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Mi mangio la pizza, mi guardo un film… mistakes or what?
Many of my students stumble over this particular use of the reflexive form which is not academic or formal but, nonetheless, sounds truly Italian. In Italian we use some verbs which are called ‘Riflessivi’ or ‘Reflexive’ such as, lavarsi (to wash oneself), pettinarsi (to comb oneself), radersi (to shave oneself) and so on. The majority […]
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College of Commerce classes start tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday. Places available.
Our exciting College of Commerce classes start tomorrow (Tuesday). For anyone looking to start learning Italian, our beginners class (starting Wednesday) is a great way to start. Learn with an experienced native Italian teacher, using real life situations such as going to a market, visiting friends, going to a restaurant and booking a room. Its […]
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Do not say Buona Fortuna, for goodness’ sake!
If you want a piece of advice, do not ever say ‘Buona fortuna’ to an Italian person, unless you don’t like him or her very much! Buona fortuna means good luck, but, in Italy, it is strongly believed that if someone tells you buona fortuna before a test or any other occasion, he or she doesn’t […]
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Grammar or no grammar?
Italian is a very easy language to learn. In fact, it is very easy to read as we pronounce it as it is written. In addition, no stress is involved in reading as you should read slowly and take your time when you pronounce the vowels; they should be over pronounced in comparison with English […]
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Capodanno in Italia? Fantastico, ma attenzione alle tradizioni!
Let’s start with a couple of words about Capodanno which means the first day of the year. In Italy Capodanno includes New year’s eve and the first of January. Capodanno is composed of two words and a preposition CAPO D’ANNO which literally means HEAD OF YEAR. As in all the countries we have some traditions which […]
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Buon Natale e Buon Anno, but let’s not forget the Befana
If you want to impress your friends with your Christmas greetings in Italian, you should say BUON NATALE E FELICE ANNO NUOVO which means marry Christmas and happy new year! You can also have a slice of Panettone (sweet bread loaf with raisins and candied fruit original from Milan) or Pandoro (without raisins and candied […]
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Teaching Italian
In many years of teaching Italian to non native Italian speakers I have accumulated a great deal of understanding about my students’ learning process. In fact, there are some mistakes which are common among native English speakers, others to Spanish and so on, and they are due to the intrinsic nature of their own language […]
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Two words about my home town, Turin or Torino
I came to terms with the fact that when I say to anyone in Ireland: ‘I am from Turin’, they answer: ‘ah, Fiat’ and sometimes they also say: ‘Juventus!’. Thankfully, this is not what Turin is about and those who went there can confirm it. In fact, although Turin is a big and industrial city, […]
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Differences between the North and South of Italy
There are many differences between the North and South of Italy which are not only about environment and climate, but also about the people and the way they think and behave. This is due to historical and geographical reasons which are very interesting and unique in their own way. There are many interesting books and […]
