The Renaissance, Episode 10 / 25% Off New Ebook Easy Reader

Buondì.

What if your dad was the pope?

Then you’d be able to tell people that “papà è Papa” (pa is Pope).

And if your dad was the sort of pope that enjoyed spooning mush into the mouths of infants, assuming you were an infant, a vocal one, then you’d be able to yell “Papà Papa, pappa!” (Pappy Pope, feed me!)

Since we’ve had Roomie staying with us, I’m known as Papà Daniel (Daddy Daniel), but I find my honorific very hard to pronounce – because of the emphasis on the second syllble – so usually end up referring to myself as Papa/Pappa Daniel (Pope Daniel/Baby-mush Daniel).

While the unusual word stress confuses me, Roomie seems to know who I’m talking about, at least.

But what if your pa really was Pope?

Following on from Friday’s episode in our Summer Series on the Renaissance, Il Rinascimento, Episodio 9. Gli scandali del Papa Borgia (1431-1503), which featured Pope Alessandro VI, one of the famous Borgia family, shacked up with a brothel owner, with whom alone he fathered four offspring, today we bring you….

Il Rinascimento, Episodio 10. I figli del Papa

Can’t help feeling there should be an exclamation mark at the end there, but no, apparently it wasn’t at all uncommon.

Do, though, check out the latest article. Aside from being good Italian reading and listening practice, and free to boot, the kids’ biographies are worth knowing about, particularly Cesare and Lucrezia.

A mercoledì.

P.S. 25% Off NEW Ebook Easy Reader!

Also this week we have the third in our ‘Italian Diaspora’ series of ‘easy reader’ ebooks.

Earlier in the year we published ebooks about Italians in Spain (La diaspora italiana – Italiani in Spagna) and Italians in Scotland (La diaspora italiana – Italiani in Scozia), both a little niche, but they sold well.

But now, the biggie, La diaspora italiana – Italiani negli Stati Uniti (B2/C1).

A ‘diaspora’ is a population that lives somewhere different from their original home, or that of their forebears. Since the late nineteenth century, millions of Italians have emigrated in search of better prospects. By 1980 it was estimated that twenty-five million Italians had made their home outside of Italy, in countries all over the world…

Secondo il censimento del 2010, gli Italo-americani sono 17.250.000 e corrispondono al sesto gruppo etnico più numeroso negli Stati Uniti d’America.

Gli Italo-americani si sono distinti nei più diversi settori della società. Nel campo dell’invenzione, per esempio, ricordiamo Antonio Meucci, il padre del telefono, e la famiglia di origine friulana Jacuzzi, che ha prodotto le famose vasche da bagno.

In ambito sportivo si sono distinti, fra gli altri, il mitico giocatore di baseball Joltin’ Joe (Giuseppe Paolo) di Maggio, sposato per qualche anno con la diva Marilyn Monroe e citato in una famosa canzone di Simon and Garfunkel, e poi il campione dei pesi massimi Rocco Francis Marchegiano, meglio conosciuto come Rocky Marciano, the Brockton Blockbuster.

Anche nel mondo dello spettacolo non mancano cognomi italiani: da Frank Sinatra a Leonardo di Caprio, da John Turturro a Madonna (alias Veronica Ciccone) a Frank Zappa, passando per Robert De Niro, Jake LaMotta, Joe Pesci, Liza Minelli, Al Pacino e Jon Bon Jovi… La lista è lunghissima!

E, infine, un buon numero di italiani di prima, seconda, terza o quarta generazione hanno contribuito a governare il paese. Per esempio, Fiorello La Guardia è stato sindaco di New York negli anni della Grande Depressione.

“Little Flower”, così era chiamato (traduzione letterale del suo nome italiano), ha amministrato con grande onestà ed efficienza la città e ne ha rilanciato l’economia.

• .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
• 16 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 or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

La diaspora italiana – Italiani negli Stati Uniti is B2/C1-level, so uppper-intermediate, and as usual the first week, it’s disounted 25%, to £5.99 rather than the usual ‘easy reader’ price of £7.99.

And if you’re not at B2/C1 level? Not to worry – there are plenty of other ebook options from beginner to advanced in our online Catalog, all with downloadable free sample chapters and FREE online audio!

Buy La diaspora italiana – Italiani negli Stati Uniti | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Catalog

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?

P.P.S.

Saturday’s FREE bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news was published on, well, Saturday. There’ll be another tomorrow, so Tuesday. And another on Thursday.

Three FREE episodes of ‘easy’ Italian news each week. Subscribers get them directly in their email inboxes. Subscribing is free, too.

Thanks, by the way, to everyone who donated to support the ‘easy news’ team, during last week’s appeal.

IF you specified that your name, school name, or message should appear on the ‘Thanks’ page, then it will be there – all payment receipts are carefully checked.

But if you didn’t, then it won’t be. If that was an omission on your part (it’s easy to miss the bit where you can send us a message for publication) and you’d actually really like to be included in our list of supporters, just email the ‘easy news’ team (address on the website) and they’ll fix it.

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