Summer in the Italian Language: Sailing

by DHales | Jul 6, 2018 | Books, Italy, Language, Sayings and expressions, Sports, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs

La barca The boat For years we sailed San Francisco Bay in a boat called Canto del Mare (Song of the Sea). When we started sailing in Italy, we had to master a new maritime vocabulary, starting with the names for various Italian boats (imbarcazioni...

The Winter Olympics in the Italian Language

by DHales | Feb 19, 2018 | culture, Games, Italy, Language, Sports, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs

I Giochi Olimpici The Olympic Games Once again the Olympics are underway, reminding us of their power to bring people together and create ties among them (il potere di riunire le persone e creare legami tra loro). The Winter Olympics (Olimpiadi invernali) in the host...

Talking about the Olympics in the Italian Language

by DHales | Aug 5, 2016 | Books, culture, Games, history, Italy, Language, Sports, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs

I Giochi Olimpici The Olympic Games The Olympics have the power to bring people together and create ties among them (il potere di riunire le persone e creare legami tra loro). To encourage communication among people of different countries and...

The Queens of Tennis in the Italian Language

by DHales | Sep 15, 2015 | culture, Italy, Language, Social behavior, Sports, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs

Le regine del tennis Two Italian women rewrote sports history (la storia dello sport) last weekend. Against all odds, Roberta Vinci defeated the seemingly invincible Serena Williams. Then in an all-Italian final, Flavia Pennetta won the gleaming U.S Open trophy. After...

Once in a Red Moon in the Italian Language

by DHales | Aug 30, 2012 | Italy, Language, Sayings and expressions, Sports, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs

luna rossa, luna blu  red moon, blue moon  “Che fai tu, luna, in ciel, dimmi, che fai?” the writer Giacomo Leopardi (1798 –1837) asked in one of his most famous poems. “What are you doing, moon, in the sky, tell me, what are you doing?” Every culture, from...

Soccer and Shame in the Italian Language

by DHales | Jun 28, 2010 | Current Affairs, Games, Italy, Language, Sayings and expressions, Sports, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs

 vergogna shame “VERGOGNA!” the headlines in the Italian papers screamed as the Azzurri (The Blues), defending champions, exited the 2010 World Cup in the first round. Everyone—including the players themselves—seemed to agree that they had brought...