How the hell do I listen to the free stuff your site? (+ Cavour)

OK, our recent Italian listening tracks on Garibaldi and Marconi have gone down well.

Garibaldi has already had over 150 plays, and Marconi more than 60.

But as there are around 1500 OnlineItalianClub.com ‘members’, I guess that means that plenty of you are not managing with the technology.

Cono wrote to me saying:

I have received prior emails with Italian listening exercises. I have never been able to access the “soundcloud” transcripts.

I’m guessing he’s one of many.

But in fact, there isn’t any sort of technical problem.

Really.

Today you’ll be able to work on your Italian listening with our new text on Cavour.

I promise.

Allora, this is the situation:

1. It’s 99% probable you’re reading this in an e-mail. That’s how we communicate with our ‘members’.
2. But e-mail programs often don’t show images and plug-ins. So you’ll see the transcript for the Cavour text here below but probably not the ‘listening plug-in’, which you need to hear the text.
3. That’s why in each e-mail I write something like “If you don’t see the audio plug-in you need to hear the text, click here to view this article on our website.”
4. You just need to click that link. There’s one in every article.
5. When you view the website, your browser (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, whatever) will show you the whole article, including the listening plug-in.
6. Just click the little white arrow in the listening plug-in, and off you go!
7. Let’s try a test. Scroll down now. Do you see the listening plug-in? Probably not. So click here.
8. If you’re using a tablet or computer, there’s no reason why that shouldn’t work fine. But if it doesn’t, just try the whole thing with a different browser (i.e. if you use Google Chrome, switch to Internet Explorer, or vice versa.)
9. “But I opened the e-mail with this browser…” No problem. Open another browser, type in http://onlineitalianclub.com and then look for ‘Articles’ in the menu at the very top of the page. Click that. You’ll see the latest article (this one). Click the article title to view the whole thing.
10. And if that still doesn’t do it, try a different device. So if you’re using a smartphone, try with your home or office computer.

Cono wrote back:

Le tue istruzioni sono fatto perfette. Ora posso sia ascoltare sia leggere tutti gli esercizi. Grazie mille.

Happy ending for him, and hopefully for you too!

But if not, leave a comment on this article and I’ll see what I can do to resolve your problem.

So ready to work on your Italian listening?

As usual, I’ll remind you, listen to the track a few times BEFORE you read the transcript, so as to get the maximum value from it.

(If you don’t see the listening plug-in here below, erm, click here to view this article on our website.)

Transcript

CAMILLO BENSO CONTE DI CAVOUR

In tanti si sono battuti e hanno dedicato la loro esistenza all’unificazione del Regno d’Italia quando ancora l’Italia era tutto tranne che unita. Uno degli
esponenti maggiori dell’epoca del Risorgimento è infatti l’aristocratico Cavour.

Il politico italiano Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso conte di Cavour, meglio conosciuto semplicemente come Cavour, nacque a Torino il 10 agosto 1810. Secondo
figlio di Michele Benso di Cavour, un nobile piemontese, e Adèle de Sellon, giovane donna proveniente da una famiglia calvinista di Ginevra ricca e nobile.
Inizialmente Cavour e il fratello maggiore furono educati in casa, poi Camillo frequentò il 5° corso della Regia Accademia Militare di Torino, fino al 1825.

Da giovane viaggiò molto in Inghilterra e Francia, dove si stabilì a vivere per alcuni anni. Dal 1850 al 1852 fu ministro del Regno di Sardegna, dal 1852 al 1859
capo del governo. Nel 1861 diventò il primo presidente del Consiglio dei ministri del neonato stato italiano. Morì il 6 giugno 1861 a Torino, pochi mesi dopo la
proclamazione del Regno d’Italia.

Visse durante il risorgimento, e fu un leale sostenitore delle idee liberali, del progresso civile ed economico, dell’anticlericalismo, dei movimenti nazionali
e dell’espansionismo del Regno di Sardegna ai danni dell’Austria e dello Stato Pontificio. Modernizzò l’agricoltura, rinnovò il sistema fiscale e sostenne fino
all’ultimo che uno stato unito avrebbe portato a una maggiore crescita economica e sociale.

Fu proprio Cavour a sostenere l’unificazione del Regno d’Italia! Ebbe alcuni scontri con le idee repubblicane di Giuseppe Mazzini, e con quelle rivoluzionarie di
Garibaldi. Grazie a lui abbiamo il libero scambio, i grandi investimenti industriali, la cooperazione fra il pubblico e il privato.

P.S.

Coming soon, a great offer on online Italian lessons!

Try just one lesson, or buy a ‘course’ of lessons and take one a week (or more often if you choose!)

We teach Italian online via Skype video calling, which is free to download and easy to use, assuming you have a computer with a microphone and webcam.

Choose to focus on conversation, grammar, or work with your teacher on one of our e-books.

Either way, you’ll find having the support of a ‘real teacher’, one-to one, is very motivating and effective!

Lesson times are flexible to suit your needs, so you’ll be able to learn Italian from your home or office without the hassle of having to find a course near you and commit to fixed days and times.

Find out more about online Italian lessons with an OnlineItalianClub.com teacher here.

But don’t sign up yet: watch out for the promotion at the start of September!