Using The Indefinite Adjective Del Posted by Geoff on Mar 19, 2018
Last month I published an article called Qualche Problema in which we looked at the correct usage of the indefinite adjective qualche. Today we’re going to look at another way of saying some, any, or a bit of. To express an indefinite quantity we commonly use the preposition di (of) combined with the definite articles…
The Haunted Castle Posted by Geoff on Mar 16, 2018
What would a medieval castle be without its ghost? Boring! But if you feel the need to have a ghost in your castle … at least come up with an original story. Geoff’s Patent Original Formula For Castle Ghost: The ugly psychopathic twin sister The hidden horde of Spanish gold The faithful adopted wolf The…
The Archbishop Of Constantinople Posted by Serena on Mar 14, 2018
Would you like to improve your Italian pronunciation? Master the following scioglilingua and you’ll soon be speaking like a native! Here’s the first scioglilingua (tongue-twister) that I taught Geoff many years ago: Sopra la panca la capra campa, sotto la panca la capra crepa Above the bench the goat lives, below the bench the goat…
Italian Curiosities – Part 2 Posted by Geoff on Mar 12, 2018
Curiosity numero due … a haunted castle. It wasn’t the ghost that bothered us … but the cold! How to get to the Castello Malaspina di Fosdinovo, taken from the official website: Ricordiamo per chi viene in macchina che l’accesso al parcheggio è praticabile solo entrando dal lato nord del paese. Non entrate nel borgo…
Donna Ti Voglio Cantare Posted by Serena on Mar 8, 2018
Today’s the 8th of March, Festa della Donna (International Women’s Day), and to celebrate I’m going to translate a song called Donna Ti Voglio Cantare (Woman I Want To Sing About You), by Angelo Branduardi. Angelo Branduardi is a popular folk singer and songwriter who draws inspiration from Medieval and Renaissance music. His wife, Luisa Zappa…
Italian Curiosities – Part 1 Posted by Geoff on Mar 6, 2018
After days of bitterly cold wind, snow and ice, we we’re desperate to get out of the house and see something different. We did! Per domenica hanno messo bel tempo … they’ve predicted nice weather for Sunday. By nice, I mean no snow or rain, and temperatures above 0°C … well that’s something! Having studied…
Ice and Fire Posted by Geoff on Mar 2, 2018
Here’s my English translation of Serena’s recent article Gelo e Fuoco. Quando da bambina vidi il film ‘Dottor Zivago’, la scena che mi fece più impressione è quella in cui Zivago e Lara passano la notte in una casa isolata, in mezzo alla bufera di neve, coi lupi che ululano fuori. Quella notte non riuscii…