Buondì. Now that I’m done banging my head against a brick wall (teaching Italian adults English), all sorts of new projects are coming to mind, more than enough to fill any extra time I might have. One of those ideas is to go back and look at the organisation and content of the club website, […]

Buondì. Yesterday, I taught my last English class to Italian adults. Ever! One of whom bought me cakes from the finest pasticceria in the city, by way of thanks. I don’t eat cakes, because I prefer my excess calories in liquid form, but my wife was pleased. Then, late last night, today’s individual lesson got […]

Buondì. Many, many years ago, when I first came to Italy and was looking for films to practice my listening comprehension on, I bought a rather expensive VHS cassette, from Ipercoop. Ipercoop still exists, but no longer sells VHS cassettes, nor DVDs for that matter. They have some reasonable malt whiskies, though. Anyway, the film […]

Buondì. Despite the obvious irritations of always having underfoot a small human, the risk of wine being spilled, or getting bitten when trying to brush tangled hair, there are plus sides. Such as being forcibly reintroduced to songs for young children, which can, I admit, be entertaining, and also educational. One of our staples for […]

Buondì. This morning I, my wife, and Roomie, took the bus into Bologna, where on descending we went our separate ways – her to open our Italian school, and R and I on foot, out from the historic downtown to her ‘asilo nido’ (nursery, kindergarten), which is located towards the base of the hills. Having […]

Buondì. I’m approaching the end of a thirty-year career attempting to teach English to people who, mostly, had no real idea how to learn, other than repeating what had already not worked very well (studying tenses, and so on…) Since 1998, those people have mostly been Italians, who, frankly, are some of the worst students […]

Buondì. The weather’s rather hot in Bologna, where I live, and that’s been trying everyone’s patience. For which reason, Roomie and I were out of the house early on Saturday and Sunday morning, with the aim of leaving my wife a little time to knit. The longer we were gone, the better. We plodded to […]

Buondì. This week I have another half-price ‘Ebook of the Week’ for you. The level is A2/B1, so lower than recent publications. Check out the Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) to see if you might enjoy it. N.b. The audio for the WHOLE STORY is available, completely free, online. No purchase is required to listen to […]

Buondì. Sometimes I take a break from language-learning because, well, life just gets in the way. Or because I’m tired. I guess everyone’s the same. But the sad thing is that some people stop with their Italian, or other languages, and never restart. There’s the fear that everything gained will have been lost. It’s too […]