Archive for 'Italian Language'
Le Cioce Posted by Serena on Feb 23, 2009
I recently read an article in the magazine ‘Acqua & Sapone’ about the region known as Ciociaria and was inspired to add it to my ever growing list entitled ‘Places that I must explore in Italy’. Ciociaria is a loosely defined region comprising approximately the northern half of the Provincia di Frosinone which is located in central Italy south…
I suoni della campagna Posted by Serena on Feb 16, 2009
How different our life is here in this little village in the Appenino Tosco-Emiliano mountains to that which we lived for 14 years in the city of Nottingham, England. When we wake up in the morning no longer do we hear the distant rumble of traffic, the regular wail of sirens and the general hubbub of city…
Essere o Stare? Posted by Serena on Jan 29, 2009
I recently received an e-mail from a reader asking if I could explain the difference between essere and stare and how they are used. I got out my faithful Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana Treccani and … oh povera me! (poor me!) Under the entry stare there are 5 columns of information and for essere? well…
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Posted by Serena on Nov 27, 2008
A few days ago we came across a DVD of Sergio Leone’s famous spaghetti western movie ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’, starring Clint Eastwood and featuring Ennio Morricone’s unforgettable haunting soundtrack. Its Italian title is Il Buono, il Brutto e il Cattivo, and this prompted the question from Geoff: “which is the Bad…
Il Cinghiale in Italia (The Wild Boar in Italy) Posted by Serena on Nov 7, 2008
It’s wild boar hunting season here, and that means that twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays, we have to be very careful where we go for our camminate (walks) as it’s not just the cinghiali (boars) that might get shot, those hunters use some pretty serious hardware to bring down their quarry. Luckily as…
Man Rides Pig Underwater! – Part 2 Posted by Serena on Nov 3, 2008
I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for part two of the story of the Maiali (Pigs) or SLC Human Torpedoes that were pioneered by Italy during La Seconda Guerra Mondiale (The Second World War). In part one I explained that the Maiali were transported to the area of operation on board a specially adapted conventional…
E’ morto l’ultimo reduce della Grande Guerra Posted by Serena on Nov 1, 2008
Born on the 23rd August 1898 Delfino Borroni, who died earlier this week, was the last surviving Italian reduce (veteran) of the Grande Guerra (Great War, i.e. WW1). Borroni was called up in 1917 at the age of nineteen to serve in the Bersaglieri Ciclisti (infantry with bikes), and began his combat career on the…