Italiano With Jodina

This is a fun social group dedicated to “speaking Italian and learning as much as we can while eating and drinking ourselves into fluency!”

It’s an informal way to meet others interested in la bella lingua and cibo buono. (It meets every Monday pm in Leucadia at Vigilucci’s restaurant.)

Visit this link for all the dettaglie! (details)

Buon giorno ragazzi!

Read on for…

• A recap of class #4
• Outside-of-class assignments
• Important announcements.

Che passiate una buonissa settimana–ci vediamo martedi/mercoledi prossimo! (Have an excellent week — see you next Tuesday/Wednesday… depending on your class location!)

Jodina

What we studied/practiced:

Nel blu dipinto di blu… Alitalia is offering special fares, round trip, starting at $500, departures from Boston. Must be purchased by Nov.9, travel by March 24, 2010.  March/April is a nice time of year to be in Italy. Spring’s nice there — weather’s usually pretty good and you won’t brush elbows with hordes of tourists.

Here’s the link to more info. It’s been a minute since I’ve priced tix to the BelPaese. Given the current ‘pazzia’ (craziness) of airline companies and the ‘economia’ — would love to hear back from folks if these are indeed good fares. Buoni viaggi!

{Grazie alla mia studentessa Susanna per questo accenno!}

Tiziano Ferro, Italian latin pop singer, is talented, fun to listen to (and easy on the eyes!). One of my students turned me on to his music (grazie Gariella!).

Ferro also records Spanish versions of his Italian albums and has had notable success in Europe and Latin America. He has also released songs in English and has sold more than 7 million albums worldwide.

Take a listen to his song “Perdono” on YouTube. While you’re, check out “Indietro” and “Le Cose che non Dici”, too.

San Diego’s Taste of Little Italy returns — taking place this Wednesday, Nov. 4 from 5 to 9 p.m.

Among the participating restaurants are Anthology, Burger Lounge, Indigo Grill, Mimmo’s, Mona Lisa, Po Pazzo, Rice at the W Hotel, Cafe Zucchero, The Waterfront Grille, and Filippi’s Pizza Grotto. There will also be music and entertainment from musicians Regina Leonard and Luis Max and Blue Moon.

Tickets are $35 in advance and can be purchased online at the Taste of Little Italy website. They’ll cost $40 at the door. Included with the tickets is a voucher for two people to enjoy Chef Eric Bauer’s “Fresh Vibe Tuesday” at Anthology during the month of November.

“Chi non ha testa ha gambe”

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Salve!

Ecco la frase idiomatica della settimana = Here’s your weekly Italian Idiom, brought to you by Italiano With Jodina:

“Chi non ha testa ha gambe.”

Literally, this means ‘He who doesn’t have his head, has legs.” Used in situations where someone is absent-minded and drops the ball because of not thinking, and then has to do extra leg-work to make up for the error.

“Chi non ha testa ha gambe!”

Buona sera studenti!

Ecco il vostro aggiornamento settimanale della classe. (Here’s your weekly class update.) Complimenti a tutti coloro che hanno fatto i compiti di classe! (Thumbs up to all those who did the oustide-of-class assignments!)

Read on for a class recap, homework/ new ways to use Italian in between classes, and important announcements.

What we studied/practiced:

Announcements:

• SD Italian Film Festival Going Hot & Heavy: Every day 10/31 – 11/7 (last day of fest) there will be a different Italian film. Curtain time: 7pm. Cost: $$Free, donations suggested. Where:  Balboa Park. It is an excellent opportunity to enjoy Italian cinema in a beautiful venue! More details click here.
• CD Player Needed: During the Wednesday Escondido class, my CD player died an untimely death :(. If anyone has, or knows of someone who has, an unused CD player in need of adoption, please let me know. Grazie!
• Hands-on Italian Cooking Tutorial. We have a kitchen! Our third class in November will be held off-site and focus on Italian cooking! Stay tuned for more info.

Buona sera studenti!

Ecco il vostro aggiornamento settimanale della classe. (Here’s your weekly class update.) Complimenti a tutti coloro che hanno fatto i compiti di classe! (Thumbs up to all those who did the oustide-of-class assignments!)

Read on for a class recap, homework/ new ways to use Italian in between classes, and important announcements.

What we studied/practiced:

Announcements:

• Wine ok in class — Anyone wishing to  bring and drink wine during class may do so — per regulations of the Carlsbad Community and Rec Centers. (No corkage fee! 😉 )
• SD Italian Film Festival Going Hot & Heavy: Every day 10/31 – 11/7 (last day of fest) there will be a different Italian film. Curtain time: 7pm. Cost: $$Free, donations suggested. Where:  Balboa Park. It is an excellent opportunity to enjoy Italian cinema in a beautiful venue! More details click here.
• Wine Tasting @ Witch Creek Winery. Anyone interested in this as a ‘field trip’ for our class? Located near class in Carlsbad, the fee is $20 per person ($25 with cheese & salami). This includes the glass and a tasting/presentation of 8 different wines (Italian varietal grapes, of course!) Consider it and let me know next class.
• CD Player Needed: During the Wednesday Escondido class, my CD player died an untimely death :(. If anyone has, or knows of someone who has, an unused CD player in need of adoption, please let me know. Grazie!
• Hands-on Italian Cooking Tutorial. We have a kitchen! Giovanna has generously offered to hold the cooking class at her place. Grazie! Stay tuned for more info.

The Complete Italian Grammar is IMHO (in my humble opinion) the best Italian grammar book I’ve come across. Part of the ‘Practice Makes Perfect Series’ from McGraw Hill publishers.

While I know not everyone is a grammar geek like me, sometimes students DO want some type of book to use as a reference for increasing their knowledge and understanding of Italian grammar. Complete Italian Grammar is a user-friendly text that I have used with students, that can also be used for self-study and reference. Set up in an ‘explanation + example + practical exercises to complete’ format, the book is easy to follow, pleasant to use, and includes verb charts and an answer key.

And at $12.95 it’s ‘un vero affare’ (a real bargain). Purchase it at major booksellers or online. Complete Italian Grammar by Marcel Danesi, McGraw Hill. ISBN # 978-0-07-160367-6. Click here for a link to Google search results for this book.

This is good stuff — Listen to free streaming music with Radio Italy Live NY out of Manhattan. Complete with Italian radio commercials, in real time. Listen on your computer while you work, or on your iPhone anywhere.

Almost like being there!

Click here: RadioItalyLive