perdonarmi di nuovo per la assenza prolungata (e eurovision!)

Sorry again for taking such a long absence. I moved, then Derby happened and it took me longer than I thought to settle in to mi nuovo appartamento. But I am settled now and enjoying getting back into Italian! 

I have basically had to start over from scratch (which in all reality is not that far behind where I left off.) And since I am rehashing what I'd already learned and since I don't feel like rehashing the same topic for a blog entry, I have decided to talk a little about Eurovision!! (aka the best competition on Earth!)

Eurovision is similar to American Idol, The Voice, The X Factor etc. etc., except it predates all of these shows. Eurovision was started in 1956 as a way to help reunite Europe after WWII. Each European country that is participating will send one singer, they each sing an original song, each country will vote for their favorite (and they can't vote for the singer your country sent) and when the votes are in, the winner is announced and winner's country will have to host the event the following year. Eurovision has been won by ABBA and Celine Dion (for Switzerland, which seems a bit unfair since she isn't even from the country, but some countries will do whatever it takes to win if they want to host it badly enough!)

Italy had opted out of participating for a few years but came back in 2011, and I am glad they did because it was one of my favorite songs from that year. (It finished in second place so I think many people were in agreement with me!) Love the jazz influence and his smooth voice!

Music is one of the best ways to learn a language, and I can't wait to find some more Italian singers to listen to! If anyone out there has any suggestions, I would love to hear them!

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~

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~

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~

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!