Italiano With Jodina

Salve!

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

“Tutto fumo niente arrosto.”

Literally, this means ‘all smoke, no roast’, and would be used pretty much the same way in English we say “all smoke and mirrors”.

Buon giorno e complimenti a tutti per il vostro entusiasmo (your enthusiasm)!!! Our class is un grande piacere!
And now, here’s your weekly update…

What we studied/practiced:

Announcements:

• CD Player Needed: During class last nite, 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! Pamela has generously offered to hold the cooking class at her place. Grazie! Stay tuned for more info.
• Next Italian Film is this Thursday, 10/22, 7pm, $$Free, suggested donation (presented by San Diego Italian Film Festival) in Balboa Park. Several of us went to the film last week — It is an excellent opportnity to soak up some Italian culture! More details click here.

Ciao ragazzi!

Complimenti per il vostro lavoro duro e progresso! (Good job on your hard work and progress!)

What we studied/practiced:

Announcements:

• 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.
• Next Italian Film is this Thursday, 10/22, 7pm, $$Free, suggested donation (presented by San Diego Italian Film Festival) in Balboa Park. Several of us went to the film last week — It is an excellent opportnity to soak up some Italian culture! More details click here.

Salve!

The Sinatra satellite radio stations offer an ‘eccellente’ way to get your old-school Italian-American music fix — tunes guaranteed to put you in a good mood!

On Sirius, it’s channel 75, “Siriusly Sinatra“, and on XM, it’s channel 73, also called “Siriusly Sinatra”.

If you like the old Italian-American songs and yesteryear performers, such as  Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Connie Francis, and more, be sure to check out these stations.

Click this Link to Sirius, and this link to XM.

Grazie to my student Elena for this tuneful tip!

Buon giorno a tutti!

What a fantastico gruppo di studenti! It was great to see and meet everyone last nite!  Our series of Italian Conversation and Culture classes is off to an excellent start! I am looking forward to molto divertimento  (lots of fun) together.  Thank you all for being brave and just jumping into speaking Italian with both feet–con tutti e due i piedi!

Following each class, I will do an update recapping important class details, announcements, and outside-of-class activities (not homework, fun stuff!!!).

What we studied/practiced/spoke about:

• Italian words and phrases for Greetings, Introductions & ‘niceties’
• Italian language, Q+As, for Mingling and Small Talk
• Listened  to the Italian song “Un Bacio a Mezzanotte”

Outside-of-Class Activities

Practice Italian Greetings and Q+As for small talk:

• Practice your flashcards, study notes–if possible practice with someone else… or teach someone you know… when you teach it you master it!

Listen to the song “Un Bacio a Mezzanotte”, translate the lyrics

• There are links on this site (Links Page) to the lyrics and to the song on YouTube
• There are also links to online translators:  Copy the lyrics you find at the lyrics link and try your hand at translating them with one of the translators — you’ll be able to help with the in-class translation activity

Announcements:

• The San Diego Italian Film Festival is happening now — next movie is this Friday, Oct. 16. Anyone interested in meeting up to view it together is invited. The film, La Vita e` Bella (with English subtitles)  starts at 7pm at the Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA) in Balboa Park. The address is 1649 El Prado,  San Diego, CA 92101-1662. We’ll meet up in front of the MoPA at 6:30 pm. If you plan to meet us, give me a call (cell 510-735-6187) or shoot me an email to let me know to look for you.  The cost is $FREE!! More info on the film festival

Til next Wednesday, have fun with Italian! Buon divertimento e ci vediamo mercoledi` prossimo!

Jodina

Buon giorno a tutti!

What an excellent class and how fantastico to see everyone last nite! We have a really great group of people, and this series of Italian Conversation and Culture classes is going to be molto divertente! Thank you all for being brave and just jumping into speaking Italian with both feet–tutti e due i piedi!

Following each class, I will do an update recapping important class details, announcements, and outside-of-class activities (not homework, fun stuff!!!).

What we studied/practiced/spoke about:

• Italian words and phrases for Greetings & Introductions
• Italian language, Q+As, for Mingling and Small Talk
• Listened  to the Italian song “Un Bacio a Mezzanotte”

Outside-of-Class Activities

Practice Italian Greetings and Q+As for small talk:

• Practice your flashcards, study notes–if possible practice with someone else… or teach someone you know… when you teach it you master it!

Listen to the song “Un Bacio a Mezzanotte”, translate the lyrics

• There are links on this site (Links Page) to the lyrics and to the song on YouTube
• There are also links to online translators:  Copy the lyrics you find at the lyrics link and try your hand at translating them with one of the translators — you’ll be able to help with the in-class translation activity

Announcements:

• The San Diego Italian Film Festival is happening now — next movie is this Friday, Oct. 16. Anyone interested in meeting up to view it together is invited. The film, La Vita e` Bella (with English subtitles)  starts at 7pm at the Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA) in Balboa Park. The address is 1649 El Prado,  San Diego, CA 92101-1662. We’ll meet up in front of the MoPA at 6:30 pm. If you plan to meet us, give me a call (cell 510-735-6187) or shoot me an email to let me know to look for you.  The cost is $FREE!! More info on the film festival

Kitchen needed!

• As one of our classes, I’d like to do a hands-on Italian cooking tutorial. Anyone who lives nearby our class location and has a suitable kitchen that would like to host, please let me know!

Til next Tuesday, have fun with Italian! Buon divertimento e ci vediamo martedi` prossimo!

Jodina

The Sons of Italy LaCosta Dei Fiori lodge is having their 31st Anniversary Dinner Dance on October 24, 2009, at St. John ‘s Church, located at 1001 Encinitas Blvd, Encinitas, Calif.

Dinner, including a hosted bar, is just $45. Entertainment will be provided by a strolling accordion player as well as a 5-piece band playing Italian songs and other dance music.

This Year’s Ceremony Honoring:
Boys and Girls Club Community Leader, Patrick Casinelli – 2009 Italian American of the Year
O.S.I.A. Grand Lodge President of California, Maria Fassio Pignati – 2009 Leadership Award

Dunque, it is Saturday, and my Italian Conversation & Culture Class 8-week series kick off this coming week.  I am molto felice to announce that enough students have enrolled to learn Italian language and Italian culture that classes will be starting as planned!

There are still a few spots left in each location–and anyone who contacts me and mentions this blog post will still receive the special price of $110 instead of $140 to enroll in the Italian class and learn practical Italian conversation and Italian culture through Italian music, Italian film, Italian food, and more!

The North County San Diego Italian classes meet in Carlsbad, starting October 13, for 8 Tuesdays, from 7-9 pm. The Escondido location Italian classes begin October 14,  for 8 Wednesdays, from 7-9 pm.  More info, click here.

This Sunday marks the 15th annual San Diego Festa Italiana in Little Italy. Now, the Little Italy Festa is known to be one of the largest single-day Italian American festivals West of the Mississippi. The Little Italy community now welcomes over 100,000 attendees with the tantalizing smells of Italian sausage and the glamour of the Italian culture, music & art. More info, click here.