I'm fascinated by Brazilian culture, and although I have never taken the time to learn much Portuguese, I believe learning it would be easier now that I speak Spanish

And for echar, don't forget echar de menos - to miss (Spain), and echarle la culpa - to blame!

Great article and great point!

Me Gusta Nadar

Me gusta nadar. Cuando sólo tenía dos años, nadaba mucho. De niño, mis padres querían que aprendiera a nadar. Mi pelo es rojo, así mi hermana a veces me llama Ariel, como la sirena.

Tell me if you don't understand anything, and I will explain.

Il Cappellaio Matto

Yesterday I read in a novel by Philip K. Dick that English hatters, during the 19th century, used to utilize mercury to process felt hats, and this could cause an intoxication that led to brain damage, so, very often, they grew mad.
Thus came the expression "as mad as a hatter".
I googled it, and it appears to be true.
That made my think about "Alice's adventures in Wonderland". There's "the Hatter" in this book, who is clearly totally nuts. His name, in Italian, is translated with "Il Cappellaio Matto", "the Mad Hatter", and that's maybe because we, usually, don't say "matto come un cappellaio".
Instead of that, very often, we say "matto come un cavallo", literally "as mad as a horse". Horses seem less crazy than humans to me, but, anyway, that's a very common idiom.
Another way to say that is "fuori" (out). So we say "quello è fuori", literally: "that one is out".
There's a variation on the theme which I find very funny, it's "fuori come un balcone" ("as out as a balcony", because balconies are known to never be inside).
So, "quel tizio è proprio fuori come un balcone" may be a good non literal translation for "that bloke is really mad as a hatter".
We also say "matto da legare" ( "mad to be tied"), and here, correct me if I'm wrong, English and Italian finally agree, for this is an English expression too.
However, they say Philip Dick was mad to be tied, but that's ok for me, because he was pure genius, and, without being a genius, I'm a bit "fuori", too.
In the novel I'm reading (rereading, actually), "The Divine Invasion", published in 1981, there's an almost omniscent AI controlling the world, whose name is "big noodle".
I can't avoid noticing a strict assonance with the name of a famous serch engine...
I wonder what Dick would think of that. :)

Here's a list of Italian Idioms:
http://www.pimsleurapproach.com/resources/italian/articles/italian-idioms/

You speak FANTASTIC English! Only found a few mistakes--one deals with the whole "cui" issue in Italian, so that's excusable, one is a spelling error I'm sure you simply overlooked, and one is simply something I believe is a bit awkward but not wrong. Great job!

My summer's job.

I'm studying English-Spanish Translation, but when I am on holidays I prefer to work. There is a locality named Punta de Choros, in which you can find the National Reserve Humboldt's Penguin. Three islands are part of the reserve: Choros Island, Damas Island and Chañaral Island. My job consists of leading a tour from Punta Choros to the other two islands. Here, you can find a variery of wonderful species like dolphins, penguins, sea lions, sea otters, whales, and different kind of birds. Also, you can enjoy of the beautiful Damas Island's beaches, walk around the place, take photos, etc. It's a really good job.

Not bad English! It sounds like you have a really great job!