Buondì.
If you’ve spent much time in Italy, you’ll be familiar with the word ‘sciopero’, which means ‘strike’ in the sense of industrial action, downing tools, walking out and so on.
And ‘avviso’ is ‘warning’.
So be warned, OnlineItalianClub.com’s Deptartment of Silly Questions has declared a strike for today, Friday 9th of August from 2 p.m.
As is traditional, the oppressed workers who slave away processing your emailed questions (the answers to which can usually already be found some place on the club website) are heading to the coast for the weekend. ‘Scioperi’ in Italy are ALWAYS on Fridays. Now you know why…
So if you have a silly question, do be sure to email it in good time, or wait until the sciopero has ended.
Or (radical idea) you could take a look at the links below, all of which are actual menu items on the club website (supposedly making them easy to find, were anyone willing to look):
Dante of the Day
There’s another Dante canto on our Literature page this morning. Canto IX of Inferno has the furies (not the band), a messenger from God, and a new, now-even-nastier circle of hell, one that is especially reserved for lazy people who ask silly questions…
P.S.
Thursday’s EasyItalianNews.com bulletin will take you approximately ten minutes to listen to and read (it’s quick if you don’t worry about the parts you don’t understand – just listen and read, then stop.)
If you listen and read three times, as I recommend, then that’s half an hour in total.
Do every new bulletin the same way (there’s one each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and you’ll be spending an hour and a half a week.
But no money, as they’re free.
For which investment of your time you should see a gradual but significant improvement in your Italian reading and listening skills.
Or you could not bother, in which case you most likely won’t.
A lunedì!