At 7 years old, my son went to Italy to spend 10 days with Italian cousins to be immersed in the language. When I arrived to Agnone, to collect him, I was stunned when Luca accompanied me around town. He was greeted as though he had been there all his life – by other kids, cousins close and far removed,…
Tuscany is not just Florence, Pisa and Siena. Tuscany is also the sea, the countryside, the mountains, the food and the people. Discover the real Tuscany in this interview with my colleague Virginia who lives in Maremma. Virginia talks about her experience as a teacher who hosts students from around the world at her home. She also shares some of her most amusing encounters with…
Il sasso language school in Montepulciano provides superb opportunities to get out there on foot to discover and explore some of the best of Tuscany’s landscape and wildlife with a professional Italian guide and teacher. This special tour gives to the students the opportunity to practice the language in an informal and relaxed way and a great chance to appreciate the…
Spritz in spring! Let’s celebrate the end of the winter term. Primavera is coming so we meet for an Italian Aperitivo at Illy caffe on Regent street on Wednesday 16th of March at 6.30pm Aperitivo italiano, canapes & good chat in Italian plus La riffa: Win a language course in Tuscany @ ilsasso.com Where: 295 Regent St,…
What is rosa (pink). Rosa is a ribbon hanged on the front door to announce a girl’s birth. Rosa is a chick book un romanzo rosa or some gossips on a tabloid cronaca rosa. Rosa is the rose quartz or a learner’s permit il foglio rosa. Rosa is the traditional Italian female name. Rosa is part of the Italian idiom which describes the…
A pochi giorni dalla scomparsa del famoso regista Ettore Scola, ecco qui una scena del capolavoro “Una giornata particolare” per ricordare uno dei film più belli del cinema italiano. Due grandi attori, Marcello Mastroianni e Sophia Loren s’incontrano e si amano in una straordinaria interpretazione accompagnata dalla radio che raccontava la sfilata di Hitler a Roma. In questo video visitiamo…
Italian Cinema Workshop from Sunday 25th of October by Italian language services @ Italian Cultural Institute in London After the success of our last cinema workshops, this term is intended to present the Italian cinema through the eye of the young directors and actors. This short-course is designed for intermediate and upper-intermediate students of Italian. The aim of this course…
Some people think that idioms are the most obscure subject that can be encountered when attempting to learn a foreign language, and we might agree with this assumption. Beacause of their sheer nature of crystalized linguistic structures whose origins have often been lost in the process of language evolution, idioms are always a very tricky issue in the hands of…
Uno dei libri che consiglio solitamente ai miei studenti è “Io non ho paura” di Niccolò Ammaniti. La storia di un gruppo di ragazzini che durante un’estate bollente nel sud Italia sono coinvolti, a causa degli adulti, in una storia di rapimenti e sequestri. Consiglio la lettura di questo libro perchè la lingua usata, il registro, i dialoghi e la…
Agnone is a small historic town in Alto Molise. We get to know the locals who participate so much in our immersion learning, but we took time this summer to see some other towns and villages where no one speaks English! Edoardo Lalli in Pescopennataro, known for its stonemasons and sculptors, showed us his work and demonstrated his craft. The…
