When I was a lad, the telephone was fixed to the wall in the kitchen, below the clock which regulated our lives. This apparatus was an official-looking grey colour, its front featuring a rotating dial with which, once you got the knack of it, you could use your small fingers to enter the number you […]
Another new word-order exercise, and ‘Book of the Week’!
Gotta rush this morning, as I’ve already spent hours on this and I need to go to the (Italian) post office FOR THE THIRD TIME over some unresolved glitch regarding identity cards and savings books. Sigh… First, many thanks to everyone who wrote with feedback on the new exercise format (find it by reading Wednesday’s […]
Help me out with this Italian exercise template, will you?
So the problem is this: Italian state schools don’t start their autumn term for what still feels like forever. There are another three weeks, nearly four, until I can work at home undisturbed. To keep themselves occupied in the meantime, shopping and socialising, my daughters need cash! While I personally don’t get any kind of salary […]
Ti arrabbi mai con te stesso? Plus a new ‘Book of the Week’!
Buondì. Today I have something difficult for you, but also something easy. Take your pick, or do both, it’s up to you! But that way, while being familiar with the mantra that you can’t please all the people all the time, I’m hoping to get as many club members as possible doing something useful to […]
Three exercises a week – is that IT?
People often tell me that they value these articles, delivered three times a week via email to nearly eleven thousand students of Italian from around the world. I suppose the ones who think I’m a bore unsubscribe, which is fine. If you’re not a fan, you’ll find a link to remove your email from our […]
Practice Italian listening in a really echoey tunnel!
Buondì. As soon as I pressed ‘play’ on today’s free Italian listening comprehension task, I was like “OMG Stefi! What have you done?” My wife recorded the interview at our school, a historic building with high arched ceilings. Being covered in affreschi they’re very pretty, but they do rather reflect sound waves. Beh, you can […]
About motivation. And a new ‘Book of the Week’.
Buondì. As I’ve mentioned, I’m currently on holiday. We’re in Cornwall in the UK, so of course it’s raining. On the plus side, that means time to read. Browsing the bookstore in the nearest town, I came across ‘HELP! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done‘, by Oliver Burkeman, who writes […]
Here’s a nice long Italian listening for you. And it’s FREE!
Buondì. Many thanks to June, who wrote in with this translation of the nursery rhyme from Wednesday’s article. Quando andavo alla Costa del Sole Incontravo un signore con sette mogline Ogni moglina avava sette borse Ogni borsa avava sette gatte Ogni gatta avava sette gattini Mogline, borse, gatte e gattinini Qnanti adavano alla Costa del […]
As I was going to St. Ives, (I remembered the ebook offer…)
Buondì. I’m in a hurry today as I’ve promised to drop the kids off in St. Ives. We’d stop there ourselves for the day, but I’m told parking’s a nightmare, so we’ve decided to leave the teenagers to their own devices and head for Penzance, over on the other coast. I read somewhere that Penzance […]
Free audio+transcript, and the ‘Book of the Week’ is back!
Buondì. Today’s free material for learning Italian is yet another native speaker conversation (with transcript), this time the topic being: ‘Passato e futuro’ Previous audio recordings in this series are linked to from our ‘New’ page, so if you need listening practice, go binge! Or, if this current material is too hard for you, check […]