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 coming out soon, so I supposed I’d better…) It’s surprisingly good! And has the huge advantage, compared to Umberto Eco’s tome, of being short, with just thirty-six, hopefully brief, chapters.
Also, my wife went through her bookshelves and pulled out a selection of literature from her university days which I ‘simply must read’ and which now form and unstable and accusatory pile on the coffee table in front of my arm chair.
I reluctantly picked out the thinnest one, Italo Calvino’s ‘Le città invisibili‘, and have got through the author’s introduction so far (he writes remarkably clearly compared to SOME people.) I dare say I’ll start Chapter 1 later today, especially if it continues raining, so precluding working on my tan.
But anyway, back to business.
If you’re one of the select and esteemed few who have joined us for the ‘book club’ these last two weeks (either reading the ‘real’ book or our ‘riassunti’ for learners), then know that you are about to enter the final straight – a hard slog, but then just the corner and a dash the finish line! Perhaps by Friday, if you’re the competitive sort. Otherwise, ‘con calma’.
You can find my tips regarding what not to bother with (assuming you’re just not that into theological arguments) in another introductory comment. Click ‘Riassunto – Capitolo 7‘ and scroll to the bottom of the page to read it.
And if you’ve just joined us? The ‘Book Club’ material can be found on our ‘Italian Literature‘ page – so links to the seven ‘capitoli’ published so far.
But maybe you’re not interested in reading, just in learning Italian?
Well then, you should browse the club website to get a general idea of what’s there and where you might begin.
Note that we’re not an app, with a fixed ‘percorso’ (as, for example, with Duolingo.) More of a library of materials for students at different levels who may be working on different things, according to their own priorities and interests.
So yes, grammar of course, but not only: listening is a big thing too, in my opinion, and reading. So at OnlineItalianClub.com, any level and type of material can be accessed by anyone at any time, which allows people to make choices, with no owl standing guard at the gate.
Visit the club website to take a look around!
E poi, we also publish three simplified Italian-language news bulletins (audio + transcript) each week over at https://easyitaliannews.com/.
Subscribing (and so getting each bulletin via email, three times a week) is FREE, as the site is partially funded by donations.
‘Partially’?
The rest of the running costs, for the ‘easy Italian news‘ site and for OnlineItalianClub.com are financed by revenues from the sale of ebooks and online Italian lessons over at our online shop, https://easyreaders.org/.
So there you have it – lots and lots of free stuff, but also opportunities to buy or donate if you choose to.
A mercoledì, allora.
P.S.
Over the weekend, I found a few hours to tidy up our long-neglected beginners’ websites for Spanish, French and German: http://dontspeakspanish.com/, http://dontspeakfrench.com/ and http://dontspeakgerman.com/.
Each site has around fify pages of free content. It’s of variable quality, but the listenings and dialogues with transcripts are good!
So if you have nothing better to do…