Buondì. I have to be quick, as I already spent way too long answering emails from club members and commenting in the mini-book club! So I thought that today, to save time, I’d try and catch two pigeons with one bean, as Italians say. (The equivalent English expression also has a pair of birds but […]
The Great Escape!
Buondì. I started writing later today as, beard-trimmed, hair-combed, and clad in clean shorts and a new polo shirt, I made my dash for freedom (like Steve McQueen in this famous scene.) Stefi and I, clutching a fresh face mask each, and carefully-completed copies of the new ‘modello autodichiarazione’, headed OUT, to our local park […]
What I say to myself when I feel guilty about not studying
Buondì. The ‘Mini-Book Club‘ is off to a flying start. Thanks to everyone who has joined us to read ‘Pinocchio’, either in the original version (available free online) or using our simplified ‘easy reader’ version. The former is free (there are tips on where to find it on the ‘Mini-Book Club‘ page). The latter is […]
New ‘easy reader’ ebook & ‘Mini-Book Club’ to go with it
Buondì. As mentioned on Monday, we have a new, beginner/elementary-level (A1/2) ‘easy Italian reader’ ebook, the first in a series of simplified versions of classic Italian literature. It’s ‘Le avventure di Pinocchio‘, Carlo Collodi’s classic children’s story of a talking puppet running riot, now rewritten for students of Italian! Pinocchio is a wooden puppet but […]
A quick article about nothing much
Buondì. Ever had one of those days? So far it’s been a litany of things going wrong. My wife has been muttering in Italian about a series of plagues and all we need now being the crickets (I think she meant locusts) and we’ll have had them all. But ‘coraggio’ I told myself, tackle the […]
Before, during or after?
Buondì. Two brief ‘segnalazioni’: 1.) The ‘Book Club’ project, reading Umberto Eco’s Il nome della rosa together, has reached the ‘eat cakes and chat about the book’ stage. You’re all invited to my place to discuss your reading experience, and the book itself. No, not really. That wouldn’t be practical, and besides, ‘social-distancing’. However, we […]
Another pedant kamikazes in the Battle of the Apostrophe
Buondì. Before the traditional Wednesday morning lockdown moan, here’s something uplifting from Manoel in Brasil: Soggetto: Grazie mille Contenuti: La ragione per cui sto scrivendo questo e-mail è perché ho voglia di ringraziarte pelo il tuo sito, ho imparato abbastanza studianto atravverso le lezione di Listening e oggi già sono capace di communicarmi senza dificoltà, […]
Italian Book Club, Day 7: The Final Straight!
Buondì. Another lockdown Monday, with still at least two weeks (!) to go until any real prospect of things starting up again here in Italy. Oh well, better make the best of it. Since finishing ‘Il nome della rosa‘ last week, I’ve been dipping into ‘Le avventure di Pinocchio‘ (we have an easy reader version […]
Why is using a dictionary as you read a dumb idea?
Buondì. Capitolo 6 of our ‘riassunti’ of Umberto Eco’s ‘Il nome della rosa‘ is now available on our website, here. It’s an exciting one! You should take a look. Previous chapters are listed on our Literature page. Each has a simplifed text, a glossary of ‘difficult’ terms with English translations, and a comprehension exercise. Plus, […]
“…e a chi non piace peggio per lui, rimane alle falde della collina.”
Buondì. “…e a chi non piace peggio per lui, rimane alle falde della collina.” That’s Umberto Eco talking about the first hundred or so pages of ‘Il nome della rosa’ in ‘Postille a “Il nome della rosa” 1983’. “…and whoever doesn’t like it, worse for them, they’ll remain on the slopes of the hill.” He’s […]