Buondì. A short one today because… well, frankly, because I’m rather tired of people asking me how they can achieve the improbable, in very little time, and with no particular effort. On the club website, over the years, I’ve written just about everything I know about language-learning, a whole career’s worth of teaching, and direct […]
Language-Learning Tip #02 How to define your learning goals
Buondì. A quick one today, as I’m supposed to be in an online conference… Wednesday’s article included Language-Learning Tip #01, which was: ‘Apps and courses aren’t written for you personally. Nor necessarily well.’ If you missed it, you can read it here. The gist of it was that language courses are rarely put together to […]
Who’s the world’s best foreign language-learner? (Not you)
Buondì. Imagine the world’s best, that is to say most-able, most-competent language-learner. I’m thinking of a mid-level diplomat from a continental European country. A diplomat because language skills are essential to the job, mid-level because the most.junior people will lack experience and the most-senior will be judged on other things besides language competence. Unfortunately that […]
Half-price eBook of the Week: Rosa la cuoca disastrosa (A1)
Buondì. This week we have another half-price ‘eBook of the Week’ for you. It’s Rosa la cuoca disastrosa, the level is A1 (elementary), and for the next seven days it will cost you just £3.99, rather than the usual easy reader ebook price of £7.99. The level – A1 – means that this text is […]
Apply a little common sense, maybe?
Buondì. On Wednesday, I asked people to write comments outlining their language-learning journeys, and plenty of you did, for which I am grateful. About twenty people contributed, but I am assuming that many more of you read through what others had written, as that’s the normal pattern. And is, in any case, a good way […]
Where did you begin? How far have you got? What’s next?
Buondì. For the last few months I’ve been working with a writer, who is also one of our Italian teachers. We have a number of websites, aimed at both English speakers (like this one) and Italian speakers, for example NonParloSpagnolo.com, which as the name suggests is for Italians who’d like to begin learning Spanish, Imparareinglese.com […]
New Italian ‘easy reader’ ebook: Il miracolo del paese (C1)
Buondì. Thanks to the many, many club members who joined in on Friday by posting a comment on that day’s article. If you missed it, Read me!, and in particular the comments, which you’ll find at the bottom of the article. There were the beginnings of quite an interesting debate about Wikipedia, and whether or […]
Read me!
Buondì. A decades-old computer programer habit, when packaging up multiple files together in a folder, is to add a very simple .txt file named ‘read me’ or similar. Anything the buyer or user needs to know, in order to make the software function, i.e. which of the other enclosed files to click on first, is […]
The end of the world is nigh!
Buondì. Sorry, an unwanted ‘l’ somehow got into that title. What I intended to write was “The end of the word is nigh!” For lo, there came a time when people no longer read, or wrote. Communications from that age on were only spoken (Youtube ‘how to’ videos), or for those with feelings to express, […]
Half-price Italian ‘eBook of the Week’: Cielo libero (A2)
Buondì. This week we have a half-price ‘eBook of the Week’ promotion for you. This one is Cielo libero, the level is A2 (pre-intermediate), and for the next seven days it costs just £3.99, rather than the usual £7.99. We’ve done a promotion on this title before, a couple of years ago, so it’s likely […]