La Passeggiata Attraverso Italia

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Esperienza (Experience)

An introduction of the person being interviewed

Do you believe that it is important to learn a new language?

How important is it to learn culture?

Do you believe that having a blog like this will enable the learning of language and culture?

Do you believe that this blog could enable better communication between individuals?

Do you believe that learning about a new culture and language could reduce xenophobia?

If you went to Italy did you know about this blog beforehand? If so did you believe it helped you in your travels? If you didn’t do you believe it would have?

Feel free to answer the questions yourself in the comments.

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Studying Italian

For the past school year, I have been learning Italian and it has been something fun and at the same time a bit of a struggle. Throughout my journey learning Italian I have picked up some tips and tricks that helped me and I will be sharing.

Try to converse in Italian this either being in writing or verbally is very helpful in improving your grammar and vocabulary. The more you practice the better your Italian becomes and the conserving in Italian becomes more natural. Keyboard Pals that I have developed on this blog will be helpful for communicating and writing in Italian. You could meet new people who are also want to learn and practice your Italian at the same time by writing and reading.

Watch movies, tv show, and hear music in Italian. It helps you understand how to pronounce some words and can help when conversing in Italian.

Try language learning apps. One of my favorites is Duolingo. I use it to practice the things that I have learned in class.

Read books, magazines, and poems in Italian it will help with your own writing when it comes to spelling and it could even help with your grammar.

What are some of your tips when it comes to learning a new language?

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La Divina Comedia

La Divina Comedia (The Divine Comedy) was written by the Dante Alighieri, who is known as the father of the Italian language. La Divina Comedia is considered the most distinguished work of Italian literature and one of the greatest around the world. La Divina Comedia is divided into three parts; Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso which translates to Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. 

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La Cena (Dinner)

Italy is considered one of the best cuisines in the world. The most popular Italian foods include many kinds of pasta. Italians are very passionate about their foods, they enjoy their food especially dinner in many steps. When in Italy, you will notice that when eating dinner the food comes in steps.

Il Antipasto: This can be the equivalent to an appetizer 

Primo Piatto: This plate usually consists of pasta. This includes lasagna, pizza, spaghetti al ragu. 

Secondo Piatto: This plate usually consists of a protein like steak, fish, chicken, or pork.

Dolce: This is dessert which could be things like gelato or Tiramisu

Cafe: Coffee is one of the biggest parts of Italian culture. Italians are very passionate about their espresso. After dinner, Italians enjoy ending dinner with un cafe.

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La Nutella

Nutella is a hazelnut spread and it is one of Italy’s most popular packed good. It is one of the most consumed goods all over the world. Nutella is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero. It was first introduced in the 1960′s in Alba. Nutella has a secret recipe that is caused the company to have to pay a lawsuit when it decided to not identify the mysterious ingredients. The company has stated that with the amount of Nutella produced each year it could circle the world 1.8 times.

Courtesy of the Offical Nutella site

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Il Carnevale di Venezia

 Il Carnevale di Venezia (the Venice Carnival) is held annually in Venice, Italy. It is similar to Mardi Gras and a matter of fact it ends the day Mardi Gras begins, which is the day before Ash Wednesday. Il Carnelvale di Venezia is popular for their famous masks and costumes. It is estaimated that around 3 million people attend the  carnival in Venice. The carnevale in Venezia like in many other countries like Brazil is a celebration before the begining of the Catholic Lent. The Venice Carnival actuallty beings 40 days before Easter. 

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This video provides an example of what is experienced during the Venice’ Carnival

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This video shows a native Italian explaining 5 different ways Italy differs from English cultures.

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This video provides 10 facts about Italy.

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A fun video about the 20 rules that Italians never break.

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Moda (Fashion)

Italy is one of the biggest fashion capitals in the world. The Italian city of Milano is up there with cities like Paris and London. Many Italian designers like Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Giorgio Armani, etc are based in Milano. Milano also holds Milano Fashion Week twice a year.

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Religione (Religion)

Catholicism is the most dominant religions practiced in Italy. Around 80% of the Italian population practice Catholicism.  The headquarter of the Roman Catholic Church is located in the heart of Rome. The pope is the head of the Catholic church and he resides in Vatican City. Vatican City is home to many museums that house many artifacts related to Catholicism. Vatican City is also home to the Sistine Chapel which is famous for the ceiling paintings done by Michelangelo.

Aerial view of St. Peter’s Basilica (Courtesy of Getty Images)

A view of the paintings on the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel. (Courtesy Getty Images)

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Personal Characteristics (Le Caratteristiche Personali)

grasso-fat 

impegnato- busy

nouvo- new

giovane- young

debole- weak

bello- beautiful

attivo- active

antipatico- unkind

cattivo-bad

lento- slow

curiso- curious

alto- tall

magro- skinny

innamorato- in love

libero- free

felice- happy

forte- stronge

grande- big

intelligente- intelligent

introverso- introverted

buono- good

interessante- interesting

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Singular Noun to Plural Noun

 In Italian to change the noun to plural a -s is just added, in Italian the vowel -a, -o, or -e is just changed 

-o changes to -i, -e changes to -i, and -a changes to -e

Nouns that are abbreviations do not change in their plural form like una biciclette to tre cbicicletta

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Gender of Nouns

In Italian nouns have a gender

Nouns that end in -o are masculine

Nouns that end in -a are feminine 

Nouns that end in -e are either masculine or feminine

Nouns that end in -ione like inforazione are most of the time feminine

Nouns that end in a constant like -r are usually masculine like bar 

Some nouns can be abbreviations like bici is the abbreviation of bicicletta but they still hold the gender of its original form

Are these nouns feminine?

esame  

 festa 

 voto

 foto

 penna

zaino

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Indefinite Articles (Articolo Indeterminativo)

Indefinite articles include un, un’ una, and uno

These articles are equivalent to a and an or one 

______ scienza

______ amica 

______ zio

______ macchina

______ elezione

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Definite Articles (Articolo Determinativo)

The definite article is equivalent to the English the

It is determined by gender and if it is either singular or plural 

_______ bar

_______ animali

_______ acqua

_______ amiche

_______ uomo

_______ ragazzo