You’re going to France for vacation, perhaps for business and you promised yourself to use Living Language but couldn’t find the time or energy to begin, to learn how to improvise making sentences, let alone converse with native speakers in their own … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: May 2012
Yoga in Deutsch
What better way to wind down the week and kick off a relaxing holiday weekend than with yoga? And why not try a yoga class in German? Here is a sample on how a yoga class could look like in Germany: … Continue reading
Driving in Japan
Japan’s large metropolitan areas have great public transportation systems. It’s not rare to find adults without a driver’s license in big cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. However, outside big cities, being able to drive a car comes in … Continue reading
The Most Beautiful Villages of France
Proud of its ancient and prestigious heritage, France has over time developed strategies and enacted laws to protect the diversity and specialities of its many regions. In a previous blog, I wrote about the concept of Terroirs & Climats. These parcels … Continue reading
Italian Business Etiquette Part 3: Negotiations, Holidays, and Biz Material
Negotiations: Allow your Italian business colleagues to set the pace for your negotiations. Follow their lead. Hierarchy is the cornerstone of Italian business (and social life). Italians respect power and age. Negotiations are often protracted and never use high-pressure sales … Continue reading
Mia’s Italian: Top 5 Moments in Italia
For the past year we have been sharing Mia’s story as she learns Italian with our Platinum Italian lessons. Mia decided to learn the language in anticipation of her family’s spring time trip to Italy. While on her trip, Mia … Continue reading
How to Use Chopsticks with Elegance
Can you use chopsticks? Do you think it’s hard to eat with chopsticks? Well, if you hold and use them correctly, chopsticks are actually very versatile. You can even pick up things that are too small or too thin to … Continue reading
How to Make A Long Distance Relationship Work: German Edition
Every relationship has its challenges. Having a long-distance relationship with someone overseas, let’s say in Germany, can be exciting, but simultaneously very frustrating. Based on my experience, I can recommend the following communication tools: — Video conference calls, on Messengers such as … Continue reading
Origins of the Most Popular Italian Word
So, as I am sure you all know, Ciao means “Hello/Hi”. It is possibly the most known and most used Italian word. But do you know its origin? Likely not, and it is quite interesting. So the origin of Ciao … Continue reading
Art Nouveau in Paris
Art Nouveau was a sudden and relatively brief artistic movement of the late 19th century, in reaction against the sprawling industrialization. It is characterized by its curved lines, colorful ornamentations, nature motifs, and dense, arabesques forms. The French term Art … Continue reading