Posted on by Peter Rettig

Red Underwear and Italian End-of-Year Traditions

pope sculpture - Gamesforlanguage.com Besides Italy, Italian is also an official language in Switzerland (Ticino & Graubünden), San Marino, and Vatican City, and a second language in Malta, Slovenia, and Croatia, but we know little about particular end-of-year traditions in these regions or countries.­

The fourth-century Catholic pope and saint became associated with New Year's Eve. This was after the reform of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, when the last day of the year became December 31, the day of his death in AD 335.

Italy, where San Silvestro died, obviously has a special relation to the Saint and uses the term "Notte di San Silvestro" (as well as "Vigilia di Capodanno") as names for New Year's Eve.

There are some particular Italian Notte di San Silvestro traditions that you may not know about:

Red Underwear Red Underwear Christmas Present

The most curious tradition must be to wear red underwear during the last day of the year. It is supposed to bring you luck, health, and love. Importantly, a piece of red underwear should have been given to you as a present, for example for Christmas, and you'd be wearing it for the first time on New Year's Eve.

This centuries-old custom, originally just observed by women, is now also being adopted by men! Anything for luck, health, and love, right?

Lentil Stew & Pork Sausage

Lentils and sausages - Gamesforlanguage.com The San Silvestro dinner, eaten with family and friends, varies quite a bit from region to region, but it often includes fish and seafood.

At midnight when the bells ring, a traditional lentil stew is often eaten, one spoonful per bell, served together with "zampone" (pig's trotter, stuffed with spicy ground-up pork, usually dried and cured) or "cotechino" (a rind-and-pork-meat sausage). The round lentils, representing coins, are supposed to bring wealth and good fortune.

Grapes

Grapes and dried fruit are traditionally served at the end of the dinner. Preserving grapes for the Capodanno dinner - rather than eating them earlier - means that you have willpower and are a frugal person. Everybody at the table eating the grapes will therefore be frugal and wise with their wealth.

Throwing out old "Stuff"

Throwing out of the window unused or unusable stuff - pots, pans, clothes, and kitchen utensils - will "clear the deck" for next year. While few Italians still seem to practice this tradition - it was more prevalent in southern Italy in the past - you may still want to watch you head when celebrating New Year's Eve in Naples and further south.

At midnight, fireworks are also displayed across much of the country and the first day of the year, "Capodanno," is an official holiday in Italy as in many other parts of the world.

Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on FacebookTwitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.

Posted on by Ulrike & Peter Rettig

Uno-Due-Tre: Italian Numbers You Can Learn

numbers 1-10 - Gamesfrolanguage.com Readers of our previous posts on German and Spanish numbers know that we are big fans of at least learning the numbers in the language of the country we want to visit.

To prepare for a five-month stay in Rome, Italy, we spent a several months learning Italian. As this was several years ago and online programs were not yet readily available, we just used CD's. Neither of us had the time nor the patience to work through a textbook.

Once we arrived in Italy, it was clearly helpful to know basic phrases and be able to ask simple questions. In addition, knowing the numbers proved to be essential.

As a matter of fact, numbers were everywhere. We heard and said them when shopping, when paying a bill, or buying tickets; when arranging a time to meet someone, making a restaurant reservation, or asking about bus or train schedules; when hearing or asking about historical dates, or simply chatting with locals about travels in the past. We were using Italian numbers often during the day and felt pretty good that we had learned them.

Italian pronunciation is quite different from English, so you really have to practice saying the numbers out loud. The good news is that Italian is largely phonetic, which means that letters or letter groups are nearly always pronounced the same way.

Italian Numbers 1-20

With a couple of exceptions, Italian numbers from 1-10 resemble those in English, and are not hard to learn.

Sometimes seeing them written out helps: "uno" (one), "due" (two), "tre" (three), "quattro" (four), "cinque" (five), "sei" (six), "sette" (seven), "otto" (eight), "nove" (nine), "dieci" (ten). Not to forget that Italian "zero" is "zero."

For the numbers 11 to 16, you combine a mostly shortened form of numbers 1 to 6, with the ending "-dici":
"undici" (eleven), "dodici" (twelve), "tredici" (thirteen), "quattordici" (fourteen), "quindici" (fifteen), "sedici" (sixteen).
Notice the exception: "quindici" (15), where "cinque" (5) becomes "quin-."

For the numbers 17, 18, and 19, the pattern is turned around. You begin with "dici-" and with 17 and 19, you add connecting letter. Italian numbers shootout - Gamesforlanguage.com
- for 17, you add "-as-" to say: "diciassette";
- for 18, you say: "diciotto";
- for 19, you add "-an-" to say: "diciannove."
The Italian number 20 is "venti."

Once you've memorized the numbers 1 to 20, you've got a good basis for the numbers that follow. And practicing is easy, if you just Play Italian Numbers 1-20

Counting by Tens: 30, 40, 50, etc.

The round numbers 30 to 90 are for the most part delightfully regular. The number 30 is "trenta," but starting with 40, the tens all have the ending "-anta":
- "quaranta" (40),
- "cinquanta" (50),
- "sessanta" (60),
- "settanta" (70),
- "ottanta" (80),
- "novanta" (90).

Italian Numbers 21-99

The other numbers from 21 to 99 should not be too difficult either. (If you know French, you'll probably agree with me.) The Italian numbers are combined as in English: for example,
- "ventidue" (twenty-two),
- "trentasette" (thirty-seven),
- "quarantasei" (fourty-six),
- "cinquantatré" (fifty-three) etc.
Note that in these combined numbers, "three" is written as "-tré", with an acute accent.

Also, all numbers are said, and written out as one word, without a hyphen.

One thing to remember is that in these numbers, you drop the middle "-i" or "-a" when the second number is "-uno" (one) or "-otto" (eight).
So, you say "ventuno" (21) and "ventotto" (28), in contrast to "venticinque" (25), and "ventinove" (29), etc.
You do this consistently right through 99: "novantuno" (91) and "novantotto" (98) as opposed to "novantatré" (93) and "novantanove," (99), etc.

The Hundreds from 100-900

The Italian number 100 is "cento." Multiples of a hundred, simply combine the number 2 to 9 with "-cento." So you have:
- "duecento" (200);
- "trecento" (300);
- "quattrocento" (400);
- "cinquecento" (500);
- "seicento" (600);
- "settecento" (700);
- "ottocento" (800);
- "novecento" (900).
And practicing is easy: Just play the Italian Quick Game - Numbers 21 and Beyond

Italian Numbers from 101 to 999

The number 101 is simply combined: "centouno," as are all the other numbers to 999. When written out, these numbers are one word. Here are various number combinations:
- "duecentotré" (203),
- "trecentonovantotto" (398),
- "quattrocentoventuno" (421),
- "cinquecentoventicinque" (525),
- "seicentoottantasette" (687),
- "settecentouno" (701),
- "ottocentosessantanove" (869),
- "novecentocinquantasei" (956).

Italian numbers from 1000 to 10,000

Note that a thousand (1000) is "mille," but a multiple of thousand uses the suffix "-mila":
- 2000 is "duemila";
- 5000 is "cinquemila";
- 8000 is "ottomila";
- 10,000 is "diecimila." 

Not to forget that Italian uses a period, where US English uses a comma; and conversely, a comma for the US English decimal point. So, in Italy, ten thousand is 10.000 (with a period).

On the other hand, for the US English decimal point, as in 10,450.10 - Italian uses a comma. The number is written in Italian as 10.450,10 -  which can indeed be a little confusing.

Italian historical numbers - Gamesforlanguage.com Italian Historical Dates

Historical dates, of course, are rarely written out. But there are conventions on how to say them.

In Italian, unlike in English, you use "thousands" (not hundreds) to say a specific year between 1101 and 1999. Note also, that Italian written numbers can get very long because they are written (and said) as one word.

So, 1829 - should it be written out - would be "milleottocentoventinove."

MILLIONS, BILLIONS, TRILLIONS

A point of frequent confusion for speakers of American English are the high numbers that are often quoted in news reports about global finances, as for example, in the recent negotiations between Greece and the European Union regarding Greece's financial obligations.

Italian and English agree on "one million" (1,000,000) - "un milione."
(Note that "two million" is "due milioni," for plural agreement.)

But, for the US English "one billion" (1,000,000,000), Italian uses "un miliardo".
And the US English "trillion" (1,000,000,000,000) is the Italian "bilione."
Some misunderstandings are bound to come up here.

Finding Opportunities

We've found that there are many opportunities every day to really learn and internalize Italian numbers: Practicing them when exercising (e.g. counting numbers of repetitions), while waiting (e.g. counting passing cars or people), or even "counting sheep" before falling asleep.

And, just perhaps, the last suggestion may even have you "learn during your sleep." While not quite the same, recent experiments by  seem to indicate that foreign words heard during nonREM sleep may be recalled better later on. We looked into this research later on in Foreign Language Learning While You Sleep? 

Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. She is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.

Posted on by Peter Rettig

Molten Lead, Red Underwear, Grapes, and other End-of-Year Traditions in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, and Mexico

Fireworks New Year's resolutions (and Fireworks!) seem to be universal in many countries and many of us use the beginning of a new year - whenever that may be - as a moment to both look backwards and forwards.

As the biggest New Year's Eve party in the U.S. is arguably held at Times Square in New York City, other countries also know how to party in their capitals or major cities.

Around the London Eye (the giant Ferris Wheel), huge fireworks light up the sky and the New Year's Day Parade with dancers, acrobats, and musicians is the place to be.

DubaiThe Arab world does not celebrate the New Year, the notable exception being Dubai where this year another spectacle will likely eclipse last year's event at which nearly 500,000 firework rockets lit the sky during just 6 minutes.

This year the entire façade of the Burj Kalifa, at 2480 feet the highest building in the world(right), is to be covered with LED screens, which will be part of the fireworks, laser, and video show.

China celebrates its New Year according to its moon calendar, in 2015 on February 19, when the year of the sheep begins with the traditional Chinese fireworks and the country comes to a standstill for nearly a week. However, January 1 is also a holiday in China and in the larger cities the young celebrate the day by eating out and going to parties.

In countries where the four languages of our gamified Courses and Quick Games are spoken, the end-of-year traditions vary quite a bit, even by region in each country. The summary below can only list a fraction of the events and traditions and we invite our readers to comment and add others they know about.

German Speaking Countries

German is the country's only official language in Austria, Germany, and Lichtenstein. It is the "majority" language, and shares official status with the other languages, in Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Germany

New Year's Eve in German speaking countries is also called "Silvester," as December 31 is St. Silvester (or Sylvester) Day. This fourth-century Catholic pope and saint became associated with New Year's Eve, after the reform of the Gregorian calendar in 1582 when the last day of the year became December 31.

(Apart from the German-speaking countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Israel all use a variant of Silvester's name as the preferred name for New Year's Eve.)

RummelpotlaufenIn Germany's northern state Schleswig-Holstein, quite a few old traditions survive: "Rummelpottlaufen," quite similar to Halloween in the U.S., sees costumed children with a self-made music instrument (a can, covered with pig skin or thin leather, pierced by a willow-stick, which when turned and rubbed makes hollow and scary sounds), going from door to door on New Year's Eve, singing old tunes and being rewarded with candies and sweets.

Berlin is the site of Germany's biggest New Year's Eve party, which takes place around the Brandenburg Gate; "Berliner" (jam-filled doughnuts) are a particular favorite in Berlin, as in many other German-speaking countries during Silvester.

In the southern parts of Germany, originating from Austria and Switzerland, a cheese Fondue or Raclette is often also a typical New Year's dinner. At midnight a "Feuerzangenbowle," a punch made with red wine, orange peels, cinnamon, cloves, and poured over a burning sugar cone supplements or even replaces the German "Sekt" (sparkling wine).

Austria

Bleigießen:Leadpouring In Austria, Vienna clearly holds the top spot for New Year's Eve celebrations. Before midnight, small marzipan or chocolate "fortune gifts" (figures of chimney sweeps, little fortune piggies, four-leaf clover, etc.) are exchanged.

As in many other German-speaking regions, "Bleigießen" (lead pouring) - the melting of small pieces of lead, dropped into cold water - results in a popular, fun game: the various forms of the hardened lead pieces let the participants speculate what a person may experience in the coming year.

This YouTube video of an ARTE.TV video (see also our post on how to connect to  ARTE.TV) explains to a French audience (in German) how "Bleigießen" is done.

Impressive fireworks are part of the Vienna tradition as is a glass of champagne, and after the midnight countdown, the Danube waltz plays on all radio and tv stations.

I'm not familiar with any particular Silvester traditions in Switzerland, Lichtenstein, or Luxembourg that differ from those in the other German-speaking countries and regions.

French Speaking Countries

French is the second-most widespread language worldwide after English, as only these two languages are spoken on all five continents. French is an official language in 29 countries, most of which form la francophonie (in French), the community of French-speaking countries.

It is spoken as a first language in France, southern Belgium, western SwitzerlandMonaco, the provinces of QuebecNew Brunswick and some parts of Ontario in Canada, parts of the U.S. states of LouisianaMaineNew Hampshire and Vermont, among educated classes in North AfricaHaiti, French Polynesia and by various communities elsewhere. [Wikipedia]

While particular end-of-year traditions may exist in most of these countries, we'll just focus here on France.

France

In France, huge municipal firework displays are not the customary way to usher in the New Year these days. French people tend to take things more quietly and celebrate with friends at home or in a restaurant.

These New Year's Eve celebrations - le réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre - traditionally are a feast that includes plenty of champagne and foie gras or oysters, symbols of prosperity and good fortune. [You say "la" Saint-Sylvestre because it's short for "la fête de Saint-Sylvestre."] At midnight, everyone kisses under the mistletoe and offers their good wishes for the new year.

Eifel tower lighted at nightIn Paris, the city of lights, New Year's Eve becomes a visual feast: from many vantage points in the city you can see the iconic, illuminated Eiffel Tower.

You'll find the biggest New Year's party on the Avenue de Champs Elysées, where hundreds of thousands of people gather to celebrate and wish each other "Bonne année" (Good year).

This year, Paris is adding a first-time spectacle before the final countdown: a 15-minute video show projected on the Arc de Triomphe, highlighting the Parisian "art of living." At the stroke of midnight, the skies will fill with illuminations.

On New Year's Day, it's the tradition to have a large family dinner and to give presents to the children as a way to celebrate the arrival of the new year.

Italy

Italy, where San Silvestro died on December 31, 335, obviously has a special relation to the Saint and uses the term "Notte di San Silvestro" (as well as "Vigilia di Capodanno") as names for New Year's Eve.      

Red Underwear Christmas Present

There are some particular Italian Notte di San Silvestro traditions that you may not know about: The most curious one must be to wear red underwear during the last day of the year.

It is supposed to bring you luck, health and love. Importantly, it should have been given to you as a present, for example for Christmas, and worn for the first time on New Year's Eve. This centuries-old custom, originally just observed by women, is now also being adopted by men! Anything for luck, health and love! 

The San Silvestro dinner, eaten with family and friends, varies quite a bit from region to region, but it often includes fish and seafood.

At midnight when the bells ring, a traditional lentil stew is often eaten, one spoonful per bell, served together with "zampone" (pig's trotter, stuffed with spicy ground-up pork, usually dried and cured) or "cotechino" (a rind-and-pork-meat sausage). The round lentils, representing coins, are supposed to bring wealth and good fortune.

At midnight, fireworks are also displayed across much of the country and the first day of the year, "Capodanno," is an official holiday in Italy as in most other parts of the world.

Italian is also an official language in Switzerland (Tessin & Graubünden), San Marino, and Vatican City, and a second language in Malta, Slovenia, and Croatia, but we know little about particular end-of-year traditions in these regions or countries.

­Spanish Speaking Countries

Spanish is a national language in 20 sovereign states and one dependent entity, totaling around 442 million people. For a Wikipedia list of countries where Spanish is an official language, click here. We'll focus here on Spain and Mexico.

Spain

New Year celebration in Spain starts with a family dinner, which often take place in a restaurant that also offers live music. Towards midnight many Spaniards go into the streets and to public squares to meet with friends and clink glasses to ring in the new year. New Year's celebrations are lively with fireworks and all kinds of noisemakers. In the town hall, sparkling wine and grapes for good luck are distributed.

Grape holder In Madrid, people flock to Puerta de Sol for the city's big communal street party. But no matter where they live, Spanish people share the custom of the twelve luck-bringing grapes: at each of the twelve strikes of the midnight clock at the Puerta del Sol clock, you eat one grape and make a wish. (There are even special 12-grape holders as shown in the left picture.)

At strike 12 all grapes must be gone or else you risk getting bad luck. The strikes of the town hall clock are 3 seconds apart, so the official countdown starts 36 seconds before the hour. Throughout the country, everyone can watch the countdown on television.

[It is said that the custom of the 12 grapes goes back to 1909. In that year the grape harvest was overly plentiful that someone had the idea to use up the excess grapes in this way.] 

From midnight on, it's time for toasts, hugs, and well-wishing, but not before each person has tossed a golden ring into his or her glass, for good luck.

And similar to the Italians, Spaniards also believe that wearing red underwear on the last day of the old and the first day of the new year brings the wearer luck, health and love.

Mexico

In Mexico, a family dinner, either at home or at a special restaurant is at the center of new year's celebrations. Tradition has it that the meal should start with a bowl of lentils, a symbolic promise of wealth and prosperity. The preferred drink is often tequila.

Shortly before midnight grapes are handed out for the traditional luck-bringing ritual. As in Spain, you should eat a grape and make a wish at each of the twelve strikes of the clock at midnight. The grape tradition seems to have migrated to most other Spanish-speaking countries as well.

Also, in Mexico there is a slight "refinement" from Spain's tradition: Mexicans have to choose what is more important to them: Wearing red underwear lets the owner be lucky in love, wearing yellow underwear makes the owner wealthy in the New Year.

Family Traditions

And as countries and regions have developed particular traditions and celebrations, so have many families: In my father's family in Berlin, Germany, the after-midnight snack was "Heringssalat," a Scandinavian/Northern Germany specialty that has many recipe variations.

The herring, potato, apple, and pickle combination makes a welcome change after the sweet treats of the Christmas season and we are now continuing this tradition with our extended family here in the U.S.

Posted on by PeterRettig

Update on Watching German and French (Italian & Spanish) movies

Cine(Updated March 15, 2017) 

In a previous post, 7 iPad Apps we Like to Watch German and French Movies, I had described how to watch German and French movies by connecting an iPad to a TV (with the HDMI/iPad connector).

Since then I have tried out a few more iPad apps and also purchased and installed Google Chromcast. Here are some more “discoveries”:

German Apps

The German channel 1: das Erste or ARD

“Das Erste” (also: www.daserste.de ) gives several choices with a selection bar at the bottom: “Tipps” (tips for viewing choices), “Live” (which sometimes you can't stream for “legal reasons'!), and “Program,” which lets you see the currently playing program.

With the arrow “<” icon you can scan previous programs. Those with a “Play” arrow you can often stream and play. (However, sometimes my iPad does not stream movies which work fine on the laptop and with www.daserste.de or www.ard.de).

Recently, I have found that rather than the app, using Safari on the iPad and with www.mediathek.daserste.de  or www.ardmediathek.de/tv works better. Just select the movies or programs that interest you.

Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg (rbb)

“rbb mediathek” is the ipad and Android app of the Berlin-Brandenburg radio station, which can also be accessed via http://mediathek.rbb-online.de/tv. This app actually works quite well and you can see the latest TV-news, documentaries, movies, newest clips, and live streams just by scrolling down the home page.

You can even go back and find a program you may have missed with “Sendung verpasst” (broadcast missed) by selecting one in the alphabetical directory “A bis Z.” Under “F” you'll find “Film im rbb” and the rbb movies from the last seven(7) days that you can stream. Because this app work so well, it has become one of my favorites.

YouTV.de

A reader of the previous post suggested also YouTV.de to watch German TV channels. We are currently trying out the free version and like it. You can have TV programs recorded and watch them later.

There are also fee options that expand the number of programs you can record and the number of days they remain available.

French Apps

The France TV Pro app I had discussed previously stopped working for me after I upgraded my iPad to iOS 8.1.1, so I deleted it. I am currently trying “France 24.” The ads are quite entertaining in French, but the “News Bulletin” as well as the “Business” news are in English, so not helpful for French learners. (Corrrection: top left, "Accueil", you can change the language to "Français"). France 24 is  a news channel and you can listen to news clips in French of events happening around the globe.
I also installed the “Télé-Loisirs” app but it plays only short previews. It requires access to a “box” of various French companies (freebox, TV d'Orange, SFR neufbox, Bbox and DARTY BOX) and can't be accessed in the US.

Arte+7 Mediathek  (Arte.tv) still works best for me for French language movies. (For example, if you chose the movie, currently playing: "Plus que 6 jours” which will be available for 3 more days, you'll hear “High” German (as well as Swiss German) and see French subtitles, a multilingual experience for French/German  learners...)

Do readers have any other suggestions for French apps?

Italian and Spanish Sites

I haven't found any worthwhile individual apps that let you stream Italian and French movies.

Italian

The many Rai apps you can find in the iTunes Store let you download some old shows as podcasts. But I have found that the Rai website, www.rai.tv while confusing, is a better bet.  “Rai Replay” will allow you to replay broadcasts of the last seven days for the listed channels. It takes some searching to find a movie or episode that you can play in the US, even if you focus only on the blue coded broadcasts, (“I programmi già disponibili in modalità Replay sono contrassegnati dal colore azzurro”) as quite a few can't be played in the US or your country.  

Spanish

Finding Latin American channels in the US is typically not a problem. Many or most of the Cable companies have them as part of their basic package. If you are looking for TV stations in Spain you can chose among five: RTVE, antena3, quattro, telecinco, and Canal+  (which is a subscriber service). Those that I tried for a movie video all require the Flash Player (which will exclude the use of an iPad), 

I also recently came across Bethany's post: Fun way to Reinforce Learning, in which she lists the following sites, and which she recommends especially for dubbed movies in the two languages:

for Spanish: http://www.sipeliculas.com. 

for Italian: http://www.italia-film.org  

Postscript: Sipeliculas also requires the Flashplayer, and while you get 5 free days with italia-film when you enter your credit card, watch out: They use Geeker.com for their membership management and you are  automatically renewed, if you don't cancel in time! Both seem to have a good selection of movies.

Google Chromcast

I succumbed to the urge to buy another gadget: Google Chromcast. After setting up the Chromcast via an iPad app, I was disappointed that I could only “cast” those programs to the TV, for which the iPad app was Chromcast enabled. For example with “SnagFilms” you can cast all kind of movies, but I haven't found a foreign one yet worth watching. (and you'd have to live with the annoying ad breaks while watching!)

However, using your laptop with your Chrome Browser and after installing the “Google Cast” extension, you can cast any movie or program you can find and play on your lap top. I did so yesterday with several German rbb (see above) and French arte.TV movies. (Unfortunately, you'll also encounter quite a few movies on Arte where you'll get a message like: “Cette vidéo n'est pas disponible dans votre pays” or “Dieses Video ist in ihrem Land nicht verfügbar” (This video is not available in your country), obviously depending on the country from which you are trying to access the site.)

(One way to get around this problem is to pay for a Secure line VPN. I subscribe to a Avast Secure Line VPN and can get all my German stations and movies by selecting Frankfurt as my city.)

Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on FacebookTwitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact or below.

 

Posted on by Peter Rettig

Calling a waiter - Herr Ober! Garçon! Cameriere! Camarero!

Street scene with waiter Calling a waiter or waitress to your table can often be done by gestures such as raising your hand or – if you want to pay – by scribbling with one finger into the other hand.

And such gestures are quite international and work in most foreign countries as well. It is useful, however, to also know how to call a waiter or waitress in the local language. We therefore teach these expressions in our four language courses (French, German, Italian, and Spanish).

The German Way

When we started developing our German course, I thought of using the form of address I had heard when growing up in Germany: "Herr Ober" (actually an abbreviation for “Oberkellner” or headwaiter).

However, our native speaker reminded me that you don't use this term any longer - except maybe in very upscale restaurants. I was aware that you no longer call a waitress to your table with "Fräulein".

So we settled on "Entschuldigung!" (Excuse me.), which seems to be used in most of the German speaking countries for calling a waiter or waitress. Then, if you want to pay, you would say, “Bitte zahlen!” or more politely: “Ich möchte bitte zahlen! (I would like to pay, please.) In more upscale restaurants where you do have an “Ober,” you might say “Die Rechnung, bitte!” (The check, please.)

With this German Quick Game you can practice:  "Bitte, ich möchte zahlen!"

The French Way

During a recent visit to Paris, we occasionally heard people asking for the waiter by calling “Garçon.” More often, though, we heard “Monsieur” or “Madame” when someone called a waiter or waitress to the table.

We're told that nowadays you'll hear the term “garçon” more likely from older customers, who may also add it to the usual call for the check: “L'addition, s'il vous plaît.”

You can practice this expression with our French Quick Game.

The Italian Way

In Italy, it is still quite common to call for the waiter simply with “Cameriere!” but we have also heard “Per favore!” (Please), as a way of getting the attention of the server. And, to call the waiter because you want to pay, you would say: “Il conto, per favore” (The check, please). A waitress would be called “cameriera,” but in Italy you'll find more male than female waiters.

You can practice "Il conto, per favore!" with our Italian Quick Game.

The Spanish Way

In Spain, we heard “¡Camarero!” quite often, but as in Italy, people also just use “¡Por favor!” (please) to call the waiter to their table. When you're ready to pay, both of the following do very nicely: “Me gustaría pagar, por favor” (I'd like to pay”) or “La cuenta, por favor” (The check, please). A waitress would be called “camarera,” and, as in Italy, male waiters seem to be in the majority in Spain.

You can practice “Me gustaría pagar, por favor” with our Spanish Quick Game.

We invite any comments and observations regarding regional differences or customs for calling a waiter or waitress in German-, French-, Italian-, and Spanish-speaking countries.

Posted on by Peter Rettig

South Tyrol – A Multicultural Success Story?

South-Tyrol: Geisler Mountain RangeIn our travels we have always been interested in learning about the ways languages have influenced the history of a region or country. South Tyrol is an example that good things indeed can happen.

And while separatist movements are typically caused by economic inequities, power struggles, religion, etc. they can be further fueled by language differences – even if the language differences don't seem to be significant to a foreigner.

It's well understood that language unites the members of a family, tribe, community, state, nation etc. You can feel it yourself when you encounter someone in a foreign country who speaks your language: there is an immediate connection with that person, and the language is the link.

So it is no wonder that conquerors and kings, dictators, and victors in wars have tried to impose their language on the acquired regions. But generally, a NEW foreign language cannot be forced on populations without causing anger, resistance, and often bloodshed. There are many examples in history where such attempts were not successful.

A Brief Background

South Tyrol had been awarded to Italy after World War 1. By 1923, Italian became the mandatory language at all levels of local, provincial, and local government, and by 1928, the only language of instruction in schools.

Mussolini accelerated the Italianization by settling many Italians in a region which, in 1919, was 90% German speaking. When the region remained with Italy after World War 2 - with many of the pre-World War laws remaining - the German majority was not happy. 

I visited South Tyrol in 1965 as part a graduating class trip, and my class mates and I experienced first hand the friction between the German and Italian speaking population (which, at that time, still involved violence and bombings).

South Tyrol – Key Ingredients for success

With the many separatist movements in the world today, the recent article in the New York Times, Italy’s Historic Multicultural Compromise, gives reason for hope.

The article notes that the German-speaking population in South Tyrol is still the majority, albeit with 61.5% vs. 23.1% Italian, based on the 2011 census. About 4% speak “Ladin,” a language quite close to the Swiss “Romansh,” and 11.4% speak a variety of other languages. (See also: The Other Swiss Languages: Italian and Romansh)

It also appears that among the key ingredients that allowed South Tyrol to overcome its separatist past are both a willingness to compromise, embrace bi-lingualism and cultural diversity, as well as Rome's concessions on “home rule,” (i.e. strong local governance and retaining 90% of the tax revenues).

It's quite likely that it takes ALL of these “ingredients” to achieve success and continued efforts to maintain it. Let's hope that the lessons learned in South Tyrol can be shared with and applied in many other parts of the world.

In view of Russia “encouraging” Crimea's vote to separate from Ukraine just recently, possible plebiscites looming in Catalonia and Scotland, attempts by the Veneto region to separate from Italy - South Tyrol's recent history is a good reminder what it takes to overcome separatist movements.

On the other hand, Norway's peaceful separation from Sweden in 1905 was quite extraordinary both for its deliberate process and adherence to the law. It makes great reading for history buffs and has also some interesting language implications which we described in our 2013 post A Cruise and Norwegian language Politics

Posted on by Peter Editor

Foreign Language Maintenance & Improvements

Image of a WrenchRecently a post reminded me how important it is to maintain and improve my foreign languages.

Native Language vs. Languages Learned Years Ago

My native language is German, but I've been living in the US for many years. Without reading German newspapers almost daily, I would not stay current with the changes in the German language.

And, while I rarely have to look up any words and I'm not afraid of forgetting my German (I still speak it at home every day), I know that keeping up my French is more of a challenge.

I learned French as a young man when I lived in (French-speaking) Switzerland. I now read it quite regularly online, have conversations, and e-mail with French speaking friends and family members.

But with French, I am more aware of the need to constantly maintain it. If I don't have an opportunity to speak it in a while, I find that it takes me some time to recall vocabulary and to get comfortable again with my pronunciation and sentence structures.

New Language Improvements

Having started to learn Italian and Spanish only a few years ago, I am still working on improving both my proficiency and fluency. I can read both languages quite well now and my fluency is improving.

However, I am very aware of the fact that my vocabulary has to increase. I regularly play our own Italian 1 and Spanish 1 games and have recently started to use Lingohut to help me grow my vocabulary, especially in Spanish.

(I loved to practice with the browser extension Lingua.ly, not only get the translation of words I don't know, but also to practice & recall those words later. However, Lingua.ly had to close its doors and disappeared.) 

We're planning to do a more detailed review of Lingohut later, when we have gained more experience with it. But for now, I'll just enjoy maintaining and improving "old" and "new" languages! Postscript: In March 2017, Ulrike did a review of Lingohut Portuguese.

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

Quick Italian: magari and mica

Italian language Curious about the Italian words "magari" and "mica"? Often when I'm in the kitchen preparing lunch, I'll grab my iPad and put on an Italian soap. For me it's a good way to sharpen my Italian listening skills.

As the conversations fly back and forth, I keep hearing the words "magari" and "mica," both of which are integral features of casual Italian conversation.

To understand their meaning you have to also understand the context in which they are used.

MAGARI

"Magari" can have different functions in a sentence (adverb, conjunction, interjection), and its meaning varies by context.
• magari - maybe, perhaps [adverb]
• Magari c'è un altro motivo. - Perhaps there's another reason.
• magari - if only [conjunction]
• Magari fosse vero! - If only it were true!
• magari - I wish!, Yeah, right! [interjection, a little scarcastic]
• Hai vinto qualcosa? - Did you win anything?
• Magari! - I wish! / Yeah, right!
• Magari! - you bet! [interjection, positive response]
• Ti piacerebbe andare in Italia? - Would you like to go to Italy?
Magari! - You bet! / I certainly would!

MICA

"Mica" is typically used as an adverb, for particular emphasis.
• mica - at all [adverb]
• Mica male questo vino. - This wine isn't bad at all.
• non mica - not at all [adverb]
• Non sto mica bene. - I'm not well at all.
• Non ci credo mica. - I don't believe that for a minute.

Expression

Non sono mica nato/a ieri. - I wasn't born yesterday. (m/f)
Meaning: I know a thing or two ... I didn't just fall off the turnip truck.

How can you start using "magari" and "mica" in your own Italian conversations? Begin by paying attention to these words when you listen to Italian. And when you speak, just slip them in casually. Will that work? You bet! Magari!

Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on FacebookTwitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

10 Easy Rules to Help Your Italian

Know the Rules - for Italian Learning Italian? When you get into a conversation with Italians, you have little time to think about the many particularities of the language: noun gender, different types of articles, prepositions, etc.

Here are ten easy rules that you can become aware of when reading, listening, or writing Italian. With time, you'll start recognizing items or patterns that follow these rules and they'll become automatic even when you speak.

These rules cover just a few Italian grammar points, but they're a start and easy to remember. You can used them to build on.

1. Nouns ending in -o are normally masculine.

• il ragazzo (the boy)
• il libro (the book)
• l'albero (the tree)

Notable Exceptions: Feminine nouns ending in -o
• la mano (the hand)
• la foto (the photo)
• la radio (the radio), l’auto

2. Regular masculine nouns that end in -o change their ending to -i in the plural.

• i ragazzi (the boys)
• i libri (the books)
• i cavalli (the horses)

3. Nouns ending in -a are normally feminine.

• la ragazza (the girl)
• la scuola (the school)
• la casa (the house)
  
Notable Exceptions: Masculine nouns ending in -a
• il problema (the problem)
• il cinema (the movie theater)
• il programma (the program)

4. Regular feminine nouns that end in -a change their ending to -e in the plural.

• le ragazze (the girls)
• le scuole (the schools)
• le idee (the ideas)

5. Instead of il, the definite article lo (the) goes before masculine singular nouns beginning with z, s+consonant, ps, gn.

• lo zio (the uncle)
• lo studio (the study)
• lo psicologo (the psychologist)

Note: Feminine nouns starting with z, s+consonant, ps, gn, have the definite article "la".
• la zia (the aunt)
• la strada (the street)
• la psicologa (the psychologist, f)

6. The definite article gli is the plural form of lo, instead of the masculine plural i.

• gli zii - the uncles
• gli studi - the studies
• gli psicologi - the psychologists

7. The definite article is used with possessive adjectives, except with singular nouns denoting family members.

• il mio libro (my book)
• la tua amica (your friend, f)
• i miei amici (my friends)
• le tue case (your houses)

But:
• mio padre (my father)
• tua madre (your mother)
• mio zio (my uncle)

Note: With plural family members, you use the definite article:
• i miei parenti (my parents)
• le tue zie (your aunts)

8. To make a sentence negative, put non before the verbal expression (incl. object pronouns).

• Non voglio mangiare. (I don’t want to eat.)
• Non ho finito. (I haven’t finished.)
• Non lo conosco. (I don’t know him.)

9. The preposition in (to/in) is normally used with continents, countries, regions, and large islands.

• in Africa  (to Africa/in Africa)
• in Francia (to France/in France)
• in Toscana (to Tuscany/in Tuscany)
• in Sardegna (to Sardinia/in Sardinia)

10. The preposition a (to/in) is normally used with cities and small islands.

• a Roma (to Rome/in Rome)
• a Capri (to Capri/in Capri)

Posted on by Peter Rettig

“Sie sprechen Deutsch!” - ”É qui per affari?” A German Bet and an Italian Misunderstanding!

Passport Control - Gamesforlanguage.com Several months ago as we were traveling to Germany, I bet with my wife that I could make the German immigration officer say the exact sentence of a dialog we are using in one of the first scenes of our German 1 language program.

She was skeptical, but listen to this Dialogue, which occurs at the beginning of Scene 4:

If you speak German, you'll realize right away, why I was sure I would win the bet. If you don't, this is what happened:

When I approached the officer, I greeted her with a friendly: “Guten Morgen!” (Good morning!) while handing her my American passport. As I had predicted, she answered with an equally friendly “Guten Morgen! and a somewhat surprised: ”Sie sprechen Deutsch!” (You speak German!)

Although I could not give the same response as our “hero” Michael, ( I was not born in Boston) her next question was again the same as in our scene: ”Sind Sie geschäftlich hier?” (Are you here on business?)

We were not, and we continued a friendly conversation before she stamped our passports and we moved on.

The above question (Are you here on business?) reminded me of the story of a woman who reacted with indignation when she was  asked by an Italian immigration officer:

You may have figured out why the woman - who obviously spoke little Italian - misinterpreted the question: “É qui per affari?” He asked: “Are you here on business?”  but she thought he asked whether she was there for an affair... (Or she might also have thought: “How could he possibly know this...?”)

But all bets and jokes aside, the point of these little vignettes is that knowing another language can both be helpful for your travels as well as avoid misunderstandings. Learning a new language will not only benefit your next travel adventure, but also be one of the small steps to strengthen your willpower or even help seniors' grey cells to function at a high level. It's never too late to learn a new language...

Even German can be Fun

Our games and travel-story based courses are also a great way to practice your German. If travel to Germany is in your near future, you may also enjoy our post: 4 Fun German Language Games Before You Travel.

And if you already have some German you can try our two free German Story Courses for fun practice. Just register and play.

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