Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Celebrate Italian Christmas Traditions With Children
Celebrate Italian Christmas Traditions With Children If youre wondering how to celebrate an Italian Christmas with your children this holiday, here are some educational ideas that will help to keep them entertained, and may even help you start new family traditions at the same time. Christmas is a huge holiday in Italy, a predominantly Catholic country. The season officially begins on the Day of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on Dec. 8, and continue through Jan. 6, the 12th day of Christmas and the Day of the Epiphany. Christmas decorations and Christmas markets first start appearing on Dec. 8. Italian children frequently start the Christmas season on Dec. 6, which is St. Nicholas Day, by writing a letter to St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus. Its easy to share in this tradition by having your own children write to Santa Claus ... and you may get some ideas on what they want for Christmas. Making a Nativity Scene Nativity scenes, or presepi, are a common and elaborate part of Italian Christmas decorations. Naples is the best place to see elaborate presepi, and theres a tremendous display in Saint Peters Square in Vatican City. In Italy, there are also living presepi, in which actors and animals recreate the Nativity scene, exhibitions with hundreds of crà ¨ches and mechanized figurines, and museums devoted solely to presepi. In the spirit of the season, teach a youngster about the history of the nativity and help her to construct her own crà ¨che for the Christmas season. You may find that crà ¨che becomes a precious family heirloom. Italian Cooking and Baking With Kids at Christmas Children of all ages the world over have heart-warming memories of mouth-watering smells emanating from the kitchen at Christmas time. Why not let your children help bake an Italian dessert like biscotti or cicerata. They are two simple, kid-proof dessert recipes that children will enjoy learning to prepare. If you have older children, you can get them involved in meal preparations for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Italians avoid meat on Christmas Eve as a way of purifying themselves for Christmas and instead focus on fish as the main course. But the menus for both days include multiple dishes and sumptuous cuisine. Sing Italian Christmas Carols Christmas caroling begins in earnest in Italy during the week before Christmas, and caroling is a wonderful way to share Italian Christmas tradition with your children. Popular Italian Christmas carols (canzoni di Natale) include: Gesà ¹ Bambino l È Nato (Baby Jesus Is Born)Tu Scendi dalle Stelle (You Came Down From the Stars)Mille Cherubini in Coro (A Thousand-Cherub Chorus)La Canzone di Zampagnone (Carol of the Bagpipers) For a true diversion, try filastrocche calabresi sul Natale, Calabrian dialect Christmas songs. Learn About the Legend of La Befana You and your children can learn about the legend of La Befana. This story of an old witch who brings presents to children on Jan. 5, the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany, is very appealing to youngsters. La Befana also is called the Christmas Witch, and like Santa Claus, she enters homes through the chimney.
Monday, March 2, 2020
French Verbs of Perception Follow Their Own Drum Beat
French Verbs of Perception Follow Their Own Drum Beat French verbs of perception are verbs that, logically enough, indicate a perception or sensation. There are six common French verbs of perception:    apercevoir to catch a glimpse of   à ©couter  to listen to   entendre  to hear   regarder  to watch   sentir  to feel   voir  to see Verbs of perception and sensation may be followed by a noun or an infinitive. Note that in this construction, the French infinitive following the verb of perception is often translated into English as a present participle.For example:   Japerà §ois un arbre.I see (a glimpse of) a tree.    Japerà §ois tomber un arbre.I see (a glimpse of) a tree falling.   Jà ©coute les enfants.Im listening to the children.    Jà ©coute parler les enfants.Im listening to the children talking.    Jentends les à ©tudiants.I hear the students.Jentends arriver les à ©tudiants.I hear the students arriving.    Je regarde là ©quipe.Im watching the team.    Je regarde jouer là ©quipe.Im watching the team play.    Je sens le vent.I feel the wind.Je sens souffler le vent.I feel the wind blowing.    Je vois le chien.I see the dog.Je vois courir le chien.I see the dog running. Word Order With Verbs of Perception Word order with French verbs of perception depends on whether the infinitive has a subject and/or object and whether these are nouns or pronouns. How do you know whether the noun or pronoun that precedes the verb is the subject or the direct object? If the noun or pronoun is the person or thing performing the action of the infinitive, it is the subject of the infinitive. If the person or pronoun is not performing the action but rather is being performed by the infinitive, it is the direct object. When the infinitive has either a subject pronoun or object pronoun, it must be placed in front of the main verb. Subject    Jentends les enfants arriver.(I hear the children arriving.)Je les entends arriver.Je regarde la fille à ©crire.(I see the girl writing.)Je la regarde à ©crire. Object    Jentends lire lhistoire.(I hear the story being read.)Je lentends lire.    Je vois coudre une robe.(I see the dress being sewn.)Je la vois coudre. If the infinitive has a non-pronoun direct object and no subject, it must be placed after the infinitive.    Jentends lire lhistoire.(I hear the story being read.)    Je vois coudre une robe.(I see the dress being sewn.)    Je regarde nettoyer la chambre.(Im watching the room being cleaned.) If the infinitive has a non-pronoun subject and no object, the subject can be placed either before or after the infinitive.    Jentends les enfants arriver.Jentends arriver les enfants.(I hear the children arriving.)    Je regarde la fille à ©crire.Je regarde à ©crire la fille.(Im watching the girl write.)    Je sens le vent souffler.Je sens souffler le vent.(I feel the wind blowing.) If the infinitive has a non-pronoun subject as well as an object, you must place the subject in front of the infinitive and the object after it.    Jentends les enfants casser le jouet.(I hear the children breaking the toy.)    Je regarde le monsieur à ©crire une lettre.(Im watching the man write a letter.)    Je sens le vent caresser ma peau.(I feel the wind caressing my skin.) If the subject is a pronoun (a.), it precedes the conjugated verb. If the object is a pronoun (b.), it precedes the infinitive.    a. Je les entends casser le jouet.(I hear them breaking the toy.)b. Jentends les enfants le casser.(I hear the children breaking it.)    a. Je le regarde à ©crire une lettre.(Im watching him write a letter.)b. Je regarde un monsieur là ©crire.(Im watching a man write it.)    a. Je le sens caresser ma peau.(I feel it caressing my skin.) b. Je sens le vent la caresser.(I feel the wind caressing it.) If both the subject and object are pronouns, you must place the subject in front of the main verb and the object after it.    Je les entends le casser.(I hear them breaking it.)    Je le regarde là ©crire.(Im watching him write it.)    Je le sens la caresser(I feel it caressing it.) Agreement With Verbs of Perception The rules of agreement for verbs of perception in the compound tenses are a bit different than for other verbs. Rather than agreeing with the direct object, as for most verbs conjugated with avoir in the compound tenses, verbs of perception only require agreement when the subject precedes the verb. How do you know whether the noun or pronoun that precedes the verb is the subject or the direct object? If it is the person or thing performing the action of the infinitive, it is the subject of the infinitive and follows agreement rule 1 below. If it is not performing the action but rather is being performed on by the infinitive, it is the direct object and follows rule 2 below. 1. If the subject of the infinitive precedes the verb of perception, there is agreement:    Jai vu tomber la fille.I saw the girl fall.La fille que jai vue tomber.Je lai vue tomber.    Jai regardà ©Ã‚ les enfants à ©crire.I watched the children write.Les enfants que jai regardà ©s à ©crire.Je les ai regardà ©s à ©crire.    Jai entendu arriver les à ©tudiants.I watched the students arrive.Les à ©tudiants que jai entendus arriver.Je les ai entendus arriver. 2. There is no agreement with the direct object of the infinitive.    Jai vu les enfants à ©crire les lettres.(Enfants is the subject; lettres is the direct object. Even if we leave out enfants, lettres is still the direct object, so there is no agreement.)Jai vu à ©crire les lettres.I saw the letters get writtenLes lettres que jai vu à ©crire.Je les ai vu à ©crire.    Jai entendu le monsieur lire une histoire.(Monsieur is the subject; histoire is the direct object.)Jai entendu lire une histoireI heard a story get read.Lhistoire que jai entendu lire.Je lai entendu lire.    Jai à ©coutà © une fille chanter les cantiques.(Fille is the subject; cantiques is the direct object.)Jai à ©coutà © chanter les cantiques.I listened to the hymns (get) sung.Les cantiques que jai à ©coutà © chanter.Je les ai à ©coutà © chanter.
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