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Buondì.
Last week’s emailed article ‘Stating the obvious, for those who haven’t heard it already‘ was written primarily for club members who’ve joined us recently, which can be as many as several hundred a week.
This one is too.
OK, so like you (hopefully) I’m human. Really! I use the internet for fun, and to explore things that interest me. I have dreams. Some of them, perhaps most, turn out to be passing fancies.
A while back, before Bug, I decided to take up playing harmonica again (this was like the fourth time…), given that when Roomie left I unexpectedly had free time. I bought a harmonica on Amazon, and when it arrived, joined an online school which was offering a one-month free trial, detailed tantalisingly on a slip of paper packaged with my new instrument.
For a brief time, which might have been as long as a couple of weeks, I took the lessons online, watched the videos, studied the theory, and practiced daily. I can modestly tell you that I learned a lot, the first thing being that the harmonica I’d bought from Amazon was in the wrong key for the lessons, making them impossible to follow. No matter, I had Amazon send another, more expensive one. I was that keen!
Then Bug, so practice stopped, and my now two harmonicas, along with the pile of notes I’d printed and annotated, were left to gather dust on the top of a bookcase in my living room, where I leave my hat, scarf, gloves and so on when I come in from the cold. Which is why I’m writing about this now, incidentally – it’s warm and sunny, so I’ve been tidying away my winter gear and… oh!
The online harmonica school free trial expired half a month or so after Bug came to live with us. A few days before, they’d emailed to ask if I’d like to continue. I totally intended to, I swear, and the cost was trivial compared to the progress I’d been making! But hey – suddenly we weren’t sleeping nights, had no time to shop, cook, clean the house, or barely even ourselves.
That was the end of that, basically. I never heard from the online school again. Yet another dream abandoned by the roadside of life!
But wait, there’s more.
Before starting my daily practice with the online school – after signing up with them, only to discover I had the wrong harmonica, so while waiting for Amazon to send the correct one – and in a burst of frustrated enthusiasm, I checked out other harmonica tutors on Youtube (like Italian teachers, there are lots.)
One guy had nice content, but not much of it. More would be sent to anyone signing up (for free), so I did, especially given that I’m sort of in the email marketing business myself.
And this particular guy has not stopped emailing me every since!! I have dozens, possibly hundreds, of helpful tips, tantalizing promotions, last minute money-saving bargains, all starred in my personal Gmail, waiting to be given due attention in some eventual post-Bug future.
What’s the point of emails like this one?
OnlineItalianClub.com has lots of content worthy of your attention, like my first-love online harmonica school. Better, it’s free, and not just for a one-month trial, but forever, for anyone who fancies using it, without ‘joining’ even. Everything we have is right there, on the site.
There are lots of other resources on the Internet, and elsewhere, and should you choose to use those as well as or instead of our stuff, then good luck to you.
But what happens, in life and in language-learning, is that our good intentions often (perhaps invariably, who knows?) come to nought.
The online harmonica school, which I’d every intention of paying a monthly fee to, never followed up when I disappeared. Their loss, but also mine.
The Youtube harmonica guy has bombarded me with emails, but never once got me to search for the dusty harmonica under the pile of winterwear. The marketing was slick, slickissimo! But to no effect.
These emails, then, are to remind you of your interest in Italian.
They’re to put in front of your eyes steps you can take to progress with the language.
They’re to encourage you to try (even when you have other priorities…)
They’re to educate you regarding what to expect on your journey.
And yes, naturally, they’re to sell you stuff (scroll down).
But that part needs to come later. First comes building some trust. Hence the masses and masses of free stuff on the club website. Hence, too, EasyItalianNews.com.
Alla prossima settimana.
Final Two Half-Price Italian Movie ‘Ebooks of the Week’
This week our ebook store is doing their final half-price Italian movie easy reader ‘Ebook of the Week’ promotion (for this year, at least.)
Final because next week they’ll be publishing something new, and after that they have other promotions and offers scheduled – there are lots of other ebooks for learners, besides classic Italian movies, for you to explore!
So on to this week’s discounted ‘easy reader’ titles from our Classic Italian movie series – the last two bargains (for now) are Amarcord (level A2/B1, pre-intermediate/intermediate) and Ieri, oggi, domani (level B1/B2, intermediate/upper-intermediate).
The two short texts with online audio were written for you by an award-winning scriptwriter, who teaches Italian between movie projects, the idea being to make well-known films from Italian movie history accessible for all learners of the Italian language, not just advanced students with developed listening-comprehension skills.
As in previous weeks, we’d advise checking out the reviews and downloading the sample chapters BEFORE you buy your copies. Both of these films are ‘non-traditional’ by Hollywood movie-making standards (except virtually everything by Tarantino, obviously), which is to say that you don’t get spoon-fed, that a certain amount of thinking is involved, that the narrative might not proceed in a linear fashion, that the ending might not be what you were expecting, and so on…
Cioè, read what other people thought, and check the level is suitable for where you’re at with your Italian:
‘Amarcord’ reviews | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
‘Ieri, oggi, domani’ reviews | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
Don’t forget that this week each ebook will cost you just £4.99. Why not get BOTH, but pay just £9.99, the usual price for one?
For a complete learning and cultural experience, read/listen to the ebook, then seek out the movies online and give them a try, too.
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Directed by the brilliant Federico Fellini, ‘Amarcord’ is a masterpiece of Italian movie history. The title means “I remember” in dialect. The movie is Fellini’s heartfelt homage to his hometown, Rimini. Through the eyes of Titta – the young protagonist – we meet some of Rimini’s characters and live through a typical year in the town’s life in the early 1930s.
- .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 any level
- Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
Buy Amarcord, just £4.99! | Free sample chapter (.pdf) | Classic Italian Movies series | Catalog
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The classic Italian movie ‘Ieri, oggi, domani’ tells the stories of three women, Adelina, Anna and Mara, who live in three different Italian cities, Naples, Milan and Rome. Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni play the leading roles in each story. This re-telling for learners of Italian makes a great introduction before watching the movie itself or simply an excellent supplement to your study program!
- .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 B1/B2 level and above
- Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
Buy Ieri, oggi, domani, just £4.99! | Free sample chapter (.pdf) | Classic Italian Movies series | Catalog
How do I access my ebooks?
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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P.S. 
And here’s the usual reminder to read/listen to Tuesday’s FREE bulletin from EasyItalianNews.com.
If you didn’t see it, why not subscribe? Subscribing to EasyItalianNews.com – and so receiving ‘easy news’ bulletins via email each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday – is FREE!
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