Buon giorno, o buon pomeriggio per chi di voi si trova in Australia…
Time zones are a pain – we have loads of readers down under, for whom it’s already afternoon.
And plenty in America who will still be fast asleep as I write this at breakfast time in Italy.
So, it can be tricky to communicate when exactly a special offer will end…
What I can say is that the offer on the simplified Italian readers in our online shop expires tomorrow (25th of July).
To save 25% on the usual price of these original resources, get yours today!
- download free sample chapters of each book (look for the link in the ‘product description’)
- listen FREE to the audio of the WHOLE TEXT of each e-book, already available on Soundcloud.com (find the link in the sample chapters)
- buy your copy of each .pdf e-book to get the whole text, plus a glossary and an exercise for each chapter – and benefit from our ‘unlimited money-back guarantee’!
Go here, now, to stock up on Italian study materials.
You have just 24 hours, Italian time!
New series of free A2 level Italian listening exercises starts today
Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be releasing 5 free Italian listening exercises at A2 (pre-intermediate) level.
We hope you find them useful!
Each new exercise will also include the transcript for the previous one, so you can check how much you understood…
You should see the image containing the task for today’s new exercise, and the audio plug-in to listen, here below.
If you don’t, it’s because you’re reading this in an e-mail, or mobile device, in which case click here to view this article on our website (maybe using a ‘real’ computer??)
Transcript from the last exercise
Here’s the transcript from the last exercise, level A1.
If you missed it, or if you’d like to listen to it again while you read the transcript, click here.
Io sono Clara e ho otto anni. La mia famiglia è molto grande. Il mio bisnonno si chiama Marco ed è sposato con la mia bisnonna Giulia.
Loro due hanno un figlio di nome Carlo, che è mio nonno. Mio nonno è sposato da molti anni con mia nonna che si chiama Sara.
I miei nonni hanno due figli: un maschio e una femmina.
Il figlio maschio si chiama Nicola ed è mio zio. Lavora come infermiere in ospedale. La figlia femmina invece si chiama Giorgia ed è mia madre. Mia madre ha 38 anni e lavora in banca. Mio padre invece si chiama Claudio, ha 39 anni e fa il parrucchiere.
I miei genitori hanno tre figli: Giorgio, Paola ed io.
Giorgio è il mio fratello maggiore, ha dieci anni e frequenta le scuole medie. Paola invece è la mia sorellina minore, ha 5 anni e va ancora all’asilo.
P.S.
Ask a question about Italian.
Share your answers to the exercise.
Or give feedback about the site.
It’s a great way to introduce yourself, and to make friends with other learners of Italian from around the world!
Karen says
I love the alphabetical index of the lessons and exercises , brilliant. Especially helpful having the levels although I frequently have to go back to basics for a reminder
Daniel says
Like I said, reading. The more you read, the more solid your grammatical concepts will become, and the less risk of forgetting what you have already learned…
karen says
Am working on it! Thanks to your excellent e books and also your recommendation for the CIDEB Black Cat site I have some good stories at the right level
Nina Rault says
Thanks again Daniel for your listening texts. I have a grammar question about something in the last of the A1 series.
“I miei genitori hanno tre figli: Giorgio, Paola ed io” Why IO, which is the subject pronoun, when it is surely the direct object of the verb HANNO?
Karen says
This is an interesting question and had me puzzling. Giorgio Paola ed io just sounds right to me, it would seem odd to use the object pronoun. it got me running to my English grammar books because there is often confusions also with I and me. Would we say correctly Giorgio Paola and I ? I suspect so. I think the use of me in English has become colloquial in many ways so maybe this question needs an answer in both languages. I do see your logic, we await the linguists, you and I! Don’t get me on the ubiquitous use of “myself” Maybe Italian is more logical
Nina Rault says
Thanks for your interest Karen, but whether we should say I or me depends entirely on the context and many English people make mistakes with this. I’m an English teacher and I tell my pupils “when in doubt, take away the other person (or people)”. For instance, we wouldn’t say “people like I”, so we shouldn’t say “people like you and I”; we wouldn’t say “me was late”, so we shouldn’t say “my friend and me were late”. But who knows what the Italians do? I await the answer.
Daniel says
Sounds right is more of less ‘linguistic’ for ‘is right’, I think Karen. So I agree with you on this.
The interesting thing is to understand what options are available, what meaning or meanings would be intended with each, and to what extent it is ‘acceptable’ or not to use one form or the other.
Linguists, when doing research, will often just interview native speakers and ask for a yes/no answer to the ‘does this sound right?’ question.
Daniel says
I’d say it’s the way the Italians think about it, rather than any grammatical ‘trick’. In the sense that “I am a child of my parents” rather than “One of my parents children is me”.
In effect it could work that way in English too, no? Sarah and I are the children of Ivan and Ruth. They have two children. Sarah and I.
Hope that helps!
Nina Rault says
Sorry Daniel, but that doesn’t help at all! Had the three names been prefexed by SIAMO or CI SONO, I would see your point. But the governing verb is HANNO, which surely must govern an accusative and not a nominative. So I still fail to understand the logic.
PS I don’t agree with your English either. It should be “They have two children : Sarah and me”
Buona domenica.
Daniel says
Dear Nina,
A good rule when trying to understand language, whether or not it’s your own, a language you know well, or a language you are just at the beginning with, is to keep an open mind.
Perhaps the ‘rule’ you may have in mind does not fully apply in this situation, or perhaps you do not understand it completely?
Could be it’s just wrong. Maybe it was an ‘invented rule’, which fit some linguist’s hypothesis but never fully represented the way that people used the language…
Languages change too, so that what was once considered the only ‘correct’ use, may no longer be the only option.
So, back to OnlineItalianClub.com: our Italian texts are written by one native-speaker Italian teacher, then edited and recorded by another native-speaker Italian teacher, and finally checked by me (I’m English, as you know, so claim no special knowledge of the language).
Mistakes can creep in at any stage in our writing process, and we’re always happy to have feedback.
But the purpose of our exercises is to provide good quality examples of the way Italians use their language.
And sometimes I am able to add value with examples or translations in English, based on my decades long career as a language teacher, teacher-trainer, and school owner.
There is much to learn here and you are very welcome to learn with us.
Daniel
Nina Rault says
Thanks for your patience Daniel and I do take your point about grammar ‘rules’ being relatively arbitary. I am simply trying to understand why this word is chosen in this particular context so that I can know when, and when not, to do the same.
Sergey says
Ciao Daniel!
Ecco la risposta all’esercizio:
andare al mare sì
andare dal dottore no
pranzare al ristorante no
giocare a pallone sì
prendere il sole sì
parlare al telefono co un’amica sì
alzarsi tardi no
pescare no
andare al supermercato sì
Grazie e arrivederci!
Daniel says
Hi Sergey!
Always nice to hear from you…
Daniel
John Thomson says
Hi Daniel
l’estate is a noun – fa caldo di estate
estive is an adjective – una scuola estiva
winter
l’inverno is a noun – it is cold in winter (l’inverno)
invernale is an adjective it is time ro wear winter clothes (invernali)
Cheers
John
Daniel P. Buttafuoco says
Thanks, John.
I now know that this a peculiarity of the language. Unlike the English, there is a different word when it is used as an adjective.
This is helpful.
Daniel says
Hi Daniel,
John’s reply was a good one. Thanks John!
English has adjectives for seasons too, though. Wintery weather, a summery dress, and so on. It’s just that we can use the noun form to form adjective compounds (a winter coat, for example) and that this often means the adjective form is redundant.
Italians aren’t big on compounds…
A presto,
l’altro Daniel
Daniel P. Buttafuoco says
John, an additional query.
One could also say: Una scuola d’estate?
Again, could one say: Vestiti d’inverno?
Would this also be correct?
John Thomson says
Ciao Daniel Americano,l’altro Dianiel chiamero “il capo di tutti capi Daniel”
I am sure you could use the structure you mention but il Capo Daniel will be able to give you a more definitive answer.
Secondo me l’italia è buona, l’italia del sud è migliore ma la Sicilia è il migliore.
Guardi il film “il padrino” o “Commissario Montalbano” sulla TV?
come tu, mi piaciono tutte le cose Siciliane, ( o tutte le cose di Sicilia)
complimenti
John
Daniel P. Buttafuoco says
Ciao John,
No ho visto questo film.
Grazie per l’aiuto!
John Thomson says
testing the anti spam by speaking TSDP it does not work now by typing in RNCD
John Thomson says
typing in V9S works
John
daniel says
Test of new anti-spam!
Maria Iramendy says
Moltissime grazie Daniel per questi esercizi. Mi forzano a pensare e anche a scrivere. Penso che la miglior maniera di praticare la lingua sia scrivendo. Ecco il mio compito:
Nell’ultimo giorno delle vacanze estive, Marco si è alzato presto e ha deciso di andare al mare. Prima di uscire, ha telefonato alla sua amica Cristina per chiederle di andare al mare con lui.
Alle dieci, entrambi sono arrivati in spiaggia, una volta lì si sono sdraiati e hanno preso il sole e anche qualche tempo dopo hanno fatto il bagno al mare.
A mezzogiorno, hanno pranzato insieme con dei panini che hanno comprato al bar. Nel pomeriggio sono arrivati altri dei loro amici e tutti insieme hanno giocato una partita a pallavolo. Poi, alle diciotto, Marco è tornato a casa; ma prima si è recato al supermercato per fare la spesa. Una volta arrivato a casa, Marco ha cucinato la sua cena, è dopo un po’ ha guardato la tv. Finalmente, alle ventidue è andato a dormire.
Daniel P. Buttafuoco says
Why is the word “invece” necessary in that last sentence?
Daniel says
Fascinating surname you have, Daniel. Good name, too.
And thanks for the question. We like questions at OnlineItalianClub.com, especially when they brighten up a dull Thursday afternoon.
Here’s an example similar to the one in the text:
Giuseppe abita a Tornino. Michele invece abita a Milano.
‘Invece’ in this case shows the contrast between Michele, the subject of the present sentence, and Giuseppe, he of the previous sentence.
Arguably it’s an example of ‘anaphoric reference’ (read more here).
But in English we’d probably use a ‘dicourse connective’, such as while or whereas:
Daniel Stephens lives in Italy whereas Daniel Buttafuoco lives in America.
See?
John Thomson says
Hi Daniel Doppia
I would not know an anphoric reference even if I could spell it!
I had the same question Daniel posed about ‘invece’, the answer I came up with is “because it is Italian”
Italian speakers use it if an action is changed and the actor can be the same or not
esempio ” Maria cucina, invece Mario dorme e Giovanni invece studi”
English speakers use “instead of” when the actions differ but the actor is the same
“Daniel is sleeping instead of studying”
Anyway that is my take on this connectot
Cheers
John
Daniel P. Buttafuoco says
Thank you both for your fine answers.
Yes Buttafuoco is a good name for trial lawyer, which is what I do (“fire thrower!”)
It is quite obviously Sicilian…Si, sono Siciliano!!
I have been learning Italian on my own for about a year. I am somewhat miffed that my parents and grandparents never thought it was a good idea to preserve the language. I have become fascinated with all things Italian.
Your website is excellent.
Daniel P. Buttafuoco says
Why are there two words for Summer?
Is there a slight difference in meaning? Otherwise, it seems rather unnecessary
estate and estive
Karen says
Funnily enough invece works quite well for me in this context, instead sits comfortably to show the contrast. I might have to learn about discourse connectives now, not to mention anaphoric references. This old dog has a lot of tricks to learn. By the way, note to all our friends on here, I can recommend the Corso di scrittore (I will do a proper review when I have finished it) It is making me sit down and focus on how I am putting a sentence together and organise my thoughts. It is also highlighting some pretty basic stuff that I should have mastered better. Stefania is the fastest at assignment feedback that I have ever had in all my life. As fast as I email them they fly back.
Daniel says
Thanks for your feedback, Karen. I’m happy you’re enjoying the course. Stefania is a star, that’s true!
As regards discourse connectives, just read as much as you can. Reading is an excellent way to improve your language skills, and what you learn will eventually feed into your writing too…