Archives for August 2020

Buondì. For all you Russell Crowe fans out there (the club has lots of members in Australia, and some in New Zealand), today we have the slice of history on which the film for which Russ won his Oscar, Gladiator, was based. Along with a half-price ‘Ebook of the Week’ offer, given that we already […]

Buondì. No time for pontificating today. And I’m in too much of a rush to be witty. I have to teach at ten, you see, which means putting on a shirt and combing my hair. But before that, there’s my weekly hour of conversation practice in Turkish, which I try not to miss. I’ve been […]

Buondì. This week I’ve been exchanging emails with one of our online teachers who wants to develop materials (exercises, ebooks) for learners of Italian. One topic that came up was prepositions, which we agreed is a difficult area and relevant to students at all levels. Prepositions are tested in Italian exams right up to the […]

Buondì. Hope you had a pleasant weekend. We managed to get out on the boat, and for once there was the right combination of sun, wind and waves. Then, back home from the coast, Sunday evening saw a storm, so a welcome few degrees drop in this tiresome August heat. But enough with the fun […]

Buondì. Episode 18 of our 30-part series of articles with audio recordings, ‘La storia di Roma‘, covers an interesting area of social history: prostitution. Prostitutes in the Roman empire were known as ‘lupe’, apparently. There’s a well-preserved building at Pompei known as the ‘lupanare’, which WordReference.com translates as ‘brothel, den of vice, whorehouse’, but would […]

Buondì. Italian politics is going through quite a stable period right now. In part that’s due to the pandemic, as far as I can work out, because the ‘state of emergency’ rules mean that it’s easier for the governing coalition to get laws passed, something which is normally close to impossible. But for much of […]

Buondì. Have another Roman emperor, in fact, have four! Today we have some memorable characters: there’s the emperor who liked to dress up as a god (and wore women’s sandals, apparently), the loving son who was convinced by his scheming wife to murder his own mom, the rather Trumpian leader who, to show his disdain […]

Buondì. Today’s episode from our free series of articles with audio, ‘La storia di Roma‘, is about the Romans’ impressive works of architecture and engineering: roads and amphitheatres, obviously, but also triumphal archs, thermal spas, and erm… drains. Drains were important to carry away the waste from the ‘public baths’, which aren’t what you’re thinking. […]

Buondì. I don’t have a mass of time, as I have a French lesson starting in 90 minutes, and I currently don’t speak a word of the language. I understand it fairly well, as I studied it at school and listen to the radio in French, but I can’t actually say anything. More about that […]

Buondì. Hope you had a pleasant weekend, wherever you happen to find yourself. In all likelihood that’s not in Italy, as most of our members herald from the English-speaking countries strung out around the globe (for the obvious reason that the website is in English, I suppose.) Going west from Italy, we have plenty of […]