Posts under Italian Language

Word Lists – 1. La Cucina

Posted by Serena
Nov
18
2009

When you’re trying to learn a foreign language, there are all sorts of little strategies that can help you memorize those sometimes elusive words. Learning from a book, or in a class isn’t really the best way of developing your vocabulary for the simple reason that it is too abstract, i.e. too unconnected with the real world. Students often notice that they learn more Italian when spending a week in Italy than they would in a month of studying in their own country. Obviously, in Italy there would be far more opportunity to hear and absorb the language on a daily basis, but the important thing that really makes the difference is ‘context’. By context, I mean that your learning is taking place in the real world, for example: when you go through a door in a shop, or post office etc. very often you will see a little sign saying ‘spingere’ on the side that you have to push, and ‘tirare’ on the side that you must pull. In this way the verbs spingere (push) and tirare (pull) gradually become embedded in you memory without you even realizing it.

So how can you reproduce this process of contextual learning when you are at home and far from Italy? Well one simple trick is to make your own labels and strategically place them around your house, or even your place of work. For a start you can make your own spingere and tirare labels so that every time you pass through the door you will notice those words. Eventually the act of pushing open the door will be linked to spingere, and pulling will be linked to tirare.

With this useful strategy in mind I’m going to do a series of word lists that you can print out and attach to the appropriate objects in a way that you will see them on a daily basis. Allora (so), let’s start with la cucina (the kitchen):

il tavolo  (the table)   see my blog Tavolo or Tavola

la sedia  (the chair)

la pattumiera  (the rubbish bin)

il lavello  (the sink)

il fornello  (the cooker)

il forno  (the oven)

il microonde  (the microwave)

la lavastoviglie  (the dishwasher)

il frigorifero  (the fridge)

il congelatore  (the freezer)

l’armadietto  (the cupboard)

il rubinetto  (the tap)

la lavatrice  (the washing machine)

lo scolapiatti  (the dish drainer)

il tostapane  (the toaster)

l’interruttore  (the switch)

la spina  (the electrical plug)

la presa  (the electrical socket)

I recommend that you only print out the Italian word, and let the context of where you place the label tell you what that word means, hence every time you use the washing machine you will see your label saying la lavatrice.

Divertitevi!

 
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Colloquial Italian – 2. Allora and Dunque

Posted by Serena
Nov
9
2009

In part two of my Colloquial Italian series I’m going to continue exploring those little everyday words that we Italians use all the time, but which are often overlooked in classes and text books. Learning how and where to use them will help to make your spoken Italian sound much more natural.

The two words which I have chosen today, allora and dunque, both have more or less the same meaning, and most of the time it is a matter of personal choice which one you use. I, for example tend to use allora more frequently than dunque, and I was well known when I taught Italian in England for starting every other sentence with ‘allora, oggi studieremo…’ (well then, today we’ll study…), or ‘allora, adesso facciamo…’ (so, now we’ll do…), etc.

Allora has the following meanings: ‘then’, ‘well then’, ‘in that case’, ‘therefore’, ‘so’.

Here are a few examples to give you a feeling for how it is used:

Non sei ancora pronto? allora ti aspetterò (aren’t you ready yet? in that case I’ll wait for you)

allora, siamo d’accordo? (well then, are we in agreement?)

Franco: ‘Purtroppo non sono riuscito a prenotare un tavolo a quel ristorante’ Laura: ‘e allora, dove andiamo stasera?’ (Franco: ‘Unfortunately I didn’t manage to book a table at that restaurant’ Laura: ‘and so…, where are we going this evening?’)

Allora is also used in several common expressions with the meaning of ‘then’, or ‘that time’:

da allora (since then) e.g. …e da allora non l’ho visto (…and I haven’t seen him since then)

da allora in poi (from then onwards, or from that time onwards) e.g. …e da allora in poi ha continuato a funzionare (…and it has continued working from that time onwards)

fino allora (until then, or until that time) e.g non ci ero mai stato fino allora (I’d never been there until then)

proprio allora (right then, at that very moment) e.g. …e proprio allora è entrata Federica! (and at that very moment Federica came in!)

 

Dunque also has the meaning of ‘then’, ‘well then’, ‘in that case’, ‘therefore’, ‘so’.

Here is a very famous example: penso, dunque sono (I think, therefore I am)

dunque, andiamo in pizzeria stasera? (well then, are we going to the pizzeria this evening?)

use dunque if you are picking up the thread of a conversation e.g. dunque… mi stavi raccontando delle tue vacanze (so… you were telling me about your holiday)

you can also use it in exclamatory phrases e.g. dimmi dunque! (tell me then!)

 

As you can see from the examples, dunque and allora are mostly interchangeable and you will probably end up having a preference for one or the other. As I said, I tend to use ‘allora’ a lot but my mother, on the other hand, uses ‘dunque’. Both words are used very commonly when you are having a conversation and are thinking about what you’re going to say next, a bit like saying ‘hmmm now let me think…’

allora… non so cosa altro dirvi!

 
Posted under Grammar, Italian Language
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Omaggio ad Alda Merini, poetessa

Posted by Serena
Nov
6
2009

On Saturday 31st October I heard the sad news that la poetessa (the female poet) Alda Merini had died from cancer, aged 78. I only discovered her poems a couple of years ago, and I was immediately taken by their delicate sensitivity. Through her poetry, Merini describes her inner torment, longing for love, and mysticism.

Alda Merini was born in Milano on the 21st of March 1931. She started writing poetry at an early age, and when she was 19 two of her poems were included in the Antologia della poesia italiana 1909-1949 (Anthology of Italian Poetry 1909-1949) edited by Spagnoletti. Alda Merini published the first of several books of her verses in 1953, however in 1961 she was taken into psychiatric care due to mental health problems and did not publish any more work for over 20 years. Finally in 1984 she published La Terra Santa, in which she describes her experience of being in the psychiatric hospital, and frequent references to this experience reappear in her later work. Despite being a troubled soul, Alda Merini never lost her sense of irony and irreverent wit, and in 2004, for the occasion of her seventy-third birthday, she asked for a “hot man”. Her friends duly organized  a visit from the male stripper Ghibly.

Merini won many Italian literary awards and was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize, firstly by the Académie Francaise in 1996, and then in 2001 by P.E.N. Italia. A selection of her works have been translated into English by the American poet Susan Stewart in “Love Lessons: Selected Poems of Alda Merini”, published earlier this year by Princeton University Press.

I’ve chosen a self-portrait poem to share with you entitled Alda Merini taken from the collection Vuoto d’amore (Void of Love), published in 1991. Here it is below with my own translation into English.

 

Alda Merini

 

Amai teneramente dei dolcissimi amanti

senza che essi sapessero mai nulla.

E su questi intessei tele di ragno

e fui preda della mia stessa materia.

In me l’anima c’era della meretrice

della santa della sanguinaria e dell’ipocrita.

Molti diedero al mio modo di vivere un nome

e fui soltanto un’isterica.

 

I tenderly loved some very sweet lovers / without them ever knowing anything. / And over them I weaved spider’s webs / and I was prey to my own material. / In me there was the soul of the prostitute / of the saint of the bloodthirsty and of the hypocrite. / Many gave a name to my way of living / and I was simply a hysterical person.

 

Grazie Alda!

 
Posted under Culture, Italian Language
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Tavolo or Tavola?

Posted by Serena
Oct
31
2009

Following my article about new trends in Italian kitchens, a reader asked me whether the words tavolo (table) and tavola (table) are interchangeable, and if there is any difference between the two. Well, I’m afraid that this is yet another idiosyncratic use of the Italian language, so let’s see if I can clarify it for you.

Nowadays the masculine word tavolo, which originates from the feminine word “tavola” (Latin “tabula”), is used almost exclusively to describe a piece of furniture, e.g. il tavolo della cucina (the kitchen table), il tavolo da pranzo (the dining table), il tavolo da disegno (the drawing table), il tavolo da stiro (the ironing board), il tavolo da biliardo (the snooker table). We also use the word “tavolo” for a table in a restaurant, so if you want to book a table for four people, you’ll have to say vorrei prenotare un tavolo per quattro per favore (I would like to book a table for four please).

On the other hand, the feminine word tavola, which also means a plank or a board, is used to describe the dining table, not as a piece of furniture, but with reference to the table as a place where meals are eaten. In this case we have a whole series of idiomatic expressions based around the act of eating a meal at the table. These are the most common ones:

apparecchiare la tavola (to lay the table)

sparecchiare la tavola (to clear the table)

portare / servire in tavola (to bring food to the table)

il pranzo / la cena è in tavola (lunch / dinner is on the table)

andare / mettersi / sedersi a tavola (to sit down to eat at the table)

essere / stare a tavola (to be sitting eating at the table)

chiamare a tavola (to call people to the table)

tutti a tavola! or simply a tavola! (everybody to the table! i.e. come and sit down to eat!)

servizio da tavola (dining set, i.e. plates, cutlery, glasses)

biancheria da tavola (table linen)

uva da tavola (eating grapes)

Now please don’t ask me why a table in a restaurant is called un tavolo and not, as you might expect, una tavola, because I haven’t got a clue!

However, don’t forget that leggere il giornale a tavola è maleducato (to read the newspaper while eating is bad manners), but it’s OK leggere il giornale al tavolo (to read the newspaper at the table)!  

To finish with, a funny proverb: chi canta a tavola e fischia a letto, è matto perfetto (whoever sings at the dinner table and whistles in bed, is perfectly crazy)!

 
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Colloquial Italian - 1. Ecco

Posted by Serena
Oct
28
2009

As many students of the Italian language have discovered, there is a big difference between the Italian learnt in a language class and everyday colloquial Italian. In fact many students suffer a serious blow to their confidence when, having diligently studied in their language class, they first set foot in Italia and come face to face with the natives, e non capiscono un cavolo di niente (and they don’t understand ‘a cabbage of’ anything)! There are various reasons for this phenomenon, but probably one of the main ones is that everyday spoken Italian is peppered with little phrases and expressions which are largely neglected in language classes with their tendency to focus much more on grammar and rules. Amongst the most difficult colloquial expressions to grasp are those with multiple meanings, such as today’s subject: ecco.

Ecco, a little word which we Italians use all the time, can often be difficult for foreigners to pin down because it doesn’t have a single equivalent in English. So here are some everyday examples which illustrate its usage:

1. with the meaning of ‘well’ or ‘well now’ when you are beginning an explanation, or working out what to say:

Ecco, io lavoro per il comune (well now, I work for the council)

2. used frequently in everyday conversation as an exclamation of agreement meaning ‘that’s right’ often followed by appunto or esatto (exactly): ecco, appunto! (that’s right, exactly!)

3. with the meaning of ‘here’ or ‘there’:

Eccoci arrivati a casa (no satisfactory translation for this into English, but it means something like ‘here we are, we’re home’), eccovi finalmente! (there you are, finally!), dove sei? – eccomi (where are you? – here I am). As you can see, in this case the word ecco is combined with the direct personal pronoun mi, ti, lo, la, ci, vi, li, le e.g. ecco (here/there) + vi (you [plural]) becomes eccovi (here/there you are). Obviously the choice of ‘here’ or ‘there’ depends on the situation.

4. with the meaning of ‘here is / are’ or ‘there is / are’:

Ecco il libro che mi hai prestato (here is the book which you lent me), ecco lassù il castello (there is the castle up there), ecco le tue scarpe (here are your shoes). 

5. with the meaning of ‘this is’ or ‘that is’:

Ecco come vanno fatte le cose in Italia! (this is / that is how things are done in Italy!), vuoi il mio consiglio? eccolo (do you want my advise? this is / that is it).

6. with the meaning of ‘that’s why’:

Giorgio: Sono stato in vacanza per tre settimane – Lucia: ecco perché non ti ho più visto! (Giorgio: I’ve been on holiday for three weeks – Lucia: that’s why I haven’t seen you!).

7. at the end of a summary or explanation we sometimes say ecco tutto (that’s all).

8. to say that something is done, or finished we often use ecco fatto (‘that’s it’ or ‘it’s done / finished’)

Ecco fatto il blog (that’s the blog finished).

 
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