Ever tried cleaning your teeth with the ‘wrong’ hand? Or towel-drying your hair using only one arm? (“Why don’t you use the hairdryer, dad?”) If you’ve ever suffered from tennis elbow, you’ll know what I mean, My elbow (gomito) ‘fa male boia’, as the old lady I was chatting to yesterday put it. She had […]
Archives for February 2018
‘Salute’ and Free Trial Online Italian Lesson offer!
Italians say ‘Salute!’ when they raise their glasses of spumante or prosecco to toast their good-fortune. And why shouldn’t they? They were, after all, born in the world’s best country, one to which no other nation can compare. Undeniably, Italy has the most attractive coasts and landscapes and the most interesting and significant history. It’s […]
Are you supersititious? Some coarse language. And adverbs!
Buondì. Are you superstitious? Yes? No? A little? Well, I’ve another free set of Italian conversation prompts for you. This one’s on Superstizione, credenza e destino (supersition, belief and destiny). Try it with friends from your Italian class, perhaps over coffee and donuts. Or, if you’re taking online Italian lessons, why not suggest it to […]
Guess I must be a really angry person!
I’ve just finished publishing a new, free Italian conversation lesson. The topic is ‘Cosa ti fa arrabbiare?‘ (What makes you angry?) So, I was reading through the questions, checking the formatting of the page, and so on. “Do you get angry when…?” Yes, yes, yes and yes! “Does THIS make you angry?” Of course! “And […]
Are you a ‘good’ student? Or a ‘bad’ one, like me?
Buondì. Gotta be quick today as I have an online lesson with my Swedish teacher in precisely one hour and nineteen minutes, and I haven’t yet done my homework… Les, a club member and regular ebook buyer, wrote to share his approach to using our ‘easy readers’. Hi Daniel—just finished reading this [ Caravaggio nei […]
About ‘Customer Service’
‘Customer Service’ can be a bit of a misnomer, can’t it? For example, the company that charges us too much to send out our emails, three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Recently, I had a problem with an Australian ‘Internet service provider’ called Telstra. If you live in Australia and have an […]
Are you prejudiced? Or a stereotype? Or both??
Are you prejudiced? Do you see the world as a collection of stereotypes? Or perhaps you’re a stereotype, yourself? Maybe you’re a Brit with a plummy accent, or an Australian wearing a hat with corks dangling from it… The reason I ask is that ‘Stereotipi e pregiudizi‘ is the topic of our newest, free Italian […]
Excuse me, where would I find books for people learning Italian?
Buondì. It’s raining here in Bologna, so I came to school on the bus. Which is much drier (and safer) than riding my motorbike. Walking to and from the bus stop gave me a chance to look around, in a way I wouldn’t normally do when I’m concentrating on not getting killed. The city is […]
Tu sei portato per le lingue?
Buondì. “Tu sei portato per le lingue?” is one of the conversation prompts in the latest addition to our ‘Free Materials for Italian Conversation Lessons‘ series. Today’s new page of interview-style questions is on the topic of ‘Imparare una lingua straniera‘, ‘learning a foreign language’. That’s something of interest to everyone reading this, I should […]
To subtitle or not to subtitle, that is the question
Buondì. My (Italian) wife speaks excellent English. Like really, really well. Americans tell her she has a British accent (though they aren’t being complimentary…) However, when as a family we sit down to watch the latest thrills on Netflix, she insists on having the subtitles on. Otherwise she “doesn’t understand”. Becoming this sub-title-dependent is not […]
