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…
All About ‘-ing’ Posted by Geoff on Apr 8, 2015
In English, we make extensive use of the suffix ‘–ing’. In Italian, however, there are a number of different ways in which ‘–ing’ can be translated. Let’s have a look at three of the most common ones: 1. Il Gerundio = The Gerund a. sto scrivendo un articolo = I’m writing an article b. stiamo…
Home Made Italian Easter Eggs Posted by Serena on Apr 7, 2015
Da bambini abitavamo all’estero, in Nord Africa, perciò era sempre molto difficile per i miei genitori procurarsi i dolci tipici delle nostre festività, ma come dice il proverbio: non tutto il male vien per nuocere. Così un anno che eravamo senza le uova pasquali, mia madre decise di farci una sorpresa. Una mattina, approfittando del…
La Primavera è Balzata Posted by Geoff on Apr 2, 2015
La Primavera è Balzata … what on earth kind of title is that Geoff! Well, if you’re a regular follower of our blog you’ll know by now that Geoff’s mind works in mysterious ways. Currently, I’m having a phase of re-reading some of my favourite old books which I brought over with me years ago…
Tourists, Beware Of What You Wear Posted by Geoff on Apr 1, 2015
If you’re planning on taking a vacation in Italy this year then pack wisely. New tourist dress code regulations (Regolamentazione dell’Abbigliamento Turistico), which come into effect at the beginning of April 2015, could mean that many visitors to il Bel Paese will be in for a nasty, and expensive surprise if they don’t pay careful…
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes … And Our Wallets! Posted by Geoff on Mar 30, 2015
Here’s a little article which I found in the Italian press the other day. The article itself is not exactly headline material, but it does serve as a useful tool for a bit of grammatical analysis. Rather than translate everything, I’ve picked out some key grammatical point and elaborated on them. N.B. to those of…
Fuoco! Posted by Serena on Mar 26, 2015
Every cloud has a silver lining, or, if you’re a writer, every cloud has a little story to tell. For example: Venerdì sera stavo preparando la cena quando Geoff, che stava lavorando al computer, mi ha chiamato: “ Serena, puoi controllare il fuoco per piacere? Sta facendo un mucchio di rumore”. Così mi sono asciugata…