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Pronto Soccorso Posted by Serena on Nov 21, 2011
Venerdì sera, verso le sette, è suonato il telefono. Era la vicina di casa dei miei: “Tua mamma è caduta e si è rotta la gamba… L’ambulanza è già venuta e l’ha portata all’ospedale” mi ha detto. On Friday evening at about seven o’clock the phone rang. It was my parents’ neighbour: “Your mother has…
Il Rostro Posted by Serena on Nov 18, 2011
Rostro: pesante oggetto di sfondamento costituito da un unico pezzo fuso in bronzo montato sott’acqua sulla prua delle navi antiche per affondare le navi nemiche. Rostro: heavy battering ram made of a single piece cast in bronze which was mounted on the bow of ancient ships below the water line to sink enemy ships. Above…
Tu and Lei – Part 2 Posted by Serena on Nov 16, 2011
In Tu and Lei – Part 1 we looked at the changes that take place when we address people using either the informal tu or the formal Lei. Today we’ll look at the differences between tu and Lei when we give polite orders such as ‘take the next road on the left’ or ‘take a…
ADDIO SILVIO! Posted by Serena on Nov 14, 2011
Many are calling it La Festa della Liberazione. It’s the 12th November 2011, and our infamous ‘Cavaliere’, Silvio Berlusconi, has finally been forced to resign by the international community. Celebrations of this scale for the departure of a political leader have not been seen here in Italy since Mussolini was deposed in 1943! This video…
Tortelli di Zucca Posted by Serena on Nov 12, 2011
Halloween isn’t an Italian tradition, but it’s become popular within the last few years. A friend said to me “ non mi piace Halloween, ma amo le lanterne fatte con le zucche” (“I don’t like Halloween, but I love the pumpkin lanterns”). At this time of year zucche are in abundance, so here is a…
Tu and Lei – Part 1 Posted by Serena on Nov 9, 2011
In Italian we have two main forms of addressing people: the informal tu and the formal lei. We normally use tu with family, friends, and children. Lei is used with people we don’t know, and professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, the police etc. Have a look at the following examples in which the informal is…
Alluvione a Genova Posted by Serena on Nov 6, 2011
I don’t want this to become the ‘Italian Flood Blog’, but the disastrous events which are taking place here at the moment are just too big to ignore. This time it’s the city of Genova on the Ligurian coast that has been very badly hit by torrential rain and floods. In the following video recorded…