July 2006PenaltiesANTONIO FROM ITALY BLOGGED IN JULY
I’m very sad for England. I think penalties are a very bad way to lose, aren’t they? I remember the final match of 1994 World Cup in the USA in which we lost 3-2 against Brazil in a penalty shootout. Although I was only 10 y.o. I perfectly remember the last Baggio’s penalty.
Anyway my completely wrong prediction about semi-final was England vs Brazil… luckily I didn’t bet anything! I really enjoyed Brazil vs France in which Zidane was extraordinary: everything he tried to do, he did! Brazil seemed to be tired and not brilliant as normally. With “normally”, however, I don’t mean this World Cup competition.
It is going to rain in Turin. I’m very happy because it’s really hard to study with this hot weather. I’m finishing to prepare a composition about media for the exam I’ll do next Thursday. The exam’s name is “Technical Writing” (in English) but it is about writing in Italian language. I think we are quite strange sometimes! A lot of Italian people use some English words when talk or write in Italian. I guess they do that to try to make their arguments more interesting and professional. In my opinion it’s a very ridiculous way to communicate and I absolutely don’t like it. It’s really funny to find out that some of them don’t speak English… eheh
I’m going to have diner to zio Mario’s (uncle Mario) home. He is a cousin of my father who lives in Turin. He’s always really kind to me and he often invites me for diner.
Have a nice evening, Rachel! Please say good luck to Italy tomorrow, we’ll need a lot. I’m very sad for the article against Italian people published on Der Spiegel. However I don’t want to say anything about it because I think (and I hope) it doesn’t represent what German people think of us.
For me the World Cup is a fantastic moment to be able to enjoy the sport with people from all over the World. We’re all citizens of the same World!
See you tomorrow… (just before the match)
Bye
Antonio posted on Monday, 03 July 2006 | comment on this postWaiting for the semi-final…You are absolutely right, Rachel, about Rooney’s reaction. I don’t think he looks like gobsmaked in that photo. I don’t know who is right between him and the referee… probably the referee. Anyway I hope his decision wasn’t influenced by Cristiano Ronaldo. A referee might make a mistake, but it mustn’t listen to any footballers’ suggestions!
I agree with you about how we use language to identify with and belong to a group. I’ve learnt at University some words which are used only by young Turin people. For example to say “gomma da masticare” (or simpler “gomma”), which means chewing gum, they use the word “cicles”. I think “cicles” doesn’t mean anything out of Turin.
When I am in Sant’Arsenio I often (always) speak in my local dialect to my friends. However since when I arrived in Turin they've been saying that my accent has changed. On the other hand all the people here who talk to me immediately understand that I come from the South. I don’t know… maybe I’m losing my identity… eheh! My accent is becoming mixed like a cocktail…
The match will kick-off in five minutes. I’m quite hungry but I will wait for the break to have diner. I don't want to risk to lose an important action!!!
See you tomorrow
Antonio posted on Tuesday, 04 July 2006 | comment on this postWhat a wonderful World......Cup! It is really a dream: the Azzurri will play the World Cup final match!!!! Commentators were right, the match was absolutely fantastic, engrossing, fascinating. I was so concentrated that I didn’t have diner at half time… so only when I got up today, being particularly hungry, I realized that I wasn’t been eating anything for more then 20 hours. A TV spot of famous drink says: “we all speak football”. Yesterday I ate it too!
I was quite tired and I watched the match alone at home but I should have gone to Turin centre. What a shame! I’ll probably watch the final in Sant’Arsenio. When the match finished streets became full of people who screamed and laughed waving their Italian flags. I opened the window and there was such a loud noise that it seemed to be in the stadium. People at windows seemed all to be around an imaginary pitch. What a fantastic moment…
Now I’m watching the other semi-final... ops it has finished. France 1-0 Portugal, so we’ll play the final against France. I’m afraid of the magic Zidane… however I think also France should be afraid of us… eheh! First of all I hope we’ll enjoy a beautiful match… then if I am able to enjoy our victory too, much better!
Tomorrow morning I’ll do my last exam before my summer holiday. It isn’t a hard one and I hope it will be good. Probably on Friday I’ll already come back in Sant’Arsenio. Here after the rain has fallen the weather has become hotter the before… I’d like to swim all the day!
Now I had better go to bed because I must wake up quite early tomorrow to go to University on time.
See you soon
Good night
Antonio
posted on Wednesday, 05 July 2006 | comment on this postSuperstitious people…‘Break a leg!’ made me very lucky today… I passed my exam and I’m enough satisfied with the result. The literal translation of ‘Good luck’ in Italian is ‘Buona fortuna’. However also in here a lot of people believe that this phrase might bring bad luck. A good (and safety…ehehe!!!) way to wish good luck is ‘in bocca al lupo’, which I’ve already talked about in my previous posts. In Italy it is said that all the people who take part in a show, particularly theatre actresses and actors, are very superstitious. Some of them own a personal lucky object and some others have a little ritual to do before the performance begins. It should be interesting to find out something about the origins of these beliefs and habits. The theatre history is really interesting and full of little fascinating mysteries.
 During my holiday in London I was able to see Macbeth at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. It was great! I hadn’t seen a Shakespeare’s work in a live performance before. I had some problems in understanding but I really enjoyed the atmosphere. Although the Globe was recently reconstructed, in fact, and so it is not the original one built in 1599, there is a very particular ‘smell’ in it. It seems to feel the big author’s presence around you…
Thank you, Rachel, for your corrections. In the last post I wanted to write ‘I hadn’t been eating’ but I used ‘be’ instead of ‘have’. When I don’t pay enough attention I often make this error because of the different Italian auxiliary verb. Anyway, I would like to ask you if the Past Perfect Continuous can be used in that situation instead of the Past Perfect.
Now I’m going to start packing because tomorrow I’ll return in Sant’Arsenio for my summer holiday. Another train is waiting for me…
Thank you again for corrections and suggestions
Have a nice evening
See you
Antonio
P.S. Blue-coloured clothes are ok in Italian theatres… but pink ones are absolutely banned!!! posted on Thursday, 06 July 2006 | comment on this postWaiting for the finalHello again!
I’m sorry but yesterday I arrived in Sant’Arsenio very late and so I wasn’t able to write and send my post. My train arrived with more then three hours of delay. That’s simply ashamed! However this isn’t the right place to complain about bad services of “Ferrovie dello Stato” (the Italian railway company).
Here we all look forward to the World Cup final and in Sant’Arsenio all the windows are decorated with Italian flags. I will watch the match with my friends and if Italy wins we will….mmm… what will we do? I don’t know, maybe it’s better to talk about that in Monday’s post. I’m not superstitious but I prefer to wait for the match in silence!
It’s interesting, Rachel, to find out that sometimes English and Italian are very similar. Firstly, the English ending ‘-ean’ is used in the same way of the Italian ending ‘-iano’. A Shakespeare’s work is ‘un lavoro Shakespeareiano’ (a Shakespearean work). We also use this ending minus the first letter ‘i’ when the person’s name ends with it. For example a Manzoni’s work is a Manzoniano work. Secondly, we very often use the author’s name to mean ‘his work’. ‘Gassman legge Dante’ (Gassman reads Dante) was a TV programme in which the Italian actor Vittorio Gassman read the Dante’s ‘Divina Commedia’.
I slept for sixteen hours last night (like Woody Allen in Manhattan). It’s really relaxing to be on holiday. Now I’m going to watch the final for third place. I’ll watch it in ‘pizzeria’ eating a pizza ‘Margherita’, which is my favourite one. I don’t have a favourite team tonight and so I’ll enjoy the show totally relaxed. I guess tomorrow it will be quite different…
Can I wish good luck to Italian footballers saying ‘break a leg!’? If I was a footballer, probably I would prefer ‘good luck’ … ehehe
See you soon
Antonio
P.S. ‘In bocca al lupo’ to your son for his part in Macb… ops sorry… in ‘the Scottish play’! posted on Saturday, 08 July 2006 | comment on this postBlogging in the night…When my summer holidays begin my lifestyle always changes a bit. I’ve ever loved the night as the most beautiful part of the day. I adore waiting for the dawn and closing my eyes when the sun has just risen. Obviously when I have to go to my lessons at University I can’t do that, but in summertime I always spend my nights on something else instead of sleeping. Now it’s 3:41 a.m. (2:41 a.m. GTM) and I’m dedicating the rest of this night to the student blog.
I’ve just visited, Rachel, the website of the TV program ‘Dr Who’ about which you talked in your post. It sounds really interesting. I’d like to watch it but here I’m not able to receive BBC UK channels. To improve my English I daily watch BBC World which I receive in Sant’Arsenio with the SAT TV and in Turin with the cable one. I felt in love with their fantastic countdown videos which open every hour the news program...
17:30 GTM
I was tired yesterday night and I didn’t finish my post. I’m going to do that…
Going back to ‘Ferrovie dello Stato’, I’ve seen their new TV spot on BBC World. They talk about fast trains, modern railway stations, hi-technology network, etc. It’s a very beautiful video spot… what a shame it doesn’t exist the Italian version of it! Anyway, when the delay is longer then 30 minutes, you can ask for a 30% refund on your ticket. You have to compile a request form and wait for a ‘bonus’ which FS will send to you at home, then you can use it to buy a new ticket. Money refunds are not allowed. I always receive bonus two or three months after the request and I normally pay my tickets using them… (it isn’t a lie!!)
Is the IELTS speaking test structure similar to the FCE one? When I did the FCE I remember that there were two teachers but only one of them was allowed to talk to me. The other one had just to check my answers in silence. I had been afraid of it before the exam begun, but I slowly became more confident. In fact, I often looked at her (she was a woman) to find out her impression and she always answered with a kind smile. I hope also the result will be ‘kind’ at me!
Now, I’m going to have a shower and then I’ll watch the final!
FORZA AZZURRI!!!!!!
See you tomorrow…
Bye
Antonio posted on Sunday, 09 July 2006 | comment on this postWe are the Champions!
What exciting moments! After the match I went in the street with my friends and we took part in the biggest party I’ve ever seen. It is the first time I can see Italy wins such an important competition. I enjoyed the party all the night and I came back home this morning…after I had had a good breakfast!
The final match was played much better by France. Anyway, looking at the whole World Cup tournament, Italian team has been fantastic and probably the best one.
What can I say about Zidane? He is one of the biggest footballers in the World and I’ve ever liked him. However I don’t agree with FIFA about naming him ‘best player’. Everything Materazzi said to him can’t justify his very violent reaction. Fair play should ever win in an important competition… and so, after such bad behaviour, I don’t think to give him a price was the best thing to do!
It was a very sad way to end his glorious career and I hope he will apologize to Materazzi instead of blaming him.
FORZA AZZURRI!!!
See you tomorrow…
Antonio
posted on Monday, 10 July 2006 | comment on this postThe Eraser Yesterday I was so immersed in listening to ‘The Eraser’ that I completely forgot to write my post. The ‘Eraser’ is the first album in which Thom Yorke doesn’t sing with Radiohead. Anyway we mustn’t be afraid of that because his role in the band is not in discussion. He said "I want no crap about me being a traitor". In fact he is in the middle of their summer tour and they're going to release a new studio album, whose new songs are already presenting to public during concerts…
About ‘The Eraser’… I’m not a good reviews writer (particularly in English) and so I won’t try to describe and comment the album in detail. I'm only writing a short opinion about it. ‘The Eraser’ is a very interesting work, well sung, with a fantastic music and lyrics. At the moment my favourite song is ‘Harrowdown Hill’: it sounds very good and Thom performs it in a magic way. In my opinion the lyric is superb…
I'm coming home / I'm coming home
To make it all right / So dry your eyes
We think the same things at the same time
We just cant do anything about it
So don't ask me / Ask the ministry
Don't ask me / Ask the ministry ...
This is a short bbc.co.uk review which I completely agree with.
I’ve been looking for an accommodation in London for two days but I haven’t still found what I need. I would like to go there in the end of July on a one week holiday. As always I’m quite in late for booking and so it’s not easy to find something good still available. Anyway I’ll continue my research!
See you tomorrow
Antonio
posted on Wednesday, 12 July 2006 | comment on this postDr. David KellyHarrowdown Hill is the place in which was found Dr. Kelly’s dead body. He was a microbiologist expert in ‘biological warfare’ and he worked for the MoD (United Kingdom Ministry of Defence). He became popular after an interview for Panorama in which he talked about the British government’s dossier on weapons mass destruction in Iraqi (WMD). The interview, although wasn’t broadcast, caused a big political scandal. Dr. Kelly died some days after he had appeared before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
“They are not mobile germ warfare laboratories. You could not use them for making biological weapons. They do not even look like them. They are exactly what the Iraqis said they were-facilities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill balloons."
The source of this quote was confirmed to be Dr. Kelly in the Hutton Inquiry.
BBC News about Kelly and WMD
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/3411073.stm
Wikipedia EN about Dr. David Kelly and Hutton Inquiry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutton_Inquiry
The song’s title ‘Harrowdown Hill’ by Thom Yorke clearly refers to Kelly’s death. Thom writes the lyric using the 1st singular person and, in this way, tries to make Kelly able to speak again. In my opinion the result is really moving and makes the song sad and sweet at the same time.
‘The ministry’ is referred to the British Ministry of Defence who was, in Yorke’s opinion, responsible with the whole government “for outing him and that put him in a position of unbearable pressure that he couldn't deal with, and they knew they were doing it and what it would do to him” (Thom Yorke in an interview with The Globe and Mail).
Thank you, Rachel, for your post about the ‘information structure’: it’s a very interesting argument! Italian organises information in a very different way. In fact we normally put new information at the beginning of a sentence and not at the end. Anyway I’ll consult an Italian grammar to find out more and I’ll post my research’s results!
There is a very interesting difference about adjectives’ position. In Italian they are often put after a noun instead of before. So you give firstly the information about the subject/object and then ones about the attributes. The exact contrary then in English! “Rachel is a fantastic English teacher” is “Rachel รจ (is) una (a) professoressa (teacher) Inglese (English) fantastica (fantastic)”.
Good night
See you tomorrow
Antonio posted on Thursday, 13 July 2006 | comment on this postSad Days
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
Only few words today... we’ve already said too many words. Now we need peace, we must build peace. How can someone see the future in the war? There is only one World which we must share.
I sent my yesterday post, Rachel, quite in late. So it was processed after you had sent yours. I’ll try to write my next posts earlier in the morning...
See you tomorrow
Antonio
posted on Friday, 14 July 2006 | comment on this postPompeian Amphitheatre Bob Dylan is going to perform tonight at Pompeian amphitheatre. The amphitheatre is located in the ruined Roman city Pompeii and it is a wonderful location for a live show. Some friends of mine are already there to take part in the concert. I’m sure it will be great! I wish I was there but I haven’t found tickets available. I didn’t buy it with them because I wasn’t sure to be in Sant’Arsenio today… maybe it’s better to take a risk sometimes! Pompeii is only sixty minutes by car to Sant’Arsenio but more then 10 hours to Turin.
Wikipedia about the Roman city Pompeii
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii
‘Live at Pompeii’ (1972) by Pink Floyd is maybe the most famous live concert which has always been performed in this location. The event was filmed and became a legendary and still-famous concert movie. A DVD remastered version is now available in music shops. It is a fantastic music experience and with no doubts my favourite concert film.
Although Syd Barrett had already left Pink Floyd in 1972, his influence was clearly still present in this work. Maybe Syd’s influence has always been present in Pink Floyd’s albums, particularly in Seventies.
Now he has died again… and again we’ll miss him.
Remember when you were young
You shone like the sun
Shine on you crazy diamond
A review of ‘Live at Pompeii DVD’ by bbc.co.uk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/classicpop/reviews/floyd_pompeii.shtml
bbc.co.uk about Syd Barret death
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5169344.stm
See you tomorrow
Antonio
posted on Monday, 17 July 2006 | comment on this postWaiting for Giovanna...We’re waiting for our relative Giovanna who will arrive in here tomorrow. She’s from Sant’Arsenio but she’s been living in the USA for twenty years. Her mother is my mother’s cousin… so Giovanna and I are ‘second cousins’ (am I right?). I haven’t seen her for ages and so I’m very pleased she will be our guest for next three days.
She arrived in Italy some days ago with her Italian friend Josephine. Firstly they visited Sicilia, which is the region from where Josephine comes from, and then they went in Salerno, which Giovanna’s aunt Paola lives in. Tomorrow morning they’re leaving Salerno for a daily tour of Capri island and they’ll be in Sant’Arsenio in the evening.
They’ll be staying in here just for three days but I hope we’ll be able to visit together some local tourist attractions like Certosa di Padula, Grotte di Pertosa, Parco del Cilento e Vallo di Diano. I’m going to talk about these wonderful places in next posts… maybe attaching some photos taken in there.
I’ve just talked to Antonio, one of my friends who went to Bob Dylan concert in Pompeii. He is enthusiast! He said it has been a wonderful experience which he has never tried before. I’m very sad to have lost this opportunity!!!! Next time I will buy my ticket in time…
Have a nice day
See you
Antonio posted on Wednesday, 19 July 2006 | comment on this postDreaming of ScotlandYesterday I was talking to a friend of mine about holidays. As I’ve already said this summer I’m quite in late for booking and so I will hardly find a good accommodation. Anyway next year I’ll prepare everything in time to be ready for a long tour of Scotland. Three weeks in a big ‘Inter Rail’ adventure!
At the moment I’ve only talked about it to my friend Antonio, who has immediately joined the project, but I think we should be at least three people to set off for this kind of travel. I don’t mean it is dangerous but I think, for a lot of reasons, that it isn’t a travel to do alone. So I have firstly to find an other partner and then I’ll design everything in detail…
I have never done an ‘Inter Rail’ travel and so during next winter I’ll need to buy all necessary equipments. I think Internet should be a good resource to learn from people who have already done this experience and, in addiction, it might be interesting to open a blog in which post travel design steps and then travel reports. I hope I’ll be able to realise this dream!
Giovanna isn’t still arrived but I think she’ll be in Sant’Arsenio in a few minutes…
See you tomorrow
Antonio posted on Thursday, 20 July 2006 | comment on this postSee you soon Giovanna!Sorry for delay but I’ve been quite busy during last days. Giovanna left Sant’Arsenio yesterday evening for a one week holiday in Sicilia with Josephine’s family. I’m sad for the shortness of their holiday in Sant’Arsenio and I look forward to being able to see them again. They’ve invited me to go in Sicilia but I don’t know if I’ll be able to go there in next days. Anyway I will go in St Louis, where they live in USA, as soon as possible.
I can’t say that I shown Giovanna around Sant’Arsenio… in fact she knows it much better then me. Anyway we’ve shown Josephine around Vallo di Diano and we visited some local ‘attractions’. The most important has surely been ‘Certosa di Padula’, which I’m going to shortly talk about. I’m sorry but I don’t have any photo at the moment because we’ve taken them just using Giovanna and Josephine’s cameras. I think they’ll send me photos as soon as they'll come back in Missouri. If I’m still ‘student blogger’ I’ll show them in a post…
 ‘Certosa di Padula’ is an important Italian monastery located in Padula, a small village close to Sant’Arsenio. Recently ‘Certosa’ has been recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and every summer becomes interesting artistic events’ location. I know ‘Certosa’ very well because I used to go to High School in Padula and so I was able to visit it frequently. It’s a fantastic place which should be visited during a holiday in the South of Italy. The photo on the right is borrowed from the ‘Town of Padula’ official site. I’m sorry but I haven’t found any pages in English about Certosa to link in this post.
See you tomorrow
Good night
Antonio posted on Monday, 24 July 2006 | comment on this postCertosa di PadulaI consulted a bilingual dictionary and I think the correct translation of ‘Certosa’ is ‘Chartreuse’. The ‘Certosa di Padula’ (Chartreuse of Padula) was founded by Tommaso San Severino in 1306 and it is the second biggest Chartreuse in Italy after the one of Parma. ‘L’ordine dei Certosini’ is the monastic order which monks who lived in Certosa belonged to (I haven’t found an English translation for ‘Certosini’). Today this Chartreuse is a national monument, and no monks live there since 1886. In 1982 it was restructured and now it’s opened to public!
I’ve just briefly talked about ‘Certosa di Padula’!
In the sentence ‘[…] I’m going to shortly talk about’, which I wrote in my last post, I meant ‘not in detail’ and so I incorrectly used ‘shortly’ instead of ‘briefly’. It’s a funny mistake, Rachel, isn’t it? The sentence meaning in fact changes completely but doesn’t become unrealistic. Do students of English make this kind of mistake frequently? I agree with you about differences between ‘blog’ and ‘face to face’ approaches. Anyway a student who’s really interested in learning English should answer all the questions which are blogged by the teacher (did I do that? eheh…).
In my opinion a big disadvantage of learning via ‘blog’ is, as you’ve already said, the lack of a real-time feedback. On the other hand ‘blog’ approach has a lot of advantages! In fact it makes you able to write and send your posts when and where you prefer… I think it should be a very interesting learning opportunity for who are busy at work or travel very much.
I’d like to say ‘ciao’ to Lizeth from Argentina, who always comments my posts. When you come in Italy I’ll be pleased to show you around some beautiful places!!!
Padula doesn’t mean, Solfinker, Paula and so isn’t related to the Saint. ‘Antonio de Paula’, who you mentioned in your comment, is ‘Sant’Antonio da Paola’ which means ‘St Anthony from Paola’. Paola is a small village in the south Italian region Calabria not so far from Padula (maybe less then 100 km). There you can visit a very beautiful and interesting sanctuary dedicated to Saint.
Now I’m going to go for a walk with my friends. Today it’s raining and it's a quite windy day... It’s a very good thing after so many hot days!
See you tomorrow
Antonio posted on Wednesday, 26 July 2006 | comment on this postMy last blog…It has been a very beautiful experience. I’ve really enjoyed this activity and I’d like to thank ‘BBC Learning English’ for this opportunity.
Firstly I would like to thank Rachel, who is an extraordinary teacher. Thank you very much for your comments, suggestions, answers, questions… thanks for your time and your kindness! It has been a great pleasure being able to meet you and communicate via blog to you in last few weeks. Thank you again!
Secondly I’d like to thank the whole ‘BBC Learning English’ staff and in particular Mr. Paul Scott, who has been my interlocutor since I begun this adventure. ‘Learning English’ is a fantastic site because of such fantastic people in its staff. Thank you Paul!
 Finally I’d like to thank all the readers for their daily comments. It has been very interesting being able to communicate to so many people from all over the world. Now I’m looking forward to knowing who is the new student blogger… I’ll continue to participate in the blog reading posts and sending comments.
From Sant’Arsenio….
That’s all folks!!!!!!
Antonio posted on Friday, 28 July 2006 | comment on this postWelcome to jenny's blog!
I feel so lucky to be the student bloger this month!
I come from China.
Yesterday afternoon I went to King coffee. There is a free English talk every week. This is Chris Kent In the left third. He is our English teacher. He came from UK several months ago , but he knows lots of Chinese culture. The second left is a high school student. Others are university students except me. The most right person is me. I have a day shift in a company. We produce electric products. I am also a housewife. I like cooking.
We talked about today---Chinese Valentine's Day and the story about it.
Long long ago a beautiful fairy loved a farmer on earth. They married secretly and had a son and a daughter. However the fairy's godmother knew it and became angry. She made a big river to separate the couples. So the wife lived on one side and the husband and children lived on the other. They could not live together anymore. Pied magpies, a kind of birds, sympathized them and wanted to help them. Hence they fly from all over the world and make a bridge to let the couples meet every year. This day is the Chinese Valentine's Day.
After class I went to a supermarket and bought some bacon. Because I wanted make quiche. It is a very delicious food made of eggs, flour, bacon and milk. The recipe is given by Chris Kent, our English teacher in the picture.
I took bus to home. It was 10 o'clock when I arrived home. Then I made a quiche. My daughter liked it and ate all the filling. This is the end.
Best wishes!
See you tomorrow!
jenny
posted on Monday, 31 July 2006 | comment on this post | |
