Archive for 'Vocabulary'
At the Pharmacy in Italy Posted by Serena on Nov 24, 2015
The setting: a pharmacy in an Italian town The characters: the pharmacist and a family of tourists (mother, father and their child) Farmacista: “Buongiorno, desidera?” Chemist: “Good morning, how can I help you?” Signora: “Buongiorno. La bambina è stata morsicata dalle zanzare e si gratta sempre” Wife: “Good morning. My daughter has been bitten by…
A Walk Through the Woods Posted by Serena on Nov 18, 2015
Inspired by a lovely walk near our home in Valdantena I wanted to try and find an Italian autumn poem. However, unable to unearth anything that seemed to fit with what I had in mind, I eventually decided to write something myself, assisted by Geoff’s photos. Eccolo: 1. Una mattina apriamo gli scuri e scopriamo…
Noisy Italy! Posted by Geoff on Nov 2, 2015
Due to family circumstances we’ve been off-line for a few days. But now we’re back … with a bang … and a crash, whistle, roar, and a creak. Yes my friends, here we have a small collection of Italian words that describe noises. How many of them do you know? Let’s find out shall we? botto…
Carmela’s Nightmare Posted by Geoff on Oct 27, 2015
Here is Chapter 4 of Carmela’s Story. You can find the previous chapters by clicking on the links below Carmela’s Story – Chapter 1 Carmela’s Story – Chapter 2 Carmela’s Story – Chapter 3 Carmela picked up the faded newspaper clipping that had slipped out of her libretto and nestled it amongst a small collection…
Carmela’s Little Black Book Posted by Geoff on Oct 14, 2015
She awoke suddenly in darkness, a strange light flickered around the door frame sending menacing shadows dancing across the walls. Smoke … her throat was parched, she began to cough. Stumbling across the room she reached for the door handle and cried out in pain as it burnt her palm. An intense panic welled up…
La Famiglia Italiana Posted by Geoff on Jun 1, 2015
“Don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family…Ever” (Al Pacino – The Godfather). La famiglia is an absolutely fundamental element of Italian culture, and if you spend any amount of time here you’ll soon find yourself being ‘interrogated’ about ‘la tua famiglia’. But how do you describe the family hierarchy, and what if you want to…
Helpful Labels – Spring Cleaning Posted by Serena on Apr 10, 2015
Here’s another post in our ‘Helpful Labels’ series which is aimed at reinforcing everyday vocabulary. Simply copy or print out the phrases below and position them around your living space so that you’ll see them regularly. With time, the phrases will become embedded without you even noticing it! In this post I’m going to give…