Buondì.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve realised that I don’t handle stress at all well (I’m having problems with banks…)

I wake up at four a.m. worrying, then can’t get to sleep again.

During the day, I get physical symptoms – tingling, trembling, ‘fight or flight’ responses, that sort of thing. It’s not pleasant.

And, unless I’m very careful, I get distracted from more important things, such as conversations with family members, and real work, like teaching kids, rather than wasting the day with infuriating legal nonsense.

So anyway, I thought I’d cut this short and go for a walk in the rain, calm down a bit.

Maybe that way I’ll salvage something from what started out as another horrible day.

But first, Easy Italian News is back!

And no, I haven’t listened to it yet, as I’ve wasted much of the last twenty-four hours on a bank ‘help’ chat (they deliver bad news, refuse to give the reason, then wish me a wonderful day!)

But I’m going to read and listen to it – I always do! If only to see whether the team has written anything that will land me in court.

And if you’re learning Italian, so should you! Eight or nine minutes of audio with text support, three times a week. That’s half an hour-ish of skills practice a week, so over twenty hours of listening practice, with supporting transcripts, each year.

What’s not to like?

And subscribers (subscribing is totally free) get an email containing each new bulletin, with the text and a link to the online audio.

If you’re one, you should have had yesterday’s bulletin, well… yesterday.

If you aren’t, then visit the Easy Italian News website and take a look.

How to best profit from this fantastic, free material?

Here’s my advice on what to do (and on what NOT to do) with it.

And the catch?

There isn’t one. The site is funded with donations from users (see who), any shortfalls being made up with revenues from other things we do.

Easy Italian News is valuable reading and listening practice, three times a week, for free.

Make use of it!

Now where’s my umbrella?

A lunedì.

P.S. Last chance!

Last chance to get this year’s final new Italian ‘easy reader’ ebook, Un giorno da ricordare, 25% cheaper – the launch offer ends on Sunday night!

Nine tales of unforgettable days, recounted by memorable characters, with the aim of stimulating you to listen to and read Italian, while offering plenty of exposure to the main Italian past tense!

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 9 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 and above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Un giorno da ricordare, just £5.99! | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Catalog

How do I access my ebook?

When your order is ‘completed’ (normally immediately after your payment is confirmed), a download link will be automatically emailed to you. It’s valid for 7 days and 3 download attempts so please save a copy of the .pdf ebook in a safe place. Other versions of the ebook (.mobi/Kindle-compatible, .epub) cannot be downloaded but will be emailed to people who request them.

+++

OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | Shop

Buondì.

I’m desperately busy today, as it’s the first of the month (which is always heavy), as well as being an important day in a big reorganisation project (the various things that we do are moving to their own legal entities from today, rather than being all together in one company).

Plus I have to go for ‘un esame del sangue’ mid-morning, then teach.

So I’m keeping this really, really short!

Over the weekend my wife was in hospital so, not having to cook, I had more time for wine, and to accompany that, Netflix.

The last thing I’d watched was some blockbuster featuring Tom Cruise so, naturally, when I next switched on the movie streaming service, its algorithm suggested I might enjoy an Italian movie starring people I’ve never heard of.

Beh, the wine was the thing, really, so I ideally clicked on Scialla!, a title that meant absolutely nothing to me (it’s Roman slang, apparently – I’d assumed it was the name of one of the characters!)

If you’re curious, the Italian Wikipedia page is here, English version here, official trailer on Youtube here, and the film itself, besides being on Netflix (at least in Italy) is also available for free on Raiplay, though to access that last one you need to be in Italy, or know how to evade geo-blocking controls using a VPN. Either way, registration is required.

Anyway, I enjoyed my evening, watched the movie through to the end and, AS STUDENTS INVARIABLY SAY TO ME, “didn’t understand everything!”

Acutally, they usually complain they “didn’t understand anything!”, though that’s never actually true. You can get a lot just by loooking at the images. I once enjoyed Toy Story in Polish, for example (it was snowing and minus 20 outside the cinema…)

“It’s normal”, I tell them. “You probably don’t understand ‘everything’ when you watch a movie in your own language, it’s just that you’re used to and happy with just getting the gist.”

Scialla! is set in Rome, I think. One of the two main characters is fifteen and so speaks teenagerese rather than ‘proper Italian’, and with a Roman accent to boot.

The other main character, who is approximately my age and also a teacher, was easier to follow, but not ‘easy’.

I don’t have many Italian friends and most of my listening is in other languages. As we speak English at home, I only really use Italian at work – for example at the reception desk in our school, or in supermarkets – both situations being very predictable and repetitive.

So there you go, I didn’t understand everything, but that was fine! I enjoyed the film anyway, and wasn’t surprised that a lot of the detail passed me by.

A few days later, my wife was home and looking for something to distract her from the pain, so Netflix again! Buoyed by its earlier success, again the algorithm suggested an Italian title, this time ‘Strappare lungo i bordi‘, English name ‘Tear Along the Dotted Line‘.

I’d heard of this one, at least. I read somewhere that this animated series was one of the most watched things on Netflix, and so was curious enough to click.

This time, though, it was much harder!

The first episode was just fifteen minutes long, and though I more or less got the gist, so much of the detail passed me by, I did something I NEVER DO – watched it again!

Actually the second time reassured me that I’d understood pretty well the first time, but the details remained elusive.

So there you have it, the lesson for today: I’ve been in Italy since 1998, I have three Italian kids, run a business here, and online businesses centered on learning and teaching Italian – yet there’s STILL lots I don’t/can’t/won’t ever get.

Be reassured: not understanding is normal.

Listen/watch/read/interact anyway, and it’ll get easier with time.

A venerdì.

P.S. Ebook Offer Reminder!

Don’t forget to grab your copy of this year’s final new Italian ‘easy reader’ ebook, Un giorno da ricordare, while it’s 25% cheaper!

Nine tales of unforgettable days, recounted by memorable characters, with the aim of stimulating you to listen to and read Italian, while offering plenty of exposure to the main Italian past tense!

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 9 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 and above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Un giorno da ricordare, just £5.99! | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Catalog

How do I access my ebook?

When your order is ‘completed’ (normally immediately after your payment is confirmed), a download link will be automatically emailed to you. It’s valid for 7 days and 3 download attempts so please save a copy of the .pdf ebook in a safe place. Other versions of the ebook (.mobi/Kindle-compatible, .epub) cannot be downloaded but will be emailed to people who request them.

OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | Shop