Daily Italian Words

There’s a particular reason I’ve chosen to write about the word tovaglia (tablecloth) – and it’s not because I use one every day. (In fact, I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I don’t even own one!) Rather, it’s because I often confuse it with two other words that I do use frequently, both of which are derived from tovaglia

I don’t know about you, but whenever I start learning a new language, I have the terrible habit of mixing up the verbs that correspond to “to hear” and “to listen” (and let’s not even get into “to watch” “to see” and “to look”!) Today’s verb is ascoltare which means “to listen” – let’s discover it now!

ascoltare<...

I often joke with my son about the sheer quantity of stuffed animals he’s accumulated over the years – some inherited from my own rather abundant collection, others given to him as presents. If I were to count them all, I’m pretty sure I’d still be here in an hour’s time!

An expression that perfectly describes my son’s stuffed toy situation is averne da...

You know when you’re in the middle of a sentence and instead of saying the actual word or name, you go “you know, the thing…” or “that guy, you know who I mean…” Maybe you forgot it. Maybe you just don’t want to say it. Either way, you’re waving your hands around while the other person stares at you, completely lost.

Whatever the reason, Italian has a fantastic arr...

As our son’s birthday draws near, our thoughts have turned to wrapping regali (gifts), baking his