Who’s never used a word assuming it meant something else and, in so doing, s/he has created misunderstandings or awkward situations? Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal. In fact, it’s typical of the language learning process: learners rely on what they know to try to communicate into another language. One of the nightmares par excellence …
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Twelve Italian words you won’t learn from coursebooks
The most common way to start learning a foreign language is at school with some coursebooks. Coursebooks are generally well thought out. Indeed, they focus both on grammar and vocabulary, and they also give you an insight into the foreign culture. However, people who’ve learnt Italian on books and have then had the chance to …
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The truth about book translation – Are indie authors’ concerns justified?
Book translation is something many indie authors seem to be concerned about. They worry about both the quality of the service, and the fact that even if they find good translators, these may choose to change some segments of their books. I well understand their fears. In fact, authors make strong efforts to create a good …
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How to get rid of bad luck – Italian practices
One day, you wake up late: your alarm clock didn’t go off. Damn it! You have an exam today! You rush to get your car but you stumble and fall. When you finally get to school, you fail your exam. And, on the way back to your car, a bird decides to poop right on …
Google translate: is it really so effective?
Since the start of the digital revolution, more than fifty years ago, the quality of machine translation has largely improved, and, nowadays, it is considered by many people a good way to overcome linguistic barriers and to transfer culture easily. Indeed, at times, it happens to hear some people complaining about the prices of human …
How to deal with the days of the blackbird: coconut biscuits
The days of the blackbird – i giorni della merla – is an Italian expression meaning the coldest days of winter – specifically the 29th, 30th, 31st of January. No one knows exactly the origins of this expression, but there are some folk legends about it. The most famous one is about a female blackbird …
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Twelve things you should know before visiting Italy (Part 3)
This is the third and last part of the article Twelve things you should know before visiting Italy. If you haven’t read the first two articles yet, you can do it now -> part 1, part 2. DON’T TOUCH THE VEGETABLES, EVER! If you want to grocery shop in Italy, be aware that there is …
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Twelve things you should know before visiting Italy (Part 2)
Two weeks ago I talked about four things every tourist should know before visiting Italy. If you haven’t read the article yet, you can do it now -> Twelve things you should know before visiting Italy (part 1). This week I’m gonna add four more tips. PUBLIC RESTROOMS If you want to do an escorted …
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La Befana
Epiphany is the name of a national Italian holiday that falls on January 6. In the night of the 5th January, la Befana – an ugly old woman – flies with a broomstick delivering both socks full of candies to good children and socks full of (sugar-made) coke to naughty children. But who is this …
Twelve things you should know before visiting Italy (part 1)
Every year millions of tourists plan to visit Italy for different reasons – sightseeing, food, culture, etc. If you are one of them, you have probably already read one or more tourist guides to prepare yourself for the trip. Despite this, you could still ignore some useful information. PARKING If you’re hiring a car, for …
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