The Italian word for breakfast is (la) colazione (koh-lah-tsee-oh-neh). (Although my husband doesn't consider this breakfast, I do.)
When I was in my twenties I spent the month of May one year traveling in Italy. I loved everything about it – the people, the language, food, art and the lovely scenery. When I was cleaning out a closet recently I came across Italian flashcards, a language DVD and a course book I had purchased years ago and then stuck away in a closet. It was the inspiration I needed to commit to the Everyday in May drawing challenge. I'll use my daily drawings to illustrate an Italian vocabulary word every day. By the end of the month, I will have added 31 random Italian words to my vocabulary.
The rules I’ve set for myself are to post everyday, even if I dislike what I’ve drawn or painted. And to give myself permission to do a very simple contour drawing, if that’s all I feel like doing. No daily masterpieces required.
Oh, and if there are any Italian speakers viewing this, please feel free to let me know if I make mistakes.
NOTE TO MYSELF: Most Italian nouns (i nome) end in a vowel. Nouns that end in a consonant are of foreign origin. All nouns in Italian have a gender (il genere); that is, they are either masculine or feminine, even those referring not to people but to things, qualities, or ideas. Generally, nouns ending in -o are masculine, nouns ending in -a are feminine. MASCULINE: amico, treno, dollaro, panino . FEMININE: amica, bicicletta, lira, studentessa. Nouns ending in -e may be masculine or feminine. The gender of these nouns must be memorized:MASCULINE: studente, ristorante, caffè . FEMININE: automobile, notte, arte. Nouns ending -ione are generally feminine, while nouns ending in -ore are almost always masculine. Nouns ending in a consonant are usually masculine: bar, autobus, film, sport. Abbreviated nouns retain the gender of the words from which they are derived: foto f. (from fotografia) cinema m. (from cinematografo) moto f. (from motocicletta) auto f. (from automobile) bici f. (from bicicletta)
12 comments:
I love your theme! By the end of the month, both your right and left brain will be well and truly exercised! Sadly I can't see the image ... it's coming up as a little red cross :(
I will be here everyday! Italian is one language I have never even considered except in a dream world.
Time I explored this language.
The theme is great!
Sherrie Roberts
Unfortunately I can't see the image either, but I love your idea! I speak Italian (and I live in Italy) so if you have any questions, etc., please feel free to contact me :)
In bocca al lupo!
Hah, there's one for you to learn if you haven't yet! It literally means "in the mouth of the wolf" but it means good luck--kind of like our "break a leg." Your response should be "Crepi il lupo!" or just "Crepi!" meaning you hope the wolf dies.
Nice thought, eh? ;)
Delightful, educational theme! You're on my daily list.
Hmmm, not sure why the image isn't showing, although Blogger was a little weird this morning when I was preparing the post. I've re-placed the jpg, so hopefully it's visible now.
YAHY it's working now :)
I was going to comment it is like the English word: "collation" :) I bet we took it from the Italian or Latin ;)
I love this theme!
I couldn't see the image earlier either but I can now and it's wonderful!
Beautiful job!!
Not to worry...I know a little Spanish and no Italian. You painting is delightful...it would make a great cookbook cover. :)
What a great idea for a theme - and I'm sure having the extra incentive of learning Italian will help keep you going even when you don't feel like drawing. Plus - we all get to learn along with you!
Great drawing too - I love the lettering and the color and the way the shapes of the different patterns, angles and shadows repeat and reflect each other.
Wonderful! I absolutely loved Italy, too. Before I left for a trip there one year, I practiced Italian by listening to tapes in my car when I was stuck in traffic every day. I even made my friends speak Italian with me, responding to the tapes, if they rode with me. They thought I was nuts, but they enjoyed it, too. I love the sound of their language.
This is so utterly fantastic, a great post, some language history and a new vocabulary prepping a trip to Italy !! Now if we could go to Italy for a sketch crawl.
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