Guys in the sense of gals. I'm not getting sucked into the murky world of gender fluidity, so I'm addressing myself to anyone who does a bit of housekeeping and household tasks. When I got married, Italy was still a backward place with well-defined gender roles and I, having being fed on shit women's magazines… Continue reading Guys
Author: englishthatgrows
I have been living in Italy for a long time and I'm grateful for all the opportunities this beautiful, varied country has offered, especially art and music....oh! and food too. I also work here, doing the most exciting job possible (for a people-person like me) I teach English. New people, new ideas ,new methods to investigate,what more could anyone ask for!
Off the launching pad …at last?
Well as most of you know, my " followers" are all unofficial. I get lots of mails telling me how they enjoy, grapple with understanding ,have learnt new vocabulary and structures and are always very sweet. Some of you are incredible proof readers too and pick up on all my mistakes! This time I'm particularly… Continue reading Off the launching pad …at last?
Green.
When I was younger, (quite a lot younger actually), I wrote a poem (well, a few words really, nothing as high falutin' as a poem) and driving to work today I was reminded of that because the way to work can go through a rather lovely wooded area near a river which hosts a cycle… Continue reading Green.
I’m just a gal who can’t say GO…
Actually that's not the title of the song which is" I'm just a gal who can't say no and I'm in a terrible fix".I wish I were like that girl because procrastination is my enemy, Thief of my mini holiday!A gal who can't say go, me down to the ground! So, eventually, tardily, tootling along… Continue reading I’m just a gal who can’t say GO…
Gardening:the Buddleia
(Delightfully named after the Reverend Adam Buddle although not discovered by him) I've just finished one of my favourite garden jobs and I'm sweaty ,dirty ,scratched and happy to prove it. I always cut the spent tips of my butterfly bush because I don't like the look of them when they're brown and dead and… Continue reading Gardening:the Buddleia
I’m not the only one overwhelmed by gardens……
Monet Monet's lily pond The garden has been an inspiration for many artists, probably the most famous one is French painter Claude Monet who acknowledged that his garden in Giverny had inspired so many of his impressionistic works especially his waterlily series. Islamic Garden with fountain But he was not the only one. Spanish artist… Continue reading I’m not the only one overwhelmed by gardens……
Still overwhelmed by Gardens
A very interesting form of garden known as hortus conclusus, is actually a walled Garden. These pleasure gardens, found in castles and fortresses were surrounded by walls and separated from the noisy, chaotic, smelly life of the castle outside their walls, and were used as places of pleasure and often of courtship. Courtly love probably… Continue reading Still overwhelmed by Gardens
Overwhelmed by Gardens.
What IS a garden for goodness' sake? What exactly are we talking about? Front gardens, back gardens, rock, gravel or sensory gardens? Or perhaps kitchen gardens, show, high- or low- maintenance? Pleasure gardens, zen, wild, botanic, formal, cottage ,white, bee, natural, English, rose, historic? Gardens of Remembrance, of Eden, the garden of good and evil,… Continue reading Overwhelmed by Gardens.
Here’s a turn up for the books!
I feel like a foreigner again! Many years ago when I first came to Italy, some of my friends had moved to Piedmont and told me there was work for teachers ,so of course Piedmont is my first love, it looked so Italian out of the train windows, those Leonardesque landscapes, or so it seemed… Continue reading Here’s a turn up for the books!
What IS your problem?
One of the main problems with learning English, is, I believe, a weird idea that you can speak and write it in Italian! What I mean to say, is that people think, if they do actually think about it , that it's enough to use Italian grammar systems, translation ( Google and Reverso and all… Continue reading What IS your problem?
English that grows 