Buondì. I was chatting with my online Turkish teacher this morning, more or less in Turkish, which was pleasing, about the proliferation of ‘free’ Italian courses in our city. Various organisations offer language teaching for immigrants and the like, though she pointed out that she’d met plenty of people who, like her, could have afforded […]
Will summer never come?
Buondì. Don’t know what it’s like where you are, but here in Bologna it’s been miserable for months. We’ve had the occasional flash of nice weather, but lately it’s been rain, rain, then more rain. Each day I watch the simplified news and weather forecast from Sweden (to improve my Swedish, obviously), then shout out […]
New B2/C1-Level Easy Reader: Prometeo e la guerra dei titani
Buondì. I’ve been suffering from ‘mouse elbow’ (which is like tennis elbow but with whiskers) and so need to go easy on the typing / touch-pad use. Hence just a quick one today, to let you know that we have a new B2/C1-level Italian ‘easy reader’. This one is called ‘Prometeo e la guerra dei […]
Not so frequent, but still sweet
Buondì. As I was just washing last night’s dishes, listening to channel one on Swedish national radio, and pondering what to write about this morning, the term ‘sweet spot’ occurred. Also, an email that I received yesterday from some irritating blogger or podcaster or Instagrammer seeking a link from the club’s ‘Other Resources‘ page to […]
Another stroll down Memory Lane (part 1)
Buondì. A couple of years ago, I collected some of the best articles that I’d written in the five years the club had existed onto a new page, “Best of” OnlineItalianClub.com, wrote about it in a post entitled ‘A stroll down Memory Lane‘, then promptly forgot it. This morning I remembered, and found some time […]
Did Leonardo da Vinci invent the ebook?
Buondì. Today’s topic: did Leonardo da Vinci invent the ebook? Let’s weigh the evidence. Ebooks are convenient to carry around, don’t require the destruction of trees or the use of toxic inks, and can be delivered anywhere in the world without recourse to the appalling Italian postal service. They’re clearly a genius idea. That said, […]
Customer Disservice
Buondì. One of the first things I do on waking up in the morning is to check emails on my smartphone. And yes, I know that isn’t a very healthy way to start the day, but the club has members in all time zones so people often write in while I’m asleep. Initially I just […]
Computer-literate ebook testers wanted!
Buondì. On Monday we published a new ebook (details below) and also, for the first time ever, offered it in .EPUB format, as an experimental extra. Wikipedia describes .EPUB like this: EPUB is an e-book file format that uses the “.epub” file extension. The term is short for electronic publication and is sometimes styled ePub. […]
New C1/2-Level Italian Easy Reader ‘Il vulcano’
Buondì. As mentioned in Friday’s article, this morning I’ve published a new C1/2-level Italian ‘easy reader’. It’s Il vulcano and tells… the moving story of how the author, a language teacher, is asked to help a child who has crossed the dangerous Mediterranean Sea on a rubber boat with other migrants, having lost his mother […]
Sneak preview of next week’s NEW C1/2 level easy Italian reader
Buondì. I’m later today, as I’ve been doing the final proof-reading of a new, C1/2-level Italian easy reader. This is something I’m very proud of, both because it’s professionally-written and because of the brave choice of topic. So I wanted to share it with you today, rather than waiting until Monday. If your level in […]
