Buone feste da OnlineItalianClub.com

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Buondì.

My (Italian/English) family does Christmas the evening of December 24th, which is of course today, this because my Swedish mother-in-law insists. There’ll be pickled fish.

We then repeat the whole, drawn-out, waistline-expanding process not much more than twelve hours later, at lunchtime on the 25th, together with a crowd of Italian uncles, aunts and cousins, plus a handful of foreign spouses (two Brits, a Canadian, an American…)

We’ll enjoy a ‘primo’ of  ‘cappelletti in brodo’ (Google it), a ‘secondo’ of ‘lesso’ plus various ‘contorni’, and lots of wine. Dessert, for those who still have space, will be ‘pandoro con mascarpone’. My contribution is to make hummus – for the vegetarians.

Today though, besides being Christmas for some people, is also Wednesday, the regular club emailing day. So ‘Buone Feste’ to all twenty-eight thousand one hundred and seventy-seven OnlineItalianClub.com members around the world, whenever and whatever you happen to be celebrating.

I hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable holiday, or if you’re working (as we are, see the P.S.) that you at least get a break from the usual routine and nice things to eat/drink.

Club members who are also EasyItalianNews.com fans – and I’m pleased to assume that that’ll be many of you, as they have more than eighteen thousand ‘subscribers’ – will have a little more time than usual on both Christmas Day (Dec. 25th) and the first day of 2026, both of which are Thursdays.

EIN normally publishes three, free, text + audio bulletins of ‘easy’ news each week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Each one is prepared over the previous 36-72 hours, with articles written on topics covered in the Italian-language media, audio recorded, images found, and the final ‘bulletin’ formatted and checked.

However, because of the way the public holidays fall this year, getting the next two Thursday bulletins done would mess up Christmas and New Year’s Eve for the half-dozen or so people involved, several of whom are family members.

So editor Stefi has decided to skip those two bulletins. Yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) bulletin was emailed automatically to subscribers as usual (read/listen to it on their website, here), but the next one won’t be until Saturday.

Ditto next week: Tuesday, not Thursday, resuming Saturday. Then back to normal with bulletins three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

If you have no idea what I’m taking about, check out their website (EasyItalianNews.com). It’s totally free to access and hosts hundreds of text + audio bulletins going back as far as 2018.

To find ‘back issues’ on the website, look for the ‘widgets’ near the bottom of the ‘sidebar’, one showing the month’s output (click on the dates to go to each one) and the other giving access to the archive by month and year.

Subscribing to receive all new bulletins via email is also FREE, by the way (that’s for the ten thousand or so club members who haven’t, yet.)

Just enter your email address on this page then click the confirmation link that will be sent to you.

Così.

Gotta take Bug to the park now, to use up some of his excess bounce before loading him into the car for our trip to Rimini.

Buone feste a tutti voi!

P.S. Last days to save 20% in 2026!

Stefi, Daniel, and the teachers at Madrelingua Italian Language School, join to wish you, your family and your community:

“Auguri di Buon Natale!”

We hope to see you at our school in Bologna in 2026, in particular all our old friends, but also many, many new faces!

‘Mille grazie’ to the many people who’ve already taken advantage of the ‘best offer of the year’ to save 20% on their next course.

The offer ends at midnight tomorrow night (25th Dec. 2025), so it’s still not too late to secure this great discount on your 2026 Italian course.

• Save a fifth on any group Italian course, of any length, starting in 2026!
• No need to decide the dates now – just let us know the period you want to study when you’ve decided
• TOMORROW (Dec. 25th 2025) IS THE LAST DAY to get your 20% discount by paying a deposit of just €120
• No more to pay until the first day of your course

CLICK THIS LINK NOW – it takes just seconds to pay your course deposit with a credit card or Paypal account.

Lock in your discount before the offer expires at midnight tomorrow. Go here to pay your €120 deposit.

Questions? Need more info?

Full details of this offer are here: 2026 Italian Course Offer: Save 20% From Today!

On Christmas Day Stefi and I will be eating lunch with her parents, our children, and Bug, in Rimini, on the Adriatic coast.

But thanks to the wonders of smartphones, she’ll still be able to answer any questions you might have.

Contact her any time up until midnight on December 25th: info@madrelinguabologna.com

Or go here, now, to complete your deposit payment.

Contact us | Prices | Italian Courses | How To Book | FAQ | Save 20%!

P.P.S. Last minute shopping?

If you’re still missing the perfect gift for the learners of Italian in your life, why not fill your jute sack with half-price Italian ‘easy reader’ ebooks?

At the beginning of December our ‘Half-Price Ebook of the Week’ was the very seasonal B2 (upper-intermediate)-level ‘Natale a sorpresa‘.

We’ve left it half-price until the holidays are over, to give everyone a chance to grab their copies at a discount: ‘Natale a sorpresa‘.

The week after, we promoted a second seasonal Italian ‘easy reader’, the B2/C1-level ‘easy reader’, ‘Giallo a Capodanno‘, a New-Year murder mystery, perfect for improving your Italian reading/listening skills over the holidays.

Both of them were written for more advanced/confident learners of Italian. If that sounds like you, check out the free sample chapters (don’t forget to try the online audio, too – the link is in the free sample):

• https://easyreaders.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Natale-a-sorpresa-SAMPLE.pdf
• https://easyreaders.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Giallo-a-Capodanno-SAMPLE.pdf

Read/listen to one or both of those during your holiday downtime to improve your Italian comprehension skills, consolidate the grammar and vocabulary you’ve studied, and get into the festive mood.

Most recently we promoted the A2/B1 (pre-intermediate/intermediate) -level ‘Il calendario di Laura‘.

Laura finds weekdays a bore but loves public holidays! And Italy has plenty to enjoy, each with its own traditions.

Read how she and her husband like to spend each ‘giorno festivo’, from Epiphany on January 6th, through the spring, summer, fall and winter months, to the climax of the Christmas holidays, New Year, and then, to begin all over again!

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 14 chapters to read and listen to
• 14 exercises to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossaries of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at elementary level and above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Remember, until the holidays are over ‘Il calendario di Laura‘ is 50% discounted, so just £4.99 rather than the usual ‘easy reader’ ebook price of £9.99!

Here are all three links again. Click them to find out more and to download free sample chapters (there’s a link to the online audio in each free sample):

Natale a sorpresa | Giallo a Capodanno | Il calendario di Laura

Find more ebooks, organised by level, then type: A1 | A1/A2 | A2 | A2/B1 | B1 | B1/B2 | B2 | B2/C1 | C1 | C1/C2 | C2

How do I access my ebook?

When your order is ‘completed’ (normally immediately after your payment), a download link will be automatically emailed to you. It’s valid for 7 days and 3 download attempts so please save a copy of the .pdf ebook in a safe place. Other versions of the ebook, where available, cannot be downloaded but will be emailed to people who request them. There’s a space to do that on the order form – where it says Additional information, Order notes (optional). If you forget, or if you have problems downloading the .pdf, don’t worry! Email us at the address on the website and we’ll help. Also, why not check out our FAQ?

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