Having just moved of course I packed at least 1000 boxes and during this process, I discovered one of my favorite Italian words was “soggiorno” which means living room. I guess there is something about the double “g’s.” It just felt so fun to write that word. Read More
Today’s language lesson does not involve any new vocabulary or verb conjugations or rolling of the r’s. Read More
This past weekend and maybe the upcoming weekend (for rebels looking to vacation right up until the last-minute), is known as the “rientro.” When using this word as it relates to vacation, it would mean, “returning home” or “going home.” Everyone hates this word because it means a return to the routine life. The end of the summer fun. And as you might recall, Italians really know how to do summer up right. Read More
Lately I have been catching some fun photos of gli anziani – seniors. Most anziani are nonni – grandparents. Grandparents play a very important part in Italian culture. This usually comes in the form of giving out insightful advise, Sunday dinners, spoiling grandchildren but even raising their grandchildren. Read More
Fall is here – and I admit (to every Italian’s horror) that it is my favorite time of year. Maybe it has something to do with growing up in Texas where boiling hot summers lasts for at LEAST five months. Read More
Language lunedi’ – La Famiglia
It has been ages since I put up a language post. But having just returned from visiting my family, I thought what could be more appropriate than a little lesson related to the center of Italian life: la famiglia? Read More
Well, the real reason today’s language lesson is tech talk is only because I heard this word on the radio this morning:
Tweetato. Read More
Since this past weekend was the weekend of love, I got to thinking about how we express the emotion of love in English and in Italian because at times they are slightly different. So today is all about love! Read More
Language Lunedi’ – Telling Time
This seems like an easy lesson right? And it is, but keep in mind that Italians typically express time using the 24 hour clock (military time) as opposed to a 12 hour clock.
Let’s begin with some standard questions and answers: Read More
There has been a lot of weather talk going on in my family lately. There is my sister in NYC, us here, another sis in Dubai and yet another sis deep in the heart of Texas 🙂
Oddly enough they got snow in Texas a week ago…or…ok…maybe some frost…but still….classes were canceled at all the schools for this “snow day.” Meanwhile my sis in NYC is a human popsicle. Yesterday, it was like spring here even though we live about 2 seconds from the Alps and my sis in the desert got some rain a week or two ago.
So let’s talk about the weather in Italian. Below are some standard weather phrases:
Ok, so in the past weeks, we have had some fun with False Friends and the fact that I was able to tie George Clooney into a language post.
This week’s lesson is a bit more serious….we are going to work with the verb “to be” essere in Italian. We will look at the simple present of this verb.
False friends within languages happen when words from two languages seem the same but have different meanings. Sometimes the confusion can be a little embarrassing. Read More
Italy Translated 