Did you know (you probably didn’t) that only about 25-30% of people who have chosen to receive articles like this via email, each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, actually seem to open them?
I guess people are busy.
And that, of those who open the articles (this is the bit that has me scratching my head…), only 5-6% actually click on a link, say to FREE MATERIALS FOR LEARNING ITALIAN, or whatever?
I admit, I find that strange.
There are over eleven thousand club members right now. Perhaps a thousand of you listened to our new, free, ‘easy news’ project (go you!)
Beh… the rest of you are missing out, that’s all I can say!
Today we have the final ‘beta’ edition at the new site, EasyItalianNews.com.
You get simplified news stories, text and audio.
It’s last week’s news still – sorry – but it’s good practice anyway!
The audio is about eight minutes long.
Listen to it three times and you’ll have done half an hour of Italian.
And really made a start on slapping your neurons into shape!
Or you could not click the link, in which case you might learn nothing today.
Here’s the link:
Easy Italian News – still in beta, different voice reading it
From tomorrow, Tuesday 18th September, we’ll start with the ‘alpha’ editions.
Which means more current stories, with good quality audio (I have my fingers crossed as I type that…)
The plan is to publish each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from now on.
If you missed Friday’s edition and want to catch up, you can listen to it here.
Today’s ‘final beta’ is here.
Hurrah! A new, half-price ‘Book of the Week’!
This week’s half-price ‘Book of the Week’ easy-reader ebook is ‘Il grande pesce rosso‘.
Odd that in English we call them ‘goldfish’, whereas for Italians they’re ‘red fish’, but anyway.
This is a story about a schoolboy who tells a lie and can’t extricate himself, so a little different from our usual fare.
The level is A1/A2 – not exactly beginner-level, but simple.
If you’ve recently started with Italian (say within the last year or two), reading and listening to a chapter of this each day won’t take up too much of your time.
What it will do is help you remember the grammar and vocabulary you’re studying, expose you to new words, and give you practice, and hopefully confidence, reading in and listening to Italian.
Check out the free sample chapter (.pdf) to get an idea if the material is suitable for you, and interesting.
N.b. If you have a good level in Italian, this isn’t for you – go browse our catalog to find something more suitable (or listen to the ‘easy news’ broadcast…)
Did I mention that this week ‘Il grande pesce rosso‘ is half price?
That’s £3.99, instead of the usual £7.99, about 50p a chapter.
If you do one chapter a day, for around a week, you’ll finish the book and have achieved something!
Buy ‘Il grande pesce rosso’ – £3.99 | Free sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog
P.S.
Did you click any of the links?
Did you?
Did you???
You don’t have to buy something (though revenues from ebook sales go to pay the writers on the ‘easy news’ project…)
But do SOMETHING for your Italian today, even for a minute or two.
For example, listen to the first 2 minutes of the ‘easy news’ broadcast.
Just 2 minutes, then you’re done.
You have my permission to switch it off after 120 seconds.
And if you don’t undestand a single word, so what?
It was free.
Do the same on Tuesday, and on Thursday, and on Saturday.
Once you get used to it, even if you still don’t understand anything, go for THREE minutes!
It’s like training to run a marathon.
Then four minutes!
One day you’ll be able to listen to it all.
Oh, and this is important – don’t feel bad about the parts you don’t understand.
And don’t bother looking up words you don’t know. I never do with my Swedish.
Just listen for two minutes, then three, then four, but regularly.
Do that and, I promise, in six months’ time you’ll see a difference.
Click the link this time, will you?
https://easyitaliannews.com/easy-italian-news-still-in-beta-different-voice-reading-it/
A mercoledì.
Enda says
Grazie Daniel
Mi è piaciuto molto il easy news – moto chiaro e interessante!
Enda
Alan K says
> Did you know (you probably didn’t) that only about 25-30% of people who have chosen to receive articles like this via email, each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, actually seem to open them?
That number will skew low. I’m guessing that you’re relying on the count of e-mails which “phone home” to download embedded images. By default a lot of e-mail readers block those unless the user explicitly allows the e-mail to do it, for obvious spam-based reasons. However your e-mails are perfectly readable without the images and in some cases it won’t even be obvious that an image is missing.
The number won’t be 100% or anything like it, but it almost certainly won’t be as low as 25 to 30% either.
And yes, on this one I clicked on every single link just to blow your mind.
(The EasyItalianNews site is a really great idea, by the way.)
Daniel says
Thanks for that Alan, I’m sure you’re right! And thanks for the positive feedback about the new site. Absolutely it wasn’t my idea, though. I was inspired by a site I used to learn Swedish, which has been a huge help for me.
It just seemed obvious to do the work, and spend then money, to create something similar for people learning Italian.
We go ‘alpha’ tomorrow, by the way. Let me know what you think!
Fiona says
Buongiorno Daniel,
I just wanted to let you know how much I value your emails, ebooks and website. I’ve been learning Italian for nearly 2 years and I completely lost confidence after a bad experience in class. Then I found your ebooks and am once again enjoying learning. I also think the easy Italian news is a wonderful idea. Daniel, grazie mille.
Daniel says
Thanks for the positive feedback, Fiona!
Language learning is a bumpy ride, though, isn’t it?
Finding enjoyment and satisfaction in it, that’ll keep you going in the medium to long term, really is the key!
Daniel
Lynne F says
Congratulations Daniel , another wonderful learning resource. Interesting content, the correct length, it boosts my confidence that I can understand a fair bit, with the right amount of challenge.
Thank you
Lynne