Buondì.
Doesn’t September just fly?
In Bologna, Italy, the kids are going back to school today (or tomorrow, as each school seems to be different).
Which will make things quieter at our house.
And statistics for the club website show that more and more people are coming back after the holidays, determined to get started again with their Italian!
Bravi!
Personally, I should be making a new start on my own language learning.
This year I’ve been studying Swedish, but after taking my books away on holiday, full of good intentions, I then left them unopened in my bag.
Che vergonga!
I must do better, I know.
Maybe I’ll make a start over the weekend.
No, cavolo, ‘maybe’ is of no use at all when it comes to language learning, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now!
Long experience has taught that the trick is to actually make a start, do SOMETHING at least, to take the first step on the journey.
The easiest way to make sure that happens is to decide on one short, achievable task.
Then to choose a day and a time when it can get done, without other ‘more important’ things getting in the way.
And then, to do it, no excuses!
Once that first step has been taken, you plan the next one, and do that too.
And so on.
Getting back into the old routine of studying (or establishing a new habit) should just take a week or so.
Creating a sustainable study routine will, over time, build your knowledge and skills.
Anyway, tomorrow (Saturday) I’m working.
Like today, I’ll be testing and helping on reception at our language school in Bologna.
But Sunday?
Well that’s still fairly free, apart from cooking lunch, cooking dinner, and so on.
So surely I can slot in, say, an hour of study then?
OK, I’m adding it to my diary right now.
Sunday morning, after reading my emails and emptying the week’s trash, but before starting on the preparations for lunch, I’ll sit down at the kitchen table and study (for the first time since June!)
Where to begin?
I need a simple, achievable task, remember…
No problem. I’ll just open my books where I left off in May and start doing what I did before.
Read the texts, look up new words, make notes, do the listening practice activities, do the exercises…
But the first objective is just to make a start.
One hour, is all.
And then to set the day/time for the next session.
Done!
Hiatus ended, momentum regained, course set for the future.
Hopefully…
Ask me on Monday how I got on.
Buono studio!
Italian/English Parallel Texts On Offer This week!
Thhanks to all of you who’ve purchased one of our new Italian – English parallel texts.
We have three on offer this week, remember.
And as they’re new, they’re priced at -25% off the usual ebook price of £7.99, that’s just £5.99 for a few hours’ worth of original study materials.
Here are the links I posted on Wednesday:
And there’s more!
This week our new online shop also has a promotion on an OLD parallel text, one that’s suitable for beginnners, or near beginners, and at a much greater discount, 75%!
That brings the cost down to a great value £1.99, which must be pretty irresistible as I’ve sold two copies just while writing this…
‘Rosa la cuoca disastrosa‘ tells the story of Rosa, a good mother and an excellent grandmother… but an awful cook! When Valeria, Rosa’s health-conscious daughter, has a domestic emergency, Rosa is left to prepare lunch for her two grandchildren…
OK, it’s not new, but it’s still a great way to begin reading in Italian.
And doing that will speed up your progress with the language by helping consolidate the grammar you’re learning and making it easier to remember new words.
As well as giving you confidence when you have to deal with other Italian texts…
Click here to get your copy of ‘Rosa’, at what is an extremely attractive price!
Instructions on how to view the Italian and English texts side by side are in this FAQ.
All four offers, the three new ones and the old one, end on Tuesday night.
(You can browse all of our ebooks for learning Italian, new and old, here.)
A lunedì!