una pausa

Ciao a tutti!

I am going to take a break from this blog and from learning Italian. My dissertation has taken over my life, so probably not until late September will I resume this blog and learning Italian. I am still keen to learn the language and may even try to take another trip to Italy before heading back Stateside, but for right now I need to focus on graduating!!

So.... a presto! ~Ciao bella~

Italia e Spagna

Italy beat Germany in the semis of the Eurocup! So happy!! My 2 favourite teams to the final. It should be interesting to see who wins! They played in the group play rounds of the tournament, and 'hanno pareggiato' - it was a draw (1-1), so it doesn't give much of an indication of who will win. 

Would like to Spain win it just because no team has won the Eurocup - Wold Cup - Eurocup back to back to back-- but really I will be happy with either team being crowned 'campione'. =)

~Ciao Bella~

New book

I got a new book to help me learn Italian, it looks really good. It is actually 3 books in one. Each of the 3 books cost £8 or I could buy all 3 together for £11... it was a no brainer!

I had a brief skim and it has a section on grammar, a section that is like 501 (insert language) verbs and a vocab section. Should be really helpful in learning Italian, especially since romance language verbs can be a bit tricky at times! Once I have this website done, I should have some spare time to really start learning Italian! Can't wait!!

~Ciao Bella~

Eurocup update

No biscotto for Italy! They made it out of their group because Spain beat Croatia. Very exciting! I look forward to Spain's match with France and Italy's match with England!!

I'll try to get back into studying Italian. I have a lot of school work right now that needs to get done though, so it is not at the top of my list of priorities right now.

~ciao bella~

biscotto

I had a great birthday- or compleanno!


I haven't been able to practice Italian as much as I would like right now, but I did learn a new idiom thanks to the Eurocup.


Italy, Spain, Croatia and Ireland are in a group together. Italy has drawn with Croatia and Spain, so they have 2 points in their group. Spain and Croatia have both drawn one match and won one match, leaving them both with 4 points. I was looking at an Italian newspaper that said Italy is waiting for the buscuit...I was very confused! So I did some research.


In football (soccer) biscuit -biscotto- means to cheat of fix a match. Apparently if Spain and Croatia draw their match, each scoring 2 goals, they can knock Italy out of the tournament. The term either comes from horse racing when horses were given drug-laced biscuits to alter their performance. Or it could be like an icecream sandwich where the 2 cookies (Spain and Croatia) can push in to squeeze out the icecream (Italy). 


Learn something new everyday! We will see if the biscotto happens tonight!

Mi dispiace

Mi dispiace (forgive me) for such a long break! I have had visitors in and made a trip to London!! Very nice to see friends and family and have a break from my daily life. After such a long break though, what I've studied isn't coming to me a quickly as it was, but I was surprised that I hadn't forgotten more to be honest.

There is one word that keeps giving me trouble because it doesn't sound like what it means. 'Camera' in Italian means room! Who would have thought.

I looked up how to say camera, and it apparently is macchina fotografica or fotocamera. I think fotocamera will be easier to remember =)

~ciao bella~

Della Palma

I have been taking a break from studying Italian because I have had visitors (and will have more visitors!) in and been travelling with them, so my free time needs to go towards school work.

So instead of sharing about what I'm learning, I will tell you about one of my favourite parts of Italian cuisine- GELATO!! =)

When I went to Italia for the first time, I was about to start my senior year of high school and was making my first international trip. It was a great experience, and I still hold the theory that the first country you visit in Europe always holds a special place in your heart.

I still love Italy, and although I haven't been able to eat gelato as often as I did on that first trip (I may have become addicted...) I still love gelato and Della Palma is still my favourite gelateria!

We often had a break from classes each night when I studied in Italy, and the instructors would usually take us to the Piazza Navona. My friends and I usually would make our way to Della Palma during this time because it wasn't too far and they have tons of choices! I remember one girl got rose flavoured gelato there. It was the best! Here is a photo I took there at the end of our trip. They probably recognized us by that point! haha =)

 So I made sure to stop in a few times while I was there on holiday! It's still just as good, and they still have tons of options (my friend got champagne gelato!) Can't wait to go back!! =)

(In case you are thinking of going to Rome and want to visit, here are some links:)
Della Palma website
Trip Advisor- check out the pictures!

~Ciao Bella~

Che la Forza sia con te

I follow @Italianbot on twitter, and he posted a very important phrase to know in any language!

Che la Forza sia con te. : May the Force be with you. haha =)

~Ciao Bella~

Dolce far niente

I watched Eat Pray Love today. I wasn't expecting much from the movie because it got quite bad reviews, but I really enjoyed it! And I learned a new phrase!!

It is 'dolce far niente' which means 'sweetness in doing nothing.' I knew there was a reason I liked Mediterranean culture so much! I tend to get in a rut of rushing around and trying to get stuff done and feeling overwhelmed, but when I am in the Mediterranean, I can feel the attitude of 'dolce far niente' in the air, so I step back, relax and enjoy the little moments.

Although I might not need to get into the 'dolce far niente' state of mind just yet! I am already having trouble getting motivated to finish my course work!

I learned some new ways to say goodbye as well! So I will leave you with:

A presto e stammi bene! (See you soon and take care!)

~Ciao Bella~

learning a language

First of all, I can't take credit for the picture on my blog of the Roman Forum. My friend Amber took it with her fancy camera while we were in Rome! It looks really cool, right?

Secondly, I thought I would share the resources I am using to teach myself Italian in case anyone else is interested in learning a new language!

First, I am using a podcast produced by a company in Scotland called Radio Lingua. I had listened to a few of their French podcasts before, and got my cousin to start listening to the Spanish one. Since Italian isn't as widely spoken, they don't have as many podcasts as more popular languages, but it is free and they have resources for quite a few languages, so I would recommend it!

Link to Radio Lingua Network

I am also using a program called Byki Express, which is a free downloadable software for your computer. I've founded it to be really useful so far, and am so impressed that I am considering buying the full version called Byki Deluxe once I have completed all the components of the free program. And they have even more languages to chose from than Radio Lingua.

Link to Byki

And finally, I have a book called "Italian Grammar Drills" that I got from my local book store. I had a similar book published by the same group while learning Spanish that was very good, so I knew the Italian book would be useful. It is published by the McGraw Hill and their website is mhprofessional.com.

Ciao Bella

After my recent trip to The Eternal City, I was reminded how much I love Italy. Since I was already thinking about trying to pick up another language, this trip made it pretty clear which language it should be! On this blog I will be making updates on my progress learning the language, as well as any interesting tidbits on the Italian language or Italian culture I discover along the way!

Hope you enjoy! =)

Here is what I would be able to say in a conversation so far.

Buon giorno. Mi chiamo Carolina e sono americana. Sono bene, e tu? Come stai? Vorrei imparare l'italiano. Ciao!


Translation:


Good afternoon. My name is Caroline, and I am American. I'm fine, and how are you? I would like (had to look up this next part!) to learn Italian. Bye!