Italian 101: ...these are a few of my favorite words!

Ciao a tutti!

It's been a rather uneventful week, with lots of rainy weather.  We finally finished our midterms this week so now we are settling back into our usual workload.

Bubu studying Ghirlandaio for the art history midterm

I thought it might be fun to make series of posts to teach you all some simple Italian words and phrases, so I made a list of my top 10 favorite silly-sounding Italian words to share with you. :)

10. Coccolare, co-co-là-re

This verb means to cuddle and the "coco" part always makes me imagine that warm feeling of being curled up with a blanket and a nice mug of hot chocolate.  One of my professor's dogs is named coccolina, which is from the noun coccola and basically means little cuddles. :)

9. Muffa, moo-fa

This word sounds kind of like "muffin" but it actually means mold, which I didn't know until I came to Italy and we talked about blue cheese in our sustainable food class. I also didn't know that it derives from the Latin mucere, to mold.  Unfortunately, given that I usually translate either battle scenes or love poems, I probably won't come across it in Latin anytime soon.

8. Chiacchierone, kiac-kieh-rò-ne

This word is a mouthful!  Chiacchierone is the Italian equivalent to chatterbox, from the Italian verb chiaccheriare, to chat.  The kiac-kieh sounds mimic indistinct chattering, making it particularly fun to say.

7. Urlare, ur-là-re

One of the many words associated with screaming, urlare means to yell.  It derives from an even more silly-sounding Latin word, ululare which has the same meaning -- and I have seen it many times in my translations. :)

6. mucca, moo-kah

Remember this word?  It is one of the Italian words for cow!  I think it is really cute and easy to remember because it sounds so much like "moo".  It comes from the Swiss-German "Mugg" and was originally used in reference to Swiss cows.  Fun fact: one of the local milk brands here in Florence is called Mukki.

5. Svenire, sve-nì-re

Very similar to venire, to come or arrive, this word means to faint.  In Italian, usually when you see a word with an "S" at the begin, it means the opposite.  For instance, contento means happy and scontento means unhappy.  That rule doesn't apply here but it helps me remember svenire because fainting is rather like the opposite of coming or arriving.

4. Topolino, prononced exactly as written

The very unique Italian word for mouse.  Topolino is actually the diminutive form so it means little (or cute) mouse.

3. Fanciulla, fan-chu-la

A poetic term deriving from the word fanciullezza (childhood), which in this case means youthful, adolescent girl.  Fanciullo is the masculine form.  This word is part of high register language so it isn't used much in daily conversation.  I have only heard it as a term of affection from a mother to her children.

2. Zanzara, zan-zà-ra

One of the most fun words I know for mosquito. It comes from the Latin zinziare, which means to chirp or buzz (like mosquitoes!).

1. Pipistrello, pronounced exactly as written

This is my all-time favorite silly-sounding word in Italian and it means bat (the animal).  I'll leave it at that. :)

Hope you enjoyed learned some new words!  This weekend we are taking a field trip to the mountains to learn more about typical Tuscan mountaineer cuisine and cooking techniques, so stay tuned!

If you have time, leave a comment - I love hearing from you all :D  Please let me know what you think of the posts and what else you would like to see on this blog.

La musica italiana!

Ciao a tutti!

The other night as I was getting ready for bed, a car drove by blasting a Jovanotti song (popular Italian singer) and I realized that I hadn't done an Italian music post yet.  Since I finished my second midterm today and only have one more to go, I thought that sharing some music with you all seemed like a great way to celebrate!  I tried to find videos that have the lyrics (and, when possible, the english translation) so that you can sing along if you want. :)

To start with, here are a couple songs we've learned in class:

Volare (Nel blu dipinto di blu) - 1963, Domenico Modugno
Classic Italian song from the 1963, which we recently sang in our language class.  Your parents probably know this song ;) 
Lyrics are only in Italian but volare = to fly, cantare = to sing.

L'Italiano - 1983, Toto Cutugno
One of my favorites from first-year Italian, this fun song highlights all good, stereotypical parts of Italian culture.  Italian lyrics + a good English translation :)

 

O sole mio - 2011 Il volo
Another great classic from 1898, this version is sung by Il Volo which is a trio of young men who sing "Italian operatic pop".  They have several other great songs (including some in Spanish) which you should check out :)  Also, o sole mio = my sunshine.

Controvento - 2014, Arisa
 This song won this year's Festival di Sanremo, an important music festival/competition that takes place every year.  I couldn't find an English translation, but I was able to find her singing it for a TV show.

Non cambierò mai - 2013, Baby K feat. Marracash
I've included this one to show that not all Italian songs are slow, emotional ballads.  This one is a rap so if that's your thing, enjoy :)   The lyrics are in Italian.

Per dirti ciao - 2012, Tiziano Ferro
The title literally means "to say ciao to you" and it is by my favorite Italian singer, Tiziano Ferro!  I have been listening to his songs since I started taking Italian and they have really helped me remember words and grammar concepts.  

Fun fact: Tiziano also sings in Spanish...so here is the same song but en Español :)

And finally, per concludere (to conclude), here is the Jovanotti song that I heard the other night and which prompted this post.

Tutto l'amore che ho (all the love I have), 2011, Jovanotti
Unfortunately I couldn't find a good quality video with an English translation so here are more Italian lyrics for you. :)

That's all for now!  Let me know which is your favorite!  I have many more songs to share with you in a later post. ;)

Ciao!

In fattoria: Our trips to Italian farms

Ciao a tutti,

Sorry for being absent for the past few weeks.  I started to write a post and then got hit by a sudden onset of work.  We have all our midterms this week so I've been busy writing a research paper for social history (which I thankfully finished last night) and now I need to study for my exams.
Let's see...so many things have been happening lately!  One of the classes I'm taking this semester is sustainable food where we learn about the methods of food production that are responsible and respectful of workers and our natural resources.  Part of the class includes field trips to visit local farms and compare the different types of agriculture.  So two weekends ago, we visited Camporbiano, a bio-dynamic farm outside of Florence.

What is bio-dynamic, you ask?  Good question!  In Italy, organic is called "bio" which is short for biologically (or naturally) grown.  A bio-dynamic farm is different from an organic farm for a couple reasons.  Organic means that the crops or animals have been raised without (or with limited) antibiotics or other natural substances.  Bio-dynamic is a little harder to define.  It is actually more of an agricultural philosophy but essentially it means that crops and animals are raised without antibiotics and with particular attention to their well-being.

Camporbiano produces milk, cheese, and other dairy products from cows and goats, as well as flour, fruit, and honey.  We got a tour of the farm and got to meet all the animals, including two very cute dogs :)

I vitelli!  The calves:)

Bonding time with the Camporbiano cows

 There are two words for "cow" in Italian.  You can either say la mucca (moo-ca) or la vacca, which is almost identical to la vaca in Spanish.  Our guide, who works at Camporbiano, told us that each cow has a name, in addition to the number on their tag and that the farmers know each one.  There are about 40 cows on the farm and during the winter months they live inside the stalls (which are much bigger than they appear in this photo) and during the rest of the year they graze outside.  The stalls, which are cleaned daily, are covered in hay to protect their joints from the hard impact of walking on the concrete all day - basically the same reason we wear good running shoes when we do certain sports or activities that involve lots of walking.  The cows also eat a very healthy diet - only the special hay that is made there on the farm. 

Le capre!  The goats - this one wouldn't stay still long enough to snap a photo that wasn't blurry :)

 Camporbiano has goats to make goats milk products that are very popular here in Italy.  Like the cows, they live not only in the stalls but also in the pastures depending on the seasons.  Our guide explained that because they do not give antibiotics to their animals, they heal them using natural remedies.  He told us that one time they had a bull who injured his leg and they cured him with calendula, a special type of flower with anti-inflammatory properties which grows naturally on the farm.  Incidentally, I have also used calendula gel for muscle pains and can say that it works quite well!

Camporbiano and the beautiful Tuscan countryside

 After our visit, we got to sample the various products, including cheese, bread, veggies, honey, yogurt, and a delicious fresh pear juice.  Yum!

Today was our second field trip and this time we went to Reggio Emilia, in the Emilia-Romagna region to visit la Fattoria Rossi (fattoria = farm in Italian) which is famous for Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  La Fattoria Rossi is an organic farm, so it was rather different than Camporbiano.

For instance, the stalls the cows lived in were not covered in hay and were rather dirty.  They were also not allowed to roam outside and they ate corn and other grains in addition to hay.

Fattoria Rossi dairy cows

We did get to see how the parmigiano is made, which was neat but a bit smelly because there was so much milk and aging cheese.

Making cheese wheels

The cheese needs to dry a bit before it can be soaked in salt water to preserve it

The cheese has to be inspected by an expert to make sure it meets the standard of parmigiano reggiano cheese.  The wheels are tapped with a little hammer to make sure they are not hollow inside.  If they have any defects, they cannot be sold as parmigiano reggiano but can be sold as other cheese or as grated/powdered parmigiano like we have in the States (although today we learn that our grated "parmigiano" is usually not parmigiano but another different type of cheese called Grana Padano).

Aging gracefully: the cheese storage room :)  Parmigiano needs to age before it is ready to be eaten

These stamps certify that it is Parmigiano Reggiano and also tell us the details about where, when, and how it was made

Afterwards anyone who could eat dairy got to taste some samples of parmigiano that was in different stages of the aging process.  I can't vouch for it myself but I was told that one really can taste the difference between a few months of aging!

Now I'm back in Florence and ready to resume studying for those midterm exams!  If you have any questions about the farms, please ask!  I have lots more information to share that wouldn't fit in this post. :)

A dopo,
Isabella