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December 21, 2009 | Italian

More on the Italian Job

I go back to work translating.

I felt exhausted when I woke up today, but I was determined to go for a run in Central Park. I managed only five miles, though I did get some VocabuLearn done while I was out there. It is icy…

December 22, 2009 | Italian

Italian Grammar, Italian Job, Italian Party

Everything I do today involves Italian.

Today was super-heavy on Italian; by virtue of that, it was a great day. It began just right: I woke up and did a couple of hours of grammar exercises with Italian television on in the background. Extremely enjoyable. Then…

December 23, 2009 | Italian

My Last Day of Work

I say goodbye to my Italian "employer."

This was my final day at the Italian company. I would have been willing to stay on through New Year’s, but as of today they are closed until January. When I arrived, I went straight to work on a…

December 24, 2009 | Italian

Christmas Eve

The day before Christmas, I was a good girl and studied; if Santa existed, he would be proud.

’Twas the day before Christmas, and I did vocabulary in my vocabulary book, listened to VocabuLearn CDs while cleaning and organizing, studied subjunctive, and in general felt pleased that I was actually remembering some things.

December 25, 2009 | Italian

Grinch

I experience my annual aversion to Christmas.

I am not a fan of the Christmas season. Every year I am happy when it's over and I can get on with the business of non-holiday life. I made this particular Christmas a very Italian one. Squeezed in…

December 27, 2009 | Italian

Italian-Speaking Family Members Arrive!

Brandt's sister's family is going to be here for two weeks. They all speak Italian!

Brandt’s sister and her family have just arrived from Italy for a couple of weeks in New York. Her husband is from Genoa, and they are raising their three children there. They have an apartment a few blocks from…

December 28, 2009 | Italian

I Can’t Leave Italian

It is almost certain that Italian will receive a one-month extension.

Monday! As soon as I woke up, I got to work in my yellow Barron’s grammar book. I am feeling as though some of the verb stuff is really coming together now. One thing I spent some time on…

December 29, 2009 | Italian

Subjunctive Skills

The subjunctive forms are finally sinking in.

I am really starting to remember verbs of all tenses, moods, etc. I still make lots of mistakes, but I can sometimes remember both present and past subjunctive now. Subjunctive was the holdout verb category for me.

January 1, 2010 | Italian

2010: The Year of the Homework

I set the tone for 2010, studying for hours.

I was originally supposed to switch to Korean today, but I couldn’t. Italian is too wonderful. So, one more month of Italian, then on to Korean. Brandt and I had a New Year’s Eve party last night. It…

January 2, 2010 | Italian

No Heat? No Problem!

A super-cold apartment is no deterrent where Italian studies are concerned.

Today the heat went off—yet again—in our apartment building. I would not be deterred, however: I studied Italian for at least six hours, much of the time wearing a down jacket, hat, and gloves. According to the book…