10 reasons to visit… Venice
We’ve all seen the Italian city of Venice in the movies, but does it live up to its reputation as one of Europe’s most beautiful and historic cities? Amy says yes; here are her ten reasons to check out Venice for yourself.
1. Boats
I think this has to be a very obvious point, as of course Venice and boats go hand in hand. I was rather taken aback by the beauty of the boats, especially the private taxi boats, as they were all immaculate. If you’re landing when it’s still light, get a private taxi from the airport; it is magical and makes you feel like you’re in a James Bond movie cruising along the Grand Canal.
2. Get lost
Once again I think this is quite a popular theme, but honestly just wander about taking little side streets, because you never quite know what you are going to find, maybe a beautiful street, bridge, shop… or possibly a dead end. As long as you have a map with you when you’re ready to head back, you will be absolutely fine. Once you get to grips with the city it is relatively easy to get around and soon you’ll be wandering off to places without even needing any guidance.
3. Churches
The first world that comes to mind when thinking about the different churches in Venice is WOW. There are a vast number of churches across Venice and the ones we went into were simply stunning. We managed to see several, including St Mary of the Friars, where you can see the famous painting Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin, which caused a lot of commotion when it was first revealed. We also saw San Moisè and Santa Maria della Salute, as well as many more. Each church has a different history so you can never get bored of going into different ones.
4. Bridges
There are over 400 bridges in Venice and rather frequently you stumble upon one that’s just beautiful. They vary from concrete to iron; the concrete ones are traditional Venetian bridges, whereas the iron bridges are Austrian.
5. Islands
If you have the time I would definitely recommend hopping across to the different islands. Murano is the closest island, while Burano and Torcello are a little further away but still very easy to get to. We stopped off at Murano, which is famous for its glass, and we were fortunate enough to see the incredibly talented Glass Masters at work. Next was Burano, known for its lace and its colourful houses; this was so the fishermen could spot their house when they were out at sea. Finally we went to Torcello, which is tiny; there are only 15 homes on the island. Sights on Torcello include the Cattedral di Torcella, which was built in AD 1008, and the Santa Foscafe, which is very impressive to look at from the outside.
6. Beauty
I knew Venice would be beautiful, but what I wasn’t expecting was all of the detail that can be seen everywhere, in the churches, the bridges, and even engravings on some streets to represent different districts. Maybe I had rose tinted glasses on, but whenever I thought I had seen something beautiful I rounded a corner and there was something that topped it. It may sound like a cliché but Venice really does take your breath away.
7. Tour
This is an absolute must, because otherwise you can walk past something and have no idea you have passed a major piece of history. The tour means you really get to know Venice and learn about its history and culture, I can’t even begin to describe how much I learnt about the city and how relieved I was that we did a tour. Without it you could be standing in the square where Shakespeare based The Merchant of Venice and have no idea.
8. History
I can honestly say that I had no idea about the extensive history behind Venice, from the several plagues they suffered, to the different Dukes in power and of course Napoleon taking over the city. You definitely get a better feel for the city once you know more about its history, as well as starting to notice different things yourself when walking around, like the different types of bridges I mentioned earlier, or how the Austrians had to have their own cafés as they were not welcome anywhere else. I would read a little about the city before you go, just so you know a little about the Venetians’ background.
9. Food, Drink and Ice Cream
In Italy you expect great pizza and pasta; however Venice is very much based around seafood, although we also discovered an incredible steak restaurant called Vini Da Artur where we had the best steak we have ever eaten. Of course we had pasta and pizza too, but there is really something for everyone. For drinks, I recommend the Hilton Skyline Rooftop Bar for views of Venice and of course Harry’s bar, which originally opened in 1931 and was where the famous Bellini was invented. It is expensive, but just go for one Bellini to say you’ve experienced Harry’s bar, because the atmosphere in there is fantastic. Finally, ice cream was a must for us over the few days we were in Venice, due to it being very hot. There is a different ice cream shop on all of the busy streets, and they do not disappoint. Because you have to have at least one gelato while you’re in Venice, right?
10. St Mark’s Square
We’ve seen it in lots of films and pictures, but you can’t beat going and seeing it for yourself. Stepping into the square, the first thing you notice is how big it actually is. The main attraction – the church – is simply beautiful; the engravings all across the church and the different colours used are stunning. Going inside the church is a must, and you can pay €2 to go to the back of the church. Do it, you’ll see why. All across the square there are intricate engravings in the marble and different statues everywhere. I don’t want to spoil any surprises for anyone wanting to learn the history of the square, you have to go and experience it – and if you’re going with someone special, go at night too as it’s very romantic.
My only warning about Venice is that you do get harassed to buy a selfie stick or to feed the pigeons, so be prepared to say no!
And of course, don’t forget to download uTalk before you leave; even if you don’t have time to learn some Italian in advance, it’s a really useful app to have on your phone when you’re searching for the right word – we used it a lot!
Have you ever been to Venice? What did you think?
Amy
Interesting idioms from around the world
No matter what language you’re learning, at some point you’ll probably come across idioms. These phrases, on the surface, seem to mean very little and yet, to native speakers, they roll easily off the tongue without a moment’s thought. In a recent post, we covered Chinese chengyu, idiomatic expressions that each have their own fascinating story. And English is full of strange idioms – ‘to have a chip on your shoulder’, for instance, or ‘to pull someone’s leg’. Very confusing if you’re not very familiar with the language.
Idioms are a tricky part of the language learning process, but well worth it if you can get a few under your belt… 😉 Being able to drop a few colloquial expressions into your speech in the right context will not only boost your confidence, but it’ll also impress whoever you’re talking to!
So here are just a few of our favourite idioms from around the world:
Aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten machen (German)
Literally: To make a mosquito out of an elephant
Meaning: To make a fuss out of nothing
Énêhpoése ma’eno (Cheyenne)
Literally: The turtle is shrouded
Meaning: It’s foggy
猿も木から落ちる (Saru mo ki kara ochiru) (Japanese)
Literally: Even monkeys fall from trees
Meaning: Even experts get it wrong
Ar gefn ei geffyl gwyn (Welsh)
Literally: On the back of his white horse
Meaning: Full of mischief
Hak mir nisht kin chaynik (Yiddish)
Literally: Don’t chop my teakettle
Meaning: Stop annoying me
Les chiens ne font pas des chats (French)
Literally: Dogs don’t breed cats
Meaning: Like father, like son
chang.sa.rgyag (Tibetan)
Literally: To put up a beer tent
Meaning: To get married
Aquí hay gato encerrado (Spanish)
Literally: there’s a trapped cat here
Meaning: there’s something odd going on
бурхан оршоо бутын чинээ сахал урга (Burkhan orshoo butin chinee sakhal urga) (Mongolian)
Literally: God bless you and may your moustache grow like brushwood
Meaning: Bless you (when someone sneezes)
Avere gli occhi foderati di prociutto (Italian)
Literally: To have one’s eyes lined with ham
Meaning: To be unable to see something that’s plainly obvious
Have you discovered any fun idioms in the language you’re learning? Let us know in the comments!
uTalk Language Challenge – how did we do? [video]
Last month, the EuroTalk team took on a new year challenge – to learn a language using the uTalk app. Some of us did better than others, and Nat was our clear winner, completing the app in just over two weeks.
But the ultimate test was still to come…
My uTalk Romanian journey so far
Having a look at the uTalk challenge scoreboard in the EuroTalk office, it looks like I’m some way behind with my Romanian learning. But I haven’t give up yet! Here’s what I’ve learned so far about this language.
1. It’s a lot like Italian
This is very helpful for me, as I already understand a reasonable amount of Italian (even if it’s only from watching too many episodes of Inspector Montalbano…), so words like ‘la rivedere’ (goodbye, like the Italian arrivederci), ‘buna seara’ (good evening, like buona sera in Italian) and many colours and adjectives are very similar (‘urata’, ugly, sounds like the Italian word brutta, and many others like ‘plin’/pieno, ‘trist’/triste, ‘rapid’/rapido, ‘negrul’/nero or ‘verdele’/verde). Numbers are also very close to those in Spanish or Italian.
2. Sometimes you can make words just by adding ‘ul’ to the end
Ioana helpfully informs me that this is just the masculine ‘the’ (the feminine is ‘le’), but it still seems like a reliable strategy to guess words. After words such as ‘trenul’, ‘aeroportul’, ‘pasaportul’, ‘doctorul’ and my personal favourite ‘biscuitul’, I started guessing other words like ‘vinul’ (correct!) and ‘mapul’ (sadly incorrect), which occasionally works.
3. The speaking game is really fun and addictive, and probably the best way to learn
I don’t know about other people, but for me, producing the language is the key to remembering it. So, speaking or writing the language is key. Repeating the phrases and then using my own recordings to identify the pictures is weirdly fun and helps me to remember better than simple guessing of pictures in the easy or hard games, which encourage recognition but not reproduction. Of course the ultimate test is the recall game, where you have to remember and say the word or phrase yourself and then check it. These games can take a while to get 100% on, but are an excellent tool.
4. You have to learn to make some brand new sounds
Romanian has a few fun letters that we don’t have. ‘â’ (with a little hat) sounds like an ‘uh’, not an ‘a’ at all. So ‘Cât e ceasul?’ (what’s the time) isn’t pronounced how it looks to English speakers, but like ‘Cuht e chassul’, because the â is a different letter, and ce is a ‘ch’ sound like in Italian. It also has a funny ‘I’ which looks like this: î and sounds like another ‘uh’, which is difficult to describe. This sound is in words like ‘închis’ (closed) which sounds more like ‘unkees’. These sounds are pretty fun to pronounce if you ask me, and Ioana says I sound ok, which I put down to repeating after the native speakers in uTalk.
5. They invented crazy words for vegetables that make no sense!
Ok, maybe that’s a bit harsh, but my knowledge of French, Spanish, Italian, English and German can’t help me when it comes to learning the names of vegetables that have names like ‘bamele’, ‘ardeiul’, ‘porombul’ and ‘varza’, which don’t relate to any language I know. They can’t even call zucchini zucchini: it’s actually ‘dovleceii’.
Somehow I don’t think I’m going to beat Nat in the uTalk challenge, but I’m having fun with Romanian anyway!
Alex
(Editor’s note: it turns out nobody could beat Nat, who completed the challenge in Icelandic a couple of days ago. She’s now considering which language to learn next – any suggestions?)
Why I’m learning Italian in January
So I’ve jumped on the bandwagon and I’m taking part in the New Year uTalk challenge too.
It took me a while to finally decide on Italian. I was going to attempt Arabic or Mandarin; however given the time frame of just one month, I thought the challenge would be too great for myself. However I will attempt either Arabic or Mandarin at some point next year, you can hold me to that!
So why Italian I hear you say? Well there are many reasons.
I often go skiing in Italy and it’s very different to skiing anywhere else in Europe, as not many people speak English. It can be quite a struggle sometimes, so hopefully by the end of January with my newfound Italian it should be a breeze.
Near the office there is an Italian delicatessen, which sells some seriously good food. When you enter they’re always talking to you in Italian, and as I speak none I feel slightly embarrassed that I can’t respond in their own language. My goal by the end of January is to be able to order my food in Italian, as well as have a conversation with the employees there.
My final reason is that there are many beautiful cities that I wish to visit over the next few years in Italy. Even though it is a given that I will do the ‘touristy’ things whilst I’m there, I would also like to think I may be able to go off the beaten track and find some true wonders hidden from the tourists. I also don’t want to be a typical tourist and ignore the locals; I want to be able to interact with them and get a real feel for the city.
So those are my reasons for learning Italian.
Anyone else going to join me?
Amy
