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Archive for the ‘Culture Shot’ Category

50. They Arrested Santa Claus! (Culture Shot)

Level: Culture Shot

Christmas is just a few days away, and, to get you into the holiday mood, what could be better than celebrating Santa Claus? But, as you will see, this is definitely not going to be a traditional celebration… In fact, we’re reporting an incredible piece of news from Italy: in Naples, they have arrested Santa Claus! – And so today, in a nice twisted way, we’re going to dedicate Culture Shot #50 to the icon of the holiday season, Babbo Natale!

On the grammar section, we will review “how to ask questions” in Italian together with some of the most interesting words and expressions from the story. — Oh, and one more thing: if you are a LearnItalianPod VIP Member you will love today’s extra bonus, as it contains everything you need to know to celebrate this holiday season… like Italians do!

[The Italian Holiday Season - 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 “The Italian Holiday Season“, containing everything you need to know to celebrate this holiday season… the Italian way! Practice this terrific extra bonus to learn how to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” in Italian plus many, many more useful words and sentences!

Culture Shot – Episode Nr.50

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49. Nicknames Galore! (Culture Shot)

Level: Culture Shot

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

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48. Hurrah for The Lantern (Culture Shot)

Level: Culture Shot

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

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47. The Food of The Gods (Culture Shot)

Level: Culture Shot

Learn Italian with LearnItalianPod. Chocolate has been considered “il cibo degli dei” (the food of the gods) since the beginning of time. Let’s face it: Italian or not, you will hardly find anyone that doesn’t like the taste of chocolate. But the good people from Perugia, Italy have taken the love of chocolate to the next level and every year they dedicate an entire week to this incredibly good food, by running “The European Fair of Chocolate!”

So, let’s dedicate this Culture Shot to “the food of the gods”, and let’s see how Italians’ creativity can transform a great food into an incredible celebration of life. Enjoy!

[Finger-Licking Italian Delights - 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 “Finger-Licking Italian Delights”, containing the names of the most common sweets of the Italian cuisine, words like “cannoli, confetti, spumone, zuppa inglese”, and many more. – And if this isn’t making you drooling for sweets, then we don’t know what will!

Culture Shot – Episode Nr.47

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46. The Ultimate Lottery Prize (Culture Shot)

Level: Culture Shot

Learn Italian with LearnItalianPod. If there’s one expression that perfectly describes Italian people imagination and creativity, that is “una ne fai, cento ne pensi” (one thing you do, one hundred things you come up with). A major Italian supermarket chain took the thinking to the extreme so, at this time of major economic crisis, they came up with the ultimate lottery prize… a job for a year!

Considering Italy’s unemployment rates, this is definitely a desirable prize for someone unemployed, so no wonder the lottery is having a huge success! Let’s dedicate today’s Culture Shot to another unusual masterpiece of Italian creativity: “the job lottery”. Enjoy!

[Children & Kids' Talk - 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 “Children & Kids’ Talk“, containing some of the most popular sentences you need to know when traveling to Italy with children and kids. The bonus also contains a section called “Kids’ Talk” made of short sentences you can teach your kids so they can speak and communicate with other Italian kids!

Culture Shot – Episode Nr.46

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Archive for the ‘Culture Shot’ Category

50. They Arrested Santa Claus! (Culture Shot)

Level: Culture Shot

49. Nicknames Galore! (Culture Shot)

Level: Culture Shot

48. Hurrah for The Lantern (Culture Shot)

Level: Culture Shot

47. The Food of The Gods (Culture Shot)

Level: Culture Shot

46. The Ultimate Lottery Prize (Culture Shot)

Level: Culture Shot

You must be a LearnItalianPod VIP Member to access this content.

Already a LearnItalianPod VIP Member?

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