A Chat with Cocò the Cat Posted by Serena on Apr 7, 2014
Ciao … sono Cocò! Serena: “Buongiorno Cocò, come stai? dormito bene?” “Good morning Cocò, how are you? Did you sleep well?” Cocò: “…giorno, uffa! Dove sono i miei croccantini?” “…morning, humph! Where are my biscuits?” Serena: “Sempre molto gentile, eh? Pensare che da piccolino eri così allegro e chiacchierone. La mattina venivi sempre a salutarmi…
Pancakes from Pontremoli? Posted by Serena on Apr 3, 2014
Italian pancakes? Well sort of … Yesterday evening I went to a very interesting workshop all about il testarolo pontremolese cotto nei testi (Pontremoli testaroli cooked inside testi). Il Testarolo is a sort of pancake made with water, flour and salt which is cooked in un testo, a large heavy cast iron skillet with a…
How to use Molto Posted by Geoff on Apr 2, 2014
I remember when I was beginning to learn Italian that I frequently experienced moments of confusion over what should have been the simplest of things. Sound familiar? One of those theoretically ‘simple’ things was the use of molto. Let’s have at look at it’s various translations, and some examples of how we use it: 1…
The Latest Gossip … Famous Film Star Buys House in Local Town! Posted by Serena on Mar 31, 2014
pettegolezzi = gossip “George Clooney ha comprato casa a Pontremoli!” questo è il pettegolezzo più gettonato negli ultimi giorni qui da noi. Questa mattina mi trovavo dal fruttivendolo a fare la spesa quando ho sentito Renzo il negoziante dire: “Adesso poi, signore belle, avrete anche Clooney” “George Clooney has bought a house in Pontremoli!” this…
La Terra delle Frane Posted by Geoff on Mar 27, 2014
Frana = Landslide At the recent European convention of geologists in Rome the massive problem of landslides in Italy was high on the agenda. LANDSLIDES, NUMBERS AND COST (red = high risk of landslides!) “In pochi numeri Gian Vito Graziano, presidente del Consiglio nazionale dei geologi, fa capire le dimensioni dei fenomeni franosi nel nostro…
A Nice Plate of Thistles Posted by Geoff on Mar 26, 2014
Serena and I just can’t agree about this: thistles … tasty, yes or no? Okay, maybe I’m being a bit harsh by calling them thistles, they’re actually called carciofi, but to me they’ll always just be big thistles, certainly to be admired for their impressive foliage and wonderful purple flower heads, but as a kid…
A Big Brush … or a Great Brush? Posted by Serena on Mar 24, 2014
Getting adjectives in the correct position in Italian is very important because in certain cases it can completely change the meaning of the sentence. A great example of this is the classic television advert for Boldrini’s Cinghiale paint brushes. Vigile: “Ma cosa fa con quell’arnese? Ostacola il traffico!” Imbianchino: "Devo dipingere una parete grande e…