Archive for November, 2009
49. Nicknames Galore! (Culture Shot)
November 29th, 2009
Learn Italian with LearnItalianPod. What happens when one fourth of the families living in a small Italian town of 50,000 people have the same last name and they can only be distinguished by their nicknames? Easy… a lot of confusion, as it becomes almost impossible to know who’s who; and confusion remains until those families find a way to actually make their nicknames become legal last names!
This is not science fiction, and that’s exactly what happened a few days ago in the small Italian town of Chioggia, near Venice. - So we’re going to dedicate this Culture Shot to yet another really peculiar and interesting piece of Italian creativity. Enjoy!
[Jobs & Professions in Italian - LearnItalianPod VIP Members Extra Bonus!] Login to the Learning Center to find, as a special extra bonus, a super useful audio file with PDF transcript entitled “Jobs & Professions“, containing the Italian names of some of the most common jobs and professions, words like “impiegato, negoziante, postino, idraulico”, and many, many more!
Culture Shot - Episode Nr.49
28. I’m Left On Feet! (Upper Intermediate)
November 15th, 2009
Learn Italian with LearnItalianPod. Episode #28 of the “Upper-Intermediate Level Series” is entitled “I’m Left On Feet!”. Does it sound like nonsense? Well, let’s explain! - Italians use the famous expression “rimanere a piedi”, which in English can be translated as “to be left on feet”, to say that their car broke down and therefore they can only… walk!
So today, let’s follow our friend Lucia as she calls ACI, the Italian roadside assistance, after her car suddenly stopped working, and let’s learn a lot of useful Italian that everyone can use in the unfortunate case of a car breakdown while in Italy. Enjoy!
[Car & Motorbike - LearnItalianPod VIP Members Extra Bonus!] Login to the Learning Center to find, as a special extra bonus, a super useful audio file with PDF transcript entitled “Car & Motorbike“, containing thirty-eight must-know “ready-to-use” words and sentences you can use on your next trip to Italy if renting a car or motorcycle, and when driving on the road, stopping at a gas station, and even if you ever need road assistance. Now that’s a useful extra bonus!
Upper Intermediate - Episode Nr.28
48. Hurrah for The Lantern (Culture Shot)
November 8th, 2009
Learn Italian with LearnItalianPod. When you think about a sea-bathing establishment right on the beach, you mentally picture men, women, and children all together enjoying their time outside. Not so if you enter the sea-bathing establishment “La Lanterna” in Trieste, Italy, where men and women cannot mingle together but are in fact separated by a wall!
What’s even more incredible is that “i Triestini” (the citizens of Trieste) love their wall, and no one wants to hear about knocking it down: in fact, the sea-bathing establishment is one of the busiest establishments in the entire area. So, let’s dedicate this Culture Shot to a peculiar piece of Italian culture: “il bagno La Lanterna”. Enjoy!
[The Imperfect Subjunctive - LearnItalianPod VIP Members Extra Bonus!] Login to the Learning Center to find, as a special extra bonus, a super useful audio file with PDF transcript entitled “Il Congiuntivo Imperfetto”, containing the full conjugation of the imperfect subjunctive for the verbs “essere“, “avere“, “parlare“, “vendere“, and “dormire” (one sample verb for each of the three conjugations!) - That’s really the perfect tool you need to master the Italian imperfect subjunctive!
Culture Shot - Episode Nr.48
27. Brand or No Brand? (Upper Intermediate)
November 1st, 2009
Learn Italian with LearnItalianPod. Episode #27 of the “Upper-Intermediate Level Series” is entitled “Brand or No Brand?”. When it comes to buying clothes, Italians are divided into two opposing categories: on one side those who refuse to buy anything that is not “branded” and on the opposite side those who do not care about names or brands but look for a good deal instead. And if people from the two categories are part of the same family, and are wife and husband… then an argument is in order!
So, let’s follow our lovely couple Lucia and Italo as they’re planning to go shopping for clothing and let’s learn a lot of useful, informal, 100% “real” Italian, together with some new, interesting vocabulary. Enjoy!
[Clothing in Italian - LearnItalianPod VIP Members Extra Bonus!] Login to the Learning Center to find, as a special extra bonus, a super useful audio file with PDF transcript entitled “Clothing in Italian“, containing containing all of the “must-know” names of clothes, words like “cravatta, collana, camicia, pantofole”, and so on, so the next time you go shopping for clothes in Italy, you’re going to be 100% ready!
Upper Intermediate - Episode Nr.27
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