Buondì.

I got up promptly this morning, knowing I needed to write something for the club before spending an hour or two tidying up our little sailing boat, which we’ve neglected all winter.

But then… I had no idea what to write, which is rare, as I am by nature a person with lots of ideas.

So a change of plan, then.

Ninety-minutes or so of scrubbing the decks first, then the article after!

Now, the boat is 8.5 meters long and 2 metres wide.

But it’s pointy at the front.

So to calculate just how much deck I scrubbed (there’s only one, it’s not a cruise ship), it shouldn’t be so simple as multiplying 8.5 by 2 to get 17 square meters.

I dare say one of my kids would know how to do it, as they all study or studied math at school.

But typically, there’s not a child handy when you need one.

So lets take 17 and knock off a few square meters to account for the bow (‘prua’ in Italian, stern is ‘poppa’, which always make me think of farts, but anyway…)

I therefore scrubbed 14 sq.m of winter grime and muddy footprints from what is supposed to be a white plastic deck.

Using the sort of little ‘foam one-side, abrasive other-side’ cloth we use at home for cleaning greasy frying pans.

Fun, fun, fun.

You know what it is with cleaning that’s so frustrating?

The more layers of muck you scrub off, the more you notice each little mark that’s left.

And the end result still looks dirty, even though, it’s objectively much less so than it was when you started.

To cap it all, when it came to putting the hosepipe away, someone had to step back on the quay (‘molo’ in Italian) to detach it, which meant putting on land shoes again and…

…a whole mess of footprints!

Where’s that little foam pad gone again?

All of which got me thinking…

It’s been a while since we’ve done a half-price ‘Ebook of the Week’ offer.

So let’s do one, yey!

But which?

I have a list of the hundred or so original titles our writers have produced (five more are coming), and noted next to each is the date of publication and whether I’ve previously done a BotW offer.

Scanning down the list, one jumped out.

Of course!

September 1492, Atlantic Ocean: Christopher Columbus is wrestling with his fear of failure and ruin. After months at sea, there’s still no sign of land. Captains and crew are growing desperate!

And I bet there were muddy footprints everywhere!

And Colombo would have been bad-tempered enough already, not yet having found New York or Beijing, or wherever.

So there you go – tension and OCD on the high seas: Colombo e il mare Oceano

And yes, of course, you know the ending already.

But the beginning and the middle are pretty good, too!

The level of this ‘easy’ reader is B1/B2. There aren’t a lot of reviews because, as I said, I haven’t promoted this one since it was first published (in Feb. 2017).

But several of the reviews that there are mention that the audio is fast, the level is hard, etc.

Harold, for instance, wrote:

I found the reading too fast in places, often with parts of words swallowed. That may be how many Italians speak, but it doesn’t aid my learning.

That was in February 2017. Now I know for a fact that Harold is still with us, more than two years later. He’ll occasionally comment on EasyItalianNews.com or email me about something I’ve written, which is nice.

But I betcha his listening skills are much stronger these days. Two years of regular practice will do that.

But you know? Improving your listening skills is like scrubbing the deck.

It’s never really done, and the more you focus, the more you realise you don’t (and probably never will) understand everything…

Still, that’s no excuse not to try.

Anyway, the reason I mention the reviews, is that you really should start by downloading the FREE SAMPLE CHAPTER (.pdf).

Why?

Because that way you can read the first chapter and see if it’s too easy, too hard, and so on.

But ALSO, listen to the audio for the ENTIRE STORY, absolutely free of charge. There’s a link at the top of Chapter 1 in the free sample chapter download.

So, here’s more info. about the ebook:

This challenging easy reader ebook is an excellent way for intermediate-advanced students of Italian to consolidate their knowledge of grammar rules, learn new words and, above all, build reading and listening skills!

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online at soundcloud.com)
• 8 chapters to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at intermediate level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
• Please note: your e-book will be emailed to you within 24 hours of your purchase

Oh, I forgot to say – ‘Colombo’ will be half-price, so just £3.99 rather than the usual £7.99, until Sunday night.

So you’ve plenty of time.

But hey, today’s a holiday just about everywhere where the club has members, so why not get your copy now, while you think about it?

Buy ‘Colombo e il mare Oceano‘ £3.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | Other ebooks about famous people | Catalog

Buondì.

And Buona Pasqua!

Though you should note that here in Italy, Venerdì Santo (Good Friday) is a religious holiday but not a national one, that is to say, it’s a normal working day.

Most of Europe is closed, but not Italy.

My bank has been warning me for a month that any transactions I initiate today will not be processed until next week, as the continental banking system’s computers are all off eating roast lamb and chocolate eggs.

But then, next week we have April 25th, which IS a holiday (more about that another time.)

And the week after, there’s May 1st (ditto.)

It really is feast or famine with days off at this time of year!

Talking of eggs, I read an interesting article about Easter in Sweden on the ‘easy Swedish news’ site I listen to each weekday.

Did you know that, in Sweden, Venerdì Santo (Good Friday) is called ‘Långfredagen’ (long Friday)?

Probably because parents are stuck at home with the kids all day.

But I wonder if the producers of the classic British gangster movie ‘The Long Good Friday’ knew about the Swedish term?

According to Wikipedia, the film was number 21 in a list of Best British Films and was Bob Hoskins’ breakthrough role!

For which we should be truly thankful, as Roger Rabbit would not have been the same without him.

Beh, where was I? Ah yes, eggs.

Another piece of trivia from the easy Swedish news – Swedes will eat fifty million eggs today.

And why are eggs associated with Easter, they inquired?

It’s because, apparently, the hens (hönor – see? It’s virtually the same word. THAT’s a good reason for learning Swedish…) didn’t use to lay eggs all winter, it being way too gloomy and depressing.

They were probably busy planning holidays in Spain and washing away the winter blues with cheap vodka from Estonia.

But then suddenly, hey, it’s April!

The sun is shining, and eggs start to appear again.

So THAT’s why they’re on the menu…

But enough about Sweden, what about Italy?

Well, it behoves me to mention that you could develop your own ‘easy news’ habit.

Were you to do so, you might potentially improve your reading and listening skills approximately three levels in a single year, as I have (no kidding), as well as picking up masses of trivia.

Check out our EasyItalianNews.com site, which is free.

Listen to/read each episode for a year…

That would be approximately 150 bulletins, something like twenty-five HOURS of audio, repeated three times, call it 75 hours (equivalent to a three-week full time Italian course)…

Then come back next Easter and tell me your Italian hasn’t improved as a result?

I’m not going to have trouble digesting my Easter eggs over that prospect.

Either you won’t bother (not my fault, as I’m doing my best to persuade you), or it will work.

I’m certain.

‘Subscribe’ here (for free, and it will ALWAYS be free – no tricks) to get each bulletin via email direct into your inbox each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Our ‘easy news’ site is funded by donations, not charges of any kind, or advertising.

Though this month our cup has had just a few coppers chucked into it.

So if you’ve a few moments today, and haven’t spent all your cash on chocolate eggs, do visit our ‘Donate’ page and help out.

Anyway, we were talking about Easter in Italy, were we not?

I’ll be lunching with the extended family in Santarcangelo di Romagna, one of these ‘everyone brings something and we all share’ events. Hope there’ll be plenty of wine…

What precisely the Easter traditions are there, I have no idea (besides eating and drinking too much).

However, Italian Wikipedia has an interesting section on ‘Local Italian Traditions’ on its Easter page.

Amongst which are the following:

• A Teggiano, in provincia di Salerno, i figli baciavano i piedi ai genitori in segno di perdono.
• In Versilia, sempre in segno di perdono, ma stavolta verso Gesù, le donne dei marinai baciano la terra, dicendo: “Terra bacio e terra sono – Gesù mio, chiedo perdono”.
• In Abruzzo invece è usanza dei contadini durante la Pasqua aggiungere acqua benedetta nel cibo.
• L’acqua benedetta si usa anche in Venezia Giulia, dove se ne beve mezzo bicchiere a digiuno, prima di mangiare due uova sode e una focaccia innaffiata con vino bianco.

And for those who don’t YET read well enough in Italian, here are my attempts at translating the above:

• At Teggiano, in the province of Salerno, children kiss their parents’ feet as a sign of / in an act of pardon/forgiveness (? not sure about that bit!)
• In Versilia, also ‘in segno di perdono’, but this time towards Jesus, sailors’ wives kiss the earth, saying “I kiss the earth and I am earth – my Jesus, I ask for forgiveness”.
• In Abruzzo, on the other hand, it’s the custom of farmers to add holy water to (sprinkle holy water on?) their food during Easter.
• Holy water is also used in Venezia Giulia, where a half a glass of it is drunk on an empty stomach, before eating two boiled eggs and some focaccia, washed down (?) with white wine.

So there you go.

And national holiday or otherwise, I think I’ll head down to the supermarket now to pick up a litre of white wine and a focaccia.

So as to really enter into the spirit of things!

A lunedì.