La bella lingua Learning Italian

Our first trip to Italy was without the benefit of any knowledge on my part of Italian. My wife with he Sicilian parents had a knowledge of some words and phrases. I realized this was a disadvantage but not the end of the world. So much English is spoken in Italy most people can get along. Most restaurants in the tourist areas have dual or triple language menus. English, German, and Italian are prevalent.

I want to go further and speak to people and know what the road signs say. Not having access to an Italian teacher, I took another route. Pimsleur had a CD course in Italian. I bought the course and ripped the CD’s to my iPod. That was the beginning. It is a good way to learn conversational Italian. Eventually I progressed from levels 1 through 5 which encompasses about 48 hours of lessons. I did enjoy it as I was able to listen while driving or riding my bicycle.

PIMSLEUR ITALIAN LEVELS 1-5 UNLIMITED SOFTWARE

Pimsleur. The Art of Conversation. Down to a Science.

Format: Download
Lessons: 150
ISBN: 9781442396180
Availability: In Stock: Available for immediate download
List Price: $575.00

Free Audio Lesson

Learn a new language while commuting, while cleaning the house, or working out. Like millions before you, discover the power of the scientifically sequenced and portable Pimsleur Method.

As you can see, it is not cheap. Try the audio only from Audible for a more reasonable price.

Italian Level 1: Learn to Speak and Understand Italian with Pimsleur Language Programs

- By Pimsleur
- Narrated By Pimsleur
- Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins
- Release Date: 04-01-10

4.6 (69 ratings)

Regular Price:$173.27

Member Price:$121.29 or 5 Credits PRICE VARRIES. Credits are about $10 each depending upon the plan you subscribe to at Audible

Beyond this I also used duoLingo. This is a free program with excellent content.

Exercises progress from basic to upper intermediate. It is easy and I have been using if for about 6 months now. You can progress at your own pace and go back to. From time to time you may be asked to donate, but this is minimal. An excellent program for iPhone, tablets, and Android products. You must have WiFi or cellular data connected.

There are many exercises to improve listening and writing skills. Voice recognition is available for pronunciation practice.

Next there is Rosetta Stone. This is my least favorite method. The program has five levels and retails for about $200-250 on Amazon. It is available for PC and MAC. It does a good job of teaching vocabulary and grammar, but I find it painful obtuse. In many cases you have to decipher a photograph and answer questions based upon your interpretation of the picture.

Some times the photos are not clear and you may give a wrong answer.

It is your choice on Rosetta Stone, I just find it slow. But the content is good. It has voice recognition to help you with pronunciation.

. There is also a subscription version. Te computer version is copy protected to one PC or Ma and can not be used on another until it is deactivated.

There are other programs out there. Transparent Language as a program for phones and tablets. It is subscription based. Seems ok. They offer a free blog with the word of the day. Michelle Thomas has CDs for many language and they are priced reasonably.

Buona fortuna! or as they say: In bocca al lupo

June 25, 2017 0

Hidden Gems: Milazzo and Capo Milazzo, Sicily

Almost by accident we found the gem of Capo Milazzo and its natural piscina while looking for a place to stay before going to the Aeolian Islands just of the coast of Milazzo. It’s striking beauty and amazing terrain made it irrestiable. We continue to return here. Lodging can be limited to try Airbnb or make hotel reservations in advance. Great town to walk and eat.

CLICK THE BLUE LINK TO VIEW THE VIDEO

Milazzo and Capo Milazzo

June 13, 2017 0

16 Seconds in Motepulciano

A slow day, bells ringing. A cool September morning.Video, Slow Day in Montepulciano

Testing links from my YouTube and Vimeo libraries.

June 13, 2017 0

Some times just some photos say a lot.

St Peters

A cat resting in an Amalfi store

Capri, Faraglioni, the rocks that make the viewSeafood vendor in NapoliFruta in AmalfiVerona, the opera with the lighting of the candels prior to the performance

Performance the the Opera House of VeronaSome locals having lunch in San Giovane in Fiore ( Calabria)

Caserta, royal palace gardensSan Gorgio Maggiore, Vence Island from the bell tower Cheese (formaggio ) at the market in Napoli Some boats in Messina Sicly

June 7, 2017 0

The Doors Of Italy

From Sicily to the lakes. From Venice to Vernazza, the doors of Italy are always interesting. Some ornate, others plain. Run down. Beautiful. Always they catch my eye.

A door in Verona.

This was the door and an agritourisimo in Apulia.

She was putting out the laundry in Sicily and gave me a wave.

Our Airbnb in Montepulciano.

Harmony BnB in Palermo. Great place. Free parking and we just walked and walked.Jewlery Store in Pienza

Art Galery in Cortona. Under The Tuscan Sun land.

Thats it for today, more door in the coming days. The photo avove shows the Cinema Salamandra in Siracusa. I had been closed, then reopened, and closed again. Could only look through the doors and think what it must have been like.

June 3, 2017 0

Erice the village in the clouds Update

Greg’s Italy the web site

I read a book several years back that described this ancient villiage high up on the coast overlooking Trapani and the salt flats. I was intrgued by the description of the fog rollsing in on a reguar basis. I did ot have to wait long. It flowed through the town and then left as the sun came back out. It is well worth the visit.

HERE IS A VIDEO TOUR OF ERICE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISssEjWkMag

A quiet setting in our hotel.

The bell tower in Erice was built in 1315 and is a separate building from the Chiesa Matrice.

June 2, 2017 0

Free Again, access unliminted travel videos. Get free travel maps.

Google and YouTube are my greatest allies in finding incredibly good videos for travel.

On Youtube search for Rick Steves travel videos. Over 100 are there.

Many video Vlogs are also found. Some are excellent, so well not so good. It is worth the effort to search. I found many of markets in Rome had videos of excellent qualtiy which I enjoyed with my wife.

You can see soe of the variety of the Vlogs.

It is always good to get a planning map. You can get some great city are country maps for free by going to Frommers web site. The link below will take you to a list of all of their maps.

http://www.frommers.com/go/ebookmaps

They ahave published some great guide books. Most are also available in the kindle format. I encourage you to take a look at their web site.

This map is available in the Frommers Rome and Italy guide books.

June 1, 2017 0

Italian TV on the web. FREE

It is possible to view many of the Italian TV shows for free. Although RAI blocks direct views on most channels, you can get an amazing number on line from the following web site:

http://www.freeintertv.com/view/id-1711

FreeIntgerTV dot com is easy to use.

Go to the web site and choose the types of shows you would like to search for. It can mover many countries, not just italy.

I had no problems using the web site, and it is free.

ONE OTHER ITEM. Fine Living is the international equivalent of HGTV House Hunters Internatikonal. You can find many episodes on YouTube. Search for Fine Living.

Enjoy, RAI and many other channels on the web. What a great way to learn Italian and view some great shows.

May 31, 2017 0

Deruta Home of the Beautiful Ceramics

Grazzia is one best places to purchase high quality ceramics in Druta. We arrived during lunch and the owner took us on a tour of the factory. The outside is a virtual musuem. It continues on the inside. This is an amazing place. Each item is painted by hand.The design is painted by hand. Each item is unique.

The bottom of each creation tells that it come drom Deruta and is painted by hand.

Happy day, we made our purchase and had it shipped back to the USA.

Secolo means century in Italian.

This is our order and purchasing documents. It all arrived home safely.

May 26, 2017 1

Navigating on your trip to Italty

Getting from one place to another in a foreign country, and even here in the USA can be a challenge. On our first trips we had THE MAP OF ITALY. It was a big as a kitchen table, and once unfolded, it never returned to the same size nor appearance.

I thought I had the answer when I purchased a TomTom GPS and it had all of western Europe on a built in hard drive. As we pulled out of the airport in Roma, I turned it on ready to set my destination and all I got was a satellite view of the world. It took a week before I found that I needed to go to settings and change the map. Those days are long gone and dedicated GPS or the APS for your phone are much easier to use.

I like the advance planning ability to set up a route before you leave for a trip.

Above are the screen shots from the TomTom western Europe APP. It shows the instructions as well as a map of the entire route. This come in handy, as on occasion turns come quickly and can be a sharp right or left.

On the way to Cortona ( Under the Tuscan Sun) we came upon a bunch of switchbacks. This is common with the hills in Italy. But when you get there it is always worth the trip.