Links/Pix

SCROLL DOWN FOR: Links to Italian Dictionaries, Translators, Spell-Checker

PHOTO GALLERY:

Italian Cooking & Holiday Celebration ~ Dec. 2009:

Carlsbad Class ~ Escondido Class

** EXPANDED PHOTO GALLERY COMING SOON! **

Jodina’s Italian Movie Picks:{All available at Netflix}

“Amarcord” ~ Director: Federico Fellini
“Pinocchio” with Roberto Benigni. Lovely. Goofy. Upbeat. Same old story but not animated and starring hilarious, puckish Roberto B. This movie will put you in a good mood and make you forget your troubles for a while.
“Pane E Tulipani”- nice film, shot mostly in Venice. A woman on vacation with her husband & son gets left behind at a rest stop. She ends up hitchhiking to Venice and establishing a new life there. Quirky, amusing, and interesting in an inward-look-into-other-peoples’-lives kind of way.
“Cinema Paradiso”, beautiful. This film is poetry in motion. Watch it; you’ll know what I mean.
“Il Postino”. Poet meets plebeian. This film has the rare capacity to capture how even the most humbly clothed character may well have more to express than meets the eye. Massimo Troisi stars in his last role, in which he also called the shots as director. He finished this ‘capolavoro’ (masterpiece) foregoing cancer surgery, and succumbing to the disease shortly after filming culminated.
“Divorzio all’Italiana” starring Marcello Maistroiani. A really fantastic film — wry and at the same time over-the-top. With a flair for the exaggerated-to-make-a-point commentary, “Divorzio” shows an Italian era gone by in which women had no power and were whiny and sometimes insipid and the men were arrogant, self-serving and oft-unfaithful, with little or no remorse. Also quite funny and well-acted.

~~THIS SECTION CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED~~

Jodina’s Italian Music Picks: {To view/hear artists, search on YouTube.com. There are many sources to buy online, I prefer mp3panda.com}

Radio Italy Live, Listen free online to modern Italian music.
Un Bacio a Mezzanotte, by Quartetto CetraItalian Cafe sound from the dolce vita era (post WWII,1950s and early 60s)
Cannelloni, by Giorgio Conte, Italian Cafe style

Volare, Domenico Modugno
Mina, late 60s wild child and femme fatale, Italy’s first female rocker, pop, surf rock, R&B. See/hear my blog post on Mina and her music.

Jovanotti: funk, Euro rap, dance- Per te - Penso in positivo, Voglia di liberta’ Tanto, tanto, tanto
Dolcenera: Mai piu’ noi due
Ladri di Biciclette, old school, former funk-blues-rock band
Pittura Freska, old school, former Venetian reggae band
Giorgia: Gocce di memoria
Alex Britti: La vasca
Irene Grandi: La tua ragazza di sempre

RESOURCES: SUGGESTED LEARNING MATERIALS

Schaum’s Outline of Italian Grammar. Outlines and explains most essential Italian grammar. Includes examples, verb charts, and answered exercises. Considered by many Italian teachers as the ‘bible’ for learning grammar. Schaum’s Easy Outlines ITALIAN Crash Course is a smaller format, more condensed version of the above without the practice exercises.
Italian for Dummies. True to its name, this is an idiot-proof, low-key intro to the language, with lots of great basic info – from grammar to vocabulary to specific cultural scenarios (planning a trip, dining out, etc), including practice dialogs and a CD. Acts as a great springboard to practicing the language.
Pimsleur Introductory Level CDs. An excellent way to get your brain gears spinning in Italian–and a great bargain at $9.95 + Free Shipping. Link: http://adjix.com/t5vc