This morning I’m covering for my wife at the reception desk of our Italian school. She’s gone to the beach with the kids. I like doing reception, as it’s a good chance to meet people. Anyway, I was just chatting (in Italian of course) to Doak, from San Francisco. He’s been a club member for […]

‘I viaggi lowcost‘ is the theme, though not the title, of today’s free Italian listening comprehension task. Cheap flights have made up quite a big part of my summer. Yours too, I suppose. But now ‘Ferragosto’ is done, it’ll soon be back to the old routine. Sigh! The level of today’s free audio is B2, […]

Buondì. I’m still in Rimini, where both the sea and the sky are a deep blue. Sadly, there’s little wind. So sitting on the couch with my laptop is not such a sacrifice. Today, I have yet another free Italian listening comprehension for you. This one’s rather banal (Italians use that word all the time…) […]

Buondì. It’s Friday, so later in the afternoon I’m off to Rimini on Italy’s Adriatic coast. We’ll be spending the weekend by the sea, in the company of Italians and crowds of tourists from all over the Europe! Rimini also has migrants from many countries, including Africa and China. Which brings me to today’s Italian […]

Back at home after the holiday. The fridge is empty, the cat has thrown up on the carpet, and there’s washing to hang out. So I’ll keep this short. Today’s free Italian listening is on causative verbs. What are they? Well, in English that includes things as varied as ‘get a pizza delivered’ and ‘have […]

Buondì. It’s the last day of our UK holiday today and, of course, it’s going to rain. Tomorrow we’ll be piling into our rental car and heading for the airport. Tuesday evening we’ll be back in Italy, where the newspapers promise us sweltering heat and delays at passport control. Oh well, at least the cat […]

Buondì. I hear it’s very, very hot in Italy at the moment. Fortunately, I’m temporarily in cloudy Cornwall, in South West England. Where we’re not exactly having a heat wave. The kids don their wet suits to go surfing in the chilly Atlantic waters. And us wiser heads take sweaters and rain coats when we amble […]

Sorry I’m later today. I’ve just got off a plane from Edinburgh (nice and sunny) to Cornwall (low cloud and drizzle.) What a lovely city Edinburgh is! ‘Mille grazie’ to the club members who wrote with suggestions regarding what I should see and eat. It was appreciated. My (Italian) wife liked the place so much […]

Buondì. I’m early today, as we’re spending a couple of days in Edinburgh. That is to say Edinburgh, Scotland, not the similarly-named city of Edinburg in Texas (just in case you’re a little behind on your reading.) Anyway, it seems to get light really early around here! And, as my Italian wife complained, the guest […]

Buondì. Don’t think I mentioned this, but for the past week or so I’ve been on our annual family holiday. We’re visiting grandparents in Cornwall, in England. The kids are going surfing, I’m enjoying the occasional pasty and pint of Proper Job. And funnily enough, today’s free listenings are pertinent, the first (hard one, level […]