Buondì.
Apparently, most people rate themselves highly on their driving skills (even Italians), on being good in bed, and of course, on having a sense of humour.
When you think about it though, most people can’t be better than average (depending on the type of average we’re talking about), so plenty of people likely overestimate their potential score (were ratings to be given for such things) in one or more of those areas…
That said, what people consider to be good or bad driving obviously varies from place to place. In the part of Italy I live in, we give ourselves points for agressively cutting up other drivers, scaring old ladies into not daring to step out onto pedestrian crossings, and fluently employing hand gestures to communicate to other road users that their offended honking is unreasonable and that they should go to ‘quel paese’.
Ditto with the sense of humor thing. Italians are mystified if I crack a joke, make a pun, or tell a funny story, to the extent that my Italian wife initially assumed I must be somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Until one day we sat in a British pub, with British friends, and spent the evening trading typically British witticisms over typically British beer.
On the walk home, she turned to me with a puzzled look in her eyes. How weird, she exclaimed, they thought you were funny!
This works both ways, of course. Things that Italians consider to be totally hilarious may leave foreigners utterly unmoved, irritated, or even rather pissed (as in the USA meaning of ‘angry/annoyed’, so ‘pissed off’ for Brits.)
No one likes being excluded from a joke, and it’s infuriating if what’s being laughed at is clearly not. funny. at. all!
Which brings me to this week’s two half-price eBook of the Week offers, over at our ebooks store, EasyReaders.org.
You might be familiar with the Classic Italian Movie ‘collana’ (a word that I find difficult to translate… Google and co. seem happy with ‘series’, but I’m left convinced there’s a better term for a collection of publications, by the same publishing house, of the same type or on the same topic. I just can’t think of it. The better-known meaning of collana is ‘necklace’, by the way.)
This week there’s a 20% coupon code, should you wish to purchase any of those, as an introduction to the movie, or simply to liven up your Italian study program with some ‘culture’.
The coupon code is: 20%OffMovieEasyReaders
Copy/paste it carefully into your cart, press the ‘Apply coupon’ button, and it should reduce the cart total by 20% of the price of any applicable items.
Those are all the ebooks in the movie ‘collana’, except the nine-ebook bundle (which is already discounted 50%) and the two half-price eBook of the Week offers. Which are…
(I warn you, you might not find either one funny. At all. But if you want to swap amusing annecdoates with Italians in bars, you could at least pretend to.)
Fantozzi (B2)
Ragionier Fantozzi, Ugo is an Italian everyman, though not a very happy one!
Ugo is ambivalent, to say the least, about his job and his family. He dares to hope for more from both his professional and personal lives, though never seems surprised when his ambitions are thwarted!
The 1971 book was a million-seller. And mention the 1975 film, on which our ‘easy reader’ is based, to any Italian to get them happily talking you through their favourite scenes.
For a rather different insight into Italian life and attitudes, don’t miss the unforgettable cultural meme that is Fantozzi!
- .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
- 9 chapters to read and listen to
- Comprehension questions to check your understanding
- Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
- Suitable for students at intermediate level and above
- Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
Il secondo tragico Fantozzi (B2)
Ragionier Fantozzi, Ugo is the Italian everyman: abused by his employer, unhappy at home, and so occasionally tempted to rebel – in the hope of a better future…
“Of course! Everyone knows Fantozzi”, declared this copywriter’s Italian wife, on entering the kitchen to find out what he was laughing out loud about.
The 1971 book was a million-seller and was followed by several unforgettable movies, from which this second volume of mishaps has been selected (find the other here: Fantozzi)
- .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
- 8 chapters to read and listen to
- Comprehension questions to check your understanding
- Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
- Suitable for students at intermediate level and above
- Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
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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What? You really DO have a sense of humor, or at least an enjoyment of the patently absurd?
Then buy Fantozzi (B2) and Il secondo tragico Fantozzi (B2), just £3.99 each, this week!
And for the grouchier amongst you, don’t forget coupon code 20%OffMovieEasyReaders which, assuming you remember to paste it carefully into your shopping cart, will reduce any or all of our more serious ‘book of the classic movie’ titles by 20%.
A mercoledì.
P.S.
Did you get to Saturday’s bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news, over the weekend?
If not, catch up today, as there’ll be another (free) bulletin tomorrow (Tuesday).
Subscribe (also free) and you won’t need these reminders. We send subscribers the free bulletins via email on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings.
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Patricia says
Buondi, You’re right about humor and culture. I’ve done stints as a stand-up comic but I don’t get Fantozzi in Italian or M. Hulot in French. Have you managed to bridge the gap in your family: do your children understand your humor?
Patricia Barber says
Is anyone ever going to respond to me about what happened to the book I ordered on January 5, The tenses you need to speak Italian? I haven’t received it and I’ve asked several times about it.
Daniel says
Dear Patrica
Write to the ebooks shop email and someone will respond (actually me). I checked, you didn’t write about your missing ebook, no communication from you since the date of your order on Jan 5th. So you haven’t ‘asked several times’, at least you haven’t asked me.
Oh, and ebooks are delivered automatically, to the address you give on your order form. I have verified that the automated email with the download link was sent to the email address you specified, the one you also used for this comment. And also that you haven’t downloaded your ebook. At least we can agree on that.
That download link has now expired anyway, but:
1.) check your spam to find the email that you missed on Jan. 5th (or there’s no point in us resending it, is there?)
2.) let me know that you have, in fact, received the download link, and I will reactivate it for you. Or I can send the ebook manually. You just needed to ask, but didn’t.
Best wishes
Patricia Barber says
Thank you for clarifying but I sent several emails in response to your asking if I’d downloaded my ebook yet. I don’t know where those requests ended up but I’m following up now
Daniel says
Perhaps you would check that you wrote to the correct email address? As you can see, we respond promptly, and copies of this correspondence have been emailed to you for your additional convenience.
If/when you verify that you wrote to an incorrect email address, or that the emails are still in your draft file, or whatever the explanation is, do let us know here, so that other people reading this can be reassured that this was a client error.
N.b. I manually emailed your ebook earlier today, but received no acknowledgement from you that you received it.
Patricia says
Thank you. I did receive the ebook and acknowledged receipt as a response to that email. I hope you received it but, based on the history of this transaction, I don’t know.
Ioan says
“Google and co. seem happy with ‘series’, but I’m left convinced there’s a better term for a collection of publications, by the same publishing house, of the same type or on the same topic. I just can’t think of it..”
Does anthology fit that description?
Daniel says
I don’t think so, no… But thanks for the suggestion!