…
Forks on Strike Posted by Serena on Dec 17, 2013
For the past ten days Italian news has been dominated by lo sciopero dei Forconi (the strike of the Forks): the strikers blocked railway stations and motorways creating great difficulty for both public and goods transport, and protested in the main piazzas of several cities, throwing stones and paper bombs at administrative buildings and the…
Getting out of the wrong side of the bed in Tuscany Posted by Serena on Dec 10, 2013
Are you a morning person? I’m not, as Geoff will testify, and this morning I woke up con la luna storta! To make matters worse, I didn’t have a single idea for a blog, until Geoff took the chance of getting his head bitten off and suggested I write something about being in a bad…