January, or gennaio in Italian, is the month that marks the beginning of the new year. Despite the days being short and the weather cold, it is a wonderful time to visit Northern Italy if you enjoy skiing and hiking in the mountains.
Gennaio is the first month (primo mese) of the year according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars and it consists of 31 days (trentun giorni). As is the case with all months of the year, gennaio isn’t capitalised in Italian as it is in English.
Oggi è il diciannove di gennaio. – Caspita! Siamo già oltre la metà del mese!
Today is January 19th. Wow! We’re already over halfway through the month!
It derives from the Latin Ienuarius meaning ‘month of Janus‘. Janus is the Roman god who presided over doors and beginnings.
The star sign (segno zodiacale) for those born in gennaio is either Capricorno (Capricorn) if you were born between January 1st and January 20th or Aquario (Aquarius) if you were born after the 20th.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
