Buongiorno! 

Finalmente. Siamo arrivati alla fine di 2020. Finally. We have arrived to the end of 2020.

There have been plenty of alti e bassi (highs and lows) but I am sure that I speak for us all when I bid it addio!

Let’s give it as affettuoso (warm) of a goodbye as we can, and let’s take a look at some of the most popular Italian blogs of 2020.

Gennaio

• Festival di Sanremo

The annual festival di Sanremo will go on in 2o21, just a month later on March 2 – 6 in order to give them more to prepare. If necessary, it will be postponed further, there are no plans to cancel. Salva le date, save the dates!

 

• Italian Proverbs and Idioms

My favorite idiom from this blog post is ‘o mangiar questa minestra o saltar questa finestra’ – ‘Eat this soup or jump out the window.’ Take it or leave it! Plenty of readers left comments of their favorite idioms as well.

Febbraio

• In Bocca al Lupo!

Un classico detto italiano (a classic Italian saying) that literally means ‘In the mouth of the wolf!’ or figuratively, ‘good luck!’ Read this post to know some of la storia (the history).

 

• Traveling in Italy

Stavo, e sto ancora, sognando l’Italia… I was, and still am, dreaming of Italy. This blog post gives some helpful travel tips so that we can all doverosamente (dutifully) prepare for our next trip.

 

Marzo

 

• Il Coronavirus in Italia 

Marzo wasn’t easy, this post gives some details as to how Italy was facing the rising number of cases.

• Pazza per la Pizza 

What better way than to cook and bake our way through la quarantena? Dai un occhio (give a look) to this post for una ricetta (a recipe).

Aprile

 

• Un’intervista

You enjoyed this intervista (interview) with an Italian friend in April, dove gli ho chiesto alcune curiosità sull’Italia e sulla differenza di cultura con l’America (where I asked himsome curiosities about Italy and about the cultural differences with America.)

 

• Italian Cognates and False Friends 

In April we also saw some ‘falsi amici’ (false friends) and parole affini (cognates.)

Maggio

• La Felicità

An Italian TedTalk all about come essere felici ogni singolo giorno (how to be happy every single day.) I recommend it for some good listening practice!

 

 

• Una Sfida 

This was by far my favorite blog post I’ve ever written, and I’m glad to see you enjoyed it too. While enjoying plenty of my favorite Italian movies, I thought of a perfect sfida (challenge) for you all. Here is part 2 for the answer. Don’t look and rovinare la sorpresa (spoil the surprise) if you want to partake in the challenge, though! It’s all based upon one of my favorite films, Il Conformista by Bernardo Bertolucci.

Giugno

• Passato Remoto

In June we learned all about the passato remoto together, a narrative past tense. It is also commonly used in the South of Italy, in both speaking and writing. Otherwise, you will come across the passato remoto in literature, newspapers, and fables!

Luglio

 

• A Virtual Trip – Ravenna 

With summer vacation basically non-existent for most people, I thought a un viaggio virtuale was in order. So I chose to present to you Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna.

 

 

 

Agosto

• Il Ferragosto

A little bit of history of the annual Italian summer holiday.

• La Scuola in Italia

Di nuovo a scuola! (Back to school!) Despite looming challenges with the pandemic, schools reopened in Italy. In this post we also talk about il sistema educativo (the education system) in Italia.

Settembre

• Italian Comparatives 

In September we looked at some more Italian grammar, this time with comparatives!

 

 

 

Ottobre

 

• Quiz – Le Risposte! 

My first time doing a quiz with you all on comparatives and superlatives!

 

                                 Novembre

 

• Italian Slang and Expressions

In this post from November we discovered some expressions and linguaggio informale that you will encounter in Italy.

Dicembre

• Winter Vocabulary

With winter upon us, we learned some winter vocabulary together. I’m definitely feeling meteopatica (meteopathic) now.

 

Che anno.

What a year. I was happy to spend it with all of you. Auguri per un felice 2021!