Ciao a tutti! 

Buon anno! Happy New Year! To end 2021 we are going to countdown the top 10 Italian blogs of the year. But first, an Italian poem to celebrate the New Year:

All’anno nuovo

Teresa Romei Correggi

“Anno nuovo, benvenuto!
io di cuore ti saluto.
Che cos’hai nel tuo fardello?
Hai del brutto, o hai del bello?
Anno nuovo, in verità,
sol vorrei felicità!”.

“E felice tu sarai
se da bravo studierai:
troverai felicità
nella buona volontà,
nel perdono, nell’amore
che dan pace al nostro cuore”.

Now for il conto alla rovescia (the countdown):

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10. Le case in vendita

Non sorprendentemente (not surprisingly), the 10th most read blog of the year was about le case in vendita in Italia (houses for sale in Italy). A small town in the south called Biccari is offering habitable homes for sale for 7-20,000 euro. Chi non vorrebbe vivere in Italia? (Who wouldn’t want to live in Italy?) Forse un proposit0 per il nuovo anno ( maybe a new year’s resolution)? 😏

9. Alitalia addio

Just as we’re bidding addio to the year 2021, we also have had to bid addio to Alitalia, since it was replaced by ITA – Italia Trasporto Aereo. We also saw una dimostrazione degli assistenti di volo (a protest by the flight attendants) since their salaries were reduced and many either lost their jobs, or their seniority.

8. Il Congiuntivo – Irregular verbs + Quiz!

Quizzes are always popular, especially on tricky grammatical subjects like il congiuntivo (the subjunctive.) If you’d like to know what infinitve verb tu debba or  voi diate is referring to, best to take a look at this blog and some of these irregular subjunctive verbs!

7. Dantedì – National Dante Day

Celebrating the new National Dante Day on March 25th should definitely be on your list of things to do for 2022. Check out this blog to see how it was festeggiato (celebrated) last year. And this Dante quote doesn’t hurt to set the tone for 2022… #ioleggodante ! :

“Considerate la vostra semenza: fatti non foste a viver come bruti ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza”

“Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes but to follow virtue and knowledge.”

6. La Festa del Ringraziamento – Thanksgiving

Celebrating the harvest season, but like the Romans did; plus a YouTube video of a modern Italian attempting a Thanksgiving turkey (ma con la pancetta affumicata – but with bacon!)

5. Sanremo winners of 2021

I vincitori di Sanremo 2021 – Sanremo winners of 2021! For a little history on what Sanremo is all about, check out this blog to read about the annual music competition that’s been going on since 1951.

4. Un’estate italiana

Italy became the 2020 campione d’Europa (champions of Europe) during l’estate (the summer), and what better way to celebrate than by singing un’estate italiana ? Sotto il cielo di un’estate italiana… ! (Under the sky of an Italian summer…)

3. lei, Lei or..?

Formal, informal speech, indirect or direct object pronouns? This blog tries to clear up all of these confusing grammatical tidbits.

2. The Feast of the Epiphany and the Befana

Are you celebrating the Epiphany on January 6th? Read this blog to see how Italians celebrate, and who exactly is la Befana?

1. I comuni in Italia

And lastly, the most popular blog was some reading practice about i comuni in Italia. I also challenged you to decodificare (unscramble) some vocabulary words, so put your brain to the test and see if you can figure them out in the comments section!

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Buon anno a tutti, and if there are any blogs you’d like to see in 2022 – non esitare (don’t hesitate) !