Buondì. Yesterday evening it was sleeting where I live, in Bologna. Roomie and I are hoping for snow, so we can replicate some of the scenes from the movie Frozen (she’s Anna, the frisky younger sister, I’m Elsa, the gorgeous blonde.) But so far, no luck. The weather app on my smartphone accurately reported the […]
Watched a movie in Italian? Give yourself full marks!
Buondì. I’m going to be breve, breve, breve, anzì, brevissimo, this morning, as I have a lot piled up, including proof-reading and finalising a new ‘opera’ easy reader for publication on Monday. So here goes: feedback received on watching movies in Italian tends to be of the ‘I didn’t understand anything’ type. That’s nonsense, as […]
Got a sense of humor?
Buondì. Apparently, most people rate themselves highly on their driving skills (even Italians), on being good in bed, and of course, on having a sense of humour. When you think about it though, most people can’t be better than average (depending on the type of average we’re talking about), so plenty of people likely overestimate […]
Thinking in a foreign language
Buondì. I quite often get told, whether by students of foreign languages, or in learning material aimed at them, that I’ll know when I’m making progress when I can ‘think’ in the language I’m learning. Ergo, if I can’t ‘think’ in a foreign language, I’m doing something wrong, and/or still have a way to go. […]
Improve your Italian the easy way!
Buondì. “Improve your Italian the easy way!” Just buy our special course, book some lessons with our fantastic teachers, blah, blah, blah. That’s not what this is about. I was thinking more about choosing ‘easy’ learning activities, rather than ‘hard’ ones. And once you’ve selected a learning activity, making quiet sure that what you do […]
“Where are the translations?”
Buondì. This, via email, overnight: “I was on your site – onlineitalianclub.com and enjoy the Dialogues and Conversations but I don’t see where the translation is??” Short answer: it isn’t. Longer answer, much longer, actually: books, courses, apps and so on that are marketed to speakers of a specific language – for instance, Duolingo’s Italian […]
2023 January Sale: Just a few hours left to save 20%!
There are just a few hours left of the 2023 January Sale. Today is the final day, so the last chance to save 20% on everything at our (now two!) online stores, EasyReaders.org (for ebooks) and NativeSpeakerTeachers.com (for one-to-one lessons). The coupon code you need to save 20% on the online lessons and/or ebooks is: January-Sale-2023 […]
2023 January Sale: it’s not what you spend, it’s what you do
Buondì. Friday 6th is the final day of the 2023 January Sale at our two online stores, EasyReaders.org (for ebooks) and NativeSpeakerTeachers.com (for one-to-one lessons). Until then you can use the coupon code below to save 20% on the online lessons and/or ebooks you’ll need to improve your Italian in the coming year: January-Sale-2023 And […]
2023 January Sale: the usual ‘best-sellers’ article!
Buondì. The 2023 January Sale ends later this week, so I thought you might be interested in hearing what other club members have been spending their ‘learn Italian’ budgets on. Hence the usual ‘best-sellers’ article. E poi, it’s the first Monday morning in January. Who has ideas on the first Monday morning in January?? So […]
2023 January Sale: Online Italian lesson dos and don’ts
Buondì. As we’re busy with the 2023 January Sale right now, here’s an article from our archive. I’ve been both an online teacher and a language learner, so can see things from both perspectives. Here, then, are a few tips for students who choose to include one-to-one online lessons in their language study programs. The […]