In Clode's drawer

Yes, definitely I've got the title!

My drawers are always a mess! And nobody is authorized to open them, except for me, of course. Inside there I can found anything, really! Last week I found even money (that's the good thing of having such a terrible memory)! My sister is always complaining about my drawers, and when something disappears in our room, she is always convinced that it is there. That's almost never the truth.

But drawers for me are also something... poetic! There is an expression in Italian "il tuo sogno nel cassetto" which means the dream you keep in your drawer. You can keep it there because it is secret, or because you are waiting the right time to use it. Anyway, anytime someone asks me about my "sogno nel cassetto". To have a free drawer to put my dreams inside of it! :)

This shop is a partial realization of me, of what I'm doing, so it could be, one of my drawer for my dreams (Of course, I have more than one!!)

Here a bit of things you can find in my drawer now:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/99899793/in-shades-of-blue-earrings-variazioni

http://www.etsy.com/listing/100110209/glass-bracelet-in-green-and-turquoise

 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/100832529/bracelet-in-murano-glass-in-shades-of

http://www.etsy.com/listing/101087436/earrings-blu-agata-and-lava-stone

Back from holiday

Italian lessons start again after holiday and to report the days spent on the mountain or the seaside...

Dove sei stato in vacanza?: where have you spent you holiday?
Ho passato le vacanze (ferie): I've spent my holiday

in montagna: on the mountain
al mare: on the seaside

Ferie/Vacanze: it is almost the same thing, the only difference (not always underlined) is that usually the word Ferie is used to indicate a pause during work.

Andare in vacanza:to go on holiday



The picture I've taken is from Lago di Ledro, a very nice place not far from Garda Lake, near the Alps. I really love mountain, probably because I live quite near the sea and when here it is very hot, all I can desire is a bit of cold breeze...

leave you with a song, hope you've enjoyed your holiday!

I love you...or not?!

Thinking about the next lesson with a question in my mind: what is worth after greetings and presentation, what do you need to enter the Italian language?!
I could not find an answer, but I realized what will be the next lesson:

expressing feeling/sentimenti

No need to say that feelings are not to be translated, but what we can translate is the way to express them. A friend asked me about German language some days ago, we were discussing sound and so on... I was telling him that German is not that harsh to pronounce and he told me "How do you say 'I love you'?", "Ich liebe dich", "you see, it sounds better in Italian or Spanish..."
Probably, it is right, the sound of the whole expression is a bit harsh, let see the Italian for
I love you: ti amo; very easy, two words. Anyway, pay attention on how to use it! Any Italian mother-tongue speaker will tell you that this formula is used only to express your feeling to the man/woman you want to share your life with. You usually do not use it with friends, relatives, or any other similar context. If you want to express your loving feelings towards other people (brothers, sisters, friends, parents, and so on) say:
Ti voglio bene: very difficult to translate it is a mix of I care of you/I want the best for you. Unfortunately, you can hear it in combinations like: "Ti voglio bene, ma non ti amo"; that we could translate as: "I really care of you, but I don't love you". A polite, but very sad way to say that your feelings towards the other person are not so deep.

Anyway, thinking about it I realized also, that I actually use it in different ways... Just a couple of example... When a friend says or does something peculiar for me I could express my joy in that moment saying "ti amo!!" but clearly, it is an exaggeration that help to express how happy I am about it. Sometimes I can express my reproach for something bad that one cold have said, saying "ti amo anch'io!" (I love you too!), it is of course ironic, the meaning is more or less "Your reproach is too hard to me, but I understand what you are saying!". Here of course the way it is said express more than half of the meaning!

Shaking hands

Foto from Flickr


Today's Italian lesson:

Introducing- Presentazioni

Ciao, mi chiamo ...: Hi, my name's ... (informal, just to say your name, to make it formal, just change Ciao with Buongiorno)

Piacere di conoscerti/la: Nice to meet you/How do you do

Come ti chiami (inf)/ Come si chiama?: What's your name?( for a suitable answer see the first sentence)

E' stato un piacere parlare con te/lei: It's been a pleasure talking to you (inf/form).

It is quite usual among friends too shaking hands while you introduce somebody. Quite rarely you exchange kiss while introducing for the first time. It could happen among very young people (teen agers and so...), just a couple of kisses on cheeks.

Lesson Number One

Knowing the risks of my laziness, I decided to start a new topic. It is not a casual one, but the reason of it will be revealed a bit later...
This new topic is: Italian lessons. I will write some basic Italian for beginners, but anybody can ask questions and I will be pleased to answer.
So, let's start, Lesson number One:

Greetings- Saluti

Ciao: Hello/Hi; very informal, but also common among friends and so on... You can use it either when you arrive or when you leave.

Salve: hello; a bit less informal, but anyway not a formal way of greeting.

Buongiorno/ Buon giorno: Good morning; You can use it until noon, as in English. You can say Buongiorno when you start a conversation, when you arrive and (in formal context) you can say so even when you're leaving. My Granma used to say that it was more polite than "arrivederci". Actually, nobody would say that "arrivederci" is unpolite!

Buon pomeriggio: Good afternoon; I think that a common grammar would tell you that you can use it when you arrive or starting a conversation after noon, but it is quite unusual to use it like this. If you really want to say so, and not give the impression of being a foreigner, use it before leaving, is a good and polite way to wish a nice day!

Buona sera/Buonasera: You can start using it after noon. As Buongiorno, is mainly use when you arrive, and if you want to be very polite you can say so when you're leaving (see Buongiorno).

Buona notte/Buonanotte: Good night; mainly used before going to bed, or very late at night.