A Hot Summer’s Afternoon In Italy Posted by Serena on Jul 20, 2015
Today, as is our custom, we got up at six o’clock and, after a quick breakfast, set off for a walk in the early morning freshness. As we walked up the mountain road towards the picturesque village of Pracchiola, constantly surrounded by the strident screeching of cicadas, I gazed up at the intense blue cloudless…
How To Ask People Their Opinion In Italian Posted by Geoff on Jul 16, 2015
Earlier this week we looked at some of the common ways in which we begin to assert our opinions in Italian. A conversation, however, is a two way thing, and we also want to find out what others have to say. Let’s see how we can turn things around and ask our Italian friends and acquaintances what…
My Father’s War–Part 2 Posted by Serena on Jul 15, 2015
I recently began writing about my father’s personal experience of the Second World War in North Africa. If you haven’t read part 1 yet you can find here. Born in Benghazi, Libya, in 1921, my father was drafted into the Italian militia as soon as Italy entered the war in June 1940. Here’s the second…
Express Your Opinion In Italian! Posted by Geoff on Jul 13, 2015
Last week, in my blog In Che Condizioni E’ I wrote about the importance of developing a vocabulary of descriptive adjectives in Italian. Believe me, I know the frustration of wanting to say something intelligent on a topic and ending up sounding like a complete troglodyte due to having a limited vocabulary. Everything you want to express an…
E’ Arrivato Flegetonte Posted by Serena on Jul 9, 2015
“E’ arrivato Flegetonte” (Phlegethon has arrived) is the main headline in most Italian newspapers at the moment. But what on earth is a Flegetonte? Well, in Greek mythology, Phlegethon was one of the rivers of the underworld, its name meaning ‘flaming’. In his Inferno, Dante Alighieri describes the Flegetonte as a river of boiling blood which…
In Che Condizioni È? Posted by Geoff on Jul 7, 2015
If you’re going to engage your Italian friends and acquaintances in conversation, the ability to liven up or clarify what you want to say is going to require a repertoire of useful descriptive adjectives. Let’s begin with a question: “in che condizioni è?” (“what condition is it/he/she in?” N.B. in Italian we use the plural…
Cosa Fare Quando Fa troppo Caldo? Posted by Geoff on Jul 6, 2015
Eccoci cari lettori, è lunedì mattina, sono seduto davanti allo schermo del portatile a fissare una pagina vuota con una testa ancora più vuota. Questo di per sé non è molto insolito … anzi, teoricamente oggi dovrebbe essere stato più facile del solito perché avevo già pronte due o tre idee per gli articoli di…