My friend Karla’s miniscule flat on via dei Bardi needs crowd control even when no one but she and her husband are standing in it. Still, New Year’s Eve at ...
Giancarlo, the affable man with whom I team teach, recently took off for Japan on what he described as a ‘mother-in-law mission’. ‘Japanese women like Italian men,’ he said to justify the absence. I believe his time off is better justified by the fact
Director of The Florentine Marco Badiani speaks great English, but, when it comes to idiomatic phrases, his choice is to be the king of the ‘detto non detto,’ offering creative ...
Giancarlo, the affable man with whom I team teach, recently took off for Japan on what he described as a ‘mother-in-law mission’. ‘Japanese women like Italian men,’ he said ...
It was a bad day at The Florentine. We were up against last-minute translation deadlines, the guys were producing animations for some key client up north and, lo and behold, ...
Jeremy is my American scholar-friend who dresses like an Englishman and happily attends Florentine cultural lectures like the kind I conjure. Then, as a member of the educated audience, ...
My friend Cornelia has been pining over Pinco Pallino for several years now. Cornelia is a pseudonym and Pinco Pallino is the fictional name for Italy’s run-of-the-mill Joe Shmoe. The fact that she didn’t react to me calling him that means she’
I’ll never forget the time I took the Frecciarossa from Santa Maria Novella to Napoli Centrale. On time, clean and complete with the complimentary drink and snack, my journey ...
If I were to launch a Tuscan cookery school, I’d call it q.b., for ‘quanto basta.’ For me those two little letters embody the true essence of Italian cooking. While English cookbooks state every gram, tablespoon and cup put to use in a recipe, life
Translation is never a straightforward linear process; it is all about the purpose, or, to share a technical term, ‘skopos.’ As a linguist, I make choices as I convert text in one language into another. The purpose of a Tuscan agriturismo website is to sell holiday accommodations of
VAI ALLA DESCRIZIONE DEL CORSO IN ITALIANO E IL MODULO PER ISCRIVERSI ALLA PRESENTAZIONE DEL CORSO CLICCANDO QUI. TF staff has recently fielded enough requests for English lessons in Florence to warrant arranging a course for friends, readers and fans. We’ve partnered with the newly opened English
I’m a words person, always have been, always will be. I am fortunate to have been born with an eye and a mind for correct spelling—I can spot a mistake from a distance and often intervene by wielding a red pen. As I’ve become
The Advancing Women Artists Foundation now has its own Wikipedia page. Have a look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advancing_Women_Artists_Foundation This new online reference page is one of the outcomes of a daylong ‘Edit-a-thon’ aimed at increasing the number of entries spotlighting women
Once, while out with his nonna, my son, who was just learning to talk, proudly identified the backside of a strange woman standing beside them: ‘Culo!’ My extended Italian family members were highly amused by my mother-in-law’s subsequent retelling of the episode. I, on
Bob Nordvall, who, among other pursuits, wrote for The Florentine,passed away on January 2 in Pistoia, Italy. Especially appreciated for their caustic wit, Bob’s articles and conversations always featured a unique mix of insiders’ advice and expat perspective. Readers of his much-awaited newsletter ‘This