Jovanotti — che e’ uno dei miei cantautori italiani preferiti  – e’ stato recentemente a San Francisco  ed ho avuto la buonissima fortuna di essere tra le migliaia di persone che c’erano al concerto. (Jovanotti, one of my favorite Italian singer-songwriters, was recently in San Francisco and I had the very good fortune to be among the thousands of people at the concert.) Era una bellissima domenica, con i tifosi di Jovanotti faccendo dei picnic sotto agli alberi e ballando (una tribu’ che balla) a cielo aperto nello spettacolare parco di Stern Grove. (It was a beautiful Sunday, with Jovanotti fans picnicking under the trees and dancing under the open sky.)

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~Jovanotti @ Stern Grove in San Francisco~

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Di sicuro quello che per me ha reso il concerto ancora piu’ speciale e memorabile era la possibilita’ di conoscere di piu’ Jovanotti sia come artista che persona durante un’intervista tenuta prima del concerto in un ambiente intimo con solamente una centina di persone presente. Dopo sono riuscita anche a parlargli di persona ed anche a fare una fotografia insieme a lui. Ho potuto communicare a Jovanotti non solo quanto mi piace la sua musica ma anche il fatto che la utilizzo nelle mie classi d’italiano. (Surely what for me made the concert even more special and memorable was the possibility to get to know Jovanotti more, as an artist and a person, during an interview held before the concert in an intimate setting with only about a hundred people present. After this I also managed to talk to him in person and to have my picture taken with him. I was able to communicate to Jovanotti not only how much I like his music but also the fact that I use it in my Italian classes.)

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~Jodina, Jovanotti, Maria(una mia amica di cuore)~

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Jovanotti aka Lorenzo Cherubini categorizes himself as an Italian funk rap artist. But before you get turned off by the term rap, know that outside of the U.S. most rap is NOT preoccupied with a gangster lifestyle and peppered with obscenities. Rather it usually tends toward melodic, upbeat, and danceable. His music can also be categorized as ‘world beat’ – foreign language music with a groove. Jovanotti, who has been performing now for over a decade, started as a pop rapper and DJ and has matured over the years from more simple danceable themes to an artist whose clever and well-turned lyrics have deeper meaning and a universal human appeal. He delivers his lyrics in a half-sung, half-spoken style reminiscent of a downtown beat poet with catchy, melodic beats accessible to an international audience.

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This is not Jovanotti’s first visit to the US – he spent the summer of 2009 in the village in New York City and had a string of sold-out tours on the East Coast. The summer 2010 concerts mark his first performances on the West Coast. The artist has spent more than a decade collaborating with internationally acclaimed musicians from around the globe, including Bono, Michael Franti, Sergio Mendes, Ben Harper, and The Beastie Boys.

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Video/Song: “Una tribu’che balla” (“A Tribe That Dances)

Gist of song: We are all one tribe regardless of differences.

Each is unique but all can dance together to the music.

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Jovanotti lives in Cortona with his wife and daughter Teresa, to whom the song Per Te is dedicated.  Cortona is the same town where Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun lives – her house is in fact just around the corner, and the two are good neighbors.

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E’ veramente un mondo piccolo. (It is truly a small world.) And speaking of neighbors and small worlds, another perk to this wonderful day was meeting up with fellow Italian blogger and Facebook friend in person, Melissa Muldoon. Check out her delightful blog at Diario di una Studentessa Matta.

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~Jodina & Melissa aka 'una studentessa matta'~

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And then, when I thought it couldn’t get any better, by chance, I ran right into dear old friends Bunny and Wolfgang from my days back in the Bay Area. Turns out they’d been a stone’s throw the entire concert and were only in town briefly visiting from Germany (!), where they now live – what are the odds?  Truly, I think, we are all part of una tribu’ che balla, e la vita e’ bella.

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~Bunny, Wolfgang, Jodina~

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For more pictures of the concert, visit my Italiano With Jodina Facebook Page.

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Just what is this thing called Ferragosto? Originally Ferragosto was linked to a celebration of the middle of summer, agricultural activity, and cycles of nature. The holiday was celebrated in the Roman Empire to honor the gods—in particular Diana—and the cycle of fertility and ripening.  To give agricultural animals and workers a break following the heaviest labor in the fields, Emperor Augustus declared that the entire month of August would be a holiday. In fact, the name Ferragosto derives from the original Latin name, Feriae Augusti – the ‘Holidays’ (Ferie) of Augustus.

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Later, after the decline of the Roman Empire and the advent of the Roman Catholic Church, the celebration was re-spun as the Ascension of the Virgin Mary. To this day it remains one of the Italy’s important Catholic holidays.

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In modern times, Ferragosto has evolved into a very different holiday. August 15^th, regardless of which day of the week it falls on, is a holiday. With few exceptions, EVERYTHING from banks to shops to supermarkets to restaurants is closed, and almost no goes to work.

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Many Italians take brief vacations – if they can, and if they are not already on vacation. Whether on vacation or remaining in town, for many, Ferragosto (not surprisingly) is an occasion to have a large, sumptuous meal in the company of family and friends in honor of the day.

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“Pranzo di Ferragosto” with English subtitles

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The delightful film “Il Pranzo di Ferragosto” offers an entertaining peek into Ferragosto in one particular Roman household when a man who cares for his elderly mamma ends up hosting two other elderly ladies during this holiday. Hilarity ensues and culminates in a lavish feast.

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August sees more Italians on vacation than any other time of the year. Cities and towns nearly empty out as residents head in droves ‘al mare’ (to the sea and beach), ‘alle montagne’ (to the mountains), or ‘all’estero’ (abroad) for their annual summer holidays. There’s a practical reason for this – August in Italy is the hottest, most humid, and weather-wise the most miserable month of the year. You’ll have noticed this ‘ghost town’ effect if you’ve ever visited in August.

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Of course, people do take their holidays at other times during the summer, but August is the most popular month, and anyone who can gets out for at least part of the month, with some people going for the entire month. The beach is the most popular destination, and as you can imagine, the beaches are straffollate (super crowded).

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You may be wondering how it is possible to leave town for an entire month… Italians have one month of vacation each year (compared to two weeks in the US). Those who remain behind are stuck in a hot, sticky, ‘ghost town’. Towns are so vacated, that residents of larger cities who remain consult the papers for listings of staple-item stores that stay open, rather than circling around hoping to find an open gas station, pharmacy, grocery store, or bread shop.

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Will you celebrate Ferragosto? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below.

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Buon Ferragosto a tutti!

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Buon giorno!

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It’s Friday, and it’s time for some more Italian verbs in this recently born post series that I’ve named I verbi del venerdi’ (The Verbs of Friday).

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Ecco una mini-lezione basata su otto verbi. (Here’s a mini lesson based on eight verbs.)

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Svolgere, Partorire, Proseguire, Controllare, Radoppiare, Allattare, Crescere, Sviluppare

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Listen here for pronunciation:

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Pay close attention to the verbs with double consonants — to correctly pronounce them, pause a little longer on the double consonant.

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Now, here’s what they mean. Notice how for some, there is a similar word in English. For others there’s a more common verb or word in Italian that you may already know — good tricks for remembering the meanings.

1. Svolgere/Svolgersi: to take place, happen. Example: L’evento si e’ svolto ieri. (The event took place yesterday.)
2. Partorire: To give birth. Noun form: il parto (the birth, birth process)
3. Proseguire: to carry on, keep on; similar to ‘seguire’ (to continue).
4. Controllare: to check, monitor, inspect, control. Noun form: il controllo (a check, checkup, inspection, or control)
5. Radoppiare: to double. Root word: ‘doppio’, or ‘double’.
6. Allattare: to nurse, breastfeed. Noun form: l’allattamento (nursing, breastfeeding). Notice the word root ‘latte’, or ‘milk’.
7. Crescere: to grow. Noun form: la crescita (growth).
8. Sviluppare: to develop. Noun form: lo sviluppo (development).

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You might have noticed a common thread of childbirth and development among these Italian verbs. They are from a current Italian news story, “Nata cucciola di foca all’acquario di Genova” (Seal cub Born at the Genova Aquarium”).

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Was this blog post helpful to you? I’d love to hear your feedback! Please leave comments in the form below.

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A complete audio lesson (including the story, a translation, and a vocabulary study) is available on this site for subscribers of Jodina’s Italian Audio Club. Monthly subscriptions are available for unlimited online access to a large and growing collection of custom audio lessons not available anywhere else. More info here.

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Here’s a link to the original story in Italian. See if you can find all of the verbi del venerdi’. Seal cub story.

Proverbs, sayings, and idiomatic expressions are a rich way to learn new words and gain insight into the colloquial side of a language. Italian, like other languages, has a wealth of these enlightening expressions — some wise and others witty.

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Because they are usually brief, they can be almost like a mini lesson in themselves.
I challenge you to memorize this week’s phrase. Take me up on this, and treat yourself to a sense of accomplishment!

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“Buon sangue non mente.”

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Listen to pronunciation:

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Spiegazione (Explanation):

Lo si usa principalmente per casi negativi ma indica il carattere e il costume della discendenza da padre a figlio. Detto anche ‘tale il padre tale il figlio’.

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Translation: It (this proverb) is used principally for negative cases to indicate the character and habits of a father (mother, parents) as they carry forward to the son (daughter, children).  Also expressed as ‘like father like son.’

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Literally ‘Buon sangue non mente’ means ‘Good blood doesn’t lie’.

This saying is similar also to the English saying, ‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’.

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Do you have any favorite Italian proverbs you’d like to share?

I’d love to hear them — leave a comment below!