Author Archives: Jodina

Che significa Montelupo Fiorentino?

Che significa Montelupo Fiorentino? E che cos’e? (What does Montelupo Fiorentino mean? And what is it?) . . If you guessed that Montelupo Fiorentino means Florentine Mountain Wolf, you’re right! If you thought it might be the name of an … Continue reading

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Italian Traditions>> Food: A New Year’s Recipe for Prosperity

~Blog Repost~ . Allora, dunque, siamo arrivati a capodanno
 di giĂ ! Caspita! (So, well, we’ve arrived at New Year’s Eve
 already! Goodness/Yikes!) And I promised to post a recipe for the yummy traditional Italian holiday dish of lenticchie (lentils). Often … Continue reading

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La Madonnina, La Befana & Babbo Natale

~ The holy trinity of present bringers ~     As I sit here sipping on limoncello and nibbling biscotti, I am thinking to myself that it’s time for another blog post. So why not tell you about la Madonnina, la … Continue reading

Posted in Expressions, Italian Customs, Italian Holidays, Italian Music, Italian Vocabulary, learn italian, Sayings, Vocaboli Italiai | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

“Grazie, Firenze!” Guest Blog #3: A student in Florence

Ecco (Here is) Lisa’s latest blog post! If you haven’t read her previous entries, they’re here: Guest Blog Part 2,  Guest Blog Part 1 In breve (in breief), Lisa, one of my students, is living her sogno (dream) by spending … Continue reading

Posted in Guest Blog, Italian Vocabulary, learn italian, Vocaboli Italiai | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

WWMLD? What Would Monsignor Luigi Do?

     What does a monsignor to the Vatican do when he’s not in Rome doing what a monsignor does? Inquiring minds want to know, and I, my dears, have the answers! . . Recently I had the pleasure of having … Continue reading

Posted in Italian Customs, Italian Vocabulary, learn italian, Sayings, Vocaboli Italiai | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Guest Blog: Part 2–“La scuola”

A Student in Florence

Ecco (Here is) Lisa’s second blog post! If you didn’t read the first one, it’s here: Guest Blog Part 1 In breve (in short), Lisa, one of my students, is living her sogno (dream) by spending sette settimane (seven weeks) … Continue reading

Posted in Expressions, Guest Blog, Italian Vocabulary, learn italian, Uncategorized, Vocaboli Italiai | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Una Celebrazione di FIBER ARTS>>

Le antiche arti femminili

  Perhaps you practice one of the many varieties of fiber arts, or perhaps you just appreciate i prodotti finiti (the finished products) resulting from skills that have been tramandati da generazione in generazione (passed from generation to generation).    … Continue reading

Posted in Guest Blog, Italian Vocabulary, learn italian, Sayings, Uncategorized, Vocaboli Italiai | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Guest Blog: Una studentessa a Firenze

A Student in Florence

     Una delle mie studentesse (one of my students), la simpaticissima Lisa DeLucchi, is living her sogno (dream) by spending sette settimane (seven weeks) a Firenze (in Florence), where she has affittato un’appartamento (rented an apartment) and si Ăš iscritta … Continue reading

Posted in Expressions, Guest Blog, Italian Vocabulary, learn italian, Vocaboli Italiai | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Si torna a scuola! / Back to School!

.   E’ arrivato quel momento dell’anno (It’s that time of year) — si torna a scuola! (back to school!)   Here, to build up your repertoire, una manciata di vocaboli italiani riguardanti la scuola (a handful of Italian words … Continue reading

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Everybody Speaks Italian — The Cool Phenomenon of Language Crossover

“Word Bridge” (photo by Dutch artist Art Rock) .     “How’s that?,” you say. Well, you might be a student of la bella lingua (Italian’s nickname, meaning, literally, the beautiful language) and speak it with some degree of proficiency, … Continue reading

Posted in Italian Vocabulary, learn italian, Uncategorized | 1 Comment