Yes, I’ll be turning 29 this September!Whew! But nothing is stopping me from living my life fuller each year. This past two years I was preoccupied with getting pregnant, acting like a single mom to my three sons, and just forgetting all about myself. Now, however, I’m slowly getting my groove back. I just had my hair dyed copper at a salon yesterday, and today I’m getting a facial and a diamond peel. But that is just the start of things to come. Here is a list of my 12 goals to accomplish in a span of one year.

1. Be able to get my first paycheck through blogging by December this year. Visit my new blog Fresh Scoops here.
2. Be able to cook at least 15 famous Filipino dishes and 5 Italian ones by November this year. That is, without looking at my cookbook.
3. Be able to drive a car by myself by the last week of October this year.
4. Get a rebond by my 29th birthday. Give myself a salon pampering experience once a month starting from now on.
5. Be able to blow dry my own hair; curl iron and straighten it as well by myself by next month. Be able to shape my eyebrows by myself.
6. Be able to renew my and my son’s passport and get two new ones for the twins by January next year. Have my personal and school documents translated in Italian.
7. Learn at least 50 most used Italian phrases, recite the Italian ABC and numbers, and sing at least two Italian songs by February next year.
8. Get an exciting job by February next year!
9. Save at least 12,000 in a year; 1,000 every month - the least!
10. Clear my credit card debts by June next year.
11. Enrol myself in a writing class by March next year (correspondence school).
12. Stay young and happy until my next birthday. Hehehe!

Signed:

Me
SHASHA

I have a new blog, again, at blogspot it’s called Fresh Scoops please visit it here.

Enjoy reading!

I need to remember that:

You can never get a positive outcome on a project or in a competition
if all you do is focus on negative energy. So today, do your best to
put a positive spin on everything and everyone. See the bright side of
things and stop dwelling on the bad things that are holding you back –
just pretend that they don’t exist! There is so much hope in your life,
and you need to start recognizing it. Tap into your more idealistic
side, today, and you’ll do well.

How To Pronounce Italian Words

1. Usually, Italian words are stressed on the next-to-the-last syllable.
2. When the final -e
   is dropped from a word, as happens with some masculine titles when they
   are directly followed by a proper name, the position of the stress
   remains unchanged.
3. Following the above rule, dottore/doctor becomes dottor Nardi/Doctor Nardi and professore/professor becomes professor Pace/Professor Pace.
4. When words are stressed on the last vowel, they always have a written accent over that vowel. For instance, cioè (namely) and città (city).

How To Pronounce Italian Vowels

1. A - sounds like a in father
2. E - has two sounds: short vowel like e in pen; long vowel, similar to ai in fair
3. I - sounds like ea in tea or i in marine
4. O - has two sounds: like o in cozy or similar to o in cost
5. U - sounds like u in rude

Double Consonants:

Pronouncing Double Consonants in Italian

Seeing Double? Pronounce It Twice

"Quanti anni hai?"—How
old are you? sounds like an innocent question posed by someone just
learning the Italian language. But it can be a real conversation
stopper, leading to guffaws, laughter, and embarrassment, when
mispronounced. That’s because many beginners pronounce anni (years) as ani (anuses). Speaking Italian doesn’t have to leave you tongue-tied, though.

Bus Stop? Bus Top
Glance at an Italian magazine or newspaper, and the letters appear the
same. That’s because English and Italian share the same alphabet, with
the exception of five letters.
But listen closely to a native Italian, and you’ll soon realize that
there’s a substantial difference in the sounds represented by those
same alphabetic characters.

Many Italian words
have double consonants. They occur in any part of the word, but never
as the first or last letters. The English language also has several
words with double consonants, such as bookkeeper, cattle, and tattle.
In Italian, though, double consonants sound stronger than in English.
English speakers typically stumble when pronouncing double consonants
in Italian since there are so few instances in English that require
pronouncing both consonants. Italian uses double consonants as an
important part of the pronunciation of the language.

Say It With Meaning
Not sure how to pronounce double consonants in Italian? Try pronouncing
it twice or holding it for an extra beat. Listen to a native Italian
and asking them to pronounce word pairs such as papa/pappa until you
can hear the difference. English phrases such as "bus stop" and "bad
dog" approximate the sound of double consonants in Italian. Failing to
make the distinction can lead to misunderstanding or worse.

To add to the
confusion, one characteristic of certain Italian dialects is the
pronouncing of words as if some of the single consonants were doubled.
Technically termed raddoppiamento fonosintattico, it typically occurs in specific phonetic context.

Double Trouble
To avoid asking for a bowl of your father (papa) at the local trattoria instead of bread soup (pappa),
be aware of these word pairs of single/double consonants whose entire
meaning changes depending on whether a particular consonant is doubled:

Split Up The Twins
Wondering
how Italian words with consonant geminates (letter pairs) are divided
into syllables? It’s a split decision: Double letters always break into
separate syllables. For example: addosso: ad-dos-so; ferro: fer-ro; mamma: mam-ma; soqquadro:soq-quad-ro.

Not Just Consonants
Double vowels occur infrequently in Italian, but there are a few
instances. The vowels are pronounced the same as single vowels, but in
these cases a longer sound should be heard: cooperare (to cooperate);
zii (uncles); veemenza (vehemence); pompeii.

Besides individual
Italian vocabulary words with double letters, the 1st person plurals of
certain verb tenses also have double consonants:

from about.com

Italian Consonants:

How To Pronounce Italian Consonants

1. The consonants B, F, M, N, and V are pronounced as in English.
2. C before a, o, u and before consonants has a sound similar to the English k; before e and i a sound similar to the English ch as in church.
3. D is somewhat more explosive than in English, with the tongue near the tip of the upper teeth but with no aspiration.
4. G before a, o, and u and before consonants has a sound like the g in good; before e and i like the g in general.
5. Gli is like ll in million, and Gn is like the ny in canyon.
6. H is silent.
7. L is as in English, but sharper and more forward in the mouth.
8. P is as in English, but without the aspiration that sometimes accompanies this sound in English.
9. Qu is always pronounced like the English qu in quest.
10. R is different from the English r; it is pronounced with one flip of the tongue against the gums of the upper teeth. This is the trilled r.
11. Initial S before vowels and unvoiced consonants (c, f, p, q, s, t) is pronounced like the s in sun.
12. S before voiced consonants (b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v) is pronounced like the s in rose.
13. T is approximately the same as in English, but no escaping of breath accompanies it in Italian.
14. Z can be voiced, like ds in beds, or voiceless, like ts in bets.

Soon I’ll be heading to Italy to settle there with my husband and our children.  For the mean time I’ll be learning the language.

Common Phrases:

1. Salve - Hello
2. Pronto - Hello (when answering the phone)
3. Ciao - Hi / Bye bye
4. Buon giorno - good morning
5. Buon pomeriggio - good afternoon
6. Buona sera - good evening
7. Come sta - how are you
8. Come va - how are you doing?
9. Ci sentiamo bene- we’re feeling fine
10. Grazie, va bene cosi - thanks, just fine.

I listen to their pronunciation here.

Something to read for beginners like me:

Think Like an Italian…

Horoscope advice today that I must take heed because I’m too generous hehehe!
You should think long and hard before you share any of your resources — there is a possibility that what you give away will never return to you. Generosity usually helps you out in life, but today it could get you into some trouble. So keep to yourself and avoid any situations where everyone is pitching in — you won’t exactly want to draw attention to the fact that you’re not chipping in. Just mind your own business for today, and you can get back in the groove tomorrow.

From my today’s horoscope:

Having a messy car or bedroom sure isn’t the end of the world, but
isn’t it nice to see order and cleanliness around you? Always being
surrounded by clutter or a mess might not consciously bother you, but
you will think more clearly if you have less disorganization to
distract you. Spend a little time cleaning up your world. Tidy up here
and there. You don’t have to scrub and scour every surface — just
create more open spaces and clean visuals. You’ll feel a lot more
relaxed when you do.




Therefore: cleaning up my closet could actually save my sanity from falling into disaster. I believe so…