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A different point of view! Posted by Serena on Jan 3, 2009
Mi piace l’italiano. The preceding sentence is a good example of the confusing difference between English and Italian when we talk about what we like. Literally translated as “Italian pleases me” what it actually means is “I like Italian”. Whereas in English the action of liking moves from the person to the object, in Italian…
Esprimiti! part 3 Posted by Serena on Jul 24, 2009
So far, in the first two articles of this series, I’ve been concentrating on the positive aspect of expressive vocabulary. What a wonderful world it would be if we only ever needed to talk about good and beautiful things! But of course life isn’t always so kind and sometimes we need to express distaste or…
Esprimiti! part 1. Posted by Serena on Jul 12, 2009
Learning another language always has its ups and downs, and it’s quite normal to pass through phases in which you feel that you’re making progress, followed by times where you feel that you’re not getting anywhere. This partly depends on the level of interaction that you have with native speakers of the language that you…
In The Hall Of The Mountain King Posted by Geoff on May 25, 2017
What, you may ask, has a piece of music by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg got to do with the Italian landscape? Let me explain … When I was a child, music was always present somewhere in the background. My mother loved romantic classical music, and had a gramophone collection of popular pieces. Some of those…
Gli Accenti Italiani Posted by Geoff on Nov 4, 2016
It can be a strange business, this blogging. Unlike teaching in schools, colleges, and universities, where one has regular direct contact with one’s students, blogging can often feel like sending out messages in bottles. Who are our readers, where are they, what do they know about the Italian language and culture? From a didactic point…
My Favourite Italian Blogs of 2015 – Part 2: Serena’s Choice Posted by Serena on Dec 31, 2015
Oggi tocca a me (today it’s my turn) to choose my favourite articles written by Geoff during 2015. Not an easy task at all, as there’s so much to choose from! However, after a lot of pondering here’s my list in no particular order: Tourists, Beware Of What You Wear This blog was a great…
A Brief History of the Italian Railways Posted by Serena on Apr 29, 2014
There are many ways to explore the beauties of the Italian landscape, but surely one of the most romantic and evocative must be by steam train. Treno Natura, a romantic journey through the heart of Tuscany by steam train I’ve just read a brief history of the Italian railways, which I raced through in un…