Buondì. This is an experiment. Bear with me. What you have to do is follow the instructions below, though as it’s a thought experiment, you can just imagine yourself doing it if you prefer: 1. Turn on your TV 2. Pick a channel 3. Decide if you want to watch what’s showing and, if not… […]
Archives for November 2019
Ever felt you couldn’t be bothered?
Buondì. Ever felt you couldn’t be bothered? I mean with learning a language, obviously, rather than with life. Though that, too. Yesterday evening at reception, I was chatting to an Italian woman who had decided to pay us for four more months of English course, having reasoned that if she bought the additional lessons she’d […]
In Italy in 1500 a new type of entertainment was born…
Buondì. As mentioned last week, today we have a new easy reader ebook for you. It’s ‘La commediante‘, which looks like it should mean ‘The (female) Comedian’ but is probably better translated as ‘The Actress’. The level is C1, so advanced but not super-advanced. If you read in Italian, take a look at the free […]
Start doing these today and see the results in a year’s time
Buondì. “Learn a Language in Three Months!” “Italian in a Month!” “Seven Days To Fluent Italian!” etc. I haven’t seen “Italian in 24 Hours!” or “60-Minute Italian”, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they exist. One of the various reasons why I’m not a rich man is that I’m inclined to tell people the truth […]
More on traffic lights!
Buondì. This article will more or less write itself, I had such a great response from club members on the rather surprising topic of traffic lights. So here goes. Any mistakes you find below are the writers’ own (not that it matters, but people do enjoy pointing it out when I mess up.) Lorna was […]
Stuff that’s useful to know BESIDES Italian grammar
Buondì. A quick one today, as I’m on holiday – at least until this evening, when we’ll be back in Bologna and back to the usual routine. It’s a lovely, bright morning here in Glasgow (Scotland), but I’ve written about visiting this city before and so won’t dwell on it. Other than to mention something […]
Reading is passé, it seems
Buondì. Everyone knows that handwriting is an obsolete skill. Mine has always beeen terrible, but these days I only ever pick up a pen when I need to write something on the shopping list stuck to a fridge with a magnet: “beer” Young people still seem to communicate in text, and extremely rapidly, using only […]
“How long will it take until I can understand everything I hear?”
Buondì. I get a lot of silly questions: via email, on the phone, and from students (and staff) at the school. But this one I made up, to illustrate today’s point: “How long will it take until I can understand everything I hear?” Actually, it’s not such a daft thing to ask, assuming that: 1.) […]
What for?
Buondì. Some kid came into the school the other day while I was sitting on reception hoping to mind my own business. He wanted to do a course to prepare for a certain English exam – I’ll spare you the details. (We also teach English, though a lot less these days, mostly it’s Italian now.) […]
Final day of the Free Trial Online Italian Lesson offer!
Buondì. I don’t usually email on Sundays – we all have better things to do, I’m sure. However, this is just a quick reminder that the ‘Free Trial Online Italian Lesson‘ offer ends tonight. The next chance to try a one-to-one lesson with a native-speaker teacher won’t be until February. Why wait? November’s a boring […]
