English Translation
“How long till dinner?” -“Five minutes.”
I really like the “quanto manca” construction, meaning how much is missing… it sounds very poetic to me.
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I agree. Reading books in Italian is also extremely poetic, it adds a whole new dimension. Viola Ardone is one of my favourite writers when it comes to beautiful words.
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Oh I agree! I’m only able to read beginner level books at present, but even in those there’s gorgeous phrases - “… mentre vede le terra rimpicciolirsi sotto i suoi piedi…” I think that could be my new favourite word 
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Ah yes, that’s quite a word. On Kindle (my addiction) I try to read a page through to get the gist (il succo), then highlight and go into Translate. It’s slow but a great way to see how al the tenses work, and “think” Italian.
The late Luis Sepúlveda wrote simple stories told by animals, supposedly for children, but mostly read by adults come me; -) The cat and the seagull is a wonderful read.
Tricky words? I still have to concentrate before saying “gioielleria”!
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