One thing that strikes most British or American visitors to Italy is how in forma (well-toned) the Italians are. Whether this is down to the famous Mediterranean diet or the fact that most Italians put in several hours at la palestra (the gym) each week is unclear, but if you walk the streets of Milan [...]
Italians are just as mad about oroscopi (horoscopes) as everyone else. Here are the segni zodiacali (star signs) in Italian:
I giorni della settimana (the days of the week) consist of lunedì (Monday), martedì (Tuesday), mercoledì (Wednesday), giovedì (Thursday) and venerdì (Friday).
Where do these names derive from? lunedì is from la luna (moon), martedì from il pianeta Marte (the planet Mars), mercoledì from Mercurio (Mercury), giovedì from Giove (Jupiter), and venerdìfrom Venere (Venus). The suffix [...]
Here are some basic verbs and examples on how to use them in a simple sentence:
Click here for grammar rules
Here are some common mobili (furniture) that you can see in Italian houses:
There’s no denying it - when it comes to i vestiti (clothes) the Italians know what they are doing! La moda (fashion) is one of Italy’s biggest exports and the average person on the street usually looks like they have just stepped out of Vogue.
Here are some things the average Italian has in their armadio [...]
Italians have a different approach to la salute (health) than in many other countries. To say they are knowledgeable would be an understatement. Not only do most people know what the correct temperatura del corpo (body temperature) should be, they even know what their own temperature is on any given day. A slight variation to [...]
L’inverno (Winter) doesn’t officially arrive in Italy until the 15th December, although its presence can be felt a lot earlier than that. In many parts of the country nevica (it snows) as early as November, a great start for those who want to sciare (ski) but not so great for motorists stuck on the motorway [...]
One of the first things a visitor to Italy notices is that Italians look very slim and fit. This could be attributed to the mediterranean diet eaten here but it’s also because exercise is very important and most people like to practicare uno sport (do a sport). The most popular, as in other countries, is [...]
Everyone knows that Italians are a sociable lot. One of the ways in which this manifests itself is in the way they construct their abitazione (housing). Where other nationalities tend to give themselves a bit of space, Italians like to abitare (live), literally, on top of each other.The condominio (block of flats) is probably the [...]
