18 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT PALERMO

Palermo has been selected as Italian Capital of Culture 2018 so here, in no particular order, are 18 facts - some quirky, others not so - that you may not know about the city:

1.  Its Palazzo dei Normanni was, from 1130 , the seat of the Sicilian Parliament, one of the oldest in the world. (I've met a lot of Sicilians who claim that it is, in fact, the oldest.] It now houses the Sicilian Regional Assembly.

2.  In 2016 Palermo was declared the worst city in Italy for traffic congestion.

3.  Frutti di Martorana, the marzipan "fruits" you will see everywhere in Sicily in autumn, were, according to legend, first made in The Martorana Convent in Palermo.

4.  The city's most important Arab and Norman buildings, along with the Cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale, were collectively named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

San Giovanni degli Eremiti, Palermo

5.  Palermo street food is legendary. Eat it first, then ask what's in it!

6.  The Palermo football team's badge has been ranked (by the British Daily Mail) as among the best in the world.

7.  The city has wide boulevards reminiscent of towns in France.

8.  The word for traditional Sicilian rice balls, arancini, is used in its feminine form, arancine there.

9.  The Catacombe dei Cappuccini (Capuchin Catacombs) are a very macabre, and often upsetting, sight but must be seen. I once decided to leave them till last on a school trip but my students, having been shown the Parliament, Cathedral and other beautiful buildings, were impatiently demanding, "Can we go and see the dead people now?" by mid-morning.

Me with students in Palermo, 1995

10. The city is second only to Naples for the number of coffee manufacturers that call it home (47 in 2011).

11. During the reign of Ruggero (Roger) II, Palermo was a city in which Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side in harmony. This was to come to an end, however, under Frederick II, who expelled the Muslims in 1224.

12.  In 1185 Roger's daughter and Frederick's mother Costanza d'Altavilla (Constance d'Hauteville) travelled to Germany to be married with the greatest dowry the world had ever seen. She gave birth to her son in the market square in Ancona on her way back to Sicily. You can read more about this extraordinary journey in a book I reviewed here. Costanza is buried in Palermo Cathedral.

13.  Palermo has a museum of traditional puppets  (opera dei pupi) where you can also see puppet shows at certain times of the year.  You can find out more about opera dei pupi in my post here.

Some of my own Sicilian puppets

14.  Traditional Sicilian carts vary, from province to province, in their design and size. Those from Palermo were squarer and wider than many of the others and were originally used for transporting grapes. This is a link to an article on Sicilian carts that I wrote for Italy Magazine in 2010.

15. Not strictly in the City of Palermo but in Palermo Province and a short bus ride away is Monreale, whose cathedral, begun in 1174, is one of the best preserved examples of Norman architecture anywhere. It contains Byzantine mosaics throughout. There are stunning views of Palermo from Monreale.

16. In 2014 the priests of Palermo Cathedral were much criticised for displaying a prominent WC sign in a side chapel there. I don't know about you, but when being a tourist I've often desperately needed the loo by the time I got to a city's cathedral!

17.  Palermo was named Panormus ("complete port" or possibly "well-protected bay") by the Greeks, This became Balarme under Arabic rule.

18.  To end on a sombre note, Palermo Airport, formerly known as Punta Raisi, was renamed in 1995 in honour of the anti-Mafia judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone who were both murdered in 1992, the latter along with his wife. The airport's full name is now L''aeroporto Internazionale Falcone e Borsellino di Palermo-Punta Raisi but it is usually referred to as aeroporto Falcone e Borsellino. Italy has been remembering the two judges in this, the 25th anniversary year of the stragi (massacres) of Capaci and via D'Amelio. We must not forget that all but one of their bodyguards died with them on those terrible days.

The candidates for Italian Capital of Culture 2020 are Agrigento, Catania, Messina, Noto, Ragusa and Siracusa. Guess which two I'll be rooting for!

City of Palermo
Coat of Arms

WHEN A SHIRE IS NOT A SHIRE

Many of you will know that I am a great fan of MasterChef Italia, which has recently made a welcome return for its sixth season on Italian TV.  I am also an admirer of Joe Bastianich, whose biography I reviewed here and I did laugh at the pronunciation lesson that Joe gave an unfortunate contestant last night. You can see the video clip here.

However, it has to be said that Joe is not teaching British English! For those of you who are confused, the term shire means county and is usually used as a suffix, as in Gloucestershire or Yorkshire. In this case, the i is pronounced like the er in her in British English. It is pronounced in the "Joe" way in the term the shires, meaning counties. Having to deal with the eccentricities of Modican Englishitis every day, I do empathise with both Joe and the poor contestant!

Worcestershire Sauce, by the way, is a British ingredient which is readily available in Italy and I was glad to see an Italian being adventurous enough to use it.

FUN TIME

"What nice watches", I thought as I looked in Carpisa's window this evening - and then I saw the notice. The muddling up of "fun" and "funny" drives every English teacher to exasperation here, so I went into the shop and asked why the watches are labelled "funny". "Divertente", [enjoyable], chorused three shop assistants, looking at me as if I were mad. I explained the mistake but fear I was not believed.

Now, I can understand a small, independent shop in a small town getting it wrong but a national chain like Carpisa? Come on, guys, check your English!

From my booklet:  A-Z: English Language Tips For Italian Students

A BIT OF A DO

I'm not known for my monarchist leanings but it would have been churlish not to dress up for the Queen yesterday, wouldn't it?

After all, one has to hand it to the Queen!

And over at London Town, Modica - Centro Linguistico Internazionale, we decided to have a bit of a do. Many thanks to Cicara Caffeteria and Delizie D'Autore.

The Queen arrived a day late because she couldn't fit us in yesterday. But today she popped in for a nice cup of tea and our students had some questions for her.

These included the most important question of all which is, of course, a culinary one!

Buon compleanno, Maestà!

FEELING "PETALLY"?

Flower petal carpet, Noto, 2015

At the end of the week which included St David's Day, you could say that petals, particularly those of daffodils, have been much on my mind.  But that's not the only reason for, like everyone in Italy, I have been enchanted this week by the story of an eight-year-old boy from Copparo [ Ferrara Province] who has coined the word petaloso.

It all started when Matteo's teacher gave a lesson on adjectives and Matteo wrote about a flower which was petaloso. The teacher, Margherita Aurora, liked the word [which did not previously exist in Italian] so much that she suggested sending it to the Academia della Crusca, the National Institute for the Protection and Study of the Italian Language, for evaluation. On February 23rd she received a very pleasant reply, saying that the word was well-formed, beautiful and clear but that, to be inserted into the Italian dictionary, it would have to be understood and used by lots of people.  Following a facebook post by Margherita, thousands of people began using the word on all social media, with Prime Minister Renzi congratulating Matteo on twitter.

Matteo's father even tried to get the word registered as a trademark, only to find that three other "inventors" had requested patents in this name three days before, it has emerged today. It has not been revealed exactly what kind of brands these are.

Meanwhile, though, let us add our congratulations to the flood of those reaching Matteo and his teacher and let's enjoy rolling the lovely word petaloso around on our tongues!

APPRECIATION - 2

It's always nice to be appreciated so I was really touched to receive these lovely gifts from students last week:

And look what my ten-year-olds can manage in English, all by themselves!

Grazie, carissimi studenti.

EASTER FUN

Great fun and games were enjoyed today by our youngest students at London Town, Modica - Centro Linguistico Internazionale when we made Easter chicks out of paper cups. Simplified instructions were, of course, given in English.

Thanks to the Guardian Teacher Network for the idea.

JIMJAMS IN CATANIA

Images: Lorenzo Fragola on facebook

The city of Catania was one of the 24 chosen by McDonald's to participate in their "World's Biggest Breakfast" event on Tuesday and everyone who attended thought it was the cat's pyjamas, according to reports. This was especially so when Lorenzo Fragola, the catanese singer who won Italy's X Factor in December, appeared and sang in his very cute pyjamas.

The breakfast event took a different form in each of the cities, in order to appeal to the various cultures involved, and the Catania restaurant decided to turn it into a pyjama party - perhaps because the country produces such stylish nightwear. Anyone who turned up in decent, unscruffy pyjamas got a free brioche and hot drink, plus the opportunity to enjoy young Mr Fragola's music.

The twitter hashtag for the worldwide event was #imlovinit24 and, at the risk of being a spoilsport, I'd just like to put in a plea on behalf of English language teachers here: it's the devil of a job getting students to remember that certain verbs, including those that denote likes and dislikes, are not usually used in the present continuous and the "I'm lovin' it" campaign has not helped us! Yes, I know that the language is constantly changing and that the form is likely to become widely accepted in the not too distant future but for the purposes of most exams, it is not acceptable yet!

ST DAVID'S DAY POST SCRIPT

Do you ever wonder at the circular nature of life? I often do and it was brought home to me again on Friday, as I racked my brains for a St David's Day teaching activity that I hadn't used with the same group of little girls before.

Putting out a display of books about Wales, I picked up my beloved copy of Mary Jones and her Bible, a book I have had since I was four years old and which my mother used to read to me in her soft, Welsh tones. I'm not a particularly religious person but the story of a farm girl who wanted a Bible in Welsh so much that she saved for six years to be able to buy one, then, in 1800, walked, barefoot, the twenty-five miles to Bala to get it, has stayed with me. It was Mary's focus and determination that held me a lifetime ago and still does now. [If you do not know the story, you will find it here.]

On Friday I thought that my group of eleven-year-olds might be interested so I simplified the story, leaving out all the past simple tense forms for them to insert. As I had predicted, the story impressed them, too, especially the barefoot bit, which they could hardly believe!

Little did I think, as I lay tucked up in bed listening to the story in early 1950s Bristol, that I would be using it as a teaching resource 60 years later in Sicily!

Incidentally, I was glad to read this in October.

CHRISTMAS BOOKLET

It's time for another bit of shameless self-promotion! This is my new booklet for London Town, Modica - Centro Linguistico Internazionale. It contains Christmas vocabulary, information about British Christmas and New Year traditions, a puzzle and a Christmas quiz:

Nel libretto troverete: un vocabolario natilizio inglese, informazioni sulle tradizioni natilizie britanniche, un gioco di parole nascoste e un quiz.  Chi s'iscrive avrà il libretto!

A NEW BOOKLET

A little shameless self-promotion, if I may:

In linguistics, a "false friend" is a word, in the language you are learning, which looks or sounds like a word in your own language, but the meaning is different. Students registering for courses at London Town Modica, Centro Linguistico Internazionale will receive Pat's Little Book of False Friends for Italian Learners of English.

Sai cos'è un "falso amico" in linguistica? È una parola di una lingua straniera che assomiglia a una parola della tua lingua, ma il significato è tutto diverso. Chi s'iscrive da London Town, Modica, Centro Linguistico Internazionale avrà il nuovo libretto di Pat!

Cross-posted at Pat's English Pages.

ADMIT IT - YOU'RE SCARED!

At London Town Modica, Centro Linguistico Internazionale we've got marshmallow ghosts and ghouls today! Go on - you can admit to me that you're scared!

Thank you, the Activity Village for the idea.

Cross-posted at Pat's English Pages.

WEEKEND TREAT

Now, what do we have here in these pretty packages?

Home-made Modican chocolate, sent to me by a student's mum:

It's always nice to be appreciated and anyone who cooks knows how much work it takes to create such perfection.  Grazie!

A SWEET COMPLIMENT

"These are sweet, like you", said the student who brought me these scrumptious cannoli today. One is filled with Modican chocolate and the other with ricotta:

What a sweet thought!

MODICAN ENGLISHITIS

There is, as Tim Parks writes in Italian Ways, an Italian fantasy about English usage and the proof is in the execrable attempts at translation which can be seen on notices and in advertisements everywhere in this lovely land. The modicani, however, have taken this art to new heights and I have finally identified the habit as a disease called Modican Englishitis.  

Modican Englishitis first manifests itself in a stubborn refusal to imitate correct pronunciation, so that if an English teacher corrects a student who prononces guitar as gweetar, with the stress on the first syllable, the student will listen politely, nod, say, "Ah, gweetar" and happily continue with the erroneous pronunciation.

As the disease progresses, sufferers will insist on pronouncing all past simple tense - ed endings as a separate syllable [finish-èd] and are particularly resistant to the final -s on any English word. I used to think that this refusal to pronounce the final -s came about because foreign nouns which are used in Italian don't have plural forms but now I've come to the conclusion that it is just bloody-mindedness. Patients are perfectly capable of pronouncing the final - s, for where there is not one you can be sure they will add it!  

In Modica you will be invited to use "slots" [but not slot] machines, eat your dinner in the chicken rather than the kitchen and visit the say-ah [sea] to "have a bath". This last is presumably because you don't have a bathroom in the "eighth century" house you have purchased [a mistranslation of ottocento - the nineteenth century]. 

You may not understand a word of the English used in Modica, but never let it be said that life is dool hair [dull here]!

Saying "goodbye" if you have Modican Englishitis

APPRECIATION

This cheered me up:

PROF

I am honoured to have had my portrait taken by photographer Luca Migliore 

and to feature in his 11 Donne ["11 Women"] project here.

Grazie, Luca!

CARI CORSISTI....

I dedicate this song to all my students who had to have a lesson this afternoon instead of enjoying the last day of carnevale. I'm very impressed that you came!

The Seekers - The Carnival is Over

BEST I COULD DO.....

It's St David's Day tomorrow and today I gave up on the kitchen table daffodils, though they did [just] provide me with a buttonhole for school. Out came my trusty plastic daffodil again!

Some of my youngest students enjoyed making their own Welsh lovespoons today:

And you can't have a St David's Eve without Welshcakes!

If that's not flying the flag, Wales, I don't know what is!

SATISFACTION

I was very pleased and touched when my student Giorgio put this photo on facebook with the caption,

"Un amico mi disse: 'Investi su te stesso, fai un corso di inglese - ti servirà.' Be che dirti avevi veramente ragione. A friend said to me, 'Invest in yourself - do an English course because it will be useful.' I have to say you were right."

For my part, it's always nice to be someone's first English teacher. Thank you, Giorgio!