Idiomatic expressions are one of the most problematic areas for any language learner. The difficulty arises from the fact that these sentences don’t have a literal sense. This means that both their composition doesn’t come natural to learners, and their meaning isn’t easy to guess. For these reasons idioms are usually taught when students already …
Italian language
Learn the comparativo di maggioranza – the comparative of superiority
As the word suggests, the comparative is a construction that allows to compare two or more entities – verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives or adverb – expressing some degree of superiority, inferiority or equality. The first entity is the primo termine di paragone (first term of comparison), while the second is the secondo termine di paragone …
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Twelve Italian words you won’t learn from coursebooks
The most common way to start learning a foreign language is at school with some coursebooks. Coursebooks are generally well thought out. Indeed, they focus both on grammar and vocabulary, and they also give you an insight into the foreign culture. However, people who’ve learnt Italian on books and have then had the chance to …
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The truth about book translation – Are indie authors’ concerns justified?
Book translation is something many indie authors seem to be concerned about. They worry about both the quality of the service, and the fact that even if they find good translators, these may choose to change some segments of their books. I well understand their fears. In fact, authors make strong efforts to create a good …
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Learn Italian sounds – the alphabet
Italian is one of the most musical languages in the world. But what are exactly the sounds of this language? Let’s summarize the main ones in the tables below: ALPHABET EXAMPLES PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION SIMILAR SOUNDS IN ENGLISH A Animale (animal) [ani’male] Cup B Bagaglio (luggage) [ba’gaʎo] Bike C [1] Cane (dog) [‘kane] Cold D …
